As we look to fill the hours before kickoff, we’re closing out our two part question and answer session with Roll Bama Roll’s Erik Evans. You can find part one here. Erik holds forth on the Tide tailback rotation, what’s different with Jeremy Pruitt this year, and what he thinks the takeaway from this one will be depending on who comes out on top. Enjoy.

MD: How has Bo Scarbrough only gained 573 yards this season? Injury? Conditioning? After watching him in 2016 I never would have forecast him being outrushed by Jalen Hurts in 2017.

EE: Nearly everyone has seen a drop in both their carries and yards in the running game this season. As we covered the last time, part of that is conscious: Alabama has been throwing the ball more as part of both the game plan as well as using most games as developmental opportunities. The opportunity here is not just for Jalen Hurts to grow as a passer, but also for OC Brian Daboll to grow as a coordinator and playcaller. So, that’s a critical part of the story.

The other part of the story is two-fold: defenses have adjusted to Bo, and the offense simply performs better with Damien Harris as the feature back. Bo Scarbrough is a truly athletic specimen, but he’s limited as a player. There have been two years’ worth of documented miscommunications between he and Hurts on the mesh and other plays.

And, despite all of the promise that his excellent hands possess, Alabama coaches have not found ways to consistently get him the ball in the passing game, unlike say Kenyan Drake. Whether that’s failure of imagination on the part of the coaching staff, Bo’s inability to master the tree, or the offensive identity being in a state of flux since 2014 is anyone’s guess.

As for defenses, this one is self explanatory. Scarbrough is better when he hits the edge. A lot like Derrick Henry, he builds up steam and then becomes dangerous; he can use his power and quickness against the second level.

But, it’s no secret, because of the limitations noted above, when he’s in the game he’s more than likely going to get the ball and/or an option look is coming. Coaches make millions for a reason: It’s not hard to substitute in run-stuffing and -blitzing personnel or overload the box when Scarbrough’s personnel package comes on the field. He has seen more targets and touches this year in the passing game, but his diminished effectiveness as a runner in 2017 has a lot to do with the looks he’s facing too.

MD: Speaking of tailbacks, like the Bulldogs the Tide have used several this season. Is there a particular scheme to when we’ll see each? What are their relative strengths?

EE: Damien Harris is the best back on this team. Full stop. That was apparent in the 2016 spring game and, when healthy, that has been true the past two years. He’s tough, gets small in the hole, is powerful, has a surprising top-end speed, blocks well, and has soft hands. He is the home run threat, averaging nearly 8 yards per carry on over 100 carries, and when he is in there is no key as to what the offense will do. In a perfect world, he’d get 20-25 touches a game. Maybe Monday will be that perfect world.

Call Bo Scarbrough the option back. When Bo is in the game, Alabama is far more likely to run the read option. He’s also a good late-game option if the Tide has a team on the ropes and the defensive line is a step behind.

Josh Jacobs has been limited this season because of a hamstring. That is unfortunate, as he both brings a lot to the offense and is probably the most violent runner of the bunch. With his combination of footwork, acceleration and power, as well as his route-running, there is a lot that Josh does to remind you of the former Heisman winner. This season he was expected to contribute more to a changing offensive scheme and be used as a utility back. He leads all RBs with 14 catches and 2 TDs.

There’s about a 25% chance when he’s in the game that he’ll get a target in the passing game, especially a slip screen, with or without motioning to empty out of the 31 personnel. Jacobs has been listed as questionable, but he did see action against Clemson last week after re-aggravating his injury the day before the game, so I expect he’ll see some limited action.

Najee Harris is the future: comparisons to Derrick Henry are not far off, though he plays a bit more powerfully than Henry (who managed the feat of being 245 pounds and rarely taking or delivering a haymaker.) He has excellent footwork and good speed to match his growing contribution in the passing game. You have to think he’ll get a carry or two, as part of the standard rotation and/or paying fealty to the No. 1 recruit from the 2017 NSD class.

If you see Tuscaloosa’s homegrown four-star freshman Brian Robinson in the game, something has gone way off the script and one team is up on the other by five or six touchdowns with three minutes left. Finally, I want to also give a shout-out to the oft-injured Ronnie Clark. More than a little part of me wants to see a blowout either way so that No. 5 will get a few carries. He has had a series of devastating injuries throughout his career and devastating health issues within his family. And, all he has done is be a great teammate, bulk up to man the H-back spot, and be an inspirational locker room leader even as he has seen player-after-player pass him by on the depth chart. His positive attitude is contagious, and I selfishly want him to get a carry on this biggest of stages.

MD: On Saturday Nick Saban officially ruled guard Lester Cotton out for the title game. How big a deal is that?

EE: Big Lester has quietly had a very good year on the right side. Alabama is a much better power team to that side of the field due in no small part to Cotton’s improvement this season.

Last year, he pressed Alphonse Taylor for playing time at RG, but was never quite able to execute well enough to earn the job. This year, RG looked to be an open question going into Fall Camp. It turned out to be not-so-much that case. He won the job and has locked it down all year . Fortunately, J.C. Hassenauer is a seasoned vet on the line: He’s seen time at center and both guard spots throughout his career. The dropoff isn’t that appreciable, though Cotton is the more physical player.

While you’d like to see continuity along the offensive line, Hassenauer manned Ross Pierschbacher’s spot for two starts admirably, and stepped in at right guard with no real damage to the offense last week after Cotton’s injury, including limiting the nation’s nastiest pass rush.

I think he’ll probably be fine, especially if the game plan involves powering the football and shortening the game. But I would not be surprised to see Alabama scheme extra blocking to that side, however, especially if Roquan Smith is moved around to both test Hassenaeur, a realigned blocking scheme, and a physical-but-heavier-footed Matt Womack.

