SEPT. 23 COLUMN: These running backs worth watching

In the early days leading up to Saturday’s Southeastern Conference football game between Alabama and Arkansas, most of the attention has been focused, understandably enough, on Razorback quarterback Ryan Mallett and the Crimson Tide’s strategy for slowing him down.

There has been less attention devoted to another critical issue, though. That’s the Alabama backfield — specifically its running backs. It remains to be seen how Arkansas will handle the Crimson Tide’s backs.

In fact, it remains to be seen how Alabama coach Nick Saban will handle them, too.

Here’s the situation. If Roy Upchurch’s sprained ankle continues to come around in a timely fashion, the Crimson Tide will have a full stable of healthy, battle-tested backs that will go at least four deep. Freshman Trent Richardson did play briefly against Virginia Tech, but he’s been a force in the last two games. Mark Ingram, who did much of the heavy lifting in the opener, was sick and sore for much of the week leading up to the Florida International game. Upchurch sprained an ankle in the early going against the Golden Panthers and didn’t play at all against North Texas. Terry Grant has been the next option in all those games, and deserves mention as well.

This week, all four will be available. From a depth standpoint, it is almost an embarrassment of riches. As the previous couple of weeks indicate, you can’t ever have too many good backs — but it will be interesting to see how Saban handles the playing rotation against Arkansas.

It may not be something that even Saban himself can predict before kickoff.

‘I basically sort of get a feeling when the game’s going on,’ he said Monday.

‘We usually say we are going to have (the starting) guy carry it three or four times and the next guy is going to go in and carry it three or four times, and then maybe you have a guy that is assigned to a specific role, whether it’s third down or whatever.

‘From that scenario, you kind of get a feel for who has the hot hand, for who is the guy that’s rolling out there like you would like to see it. Maybe that guy plays a little bit more than the other guys in that particular game.

‘(We) really evaluate them and then see who’s got the feel.’

That may not sound scientific, but Saban has worked magic in similar situations before. His 2003 BCS championship team at LSU had a very similar roster situation. Justin Vincent was the workhorse and had over 1,000 yards that season. But the Tigers also had Joseph Addai, who went on to two 1,000-yard NFL seasons with the Colts. They had Alley Broussard, who might have been the best of the bunch before a knee injury. Plus the Tigers had speedy Shyrone Carey as the situational change-of-pace back.

As a group, those four rushed for 2,248 yards in the 2003 season.

Could Alabama’s group end up being better, or the best in Alabama history?

The Crimson Tide has had loaded backfields in the past. While it is apples and oranges to compare wishbone teams to the offenses of today, several of the Alabama teams of the 1970s were loaded. In 1973, Alabama had eight different backs (including two quarterbacks) who rushed for 230 yards or more. In 1978, the Crimson Tide had Tony Nathan, Major Ogilvie, Billy Jackson and Lou Ikner in the backfield (with Steve Whitman at fullback, no less).

Perhaps a better comparison would be the 1985 team with Bobby Humphrey, Gene Jelks, Murry Hill and a post-injury Kerry Goode, who would have been one of the all-time Crimson Tide greats if his knee hadn’t been injured two years earlier. Another possibility would be 1996 — Dennis Riddle, Shaun Alexander, Curtis Alexander and mighty mite Montoya Madden.

In the meantime, it is far too early to proclaim this group of Alabama backs as ‘the best’ when it has yet to play a down of Southeastern Conference football. But it will be interesting to see how the Crimson Tide coaching staff distributes the football — and how this group continues to develop.

Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil.hurt@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0225.