Tide defense prepares for Auburn rushing attack

TUSCALOOSA — Alabama middle linebacker Rolando McClain has seen the formations and the shifts and the motions that Auburn’s offense presents.
But what most concerns him is the Tigers’ pace of play.

“That’s how they get teams off balance,” McClain said Monday. “They run to the line. They want to run a play every 20 seconds. If they get a big play, they will run to the line and run the same play and try to get another big play. We are going to have to be ready for that and be ready for the quick tempo and get to the ball and line up.”

Of course, once the ball is snapped, Alabama’s intention is to stop the Tigers’ potent running game. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban called Auburn “probably the best running team we have played all year.”

The statistics support that. The Tigers are third in the SEC and 11th in the country in rushing offense, averaging 219.5 yards per game on the ground. Ben Tate is averaging 110 yards per game, third in the league behind Alabama’s Mark Ingram and Mississippi State’s Anthony Dixon.

Alabama comes into the game yielding just 70.4 yards per game on the ground, tops in the SEC. McClain said success against the Tigers’ running game is the key to the game for Alabama’s defense.

“We pride ourselves on stopping the run and they pride themselves on running the ball,” the junior linebacker said. “(Tate) is a hard runner, a good runner.”
Alabama has not given up 100 yards to an individual running back since BenJarvus Green-Ellis of Ole Miss gained 131 yards on Oct. 13, 2007. That streak of 31 games leads the nation.

“It’s what we do. We tell everyone we want to stop the run,” said McClain, who noted the Tigers will challenge the Tide on the ground. “We have a pretty good task at hand, but we’re up for the job.”

Asked about Tate’s comment that he’s the best running back in the state, McClain simply shrugged it off.

“I could care less. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion,” he said. “He’s a good running back. I don’t know if he’s the best in the state, but he does run the ball hard and his offensive line blocks for him.”

Alabama offensive guard Mike Johnson knows it’s difficult to run the ball against his defense.

“The numbers don’t lie. They put in a lot of work during the week,” Johnson said. “You can see the work they’ve put in. They’re getting a lot more sacks, a lot more pressure, and nobody’s running the ball. That’s all you can ask of a defensive line.”

The Tide’s Mark Ingram, a Heisman Trophy candidate, is glad he doesn’t face his defense on Saturdays. He was asked if he could run for 100 yards against McClain & Co.

“I don’t know. Every time me and Roy (Upchurch) and Trent (Richardson), are on the sideline, we’ll be like, ‘I hate it for those other guys. They’ve got to run against that defense,’” Ingram said.

“I mean, they’re so big, so fast, so well coached. They all know where they’re supposed to be and they’re so athletic, they all can make plays. It’s just hard to have a lot of success on them running the ball.”

Auburn must try on Friday. Again, the Tigers’ uptempo style and multiple formations give them as good a shot as any for success.

“They have the wildcat and a lot of crazy formations and three-back runs,” McClain said. “But I think the coaches have done a great job of breaking everything down.

“When you look at the final formations after all they do — all the motions and shifts — if you look at the final formation, we’ve got to adjust to that. They do the same thing out of that formation. I think we’ll be all right.”

Saban said the Tigers’ tempo is tough to simulate in practice.

“You’ve got a scout team over there that needs to look at a card before they run the play, so it’s kind of hard to get it going,” Saban said. “They do a good job of that. ... We need to make sure we’re lined up so that we don’t give up plays because we’re not in the proper alignments.”

McClain also said the Tide has to expect, well, the unexpected.

“We have to beware that they will have something different, something new because they had a bye week,” the linebacker said. “They will have something different than what they usually do.”

Alabama’s focus, however, will remain on stopping the run.