Alabama has history of success vs. rushing QBs like Clemson’s Deshaun Watson

Nick Saban and Alabama are definitely concerned about Clemson QB Deshaun Watson. And they should be.

Watson, who finished third in this season’s Heisman Trophy voting behind Alabama’s Derrick Henry and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey, was the offensive MVP in Clemson’s 37-17 victory over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. The 6-2, 220-pounder from Gainesville, Ga., completed 16 of 31 passes for 187 yards, a touchdown and a pick against the Sooners, but it’s his running ability that makes him the toughest dual-threat QB Alabama will have faced since Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly, coincidentally the last signal-caller to beat the Crimson Tide.

Watson scorched the Sooners for a season-high 145 yards and a TD on 24 carries, his fifth game this season with at least 100 rushing yards.

Deshaun Watson was the brightest of #Shiningstars tonight & he is our @yesNOVA MVP! Check out this great run. #ALLINhttps://t.co/u7SzJ3Ldjf

— Campus Insiders (@CampusInsiders) January 1, 2016

On the season, Watson has 187 carries for 1,032 yards and 12 TDs, making him third among FBS QBs in rushing yardage behind only Navy’s Keenan Reynolds (1,373) and Houston’s Greg Ward (1,198).

In fact, Kelvin Taylor, Florida’s No. 1 running back, rushed for only 3 more yards than Watson — and Taylor had 72 more carries.

What makes Watson even more dangerous is that his offense features one of the best running backs in the country in Wayne Gallman. Gallman also burned Oklahoma on the ground with 150 yards and 2 TDs on 26 carries. In the ACC, his 1,482 yards are second to only Florida State’s Dalvin Cook (1,691), and he is another legitimate rushing threat for Alabama to worry about.

To put Watson’s rushing ability in perspective, Kelly — who finished 2015 with 500 yards and 10 TDs on 107 carries — rushed just eight times for 21 yards in the Rebels’ 43-37 victory over Alabama on Sept. 19.

But his ability to run set up a long touchdown pass to Cody Core on a designed play in which he aggressively rolled right, pulled up and lobbed over cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick’s head for a 73-yard score.

Watson showed similar ability against Oklahoma.

https://vine.co/v/iq3bdFHhFLx

Coincidentally, the most successful QB on the ground against Alabama this season was Middle Tennessee’s Brent Stockstill, who rushed five times for 29 yards in a 37-14 loss in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 12.

Those 29 yards were a season-high for Stockstill — who is apparently not fleet of foot — and finished the year with just 37 yards and 2 TDs on 60 carries.

In case you were wondering, over the past 20 seasons, no opposing QB has rushed for 100 yards in a game against Alabama. A couple have come close, but here’s a look at the top running performances opposing QBs have had versus the Crimson Tide over the past two decades, according to STATS, LLC:

Gallman has averaged 114 rushing yards a game this season while Watson has added 73.7 per contest. It would be shocking if Alabama would happen to allow their combined average of 187 on Monday night, especially since Alabama has the top rushing ‘D’ in the FBS, allowing just 70.8 yards per game.

In its 38-0 victory over Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl, the Crimson Tide held the Spartans to just 29 yards on 26 carries, so how much can Clemson expect to gain on the ground against Alabama?

Fifty rushing yards from each player is not a crazy estimate, so the Tigers’ best option might be to air it out. But while shutting down the Spartans’ rushing attack, Alabama also harassed Michigan State QB Connor Cook — a potential first-round NFL draft pick — into a 19-for-39 passing night for just 210 yards and two picks.

Listening to Saban speak about Watson, it’s clear that Clemson’s QB has gotten the Alabama coach’s attention.

“First of all, (Watson) is an outstanding player,” Saban said. “He does a great job of executing their offense. Tremendous dual-threat in terms of being a very good passer and rushing for over 1,000 yards this year. Really is a very good rhythm passer as well as a guy who can sustain plays and extend plays because of his athleticism and ability to scramble. Really as fine a dual-threat quarterback as we’ve played against for long, long time.”

Good thing Kirby Smart, Alabama’s longtime defensive coordinator who replaced Mark Richt as Georgia’s head coach last month, is still around helping Alabama prepare for Watson. He would be wise to turn his successor Jeremy Pruitt for advice on how to stop arguably the best quarterback in America.

Stan Chrapowicki

Stan Chrapowicki is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, Alabama and Auburn.