Alabama OC sends message to Tide offense: “No media line BS, but we got to focus more on the run game”

Alabama football’s offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb feels there are a lot of positives to take away from the Crimson Tide’s win over LSU.

The Tide defeated LSU in Baton Rouge largely because of big plays late in the game; Keelon Russell kept the ball out of harm’s way, and different playmakers made plays. However, Grubb felt he could not ignore the way Alabama’s running backs ran the ball against LSU.

Alabama’s leading rusher against the Tigers was Trae’shawn Brown, and he finished the game with 35 yards on 11 carries. Daniel Hill added 15 yards on five carries as both running backs finished the game averaging around three yards a carry. This prompted Grubb to address his offense with a clear message.

“In the offensive staff meeting, I said no media line bullshit, but we got to focus more on the run game, and it’s got to get fixed,” Grubb said. “We had such a good groove happening, and I thought LSU took us out of a couple things that we had early in the football game that we popped a couple runs early and got behind the sticks and too many third and longs, too many second and longs to be able to be out there. And then that helped put us in a position of 3rd and XL that you don’t want to be in, especially against a pass rush like that. I think for us one of the huge focuses is how do we get the run game back and what do we got to do to get the ball in the right people’s hands.”

Grubb and company will have an opportunity to look and find answers for their rushing attack this week ahead of taking on Vanderbilt on the road on Saturday.