One step forward, no steps back.
That's about how Alabama football offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb summed up the most fundamental way for the Crimson Tide rushing attack to improve in 2026: eliminate negative plays.
"I thought one of our biggest sins last year was the number of negative yardage runs that we had," Grubb said Monday. "You know, for us, just the availability of keeping the ball consistently moving forward and eliminating the negative yardage runs is going to be step one. And that's a very low bar."
A low bar indeed, but one UA too often failed to clear in 2025. Crimson Tide running backs got caught in the backfield plenty, even if sack yardage accounted for most rushing losses in official statistics. When Alabama was held to minus-3 yards rushing in a blowout loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, quarterback Ty Simpson took 29 yards in rushing losses via the sack. But UA's leading rusher (Daniel Hill) had just 11 yards net.
Still, disallowing penetration is naturally at the top of Grubb's list.
#yardage #yards #grubb
That's about how Alabama football offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb summed up the most fundamental way for the Crimson Tide rushing attack to improve in 2026: eliminate negative plays.
"I thought one of our biggest sins last year was the number of negative yardage runs that we had," Grubb said Monday. "You know, for us, just the availability of keeping the ball consistently moving forward and eliminating the negative yardage runs is going to be step one. And that's a very low bar."
A low bar indeed, but one UA too often failed to clear in 2025. Crimson Tide running backs got caught in the backfield plenty, even if sack yardage accounted for most rushing losses in official statistics. When Alabama was held to minus-3 yards rushing in a blowout loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, quarterback Ty Simpson took 29 yards in rushing losses via the sack. But UA's leading rusher (Daniel Hill) had just 11 yards net.
Still, disallowing penetration is naturally at the top of Grubb's list.
#yardage #yards #grubb
2 days ago
