Line play necessitates shift in Tide offense
By Alex Scarborough
Published September 24, 2013, 12:00:43 PM
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Colorado State Rams came into Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday as a physical underdog. The CSU defensive line wasn't just out-starred on the football field, as recruiting services would suggest, there were outweighed and outmanned as well, lighter than the Alabama offensive line by an average of 30 pounds.
The Rams were allowing 162 rushing yards per game, slightly below the middle of the NCAA pack.
And still, the same scrappy CSU defense stacked the box, pushing and pulling and knifing through the line of scrimmage to hold Alabama's historically vaunted running game to a meager 66 yards on 21 rushing attempts, the lowest output by the top-ranked Crimson Tide since 2010.
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