Alabama's Best Defense Against Cam Newton? A Strong Running Game

There's an old saying in football that goes, you can't score if you don't have the ball. That could be Alabama's best defense against the Auburn offense and Cam Newton this Friday.

Doing that will be another issue.

The blueprint for beating Alabama is simple. Load the box and stop Alabama's vaunted running game and take your chances with the Bama air game.

It was almost run to perfection last year in the Iron Bowl until the last drive when then junior quarterback Greg McElroy engineered the winning drive in almost perfect fashion.

This year, however, Auburn has been suspect to a power running game and could have more trouble handling the assignment of stopping the run. Nick Saban and company are all too eager to test that theory.

With Trent Richardson back working with the first team in his usual rotation with Heisman Trophy-winner Mark Ingram, you can expect this duo to have plenty of carries.

But will they pile-up plenty of yards to show for it, and more importantly for Alabama, pile-up a lot of clock time in doing it?

In a game such as this, depth means a lot, and third-string running back Eddie Lacy has been hampered this week with issues. Forth string running back Terry Goode is more of a finesse runner, so we may see fourth-string Jalston Fowler if we need a third power back for the dirty third and short plays should the top two be resting.

This game is much like a boxing match. Both teams know they can hit the other and score points, the question is, who can keep the other from landing those serious punches the most?

For Alabama to win this game, they must do three things. First, keep the Auburn defense on the field and grind them down with long drives that eat-up the clock and their energy.

Second, they must score touchdowns in the red zone and not kick field goals. In other words, follow Saban's most basic request of his team, finish.

Third, they must be able to dominate the line of scrimmage on offense and make the running game work.

D.J. Fluker now back to near 100 percent and guard Barrett Jones expected to recover by game time from leg issues will certainly help. Center William Vlachos may have to play the game of his life, as he may have to help the drive up the middle that is sure to come from Auburn's defense.

While not discounting the defense, Alabama will almost certainly give up some big plays. This group of youngsters has done it all season, and Cam Newton will not let this game be any different.

Alabama won't win this game in a defensive struggle like many games in the past—they must do so by simply having the best offensive team that is capable of scoring in long, time-consuming drives, mixing in an occasional big play of their own.

Cam Newton can't beat Alabama alone and Auburn's offense won't score every time they have the ball. The trick for Alabama to pull this off is simply limit the opportunities the Auburn offense has to score by keeping the ball in their own hands.

And those hands will be one of the ones of the Alabama running backs.