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Despite a stellar performance Sunday, Alstott will be back at fullback when Warrick Dunn is healthy.
By RICK STROUD
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 30, 2001
TAMPA -- He carried the offense, carried defenders to the end zone and carried the team on his back.
But don't get carried away.
Mike Alstott's 129-yard, three-touchdown rushing effort in Tampa Bay's 41-14 win over Minnesota on Sunday will not translate into more carries for the fullback.
That was the message delivered Monday by coach Tony Dungy, offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen and even starting tailback Warrick Dunn.
Though Alstott's first 100-yard rushing game since 1999 was impressive, he likely will return to his fullback position if Dunn returns to the lineup as expected Sunday at Green Bay.
"To me it's not so much what we do or who we're going to get the ball to," Dungy said. "Aaron Stecker averaged about 6 yards a carry yesterday. That's not to say Mike didn't do a good job, but we can't look at it and say, "Just because Mike Alstott was the ballcarrier, that's why we got things going.' "
It's hard, however, to ignore Alstott's production. Not only have the Bucs won both games he started at tailback, his touchdown runs were the difference: a 39-yarder to beat Green Bay and 3-, 6- and 10-yarders against the Vikings.
Alstott leads the Bucs in rushing with 261 yards and four touchdowns. His 4.4-yard average is considerably better than Dunn's 3.0.
Dunn, who has missed two of the past four games with a foot sprain and hamstring strain, said splitting carries with Alstott has failed.
"We've tried that in the past and I don't think neither one of us will be satisfied," Dunn said.
"If you had taken last week, if I wouldn't have played last week and Mike would've played last week against Pittsburgh, he wouldn't have run the ball either," he said. "If anyone was watching the game, they would've seen that. Those guys were dominating. If I'd have played yesterday and had holes like that, I could have had numbers like that, too."
Neither Dunn nor Alstott, teammates since '97, is willing to be dragged into a controversy over who should get the most carries.
"That's not my job," Alstott said. "My job is what I did Sunday.
"With Warrick being the main ballcarrier, my situation was short-yardage, goal line and maybe pounding the ball a little bit when they get tired and running the ball."
Dunn agrees, saying he expects both players to be in the starting backfield Sunday.
"It's not our fight," Dunn said. "It's Coach Dungy and Clyde Christensen. Those guys have a problem. All they know is they have two backs that are capable of doing pretty much anything they want to do. They have to figure out how to utilize us. But they also know a guy does need to get into rhythm."
That's what has hurt the Bucs ground game, which ranks 29th this season.
Alstott missed most of the preseason with a hamstring strain and Dunn's injuries have prevented him from practicing more than once a week.
"Yeah, there's some things you've got to look at. But so far, there isn't a decision to make," Christensen said. "We're just trying to survive. We haven't had both of them healthy for a long while."
Dungy places more emphasis on the Bucs' ability to block than whether Dunn or Alstott is better suited to run through the holes.
"We played Minnesota in the past, the same type of game we played yesterday, and they both got 15 carries and went over 100 yards," Dungy said. "We have been able to do it when we sustained the ball, converted on third downs and our defense has stopped them.
"We've always felt like we needed to give those guys that ball. I don't want to take anything away from Mike's game. Warrick averaged about 7 yards a carry against these guys the last time we played them running the same plays. We would've liked to have Warrick in the game. We think he would have been able to do some things and give us a lift."
That was precisely what happened last season when Dunn took over the duties as the primary ballcarrier and gained 520 yards during a four-game stretch when Alstott was injured.
Though Dunn has missed two of the first six games, Christensen does not question his durability.
"I think so far you have to say it's been a freak thing because he's been so dadgum durable," Christensen said. "I think for right now, he's been a durable guy who caught a couple bad breaks so far this year. I think they lead to each other. You're favoring the foot, you don't practice and then you go out there and the hamstring goes."
But if Dunn is healthy Sunday, he will start at tailback.
"We got things going because we blocked well, we blocked downfield, we caught the ball downfield and Mike ran hard," Dungy said. "But Aaron ran hard and Warrick will run hard when he gets in there."