Depth at running back gives Tide plenty of options

September 16, 2009

By Ken Rogers

My story in Thursday’s Dothan Eagle is about Terry Grant, who is one of four running backs that Alabama coach Nick Saban has at his disposal.

One of Grant’s closest friends, receiver Mike McCoy, shook his head when asked about the weapons on offense.

“We just have so many playmakers,” McCoy said. “So, given time, anybody can do their thing.”

That is especially the case in the backfield. McCoy talked about a play in which freshman running back Trent Richardson caught a pass in the flat last week.

“I was waiting on Trent,” said McCoy, who added there were two defenders in the area. “And as he was coming out he made a move and both of them fell and I was just standing around looking for somebody to block. … I mean, it’s just we have all the talent in the world. They are all talented. I would hate to be on the other side of the ball.”

Grant has started to transition to a receiver position, although played at running back last Saturday and broke off a 42-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

“Man, they’re just trying utilize him,” McCoy said. “Whatever helps the team, I’m all for. He’s actually not a bad route runner. He does pretty good. He asks a whole lot of questions. That’s my boy. Me and Terry were roommates my freshman year. He’s a guy I’m really close to. Every time he touches the ball I get excited. … We just have a connection. We play together, have Bible study meeting with other guys. We just had the chemistry.”

Quarterback Greg McElroy said the running backs don’t get credit for what they do without the football.

“The great thing about them is they’re not just running the ball,” the quarterback said. “They do a lot of things behind the scenes as far as picking up blitzes, understanding protections, things like that that go unnoticed by a lot of the media guys and a lot of the sportscasters.

“What those guys do as far as protections is really outstanding. If you go back and look at a couple of the clips, you’ll see Roy Upchurch just clean the clock of a couple of guys early in the first quarter. And that’s really pleasing for quarterbacks, guys that are willing to sacrifice themselves. And knowing they’re getting the runs they’re getting, you can’t help but be happy for them because they’re breaking a lot of arm tackles and getting downfield.”

Saban, too, said the depth in the backfield is a good thing.

“If you have three backs that can play at all times, I think you’re fortunate and should feel fortunate,” Saban said. “We feel like we have four (Mark Ingram, Richardson, Upchurch and Grant), and Demetrius Goode didn’t do a bad job when he was in there. I feel like if he had to be the third back in the game, we would be OK with that as well.  Hopefully we can keep these guys healthy.  I think that is going to be important because that is one of the strengths of our team, is the collective groups of running backs that we have.”

The coach went down the list of the big four.
“Mark has probably played as well as anybody on a consistent basis,” Saban said. “We were very pleased with his performance having three days of illness prior to the game to be able to come back and play in the game. He actually played in the game more than we anticipated that he might.

“Roy got hurt early on, Trent stepped up and did a fantastic job.  We have been really confident that Trent would be a contributor at this position at some point and time in the season when the opportunity presented itself.  He has practiced well. He is a really a fine young man and works hard and has good understanding of what he is supposed to do. Terry is very capable and Roy is very capable.”