Auburn will be tasked with stopping one of the nation’s best running backs when Alabama rolls into Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday.
Derrick Henry is currently the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, as he has rushed for 1,526 yards and a nation-leading 21 touchdowns this season.
“He’s a really good football player,” said defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. “He’s an elite back [who] runs the ball extremely hard.”
Henry — in his first season as Alabama’s full-time running back — received fewer than 17 carries per game in Alabama’s first four games, but the Tide has been leaning on him more as the season has progressed. The junior averaged 28.8 carries per game over the next six games, eclipsing the 200-yard mark in three of those games.
After receiving just nine carries last weekend in a blowout win over Charleston Southern, Henry is fresh and ready to take on an Auburn run defense that has produced mixed results this season.
Over the season’s first seven games, Auburn surrendered just over 116 yards per game and 10 total touchdowns to opponents’ primary tailbacks, including a season-worst 228 yards and three touchdowns to LSU’s Leonard Fournette.
But much like Henry, the Tigers’ run defense has improved as the season has gone on. After surrendering a touchdown to the opponent’s No. 1 running back in all but one game out of the first seven, Auburn has kept them out of the end zone in four consecutive contests. Over those four games, Auburn has allowed fewer than 75 yards per game to the opposition’s leading rusher.
Alabama has been led by a Heisman-Trophy finalist in two of its last three trips to Auburn. The Tigers held Mark Ingram to 30 yards on 16 carries in 2009, while Trent Richardson exploded for a season-high 203 yards on 27 carries in 2011. Ironically, Ingram went on to win the Heisman, while Richardson finished third.
While the Tigers have shown noticeable improvement, Henry presents a different type of challenge. Listed at 6-foot-3, 242 pounds, he will be the biggest running back Auburn has faced this season.
“He’s going to make you tackle him,” Muschamp said. “They’re going to force your secondary to make tackles in the game. We’ve got to be able to tackle well in the game. We’ve got to be able to gang-tackle him. He’s an elite player, an elite talent, and we’ve certainly got our work cut out for us.”
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