Alabama football’s running back wants Tide to commit to running the ball all year

Alabama football’s featured running back Daniel Hill wants the Crimson Tide to continue to commit to running the football throughout the 2026 season.

The Tide once again had multiple rushing touchdowns in its win over Kentucky on Saturday. Alabama finished the game with three rushing touchdown from three different running backs. The Tide’s running backs had 30 rushing attempts as a group, and Hill led the way on the ground with 104 rushing yards and one touchdown on 18 carries.

Hill was asked about the Tide committing to the run game by a reporter after the game.

“That’s something we gotta be able to continue to do all year, be able to run the ball when we got to get a first down on third and one,” Hill said. “We gotta be able to do it. Fourth and one, gotta be able to do it. So that’s something that we take pride in being able to sustain drives.”

Kalen DeBoer feels the opportunity to run the football was present in the first half of the Tide’s latest wins, but other factors did not allow Alabama to take advantage.

“We felt like the run game was there,” DeBoer said. “I really felt that. We got behind the chains with penalties in the first half. We got sacked a couple times. It felt like there was some execution that was happening where there were some lanes. Sometimes when you give the quarterback the green light to have the RPOs, and you see that it was blocked up well, you live with that. Just trying to continue to balance that. I felt like the run game was there in the first half. It didn’t maybe show up on the scoreboard or stat sheet, but as the second half went along, I think they kept some of the pressure off Keelon. Not having the penalties that we had in the first half really allowed us to play a really good half of football. Field position was a big deal in the second half with a shorter field. The run game, Daniel, I can vision him running towards our bench and almost scoring. And then to hammer it in to finish the drive. Man, that helps out a quarterback a lot.”

The Crimson Tide will go back to work this week ahead of welcoming the Florida State Seminoles to Tuscaloosa Saturday. Alabama opened the week as an 18,5 point favorite, according to multiple sportsbooks.