How good has Alabama been? Let us count the ways

One of the greatest compliments one could pay to unbeaten Ohio State is that the Buckeyes have looked almost as good as Alabama during the first seven weeks of the 2016 season.

Almost as good — not quite as good, but in the ballpark, and a close second on the Football Bowl Subdivision’s current totem pole. Kudos to Ohio State: Based on what we’ve seen through the midpoint of October, Urban Meyer’s bunch and the Crimson Tide are the best teams in college football.

But no team has looked quite like Alabama, with last week’s win, a 49-10 shellacking of Tennessee, the latest piece of evidence to support this claim.

There are a few ways to put the Tide’s 7-0 start to the season in perspective. Just how good has Alabama been? Let us count the ways.

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Rolling against a difficult schedule

Alabama has played four ranked teams and six teams currently holding a non-losing record. The Tide have faced four teams ranked inside the top 30 nationally in the Sagarin ratings; according to the same system, they’ve faced the nation’s 12th-hardest schedule.

And Alabama is still dominating the competition, outscoring opponents by a combined 318 to 105 — for an average final score of 45.4-15. The only game decided by fewer than 19 points was a 48-43 win against Mississippi, a game the Tide led by 18 points in the fourth quarter before allowing two touchdowns with less than three minutes left.

In all, the program has won six games in a row against top-10 competition dating to the start of last season, with an average finale score of 40.2-16.5.

Measuring defensive dominance

Alabama ranks third in the Southeastern Conference and eighth nationally in allowing 15 points a game, and second in the SEC and fifth overall in yards allowed a game. The Tide have scored eight defensive touchdowns, or just one fewer than South Carolina has scored as a team.

But there’s a better way to describe Alabama’s defensive dominance. It’s a number: 2.15.

That’s how many fewer yards per play Alabama’s opponents have averaged against the Tide compared to the rest of their opponents. Make sense? As an example, Tennessee has averaged 5.79 yards per play against its six opponents not named Alabama. Against the Tide, on the other hand, the Volunteers averaged just 2.59 yards per play. The only team to actually fare better against Alabama was Ole Miss, which gained 7.15 yards per play against 6.72 yards per play against the other five teams it has faced this season.

Measuring offensive potency

Here’s another number: 1.81.

In the flip to above, it helps to illustrate just how Alabama’s offense has played against high-quality competition. Averaged out, the Tide are gaining an additional 1.81 yards per play what its competition has allowed against the remaining teams on their schedules.

To cite two examples: Southern California has allowed an average of 5.06 yards per play against the remaining six teams it has faced; Arkansas is giving up 5.96 yards per play against every opponent outside of Alabama. But the Tide averaged 7.38 yards per play against the Trojans and 10.14 yards per play against the Razorbacks.

Adapting to the times

Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that opponents have seemed unprepared for the Tide. That’s because the program has made clear shifts on both sides of the ball: Alabama’s offense is quicker and more suited for its dual-threat quarterback, Jalen Hurts, while the defense has traded some of its size and strength for the speed needed to combat spread-based competition.

It’s funny to remember how Nick Saban once railed against fast-paced offenses — asking, “Is this what we want football to be?” Hurts’ play since taking over, which includes two games with at least 100 yards passing and rushing, speaks to the Tide’s offensive makeover.

Meanwhile, the defense is still able to stymie more pro-style attacks, such as against USC and Arkansas,w hile bottling up the systems that have previously given the program trouble (see: Auburn — the Tide host the Tigers on Nov. 26 — and Texas A&M, which visits Bama on Satuday).

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The potential to get even better

Hurts is a true freshman. The Tide’s leading rushers are either sophomores (Damien Harris and Bo Scarborough) or freshmen (Hurts and Josh Jacobs). Right tackle Jonah Williams is a true freshman. Left guard Ross Pierschbacher — already fantastic — is just a sophomore, and junior Bradley Bozeman is a first-year starter at center.

In other words, the offense may only improve during the course of the rest of the regular season. And the same might be said of the defense, which leans on four sophomores in starting roles. (Though the defense as a whole is predicated on the play of several seniors, from Jonathan Allen and Reuben Foster through Eddie Jackson.)

Well, maybe this a reach: It’s hard to see Alabama getting that much better. But the potential is there, which in itself is a frightening predicament for the rest of the SEC to consider. Ohio State might have what it takes, should the two meet in the College Football Playoff. To everyone else: good luck.

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