That first one was a jet sweep.
A motioning Josh Jacobs took the pitch from Jalen Hurts, cut upfield and showed why Alabama coaches wanted to get him more involved in the offense.
Jacobs ran through a tackle attempt from a Mississippi State defensive lineman and then looked like a pinball as he bounced off three other players on his way to a 12-yard gain.
In total, this versatile sophomore running back got eight touches during Alabama’s win over Mississippi State Saturday night after only receiving one touch against LSU a week earlier. And his impact, according to coach Nick Saban, went beyond his stat line. To Saban, that play and others like it from Jacobs sparked the entire team during this comeback victory.
“Josh was a different sort of cat for us being a quick, explosive and fast guy,” Saban said after the game. “He’s been not healthy all the time, but I think as a change-of-pace guy that could go in there and do what he did tonight was probably the whole spark for the whole team.”
Josh Jacobs could be Alabama’s version of Kevin Faulk
“I would say he’s the most different, the most unique out of that (running back) group. He’s a smaller guy … but he’s the most athletic maybe out of the group.”
Alabama went to Jacobs on the first two plays of the second half — the jet sweep and then on a fake jet sweep that ended with Jacobs catching a pass from Jalen Hurts and doing more of what he did on the previous play.
Jacobs stiff-armed a Mississippi State defender to the ground at the line of scrimmage and barreled over another player before being knocked out of bounds. Just a 6-yard gain but the type of play that will further energize a team, especially after the previous play.
Then, with Alabama trailing 24-17 early in the fourth quarter, Jacobs broke off runs of seven, 13 and 11 yards during a 10-play, 82-yard drive that ended with a game-tying touchdown.
Looking as healthy and explosive as he’s looked since suffering a hamstring injury during preseason camp, Jacobs ran for 36 yards and a touchdown on six carries and had 18 yards on the two catches while playing the type of role Tide coaches expected him to play before that hamstring injury.
“Just his competitive disposition about how he ran the ball and his second effort, I think, affected everyone out there, and that was probably a good thing,” Saban said. “He was very productive and effective for us.”
Matt Zenitz is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.
For Josh Jacobs gallery follow this link www.al.com/alabamafootball
