Alabama and Florida will arrive at Saturday’s Southeastern Conference football title game from different directions momentum-wise, but they do have one thing very much in common.
Neither Crimson Tide nor Gators defenders enjoy tackling Alabama junior tailback Derrick Henry.
“It’s not that fun when he has a full head of steam coming at you,” Florida junior cornerback Vernon Hargreaves said this week. “He’s a big back. He can make you miss, or he can run you over. He can do whatever he wants.
“Obviously he’s one of the best in the country, and he shows it week in and week out. He runs hard, keeps his head down and keeps his mouth shut. I respect his game.”
Hargreaves saw Henry up close plenty of times last season in Tuscaloosa, when Alabama’s 6-foot-3, 242-pounder rushed 20 times for 111 yards and a touchdown during a 42-21 triumph. Whenever the two All-Americans collide, Hargreaves is giving up 4 inches and 44 pounds.
Of course, the Crimson Tide players are not sympathizing with anyone, because they’ve had to face Henry the past three years in practice.
“It’s a handful,” Alabama senior linebacker Reggie Ragland said. “I’m used to it now, but for the most part, every time Derrick runs the ball, you’ve got to bring everything you’ve got and hit him hard.”
Henry’s 46-carry, 271-yard performance in last Saturday’s 29-13 win at Auburn catapulted the former five-star recruit from Yulee, Fla., to the national lead with 1,797 yards. He also leads all Football Bowl Subdivision players with 22 rushing touchdowns.
The fact that Florida is ranked doesn’t bode well for Jim McElwain’s Gators, because Henry has amassed 1,072 yards and averaged 178.7 yards per game in the Tide’s six contests this season against ranked foes – Wisconsin, Ole Miss, Georgia, Texas A&M, LSU and Mississippi State.
“Historically, Alabama has had good running backs, and I think Derrick is just in a long line of that,” said McElwain, who worked with tailbacks Glen Coffee, Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy during his run as the Tide’s offensive coordinator from 2008 to ’11. “They’ll continue to get the best players in the country at that spot, as they do all the spots.”
Henry has compiled a staggering 1,235 yards this season after contact, which translates to 69.0 percent of his total. In Alabama’s 31-6 win at Mississippi State last month, he gained 182 of his 204 yards, or 89.0 percent, after contact.
Ragland, who is just a milkshake or two heavier than Henry, has seen plenty of extra-effort runs each spring and in preseason camp.
“I learned how to tackle the right way and wrap up on him,” Ragland said, “because if you don’t wrap up, he’ll break every tackle. I got used to it, because when I got here, I had to learn to tackle Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon.”
The tackling chore Saturday falls on the Gators.
“With a big back like that, you’ve just got to wrap up and get 11 hats to the ball,” Florida defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard said. “It’s going to take a great effort on our part to try and get him down.”
Said Hargreaves: “You’ve just got to hold on and wait for the boys to get there.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.