Alabama Crimson Tide Football: Jalen Hurts leads ground attack to victory over Fresno State
The Alabama Crimson Tide Football team entered their game against Fresno State looking to put their outing against Florida State in the rearview mirror. In just three plays on their opening drive, Jalen Hurts did just that. Hurts took the ball 55 yards to the end zone and the rest of the Tide runners followed suit for the remainder of the afternoon.
Alabama rushed the ball 39 times for 305 yards and 3 touchdowns against Fresno State.
Many, myself included, thought this would be the perfect time for Nick Saban to let Hurts throw the ball more than the 18 times he did against FSU. However, Alabama stuck to their normal game plan and the ground attack which made Saban look like a genius. The Tide was led by the legs of Hurts (154 yards), Bo Scarbrough (36 yards), Najee Harris (70 yards) and Damien Harris (32 yards).
[BXReporter]Fresno State may have studied and scouted the Tide but watching this team on tape and then on the field are two entirely different things. The backs the Tide have are not only fast and powerful but they are deep. So deep in fact that there will come a time this season where four players could have over 100 yards rushing.
As good as the ground game was for Alabama, as usual, it was the defense that held true. Fresno State could not get anything going against one of the best defenses in the country. The score may have looked lopsided but the stats were just as bad. The Bama defense held the Bulldogs to 58 yards rushing and 216 yards passing. What makes this defense so scary is that fact that Bama’s offense is not the quick strike-type like others in the country.
With the ground game that Bama has at their disposal, it allows the defense to rest. With Hurts and the RB’s eating up five yards here and another three there, it gives their defense time to catch a breath and study up on the sidelines.
The Tide are only two games into the 2017 season but if they can continue to attack defenses with the speed and power from their backfield they will surely be in contention for another National Championship.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
