The slow, loud emergence of Alabama’s next fearsome RB
ATLANTA — It’s great to have a great quarterback, but Nick Saban doesn’t need one. The coach has won five national championships with four different starting quarterbacks — Matt Mauck (at LSU), Greg McElroy, A.J. McCarron and Jacob Coker — and is one win away from having just the second team to win a national title with a true freshman — Jalen Hurts — under center.
What Saban always seeks is a power running back, an unstoppable beast who could be fed over and over, wearing down opposing defenses, while getting stronger as the game goes on. The Crimson Tide rode Mark Ingram in 2009 to the school’s first national championship in 17 years, and claimed three of the past five national titles behind Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy and Derrick Henry.
Now, Bo Scarbrough has unexpectedly snatched the torch after setting an Alabama bowl record with 180 yards rushing and two touchdowns in a 24-7 win over Washington in the College Football Playoff semifinals, emerging as Alabama’s most important offensive player heading into a national championship rematch with Clemson.
“You guys know me, whoever’s hot, that’s who’s going to get the ball and he’s been hot lately and he’s going to get the ball,” Saban said Saturday.
“He’s got great size and speed. He can run behind his pads. He’s got good vision. He’s a good receiver and he can block. So he can do all the things that any good running back can do.”
While Saban’s previous backs were stars during the title seasons — Ingram and Henry took home the Heisman Trophy — Scarbrough finished the regular season fourth on the team in rushing yards, eclipsing 100 yards just once in two seasons. This year, the sophomore averaged 21.6 yards in the first five games of the season, and had a stretch of eight straight games with eight carries or fewer.
But since missing two games with a knee injury, Scarbrough has run for at least 90 yards in three straight games and averaged 7.7 yards per carry, most recently stealing the spotlight with a career-high 19 rushes.
The talent was always there. Unfortunately, injuries were always there, too.
A five-star recruit out of high school in Florida, Scarbrough suffered three major injuries before he arrived at Alabama, and then tore his ACL in April 2015, appearing in just four games as a freshman, while receiving just 18 carries.
“By having so many injuries, it’s really a mind thing,” Scarbrough said. “You can’t let your mind take over your body. You just got to keep pushing and keep pushing. That’s what I did. I worked at it every day.”
With Hurts badly struggling during most of the Peach Bowl, Scarbrough ensured Alabama would have a chance to defend its national title, running for 9.5 yards per carry against the 20th-ranked run defense in the country.
Washington knew what was coming and couldn’t do anything about it.
On Scarbrough’s 18-yard touchdown run to tie the game in the first quarter, four Huskies couldn’t bring him down. On his 68-yard game-sealing score, no one could catch him
“They don’t make many guys that big and that fast,” Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said.
When they do, though, they usually end up in Alabama’s backfield.