At Alabama, tailback Ken Darby became the offense two years ago after quarterback Brodie Croyle suffered a season-ending injury. In one four-game stretch, Darby carried the ball a total of 125 times. Last season, Darby carried the ball more than 23 times only once, in the Tide's 13-10 Cotton Bowl victory over Texas Tech. This year too, Shula expects to use Darby more judiciously.
"Two years ago we ran the ball probably as much as any team I've ever been around," Shula said. "I'm not sure we'll see him carrying it that much just because of a couple reasons. One, we feel like we have an ability to throw the football. We also feel like we've got some other guys behind him."