After fits and starts, Bo Scarbrough becomes a star

— --

So this was the Heisman Trophy candidate we'd heard whispers of.

This was the next Derrick Henry, the next Mark Ingram.

This was next great Alabama running back to lead Nick Saban and the top-ranked Crimson Tide to another national title.

Who cares if he arrived a few months late? And what did it matter that he waited to hold his coming-out party during the final college football game in the Georgia Dome? Bo Scarbrough would close down the old place in style, on New Year's Eve of all days, introducing himself to a national audience just in time for the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T (Monday, 8 ET, ESPN).

Even Henry spent part of the game pleading with Alabama to feed his successor.

It took a little time, but eventually Lane Kiffin listened to his former Heisman winner, and Scarbrough delivered.

On second-and-9, with Alabama ahead of Washington by 10 points in the fourth quarter, Scarbrough took the handoff out of the pistol formation, veered to his left and seemed stuck at the line of scrimmage. Defensive tackle Greg Gaines -- all 318 pounds of him -- grabbed Scarbrough around the shoulders and pulled. But Scarbrough shrugged him off, bounced off another defender, slipped and steadied himself just before falling to the turf. Then he was off to the races, sprinting 68 yards down the sideline for the touchdown that put the Huskies away for good.

Big No. 9 was borderline unstoppable last Saturday, rushing for an Alabama bowl-record 180 yards and two scores. Washington's defense was helpless against the 6-foot-2, 230-pound redshirt sophomore, allowing 120 of his rushing yards after contact.

It was an even more impressive follow-up to the 91 yards and two touchdowns he had a month earlier against Florida in the SEC championship game in Atlanta.

And afterward, when Scarbrough was named the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Offensive Player of the Game, anyone wearing crimson would tell you they saw all of this coming.

Linebacker Ryan Anderson called him a "monster" during scrimmages.

Tight end O.J. Howard told reporters he'd seen those cutback and "juke moves" plenty of times in practice.

"It might be surprising to y'all," said left tackle Cam Robinson, "but we know what Bo can do."

Now the rest of the college football world does, too.

Clemson's defense gave up 158 yards and three touchdowns to Henry when Alabama won last year's national championship. Now it has another star running back to account for during Monday's rematch in Tampa, Florida.

The question wasn't for Saban, but he wanted to say something nonetheless.

"I'd like to make a comment about that," Saban said when a reporter asked Scarbrough whether he thought this day would ever come, "because Bo has always been a really hard worker, and he's had some obstacles to overcome, mostly little injury-type things that have plagued him a little bit.

"But never once did he put his head down. Never once did he get frustrated or discouraged. Just kept working. Every time you call on him, he's ready to roll."

This moment, you could tell, was special for everyone involved, including Saban.

Because while some of those injuries were small, others were not. And many wondered whether the wide-eyed kid from just up the road in Northport, Alabama, would ever fulfill his five-star potential.

Going back to high school, Scarbrough had one season end with a torn ACL and another end on a broken ankle. Then, when he got to Alabama, he missed a season recovering from another knee surgery.

There were some bumps and bruises as a redshirt freshman, but he flashed some potential. On 18 carries, he had 104 yards and a touchdown, opening the eyes of those close to the program.

But durability was a lingering concern. He was thought of as a more explosive version of Henry, but Henry was a tank that never seemed to wear down or need time in the shop.

What's more, Scarbrough didn't have the finer points of the position mastered. He struggled in pass protection and seemed to need more time with the playbook. Damien Harris, a true sophomore, won the starting job coming out of fall camp and Scarbrough took a back seat.

During the first six games of this season, Scarbrough failed to break the 60-yard mark rushing and had double-digit carries just once. And when he did seem to have a breakout game, rushing for 109 yards and a touchdown against Tennessee, it was followed up with an eight-carry, 33-yard performance against Texas A&M. A week later, he mustered 52 yards at LSU before an injury sidelined him for the next two weeks.