Alabama May Not Have a 1,000-Yard Rusher or Receiver For First Time Under Nick Saban: All Things CW
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — When Nick Saban took over the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2007, the entire list of players who had posted a 1,000-yard receiving season in program history had just two names on it, David Palmer and D.J. Hall.
And Hall had just done it the previous season.
Make no mistake, Alabama had some outstanding receivers over the years, including one of the greatest ever in Don Hutson. At times, the Crimson Tide was at the forefront of the innovation that was once known as the forward pass.
But for most of college football history, hitting four digits was unheard of in Tuscaloosa and in most other places as well. When Palmer finished with exactly 1,000 receiving yards in 1993 (he had just 297 during the national championship season the year before), he topped the school record of 820 held by Dennis Homan in 1967, which Ozzie Newsome just missed catching with 804 in 1977.
Alabama's 1,000-yard rushers occurred with more frequency beginning with Johnny Musso in 1970. He finished with 1,137 rushing yards, and then reached the milestone again a year later, with 1,088.
Bobby Humphrey joined the club, twice, and was followed by Siran Stacy, Sherman Williams, Dennis Riddle, Shaun Alexander (twice), Shaud Williams and Kenneth Darby, who nearly did it three times.
But since the arrival of Saban, 1,000-yard seasons have become the norm, and not just because the Crimson Tide played more games per season.
Alabama leading rushers Saban era
Year, Name, Att.-Yards (Avg.) TDs
2007 Terry Grant 180-891 (4.9) 8
2008 Glen Coffee 233-1,383 (5.9) 10
2009 Mark Ingram 271-1,658 (6.1) 17
2010 Mark Ingram 158-875 (5.5) 13
2011 Trent Richardson 283-1,679 (5.9) 21
2012 Eddie Lacy 204-1,322 (6.5) 17
2013 T.J. Yeldon 207-1,235 (6.0) 14
2014 Derrick Henry 172-990 (5.8) 11
2015 Derrick Henry 395-2,219 (5.6) 28
2016 Damien Harris 146-1,037 (7.1) 2
2017 Damien Harris 135-1,000 (7.4) 11
2018 Damien Harris 150-876 (5.8) 9
2019 Najee Harris 209-1,224 (5.9) 13
2020 Najee Harris 251-1,466 (5.8) 26
2021 Brian Robinson Jr. 271-1,343 (5.0) 14
Only four times in 15 years has Alabama not had a 1,000-yard rusher, and only six times has the Crimson Tide not had at least one 1,000-yard receiver.
But not once under Saban has Alabama not had one or the other.
This season could be the first.
Granted, it's early, as the Crimson Tide has only played three games, and the offense has yet to click. Moreover, when Alabama gets into conference play it often zeros in on who will be the top contributors, especially for big games.
Nevertheless, the leading rusher, junior Jase McClellan, who has 167 yards so far, is on pace for 835 rushing yards should the Crimson Tide manage to play 15 games.
Junior Traeshon Holden, who has the most receiving yards with 169, is on an early pace for 845.
It should be noted that running back Jahmyr Gibbs has 151 rushing yards, and 144 receiving, putting him on pace for 755, and 720, respectfully, and 1,475 combined. He leads the team in carries (22) and receptions (14), and the guess here is that he'll get the ball even more moving forward as things ramp up.
Alabama is in the process of developing its offensive identity so it hasn't been real creative with the play-calling yet. However, maybe that's what the identity will be this year, spreading the ball around and utilizing so many weapons that the defense has no idea where the ball is going.
Call it the Crimson Tide's version divide and conquer.
That approach will be part of Alabama's offense regardless, but more likely is that players evolve into roles and improve as the season progresses. Sure you want to be good Week 4. The idea is to be all but unstoppable around Game 14.
Could not having a 1,000-yard rusher or receiver possibly be a good thing with this team? We'll have to wait for the answer, but the key will probably be on who becomes Bryce Young's top go-to players, especially on third downs and in key situations.
Alabama leading receivers Saban era
Year, Name, Att.-Yards (Avg.) TDs
2007 D.J. Hall 67-1,005 (15.0) 6
2008 Julio Jones 58-924 (15.9) 4
2009 Julio Jones 43-596 (13.9) 4
2010 Julio Jones 78-1,133 (14.5) 7
2011 Marquis Maze 56-627 (11.2) 1
2012 Amari Cooper 59-1,000 (16.9) 11
2013 Amari Cooper 45-736 (16.4) 4
2014 Amari Cooper 124-1,727 (13.9) 16
2015 Calvin Ridley 89-1,045 (11.7) 7
2016 Calvin Ridley 72-769 (10.7) 7
2017 Calvin Ridley 63-967 (15.3) 5
2018 Jerry Jeudy 68-1,315 (19.3) 14
2019 DeVonta Smith 68-1,256 (18.5) 13
2020 DeVonta Smith 117-1,856 (15.9) 23
2021 John Metchie III 79-1,572 (19.9) 15
The Next Wave ...
