Alabama flashes offensive explosiveness needed to compete for a national title

MADISON, Wis. — Tucked away in the basement of Camp Randall Stadium, where the cramped visiting media room sweltered and smelled like the aftermath of more than three hours of football in the late-summer sun, Alabama tailback Jam Miller was interrupted by the most regal of former Crimson Tide runners who just so happened to be passing through. And Miller, whose 34-yard touchdown run in the third quarter helped punctuate an emphatic victory for the SEC over the Big Ten in one of this season’s marquee non-conference matchups, couldn’t help but smile. 

“Jam, woahhh, Jam!” sang retired running back Mark Ingram II, a Heisman Trophy winner for Alabama in 2009 and now a college football analyst with FOX Sports. “Yes, sir! Keep toting that tater my dawg, my boy. Yes, sir! Holding it down for RB U. Jam Miller in the flesh. Yes, sir!”

Ingram had already addressed some of Alabama’s players at the team hotel the night before, sharing with them some hard-earned tricks of the trade gleaned from winning a national championship under legendary head coach Nick Saban and then spending more than a decade in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. He was one of two Heisman Trophy-winning tailbacks in attendance on Saturday as Wisconsin honored the great Ron Dayne, whom the Badgers claim as the NCAA’s all-time leading rusher with 7,125 career yards. The crowd roared in celebration of the 25th anniversary for Dayne’s remarkable 1999 campaign.

On an afternoon that pitted two programs revered for their historical assembly lines of running backs — between them, they’ve produced 28 NFL Draft picks at that position in the 21st century alone — it was the tandem of Miller (nine carries, 71 yards, 1 TD) and dual-threat quarterback Jalen Milroe (14 carries, 75 yards, 2 TDs) that propelled the Crimson Tide to the kind of résumé-boosting road win that should be viewed favorably by the College Football Playoff selection committee later this year. In gashing the Badgers for more than 400 yards of total offense and six touchdown drives spanning 3:22 or less, an Alabama offense led by first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer and new offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan flashed the requisite explosiveness to compete for both an SEC championship and national championship alike, exiting Wisconsin with a dominant 42-10 win. 

“We heard a lot on the internet about, you know, coming to this stadium,” Miller said. “We had to come up and just show them what the SEC is about. It was a great environment, I’ll give them that, you know? Especially when they started playing the “Jump Around” song. As you could see, everybody on the sideline was jumping. 

“[But] Alabama is the best of the best. And people this year really don’t think that we’re the best since we’ve got a new head coach, a new OC. We’ve just got to prove our point to people.”

Proving their point began in the trenches, where an offensive line that was vilified for its penalty-ridden performance against South Florida in Week 2 could finally take the field with its preferred quintet: left tackle Kadyn Proctor, who made his first start after missing the opening two games with a shoulder injury; left guard Tyler Booker, who fired up his teammates during warmups with a seething display of emotion; center Parker Brailsford, who followed DeBoer to Alabama from Washington; right guard Jaeden Roberts, who flexed his muscles when he exited the tunnel for a pregame lap; and right tackle Elijah Pritchett, who replaced the struggling Wilkin Formby after the redshirt freshman drew four flags and surrendered five quarterback pressures last Saturday alone.

Proctor’s return allowed Booker, who had shifted to left tackle against USF, to return to his natural position as the dividends of a more talented offensive line revealed themselves almost immediately at Camp Randall Stadium. Milroe’s time to throw had decreased from 3.36 seconds in the season-opening win over Western Kentucky to 2.95 seconds against the Bulls amid a shambolic performance from Alabama’s offensive line, evidenced by 12 quarterback pressures and three sacks. It paled in comparison to the clean throwing lanes and pockets Milroe enjoyed on Saturday, when the only Crimson Tide signal-caller to be sacked was backup Ty Simpson long after the starters were removed in the fourth quarter of a lopsided game.

“I thought they just did a consistent job of making sure Jalen could stay upright, wasn’t rushed, hurried,” DeBoer said. “It’s amazing how your play calls can just be so much easier and you’re in downs and distances that are much more favorable when you can protect your quarterback and make every throw count, you know? There’s not throwaways where you’re getting hit. And I thought there was good jelling [along the offensive line] considering, really, it was their first game action all together. And then, between the running backs and Jalen, just finding different ways to attack with the run game. They just opened up the seams.”

Seams were opened in the form of a 26-yard run from Milroe during Alabama’s first scoring drive when the quarterback was hardly touched while he galloped down the sideline. He later connected with freshman wideout Ryan Williams to punctuate a 60-yard touchdown march that drained just 83 seconds off the clock. They were opened on the Crimson Tide’s second touchdown drive when Sheridan only called running plays to traverse a short field following a turnover. They were opened when Milroe stood in the pocket and made back-to-back completions to Williams and Germie Bernard, another Washington transfer, for a breathtaking two-play, 73-yard eruption that stunned the Badgers in the final minute of the first half. And the seams were still open during Alabama’s initial possession of the third quarter when Miller, who averaged 7.9 yards per carry, torpedoed through the line of scrimmage for a 34-yard touchdown in which not a single Wisconsin defender laid a glove on him as the Crimson Tide built a 25-point lead. 

The synchronous run-pass balance that Alabama achieved is what DeBoer found most pleasing about his team’s offensive performance, a highly efficient display that included a 57.1% conversion rate on third down. Milroe completed 12 of 17 passes for 196 yards and three scores, with each of his touchdown passes measuring 26 yards or more. The Crimson Tide carved out 5.3 yards per carry on 34 attempts and won the rushing battle, 181-149. Nearly 20% of Alabama’s offensive snaps generated at least 10 yards. 

“It was all kind of syncing up,” DeBoer said. “I was expecting a good performance — it’s never going to be perfect — but a lot of great things to build off of.”

A lot of great things to make an alum like Ingram happy. 

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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