Alabama vs. Florida: Ranking the 4 Running Backs for the Monumental Matchup

We've all heard the phrase, "Rainey and Demps are the two fastest running backs in college football" until we've wanted to puke orange and blue.

While that may be true, a more pressing question arises: are they the two best running backs in college football?

What better way to test the mettle of Rainey and Demps than to compare them with another impressive tandem, Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy of the Crimson Tide?

It just so happens that those smart people who make up college football schedules did just that by scheduling this epic match-up between No. 3 Alabama and No. 12 Florida this Saturday. Gotta love the SEC, right?

Here is a breakdown of where the four line up thus far. 

4. Jeff Demps

Guess what I'm gonna say?

Jeff Demps is really fast. Very, very fast. In fact, as 98% of you know, he is the fastest player in college football. 

But does that make him good? 

Judging by his stats, he is actually the least effective out of the four dynamos in this list, having run for only 320 yards this season, 157 of which came against the worst defense in the SEC in Kentucky (although Auburn and Ole Miss are making a case for that ignominious distinction). 

His yards per-carry are good at a 9.4 but again that's only against ineffective teams like FAU and Kentucky. The one real test for Florida was against Tennessee where Demps ran the ball 10 times, gathered only 48 yards (4.8 per carry) and had no touchdowns. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Alabama run defense is better than Tennessee's. 

Scratch that, that's not going out on a limb at all.

Running Stats:

320 yards, 34 attempts, 9.4 yards per carry, 4 touchdowns.

Receiving Stats:

9 receptions, 70 yards, 0 touchdowns

3. Eddie Lacy

When Ingram was in T-Town all the Alabama fans would hear about was Richardson. Now that Richardson has arrived, all anyone talks about is how good Eddie Lacy is as a backup. 

Maybe they're right.

So far Eddie Lacy has notched several impressive games on his red belt, earning himself 365 yards and four touchdowns on the season.

However, the reason Lacy is third on this list is because of an unimpressive game against No. 14 Arkansas that saw him only rush for 61 yards, averaging 4.7 yards per carry with one touchdown.

Although those are good stats for most RBs, Lacy has to be placed third on this list.

Running Stats:

365 yards, 41 attempts, 8.9 yards per carry, 4 touchdowns

Receiving Stats:

5 receptions, 86 yards, 0 touchdowns

2. Chris Rainey

Rainey has been a big help in sparking the Florida offense for the past four games with his explosive speed. There's no question about that. 

Oddly enough however, his explosiveness (which again, is supposedly the best in the entire country) hasn't produced a running play longer than 27 yards this season. When looking at the quality of opponents, it is clear that his production does seem to drop off a bit when faced with a big game. Averaging only 5.1 yards per carry at home against Tennessee doesn't bode well for his upcoming match-up with Alabama.

He did have one beauty of a receiving TD though, as the Tennessee coverage decided not to cover the fast little guy running straight up the field. 

However the fact that he has only ran the ball twice for a touchdown and only has two receiving touchdowns means that he has to be ranked number two on this list. 

Running Stats:

411 yards, 63 attempts, 6.5 yards per carry, 2 touchdowns

Receiving Stats:

11 receptions, 214 yards, 2 touchdowns

1. Trent Richardson

Trent Richardson got off to a very miserable start in relation to his hype this season. After averaging only 2.8 and 4.3 yards per carry in his first two games, Richardson has stepped into his Heisman role in his last two games. 

Richardson single-handedly rolled over the Arkansas defense by collecting 126 rushing yards, 85 receiving yards and a receiving TD to cap it all off.

That's quite a night at the office against a highly ranked SEC squad.

Did I mention he has eight, yes eight, running touchdowns? He is seemingly able to move mountains on the goal line. 

Overall, look for Richardson to prove once again why he is the number one running back for Alabama and why he should have his name in the Heisman contention.

Running Stats:

441 yards, 67 attempts, 6.6 yards per carry, 8 touchdowns. 

Receiving Stats:

9 receptions, 121 yards, 1 touchdown

Conclusion

The title of this slide is a misnomer. There are a couple of conclusions to be made here.

• Demps is fast.

• Rainey is fast and has proven more as an offensive weapon.

• Richardson and Lacy have combined for more yards, more touchdowns and have almost identical yards per carry against BETTER teams than both of them.

Therefore, the question for this game shouldn't be can the Alabama defense (who is #1 in the country by the way) handle Rainey and Demps.

The real question is, why is no one talking about the Florida defense containing Richardson and Lacy?