TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The ball was in Justice Haynes’ hands on first down with 11:15 to go. The result: the play heard ’round Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The Alabama running back received a handoff from Jalen Milroe and hit the hole. The play was well-blocked, allowing Haynes to reach the second level untouched, where he met Missouri safety Tre’Vez Johnson.
“We talk about it all the time,” Haynes said. “The goal is to have all guys blocked and one guy you can’t block. One-on-one, you gotta make him miss. You gotta make something special happen.”
He bulldozed Johnson, stayed on his feet and crossed the goal line for a 35-yard touchdown. And it caught everyone’s attention.
BRING THE BOOOM!!! 💥💥💥@justicehaynes6
📺ABC pic.twitter.com/hk1GmN9uk3
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) October 26, 2024
“I heard it and my head snapped up,” guard Tyler Booker said. “I was blocking my man, heard that and said, ‘Ooooh’. That gets me fired up because we’re usually the guys delivering the blow. When you see or hear another guy do that, it’s exciting.”
Haynes’ run ignited the Alabama sideline.
“Thunderous is probably the right word to use there because I could hear it,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “For him to stay on his feet, keep the legs moving and then guys blocking downfield — the want-to is there, and to see it pay off in that way, there’s some momentum and some things to build off from there. That wasn’t just fun for him; that was fun for everyone to see that physical type of run.”
The run provided an exclamation point to the No. 15 Crimson Tide’s dominant 34-0 win against No. 21 Missouri. The hope is it’s a launching point to a bigger theme missing from Alabama to this point. Saturday’s game felt like Alabama’s rushing offense finally arrived, and it made a huge difference.
Alabama ran for 271 yards, its second-highest total this season, and averaged 7.2 yards per carry — a significant uptick from its 164.3 yards per game and 4.6 yards per carry season averages. Haynes (eight carries), Jam Miller (11) and Milroe (11) saw healthy workloads, and the offensive line generated push against a Missouri team that had ranked ninth nationally in total defense.
“I think this could be a real building block,” Haynes said. “The offensive line gaining confidence in the run game, the running backs gaining confidence, just the whole unit. We just have to go out there and keep executing the play calls.”
The emergence of the run game was particularly needed because Milroe didn’t appear to be at full strength. After a slow start, the run game started to pick up steam near the end of the first half. Milroe opened the third quarter with a 32-yard run, and then Haynes and Miller shouldered the load, resulting in 213 second-half rushing yards. Off-tackle runs were particularly successful. Alabama (6-2, 3-2 SEC) is more dynamic with its ball carriers in space behind its tackles, who had a good day against Missouri (6-2, 2-2).
Overall, Alabama’s offense needed to find an identity and consistency independent of Milroe, and Saturday was the first true sign of that during SEC play. And it was aided by the fact that Missouri didn’t record a single tackle for loss in the second half after it had five in the first half.
“Every quarterback needs a run game so the whole weight isn’t on one guy’s shoulders,” DeBoer said. “There’s still even more things that we can do better. We’ve got to stay out of situations where our backs are to the wall.”
Jam’s Jammin’ 👊
📺: ABC pic.twitter.com/kwZ4xFKGam
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) October 26, 2024
The physicality that Alabama played with was notable. It was something that’s been missing as of late. Prior to Saturday, the Tide had averaged only 3.5 yards per carry in SEC play. The offense needed a revitalized effort to right the ship ahead of an idle week.
“I think we played with more intensity,” Haynes said. “(Booker) preached that all week, just staying on the team as a whole. Even if it was a guy on defense, if he saw someone slacking he was in their face like, ‘Yo, pick this up. Let’s go, we got to go.’ Great guy and tremendous leader.”
The off week is coming at a good time for Alabama. Players like Milroe and Jaeden Roberts can heal up before a critical late-season stretch. Saturday’s game also provides good teaching points and was a clear indication of how the offense can control a game when the commitment to the run is there on a consistent basis.
A more balanced offense will be a difference-maker, particularly on the road against LSU and Oklahoma, when Alabama can establish some momentum to keep a hostile crowd at bay — something that wasn’t present last week at Tennessee.
Taking into account that Alabama faced a beat-up Missouri team, the offense found a rhythm and dominated as a heavy home favorite should do. LSU will be a much more significant test and will determine if Saturday’s performance was lightning in a bottle or a sign of things to come. From the players’ perspective, now that what they can do is on tape, it should be the expectation going forward.
“It just shows us what we’re capable of,” Booker said. “Now we have to be able to do this week in, week out with the same intensity and intentionality that we had in practice this week — have to carry it over to the next week.”
(Photo of Justice Haynes: Jason Clark / Getty Images)
