Alabama Football: Some Surprising and Not So Surprising Stats in 2016

With three Alabama football games played in 2016, here are some surprising and not so surprising stats at this point in the season.

ICYMI: Saban On His Defense and His Alma Mater

As I was looking over some of the Alabama football stats, there were several that stuck out to me. Some of those were surprising and some were not.

Many Alabama football fans expected Tide running back Bo Scarbrough to be the lead man in the backfield for the Tide but thus far, it’s been Damien Harris. At this point, Harris leads all SEC running backs with 9.1 yards per carry and is fifth in rushing yards with 327. Harris’ average is just under 4 yards per carry better than the running back many thought would be the conference’s leading Heisman candidate–Leonard Fournette.

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It’s only fair to say that Fournette did miss action against Jacksonville State in week two. If we could “award” the stats that the Tigers’ leading rusher, Derrius Guice, got in that game (19 carries, 155 yards, 8.2 yards per carry) to Fournette, his average would still be under three yards less than Harris. That’s pretty good.

Here is one for all of the rival fans that like to scream that Alabama doesn’t get penalized enough because the SEC office is in Birmingham. As of now, Alabama is tied with Florida with the most penalties in the conference with 25. That puts a hole in that narrative, doesn’t it?

If you had to pick a team that was leading the conference in scoring offense at this point, who would you pick? If you would have said Alabama, you would be right. The Tide leads all teams in average scoring per game (46) and the most touchdowns (18). With a true freshman at quarterback that’s still getting his legs under him so to speak, the passing offense is just a clip better than the middle of the pack with 244 yards per game. The Tide’s rushing is tied for the most with eight touchdowns and ranks third with 233.3 yards per game, just behind Auburn in the top spot and Texas A&M at second. When Alabama gets in the red zone, they are perfect this season on 14 trips, scoring ten touchdowns (eight through the air) and are 100-percent on four field goal attempts.

Sep 17, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide played react as defensive back Eddie Jackson (4) returns an interception for a touchdown the second quarter of the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Alabama won 48-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

On the defensive side of the ball, stopping the run is going just as expected. Alabama has only given up one rushing touchdown so far and they are holding opponents to an average of 64.3 yards per game. Last week’s game with Ole Miss definitely put a dent in the Tide’s passing defense and knocked them down to eleventh with an average of 255.7 yards per game. If you’ve watched a game what may not be surprising is the Tide leads the SEC in interceptions taken to the house with three and their interception total of four is good enough to be tied for third in that stat.

Next: Alabama Football Defense-Kirby or Jeremy?

Those are just a few of the ones that stuck out to me. We’ll check back in a few weeks and see how things are looking after we get a little better sample size.