Alabama has played 18 true freshmen from the recruiting Class of 2022 already, including six in all three games. With defensive lineman Jaheim Oatis starting last week, and tight end Amari Niblack scoring his first touchdown, a few are definitely beginning to emerge.
Playmakers Emmanuel Henderson, Jamarion Miller, Isaiah Bond and Kobe Prentice make up the majority of the six who have played in every game, but the guy to watch right now is offensive lineman Tyler Booker.
He saw significant time at guard last week against Louisiana Monroe, playing both on the left and right side, and has drawn a lot of praise.
“He’s very physical, very mean, very very athletic," left tackle Tyler Steen said. "He also brings that energy and juice from a young dude that definitely could get a little contagious for the rest of the offensive line. He brings that energy."
That energy has been key, as Saban has sent a clear message that he wants the offensive line to be more physical, especially in the interior. The coach has also said that Booker's in the mix to start.
"He’s created competition at several positions," Saban said during the SEC coaches' media teleconference this week, later adding during his radio show: "Some guys are playing more physical, and I think that some of the younger players that we have are more physical and maybe they can help us down the road, as well.”
A week ago, Saban made the comment that Alabama used to have some "hateful competitors," who "when they played on the road, they were mad at 100,000 people, not just the 11 guys they were playing against. And they wanted to prove something to everybody."
Booker fits that mold.
Derrick Henry: The Sky is Not Falling
Former Alabama running back Derrick Henry, who has the only 2,000-yard rushing season in Crimson Tide history, is off to his worst start with the Tennessee Titans since 2018. Of his 34 carries so far, he's only been able to break one for 10-plus yards, and his 2.64 yards after contact is well below his career average of 3.7.
“You definitely want to win – that’s why you play this game," Henry said Thursday per All Titans. "But the sky’s not falling. We’re still focused. It’s only Week 2. It’s early in the season. It’s a long season. So, we’re just continuing to work and working to improve every day.”
The two-time NFL rushing champion traditionally has been better late in the season than he is at the beginning. Yet the Titans only have 173 rushing yards, tied for 24th in the league. Their average of 3.3 per attempt also is their worst at this point of the season since Henry has been part of their ground game and is 30th among the league’s 32 teams.
“I think we all know what we need to do,” Henry said. “We know it hasn’t been to our standard and the success we’ve had in the past. We have to be better. We all know that. We need to have a sense of urgency, and that’s what we’re all focused on.”
The Titans host the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
It's Spelled S-E-C
• Ben Walker of Ditto Transcripts put together a list of the worst spelling college football fans based on comment threads on Reddit forums about football.
He found that UMass and Army led the FBS with a rate of over one misspelled word per comment. FBS Independent schools had the highest misspelled word frequency, followed by the ACC and Big 12. In comparison, the Pac-12 had the lowest misspelled word frequency, edging out the Big Ten and SEC.
So how did the SEC teams rank?
Rank, School, Percent of comments with misspellings
- Missouri 59.52
- South Carolina 41.26
- Arkansas 40.96
- Florida 39.29
- Vanderbilt 38.14
- Kentucky 37.86
- Tennessee 37.45
- Alabama 36.88
- Texas A&M 35.40
- Georgia 34.01
- Ole Miss 33.94
- Auburn 32.18
- LSU 29.94
- Mississippi State 23.68
For the full rundown, check out dittotranscripts.com.
Mental Health Awareness
We also posted this on our forum, Utah State coach Blake Anderson released a video announcing that he and the Aggies program are dedicating this week’s game against UNLV to raising awareness for mental health.
Anderson began the round of testimonials by sharing the story of his son, Cason, who died by suicide in February.
“Somewhere in the middle of the night when everyone was gone, Cason went to a place which was so dark, he didn’t want to do it anymore,” Anderson said. “He didn’t want to be here anymore … Our lives forever changed that morning. A piece of me, a piece of our family is gone, and it will never come back.”
Anderson, 53, said that he and his family had never seen any indication that Cason had been struggling, and have been dealing with questions about why and how this could have happened ever since.
“He never let any of us know,” Anderson said. “There were no red flags. There were no warning signs. He always made sure to tell you he was OK. If you are hurting, if you are dealing with dark thoughts, if you’re depressed, if you’re dealing with grief so heavy that you don’t know what to do with it: Please, reach out.”
Anderson and his family have endured tragedy before. Anderson’s first wife, Wendy, was diagnosed with breast cancer while he was at Arkansas State, and she died in 2019. His father died about six months after Wendy’s death, and his brother was diagnosed with colon cancer about a year later.
5 Things That Got Our Attention
1) SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey on future football scheduling: “The focus in football is on a single division right now. The real debate is eight or nine (conference) games. That doesn’t mean divisions are completely erased from our consideration but they’re not at the forefront of our thinking.”
2) Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart is making it clear that he prefers an eight-game SEC football schedule: “Eight’s worked well for us; that allows us to play the in-state game with Louisville as well as the three other games," he said during this week’s Big Blue Nation radio show. "Frankly, about every other year we’ve been able to have eight home games and that’s a big deal financially for our programs, to be able to have eight home games.”
Regarding the argument that nine games allows players to play in every SEC environment Barnhart observes: “The rosters are flipping so rapidly I don’t even think that that’s part of the conversation anymore." He also argues that a nine-game league slate may not equate to more TV money because half of the years they'd be on the road for five games, and it would be difficult to schedule the rest of the home games and still finance the other sports that depend on football revenue.
3) Speaking of the Wildcats, they had a busy week away from from the practice fields.
On the plus side, Kentucky is considering offering investment accounts to its students as part of its approach to financial literacy education. The university would deposit money based on incentives for healthy behaviors, such as going to the gym. The pilot program will launch with 600 students who will have access to four curated mutual funds to start.
On the flip side, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Kentucky launched an investigation in February into members of the Wildcats football team filing inaccurate timecards for jobs worked at the university hospital.
4) FanJolt Talent Manager Clark Cummings had an interesting comment to Collegiate Sports Connect on the direction the NIL marketplace is heading: “We had (South Carolina quarterback) Spencer Rattler and (Alabama softball pitcher) Montana Fouts before we launched the product. I’ve been surprised at how much attention they’ve gotten compared to the A-list celebrities we have on the platform. Those two are some of our biggest revenue producers.
"Having been on a number of campuses, the education around NIL has been impressive and these student-athletes are eager, they’ve helped themselves on how to bring deals to the table thanks to their work in the community. As a result, we’ve gotten even more high-profile student-athletes on our platform.”
5) Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff’s was quoted as saying about UCLA's move to the Big Ten, “we think the incremental money [UCLA is] going to receive from the Big Ten media rights deal will be more than 100 percent offset by additional expenses. You end up taking that money you earn and it goes to airline and charter companies and coaches and administrators. It doesn’t go to supporting the student athletes.”
Jon Wilner of the Mercury News (the guy who broke the story about USC and UCLA bolting) did some fact checking and noted that Kliavkoff's numbers may not be far off. He concluded that the “most reasonable scenario suggests UCLA’s revenue bump in the Big Ten, as compared to staying in the Pac-12, works out to $10M to $12M annually. But if the Pac-12’s media rights with a campus in L.A. are worth significantly more than we believe, the math gets interesting.”
Tide-Bits
• Another young "hateful" player to keep an eye on is wide receiver Kendrick Law, who is earning more and more playing time with his impressive downfield blocking. On the following big gain by Gibbs look for No. 19 punishing defenders downfield.
• Redshirt freshman Deontae Lawson is already looking like the Crimson Tide next big-time interior linebacker. Despite being a reserve, he's sixth in team tackles with 10. "He’s much more confident in knowing what to do and how to do it," Saban said. "I think he’s playing with more confidence. I think it takes players a while to develop that, you know, systematically in terms of understanding what's required of me on this play. A lot of guys, maybe in high school, they just ran and tackled the guy with the ball. But we try to play a systematic defense where everybody has a job to do. And the way you get challenged offensively in college football now with the kind of plays people run, everybody’s got to be really disciplined in how they read the plays and how they fit the plays. And I think when linebackers sort of get confident in that, then they start playing a lot faster. And I've seen that in Deontae in his play.”
• Oddsmakers obviously aren't ruling any Alabama players out of the running for the Heisman Trophy, but they haven't been enamored with the Crimson Tide's start either. Young's odds dropped to 11/2, behind CJ Stroud (5/2) and Caleb Williams (11/2), while Will Anderson Jr. is tied for having the sixth-best odds at 33/1. Gibbs is 50/1. Meanwhile, the team's odds match the polls, with Alabama second behind Georgia, albeit barely.
• Former Alabama golfers Kristen Gillman, Polly Mack and Kenzie Wright are expected to be part of the field for the 2022 Tuscaloosa Toyota Classic, an EPSON Tour qualifier for the LPGA, will take place at Ol' Colony Golf Complex. The inaugural tournament will be played Sept. 28 - Oct. 2.
• We've been wondering how long it would take for some people to figure out that the Jazz may have gotten a franchise cornerstone in the Donovan Mitchell deal. Collin Sexton Could Be Destined For Stardom In Utah offers a pretty good breakdown about his strengths and weaknesses.
• The best thing we saw all week:
Did You Notice?
According to a report from Andrew Carter of The News & Observer, university leadership at North Carolina floated the idea of a “super conference” between the ACC and Pac-12 amidst the decision by UCLA and USC to spurn the Pac-12 for the Big Ten beginning in 2024.
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Christopher Walsh's notes column All Things CW appears every week on BamaCentral.
