‘If We Play the Game Like We Did Today, We’re Going to Have a Long Season’: Harrell After Alabama Loss

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.—After Alabama’s 48-10 season-opening win over East Carolina, Pirates head coach Blake Harrell admitted his team failed to execute the two pillars of its game plan: run the football and stop the run.

“We talked earlier in the week about things that we gotta do to win a football game, and that was run the football and stop the run, and we certainly didn’t do those two things. I think that’s what stands out to me the most,” Harrell said. “Really gets after me a little bit defensively too that you can’t stop the run, and that’s a part to credit to their offensive line, their running backs. I think they’re pretty talented. Their quarterback, when he drops back and you get him in a third and ten, third and long, he can take off, and we had a spy on him and he just outruns us, so we just gotta do a better job to game plan that out and putting a guy on him that can try to catch him and do a better job than tackling overall.” 

This was evident in Saturday’s loss, with Alabama holding East Carolina to only two rushing yards, while the Crimson Tide rushed for 227 yards and five touchdowns, with three different Crimson Tide running backs scoring at least one touchdown, with Daniel Hill leading the core with two rushing touchdowns while freshmen EJ Crowell and Trae’shawn Brown both appeared in the end zone in Alabama’s 38-point win. 

Alabama’s redshirt freshman quarterback Keelon Russell also had a very productive day on the ground, finishing the game with 86 rushing yards on 13 carries and rushing for one touchdown, his first of his collegiate career. 

“On the opposite side of the ball, we get in a third-down situation; we got to keep the stick moving. It can’t be a 40-second drive or only 41 plays in a game,”  Harrell added. “I mean, that’s not gonna win you football games, so it wouldn’t have mattered if we were playing Alabama today or anybody else on our schedule. If we play the game like we did today, we’re going to have a long season.”

In Saturday’s loss, Harrel’s team had half of their drives end after only three plays, with East Carolina’s longest drive a six-play drive that produced only 14 yards for a field goal at the beginning of the third quarter. Besides the Pirates' third drive of the game in the beginning of the second quarter, which saw them score in three plays thanks to a 68-yard reception from Tyler Johnson to get the Pirates inside of the Crimson Tide’s 5-yard line which saw Mitch Griffis connect with Jeremiah Melvin for a one-yard touchdown, the most yards East Carolina got on a drive in this game was 30 yards, which saw them punt it away to Alabama. 

East Carolina finished the loss with just 162 yards compared to the Crimson Tide’s 480-yard performance. Alabama also had a time of possession of 38:53 in the season-opener win, compared to the Pirates, who had possession for only 21 minutes. 

The Pirates will be back in action next Saturday, Sept.12, when they host App State in East Carolina's home opener as they look to get back on track after Saturday’s blowout loss against the Crimson Tide. 

Micah Nichols covers Alabama baseball, football, and basketball for Tide 100.9. Follow @MicahNichols0 on X for in-game updates, highlights, and more Crimson Tide content.