Alabama Football: Buckeyes biggest threat to Tide not Justin Fields

Alabama Football: Even an ailing Justin Feilds can test the Crimson Tide defense, but his threat is not what the Tide must stop.

Most Alabama football fans are confident the Crimson Tide offense can win in a shootout against the Buckeyes. Even if that opinion is correct, Nick Saban will not agree. In no way, does Saban want which team has the ball last, to determine the outcome.

Instead, the defensive-minded Alabama football head coach will want stops. More than a few defensive stops would mean the Alabama football offense would not have to play error-free football. Using the NCAA stat for Scoring Defense, the Crimson Tide is better than Ohio State. In that stat category, the Alabama football defense ranks No. 13, while Ohio State ranks No. 31. The average points allowed difference between the two teams is smaller than the rankings indicate. The Tide allows 19 points per game. Ohio State gives up 22 points.

Comparing two teams, solely on team stats, is not enough unless they are weighted for the opponents each team has played. The NCAA does not calculate Scoring Defense against the strength of opposing offenses.

There are numerous other approaches to measure the strength or weakness of two teams. This post offers a premise that is less often discussed. The premise is defending against the run still matters in college football. In this, Nick Saban would agree.

For those Saban’s thinking might be a tad, out-of-touch, let’s drill down on some facts about current college football defenses. There are 14 FBS teams whose rushing yards allowed, per-carry average, is less than 3.25 yards. Their 2020 combined record is 98-28. The group of 14 is led by Georgia. Both the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Ohio State Buckeyes are included. Ohio State opponents have rushed for a 3.2 yard average; for the Crimson Tide, the number is 3.21 yards.