MD: My favorite Q&A question, the 5x4: Alabama is down by four and has 4th and four with four seconds left from the four yard line. What’s the call, and who’s getting the ball?

EE: This isn’t an option: You put the ball in Jalen Hurts’ hands and move him around on an RPO with Ridley as the primary receiver. Over the past two years, Hurts has shown an uncanny knack for making big plays when he’s needed the most, and that coincides to when the offense trusts him the most.

His mobility puts a lot of stress on linebackers and DBs who must commit to making a tackle or covering their man in space. He’s not the most accurate passer beyond 20 yards, but needing just four yards, he can do a whole lot to hurt defenses and has a very strong release. Besides being elusive, he’s also a powerlifter and one of the strongest players on the team: If need be, he can deliver a blow or piggyback someone an extra yard. Jalen has well-documented limitations as a passer, but his greatest asset is making plays that win games. I’d have a small heart attack if this game comes down to the 5X4, but, honestly, I don’t know who I’d trust more to have the ball in their hands.

MD: Alabama’s defense is as star-studded as they come, even with some of the big names hurting. But who is one Crimson Tide defender Bulldog fans should be more aware of?

EE: I give you Levi Wallace, former walk-on turned physical shutdown corner and high-end draft prospect. His story is an amazing one. Wallace came to Tuscaloosa via Tucson Magnet, where he generated exactly zero Power Five scholarship offers. But, he was enamored of the Tide and always told his dad (now-deceased) that he would play at Alabama.

So, to the Capstone he came as a walk-on and paid his way for a few years before earning a scholarship, then increased playing time, then an improbable starting job as a true outside corner. He’s not the largest DB (5’11-6’0” -ish and somewhere around 185-ish.) But, he fights for every ball in the air, has strong hands, and good recovery speed.

He’s been the Tide’s best option on the outside this year after passing a trial-by-fire in press-man for an Alabama defense that doesn’t generate many sacks. Just your everyday, five-year overnight sensation, Wallace is expected to be drafted between the 4th and 6th rounds.

Wallace, like Ronnie Clark and so many others, is a reason the college game sticks with you: These are ultimately still kids trying to make their dreams happen and find their way in the world. Even if he’s never drafted or if he never plays a down in the NFL, Wallace has been a success. Those are the stories I take to heart; the positives I take away even though the abiding majority of sportswriters treat players as commodities and college athletics as a mere semiprofessional league (Editor’s note: Cosigned.).

MD: Georgia fans are pretty familiar with Jeremy Pruitt’s defense from his time in Athens. They’re not surprised that it’s the top scoring defense (11.1 per game) and rushing defense (91.77 ypg) in the country. But is there anything new you’ve seen in 2017 with that unit that also performed so well under Pruitt during 2016 in his first year back home?

EE: Pruitt has improved as a playcaller in each of his five years as a full-time DC at three elite programs; that should surprise no one -- he’s also had the benefit of working under three championship head coaches to further his tutelage. And, before that, Pruitt had a three-year run coaching DBs and leading the defense at national prep power Hoover High School. But, where he has really stood out this year is in scheming around injuries.

More than any other defense in the nation (presumably, soon true at South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee), Alabama recruits specialists up and down the defensive roster: from long, athletic situational rushers on the outside, to oversized strong-side two-gappers, to specialist DBs who make the defense hum, Saban has a highly-regimented recruiting plan for his defense and for the number of men he wants in the box.

Coaches who run the defense are expected to work within his vision of how all the pieces fit together in the Fairbanks-Bullough 3-4. This year, the Tide was expected to lean on one of the nation’s best secondaries to help out a solid-but-thin defensive front, and a very deep-but-young linebacking corps. After losing 46 starts alone just in the linebacking corps, and a mere three players missing no starts, that plan went out the window and the Tide had to disguise some sudden weaknesses in personnel.

And those absences haven’t just been at linebacker, either: Alabama has, at various times, lost key contributors at every position except defensive tackle and corner. Part of that has been a deep bench. But, a great deal has been scheming, and even more has been good old fashioned coaching.

Pruitt is renowned as an excellent teacher: It absolutely showed this year (Editor’s note: this is 100% accurate. Watching him do it is mesmerizing). He’s done a masterful job turning freshmen into contributors, bench players into starters, and starters into leaders who communicate on the field. Of all the years an Alabama coach deserved the Broyles Award for top assistant, I think Pruitt was the most deserving this season.

This team on paper has no business being as dominant as they are after the last two years of NFL attrition and the MASH unit of injuries in 2017. Fully aware that this may not fly with your target audience, and mindful of Kirby’s masterful contributions to the Alabama program for a decade, I still don’t hesitate to call Jeremy Pruitt the best, most aggressive defensive playcaller of the Saban era.

Alabama will ultimately be fine going forward, but I would by lying if I said that he will not be missed. (And that, of course, is the entire reason Fulmer hired him.)

MD: Write the headline: If Alabama wins this one what will be the two inch tall headline splashed across the (now digital) front page that tells the story of this game? What about if Georgia wins?

EE: FINISHED BUSINESS: TIDE REASSERTS NATIONAL DOMINANCE WITH FAMILIAR FORMULA. Or, if you prefer (and I certainly don’t, I must add,) PASSING THE TORCH: BULLDOGS BITE TIDE, BEAT SABAN AT HIS OWN GAME. (That last one gave me meat-sweats to be honest; and, because Saban is driven by fear of failure more than the love of winning, I think/hope/pray/sacrifice to Jobu that we see something like the former headline as the clock strikes midnight.)

Thanks again to Erik for his candid and informative responses. I feel like I know more about Alabama going into this one than I otherwise would have, despite having watched them bludgeon opponents on a weekly basis all season. I hope you feel the same. Until later...

Go ‘Dawgs!!!