The Alabama football team features players with the same number on both sides of the ball, which can make it confusing when attaching names to numbers. The key distinguisher between two players is size.

Defensive end Da’Shawn Hand said sometimes even that is not enough to keep people from thinking he is running back Bo Scarbrough, who also wears No. 9. While performing a radio interview in Phoenix, Arizona, for the National Championship, Hand said he was confused for his offensive counterpart.

Hand said one of the radio hosts introduced him as a player that would be carrying the ball a lot next year. When he heard that, he was shocked, but the host proceeded to introduce him as Scarbrough and continued to mistake him as Scarbrough throughout the interview.

“He was like, ‘Yeah, Bo Scarbrough, how does it feel to be behind Derrick Henry?’ ” Hand said. “And then the guy was like, ‘Well, I don’t know about that, but he might be hitting Derrick Henry in practice. He’s one of the 14 guys on the D-line.’ ”

While they are both big players for their positions, Hand, standing at 6-foot-4 and weighing 278 pounds, still has quite a bit of size on Scarbrough, who is 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds.

Scarbrough is one of the main candidates to replace Heisman trophy-winning Derrick Henry as the starting running back this year. He is already receiving attention to contend for national awards.

Hand said Scarbrough is a force when coming through the hole.

“Man, he brings it, so you better bring it,” Hand said. “He’s a man.”

While competing for the starting role, many of the running backs will meet returning defensive players, such as Hand and senior Shaun Dion Hamilton, on the field. Hamilton said meeting Scarbrough has a familiar feel to it.

“There’s not really a difference when you practice against Derrick Henry for two years, and they have the same body style,” Hamilton said.

Alabama is usually a run-first style team, so finding a running back to step up and anchor an important part of the offense can be crucial. Whether that is Scarbrough or not remains to be seen, but Hand believes the team has loads of talent at that position to rely on.

“All the back are great,” Hand said. “They hit the hole, they’re fast, they’re strong. So you can’t complain.”