TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Alabama football offense doubled its scoring output from last weekend, from 17 on Oct. 19 to 34 Saturday, en route to a 34-0 blanking of No. 21 Missouri. The No. 15 Crimson Tide needed the win, having lost two of its previous three games before the homecoming outing against the Tigers, and the offensive attack was paced by the run game.
More than 270 of the team's 486 total yards were accrued in the rushing category, as well as all four of the touchdowns. Three of them were scored by the tandem of Justice Haynes and Jam Miller, who factored into Saturday's contest much more than they had for the last several weeks. It was as good as the running attack has looked this season.
"The want-to is there," head coach Kalen DeBoer said. "Just to see it pay off in that type of way and then have guys making plays... There's some things we can build off in there, too, but that was really fun for everyone to see."
The 271 rushing yards were the highest total for the Crimson Tide in SEC play so far this season, and second-highest overall, only trailing the season opener against Western Kentucky.
Haynes led Alabama rushers with 79 yards, including a 35-yard scamper for a score in the fourth quarter which saw him run through a defender in search of paydirt to an emphatic response from an announced sellout crowd. It was a play he and his coach were pleased with postgame as the product of a well-executed scheme.
"Thunderous is probably a good word to put it," DeBoer said. "I can hear it. For him to stay on his feet, keep the legs moving, bounce off... Great effort." The first-year coach said Haynes and Miller's "1-2 punch" took a step in the right direction Saturday.
Miller ran for 48 yards on 11 carries, perhaps not an eye-popping number at first if not accompanied by the two touchdowns he scored. He ran hard, with a long of 14 and an average of 4.4 yards per carry. Haynes chalked up the successes of the day to execution and trust in the offensive line. He also chose, when presented with the option of either making a defender miss or running a defender over, the latter of those two.
"I think it [the game] can be a really good building block," Haynes said. "Offensive line, just them gaining confidence in the running game, just as a whole unit, the running backs, us gaining confidence in it. [We'll] just continue to go out there and execute the plays that are called." Haynes directed particular praise at offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan, as well as veteran lineman Tyler Booker for what he described as Booker staying on his teammates at practice and pushing them to improve. "Bringing his A-game," said Haynes. "It all starts with them up front, the offensive line, so kudos to them."
Quarterback Jalen Milroe had a touchdown on the ground as well, a nine-yard rush on the opening drive of the second half. Miller had previously scored the first touchdown of the game with under two minutes remaining in quarter number two. Prior to that, the Alabama offense had only mustered six points on a pair of Graham Nicholson field goals. Miller and Haynes each had a touchdown in the game's final 30 minutes.
Alabama (6-2, 3-2 SEC) struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball in a loss against Tennessee seven short days ago. Milroe had 215 yards passing but was without a touchdown through the air for the duration of the contest. Haynes expects the running game to continue to complement the passing game, and vice versa. A steady diet of running plays ultimately helped distance the Crimson Tide from its slow start, which could have been compounded by the fact that the team only had seven points in the first half last Saturday.
"I think it's very important to have a balance," Haynes said. "The run feeds off the pass, the pass feeds off the run. I feel like we're, as an offense, continuing to do that. As well as room for improvement. But I think establishing the run's always a great thing, but also establishing the pass. We've gotta be a balanced offense."
Missouri (6-2, 2-2 SEC) was without leading rusher Nate Noel owing to injury issues, which plagued the Tigers in this game. Quarterback Brady Cook, who was already nursing a bad ankle which left his playing status in immense doubt in the week leading up to the conference showdown, left in the early going on account of an unrelated hand injury. The visitors still mustered 167 rushing yards, amounting to 69.9% of their total output on the afternoon (239 yards). The Tigers have also lost two of four, both coming on the road to ranked opposition.
Miller and Haynes were not the only major contributors to the stat sheet from a rushing standpoint, and neither was Milroe. Redshirt freshman tailback Richard Young broke off a 62-yard dash from the shadow of his own goal line on the final drive of the game, which led all individual runs (Haynes' touchdown was second, followed by a 32-yard run from Milroe).