TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After mentioning the offensive line needed "a different mentality" during fall camp, Nick Saban was the first to praise the unit after Alabama rushed for a season-high 317 yards in its 49-26 road win against Arkansas.
Saturday's performance was the fourth time in 2022 that the Crimson Tide offense tallied more than 500 yards of total offense. More importantly, Alabama has allowed five sacks, including one to the Razorbacks, through five games, which is half of the total the front five allowed in that same span last season.
"They did a good job in this game, especially," Saban said. "I think this was the best game we've played. I think they've shown improvement every week. I think that's important. I think that you're talking about a team that had (20) sacks going into the game, led the league in sacks. And they say they got one sack. I guess it must have been on Bryce's scramble. He must have lost a half an inch or something on that play. I thought they did a great job in pass protection, too, against some pretty good pass rushers and a pretty good pressure scheme."
Of those five sacks, only two were pinned on offensive linemen. JC Latham allowed one at Texas and Tyler Steen was credited with the other against Lousiana-Monroe, while the remaining were surrendered by tight ends and running backs.
While the improvement is evident, Alabama has showcased its depth. Eight offensive linemen recorded time with the first-team offense. When Darrian Dalcourt was held out against the Razorbacks due to back spasms, Seth McLaughlin filled in.
In his first start of the season, McLaughlin received an 83.4 pass-blocking grade according to Pro Football Focus, the second-highest on the team.
"I think something special about the O-line we have in general is we’re really deep," Ekiyor said. "Ones and twos, everybody is a really good player and could be a starter anywhere in the SEC. It just shows how deep we are for Seth to come in. He doesn’t play like a backup guy. He’s more like a 1B instead of just a 2. We knew Seth would do some really good things when he got in.
"He had experience playing in the national championship game before. We have all the confidence in the world in Seth and nobody is surprised by the things he did in the game. It’s awesome. I told him afterward, ‘Man, you’ve got some great football IQ.’ He just does some good stuff out there."
Along with McLaughlin, true-freshman Tyler Booker has thrived in his limited amount of playing time. Through five games, Booker has rotated through both guard spots with Cohen, Ekiyor and Kendall Randolph. When Randolph moved to a blocking tight end, Booker's role continued to grow, playing 30 or more snaps in his last three games.
During that span, he's graded above an 80 as a pass-blocker and leads Alabama with an 88.9 pass-blocking grade.
Ekiyor said Booker's preparation makes the freshman wise beyond his years which has allowed him to make an impact so early in the season.
The additions of Booker and McLaughlin have helped the overall cohesiveness of the offensive line and the performances speak for themselves. Despite the praise, Ekiyor has a keen understanding of how quickly it can unravel for the unit as Alabama allowed 42 sacks in 2021.
The unit will have another opportunity to impose its consistency against a Texas A&M defense that ranks ninth in the conference in total yards allowed, yielding more than 350 yards per game.
"We had little stretches where we did good things at times, but just the overall consistency of our play," Ekiyor said when asked about what was different against Arkansas compared to the start of the season. "Having about 10 rushes that got 6-9 yards and breaking those long runs at the end of the game, there’s more consistency in our running game. Our pass protection, too. We only gave up one sack, and it was kind of like on the scramble. Just continue to focus on those things throughout the week, being consistent with our technique and stuff. It’s paid dividends the last couple (of) weeks."
