There's 7 in the box idiot. 4 down linemen, 2 LBs & a CB who is playing as a rover player being that there is no receiver on the right side of the offensive formation. Then there is also another defender screaming towards the line of scrimmage shortly afterwards.

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I mean good Lord man, what's he supposed to do on running plays? Let's just call it 11 in the box and say Alabama put 11 in the box and that's why they always stop Fournette

Are you frickin retarded? Seriously, that safety who comes into the box is completely selling out against the run. Had that been a play action pass, he is way out of position for his single high safety responsibilities but what do you know about that? The reason the safety could be so aggressive is that LSU refused to give them a reason to not be so aggressive against the run by constantly testing Bama downfield.

I'm just making all this stuff up though. Wait....

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So what happened? Why was one Heisman candidate able to run the ball so easily and the other able to get nothing done?

In short, Alabama’s defensive front absolutely overpowered the LSU blocking, and LSU seemed to run right into the buzz saw willingly.

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One of the biggest issues LSU had in this game is that quarterback Brandon Harris never did anything to make them respect the pass and back off the line.

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Alabama simply won at the point of attack consistently all game long.

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Alabama was able to win at the point of attack seemingly at will.

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Often controlling two gaps, the Tide defenders had the measure of the LSU blockers and were merely reading the run play. They’d only destroy the block when the it came close enough to them, almost baiting Fournette in by showing him a clean path through the line before slamming the door shut on him as he arrived.

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It's the same scheme that churned out yards on the ground against just about everyone over the years. So Alabama's front 7 was better than LSU's offensive line.

Yes yet Alabama always had 2 weeks to prepare being both teams had bye weeks before the matchup. Saban dissected the simple LSU ground game & had his players ready with a good game plan.

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Alabama weren’t trying to penetrate, but to seal up the line of scrimmage. This is why he routinely arrived at the line to be met not necessarily by Alabama defenders, but by a wall of blockers and a solid mass of bodies. On many of these plays the runs were walled off, spilling Fournette to waiting perimeter defenders who did an admirable job of bringing him to the ground one-on-one.

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As much as other teams would like to copy this blueprint, the necessary components for succeeding in this game plan are players with the ability and dominance of this Crimson Tide front. Strategically, it can certainly be said that the best way to defend against Fournette may be to try and block up the line, rather than penetrate and risk creating gaps. However, there aren’t many teams out there that could succeed two-gapping against a team like LSU.

This was PFF's breakdown for the 2015 game but you can rinse & repeat for the 2014 & 2016 games because LSU did nothing differently offensively in none of the matchups.

2015 PFF Breakdown LSU vs Alabama

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It's very likely that he is picked by a team that will be at a disadvantage up front more often than not, except now there are even better athletes trying to stop him.

You mean like Todd Gurley? Because the Rams offensive line & they had terrible QB play was absolutely pathetic this year, does that make Todd Gurley less of a back? Hell no.

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What do you think is going to happen in the NFL? It's very likely that he is picked by a team that will be at a disadvantage up front more often than not, except now there are even better athletes trying to stop him. God help him if he goes to a team like the Jets with no passing game

He is going to be like every other running back with poor QB & a poor offensive line, struggle. You keep mentioning supposedly negatives towards Fournette yet these are franchise issues that don't take away from Fournette's talent.