Alabama's Bludgeoning of Cincinnati Shows The Difference in Truly Elite Teams: Talent in the Trenches

Make no mistake, there is a major difference in the level of play that was on the field when Alabama’s offensive and defensive lines punished Cincinnati.

Smashed. Crushed. Stomped. Dominated. Bullied.

Any of those words define how the Alabama offensive and defensive lines operated against Cincinnati’s one-time vaunted defensive front and well respected running games. Let’s start with Alabama’s offensive line.

That difference between the very big and athletic guys along the line of scrimmage for Alabama and the somewhat big and athletic players along the line of scrimmage for Cincinnati was stark.

Keep in mind, Cincinnati’s front has several guys that are still going to the NFL, and Alabama’s offensive line came into the game much maligned. Well, the Crimson Tide beat the tar out of Cincinnati’s front to the point that it rushed for 301 yards and averaged 6.4 yards per carry.

Point blank, it was obvious from the opening drive when the first 10 plays were all runs and Cincinnati could do nothing about it. The Bearcats were physically overmatched. Play after play.

Prior to the game against Alabama, Cincinnati’s defense gave up 297 yards rushing to Tulsa earlier this year, and perhaps everyone should have noticed that game and been more wise (yours truly included) to what was going to happen on Friday.

What happened was Brian Robinson, Jr. running through massive holes opened up by Alabama’s massive offensive line. The fifth-year senior running back for the Crimson Tide ran the football 25 times for 198 yards, averaging 7.9 yards per carry.

This is not going to be some long-time NFL running back. He waited his turn to start at Alabama. He’s not even remotely on the same level as several other former Crimson Tide ball carriers, and yet he almost cracked the 200 yard barrier.

That’s the first lesson for what the difference is between Alabama and Cincinnati, and the defensive line shall be the second.

Cincinnati never consistently ran the football. Running back Jerome Ford is a really good football player and one that will play on Sundays. He just did not have much room to run sans a handful of nice scampers including a long of just 14 yards. It’s really that simple. Ford carried 15 times for 77 yards, a 5.1 average.

Pretty solid, but he was gaining many of those yards after Alabama would shut down anything Cincinnati tried to do running or passing on first downs. Cincinnati’s offensive line was destroyed by Alabama, especially in pass protection as the Crimson Tide sacked Desmond Ridder six times.

THE TERMINATOR 😤

Will Anderson gets the sack to close the half 💪 @AlabamaFTBL #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/yc7RJTDaLF
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) December 31, 2021

Outside linebacker Will Anderson's athleticism and strength were on full display as he recorded two sacks and two tackles for loss. He was just one of several in the backfield, however.

Defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis was in a game wrecker with a sack and two tackles for loss of his own. The list is long with Alabama defensive lineman and edge players that powered their way into the backfield.

Faster, stronger, bigger, Alabama’s defensive line was in the backfield all game long. Come to think of it, it’s amazing that Ford gained 77 yards. He’s truly a big-time talent, and his efforts against Alabama are proof of that.

Here are more statistics showing the difference at the line of scrimmage why there’s still an incredibly large gap between a handful of top teams in college football and a program like Cincinnati:

**Cincinnati was a horrific 2/12 on third downs. Again, Alabam stuffed Cincinnati’s first down runs more often than not, and if the Bearcats passed Alabama harassed Ridder more often than not. It was as if the plays ran on repeat.

**Cincinnati was also 0/3 on fourth down. More of the same. Alabama overwhelmed Cincinnati up front more than anything else.

**Cincinnati had two sacks compared to Alabama’s six.

**Cincinnati usually recruits in the 40s as it relates to national recruiting rankings. Alabama, however, is usually No. 1 or No. 2 every year. A big part of that is how the Crimson Tide recruits defensive and offensive lineman. The Cotton Bowl was a great example of why recruiting rankings do in fact matter more often than not.