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Tennessee Football: Alvin Kamara Needs to Start Against Alabama

By Tanner Carson

Oct 8, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Alvin Kamara (6) runs for a first down against the Texas A&M Aggies during the second half at Kyle Field. The Aggies defeat the Volunteers 45-38 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 8, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Alvin Kamara (6) runs for a first down against the Texas A&M Aggies during the second half at Kyle Field. The Aggies defeat the Volunteers 45-38 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Despite Jalen Hurd being ready to go against the Crimson Tide, Alvin Kamara must get the start this Saturday if the Volunteers want to win.

Alvin Kamara needs to start against Alabama and get the majority of the touches against the No. 1 Crimson Tide. It is that simple.

While junior workhorse running back Jalen Hurd appears to be 100 percent and ready to go according to coach Butch Jones, he still should not be the feature back Saturday. This is not indicative of any luck-luster performance from Hurd. It’s simply what needs to happen after last Saturday’s game at Texas A&M.

Kamara had the game of his life in Hurd’s absence against a very stout John Chavis defense. He finished with 161 yards receiving, 127 yards rushing and three total touchdowns. Add in 16 kickoff return yards and eight punt return yards, and Alvin Kamara finished with a school record 312 all-purpose yards. That broke Chuck Webb’s previous mark of 294 set back in 1989.

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One criticism of the Tennessee coaching staff going back to last year was the under-utilization of Kamara’s explosive abilities. Many thought that would change this season and Kamara would be much more involved in the offense. However, that wasn’t the case up until the Georgia game, when Kamara saw more snaps due to Hurd’s injury.

In fact, Kamara had only one game with double digit offensive touches before Georgia: against the Ohio Bobcats. He had 11 rushes and two receptions that game. Perhaps the most egregious under-usage of Alvin Kamara this year came in the Vols biggest game of the season. Against the Florida Gators, he had only three offensive touches.

Although some untimely drops may have contributed to that number, such little involvement of a player like Kamara against your biggest rival is bizarre.

But it’s time to look past all of that after these last two weeks and look towards the future. Kamara needs a more expanded role in Mike DeBord’s offense.

Increasing his reps is necessary for Tennessee’s offense to succeed against what could possibly be the most talented defense that Alabama has had under Nick Saban. The whole nation saw Kamara’s athletic prowess on full display against A&M. He was able to cut up field, get open, and make several Aggie defenders miss tackling him.

Sure, Alabama’s defense has more talent, but if any Tennessee back can get away from the likes of Ryan Anderson, Reuben Foster, and Minkah Fitzpatrick, it is Kamara.

This is not to say that the coaches should diminish Hurd’s role though. He still is one of the best backs in the conference and had a good performance against the Tide last year (92 yards, TD). He should also definitely get at least 10 rushing attempts and some more touches in the passing game.

We all know what Hurd can do. He gets tough yards, breaks tackles, pass protects very well, and generally wears down an opposing defense. For Kamara though, we’ve finally seen what he can do when the Vols fully unleash him, and that doesn’t need to change. This is especially true if Tennessee wants to stay on track to win the SEC East.

It would be ideal for Kamara to get 60 percent of the touches. Hurd should get 30 percent, and John Kelly should get 10 percent, especially after having 89 rushing yards last week. You could then return to Hurd’s normal amount of touches in games following the bye week.

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Hurd is a great player and statistically one of the best running backs in school history, but in order for the Vols to pull off a monumental upset over Bama, Butch Jones and Mike DeBord must make the decision to go with the hot hand of Alvin Kamara.

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