Dominant lines of scrimmage power Alabama past Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Alabama head coach Nick Saban preached physicality entering Saturday’s matchup with Kentucky, a team that prides itself on playing that brand of ball. But the Crimson Tide was the more physical team in its 49-21 win over the Wildcats at Kroger Field.
That started up front on both sides of the football.
“I think that was the key to the drill,” Saban said after the game. “Controlling the line of scrimmage in this game against this type of team, who prides themselves in being a physical team, I think was like our No. 1 objective. And I think we wanted to make them one-dimensional. I think we did except for the last run where we didn’t have any run support on that side.
“I think it was really important that we won on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”
Alabama (9-1, 7-0 SEC) rushed for 159 yards and four touchdowns on 39 carries, averaging 4.1 yards per tote. The Tide was led by quarterback Jalen Milroe, who rushed for three touchdowns in addition to his three other scores through the air. Jam Miller also found the end zone as one of five different Alabama running backs that received a handoff in the contest.
The Tide produced a respectable rushing effort against a Kentucky defense that ranked fourth in the SEC at 110.78 yards allowed per game. Alabama also did not allow a sack in the win as the offense, and offensive line, appears to be hitting its stride down the season’s final stretch.
“We definitely dominated the line of scrimmage,” said left guard Tyler Booker said. “It’s an emphasis every week. JC and I, whenever we spoke to the media at the beginning of the season, that was our thing. We’re going to dominate the line of scrimmage. We’re going to be dominant. We’re going to make people quit. It took us a little while, but it’s happening now.
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“It came to fruition. We’re just glad to finally reach what we’ve been talking about for all offseason. We just got to keep it going. We haven’t done anything yet.”
Defensively, Alabama limited the Wildcats to 95 rushing yards on 24 carries, including just 26 for the SEC’s second-leading rusher, Ray Davis. Most of the 95 came on a 74-yard run by Ramon Jefferson in the fourth quarter that set up UK’s third l touchdown. Prior to the long run – which came with multiple reserves on the field – UA had only allowed 18 yards on 18 tries.
The defense held the Cats to 253 total yards and generated a trio of sacks of quarterback Devin Leary in the win. Alabama did that with a pair of defensive starters absent, including its signal caller on that side of the football with Deontae Lawson dealing with an ankle injury.
“I was really pleased with the way the guys that filled in today and took their place – and we had to shift guys around in the secondary – but I thought Trez Marshall, who has been hurt himself, did a good job today, and so did Jihaad (Campbell),” Saban said. “Those guys got some valuable experience, and that’s going to help us down the road, I think, having some diversity in how we can play players.”
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