Photo: USA Today Sports

Recap of Texas RB Bijan Robinson vs. Alabama’s Defensive Front

Last week we dove into Bijan Robinson and his matchup against the Alabama defensive front. It was a dominant defensive performance, but the main reason for that was Robinson lost his starting quarterback Quinn Ewers at the end of the first quarter. This changed the game's trajectory as Alabama could put more bodies in the box and commit themselves to shutting down the run and making Texas throw the ball. Robinson struggled to manifest much on the ground as he ended up with 57 yards on 21 carries. Only one of his carries totaled more than 10 yards, and thirteen of them went for 3 yards or less. The one big play he had was when he was able to sneak in behind the zone coverage for a 42-yard reception. All three Alabama players we highlighted last week were great against the run. Byron Young stuffed the middle of the line, Henry To’oTo’o constantly met Robinson at the line of scrimmage and filled gaps on his way to six tackles, and Will Anderson was immovable and wouldn’t let the Texas offensive line get any push. It would have been interesting to see Texas with Ewers the whole game and how that could have opened things up for Robinson. But Alabama showed from a run-stopping perspective how dominant they can be by holding arguably the best running back in the country in check. This week we head to Eugene, where we will see #25 Oregon host #12 BYU, who is fresh off their big win over Baylor.