TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Josh Jacobs said blocking was a weakness for him when he came to Alabama.

That no longer appeared to be the case Saturday when the Crimson Tide’s junior tailback made two key blocks, taking out three defenders, on a 57-yard touchdown run by Henry Ruggs III.

Now, it’s an aspect of his game Jacobs takes pride in, along with Alabama’s other running backs.

Jacobs broke down the play that he helped his teammate score the Tide ’s sixth touchdown of its 45-23 against Texas A&M. The junior back had time to hesitate and still make the play.

Henry Ruggs III to the HOUSE. @AlabamaFTBL is showing why they're the No. 1 team in the country. pic.twitter.com/MW8T7V4bpp — CBS Sports (@CBSSports) September 22, 2018

“When the first defender came and I was trying to block him, I was just trying to make sure (Ruggs) was still outside of me,” Jacobs said. “If you watch the video, you can see I kind of took a look back. When I saw another defender, I tried to do my best to clear the way for him, so it lined up perfectly.”

Jacobs wasn’t the only running back in a crimson jersey and helmet to throw a block in order to help others. Senior Damien Harris has been solid in that area over the course of his career and picked up an Aggie defender attempting to take down Tua Tagovailoa for a sack.

“We all take big pride in it because of the fact that if somebody gets blown up or somebody misses an assignment, we all kind of joke with each other,” Jacobs said Tuesday. “So, when we’re watching film, we try to make sure that you can’t get joked on, basically.

“I take pride in it because I felt like it was one of my weaknesses coming into this year. So, I try to put a lot of time into learning protections and being physical in my protections.”

A&M had no sacks and just one quarterback hurry yesterday.



Watch Damien Harris sell out in pass pro against a 300-pound DL. pic.twitter.com/QCA30lvGdF — Travis Reier (@travisreier) September 23, 2018

The three-headed beast of Harris, Jacobs and Najee Harris has carried the running load for Alabama through four games. The trio has combined for 564 yards and seven touchdowns on 92 carries, with the younger Harris leading the way with 38 rushes for 246 yards.

And like Jacobs, Najee Harris improved his blocking ahead of his sophomore campaign.

“The biggest thing for young running backs that tends to be the toughest thing is the pass protection aspect of the position,” offensive coordinator Mike Locksley said in the preseason. “I know Najee, with the intricacies that you see with the blitzes from teams and even when we practice against our guys, the one thing that I’ve seen the most improvement is his knowledge and understanding of our pass protection concepts.

“Obviously, as a runner, when you put the ball in his hands, his natural instincts are above the chart in terms of his ability. He’s a physical runner, he has great speed to finish runs. The biggest area that I’ve seen Najee improve has been in his pass protection and understanding his techniques.”

Blocking, whether on the edge or in the backfield, has been a positive for the back through three games. But one area they want to improve is in the run game, itself. Alabama only rushed for 109 yards on 28 attempts in the Texas A&M game. That was the lowest total for an Alabama ground attack since netting 66 yards on 32 carries on the road at Arkansas in 2014.

Some of that is due to a big day through the air from Tagovailoa, who tossed four touchdowns and a career-high 387 yards. Still, the backs are motivated to pile up higher rushing totals in the future.

“It’s definitely a big emphasis in the running back room on just doing the little things,” Jacobs said. “Not trying to over-create, sticking to the basics. One-cut runs and basically just getting north and south. So, we try to implement all those things in practice this week.”

“... I think sometimes we gave up on the runs too much. We didn’t press the holes as much as we should. So, that’s all things that we can change.”

Damien Harris added: “I mean, we had like what 400 yards passing. I think that that kind of played a factor in it. It was kind of a game where we needed to air the ball out and get the ball to guys on the perimeter. So, I think that’s a good part about our offense being so balanced. It’s not that we run 50 percent of the time and throw the ball 50 percent of the time, but that we can have success and be efficient in either phase of the game.”

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).

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