Once upon a time, Alabama was a dominant run-first team. It started up front with offensive lines that consistently overwhelmed opponents, wearing down opposing defensive lines over the course of 60 minutes.
Making opponents quit was the goal, and running the football was the formula. And it worked. Over and over again.
But in recent seasons, Alabama has lost the recipe. They've turned away from being a power team into a finesse one. And in the interest of fairness, that began to happen before Nick Saban retired. Greg Byrne just leaned into it by hiring Kalen DeBoer as his replacement.
Alabama struggled mightily to run the football a year ago. It was a lot worse than the raw stats would tell you. Jalen Milroe hid a lot of warts with his homerun ability on the ground, but the Tide's traditional run game frequently stalled.
So it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise when it struggled again to open the 2025 season. Against Florida State on Saturday, the Crimson Tide managed 87 rushing yards on 29 attempts, a paltry three yards per carry on average.
Those numbers don't even tell the tale of how bad it was. 55 of those 87 rushing yards came on the opening drive of the game. From there, Alabama ran the ball 17 times and mustered just 32 yards.
As has been the case since Jahmyr Gibbs went pro, there didn't look like there was a real difference maker in the backfield. Richard Young got his first career start and did little with it. Daniel Hill and Dre Washington combined for five carries and 10 yards. The one back who showed promise was redshirt freshman Kevin Riley, who led the team in rushing with 31 yards on six attempts.
Starting RB Jam Miller missed the game with a dislocated collarbone he suffered in the final scrimmage of fall camp. He would have made a difference for Alabama on the ground against Florida State.
But it's obvious after one game that it's going to take more than just his return for Alabama to be a real threat on the ground.
Alabama's offensive line continues to fail to live up to expectations
It feels like every preseason, we hear about how good the Alabama offensive line has the potential to be. This group was seen as one of the best in the country and a strength of the team. But as has been the case the last two years, the offensive line once again looks like a weakness.
Alabama had three players named to the preseason Outland Trophy watchlist: Kadyn Proctor, Parker Brailsford, and Jaeden Roberts.
Roberts was available, but didn't play on Saturday after missing an extended period of camp with a concussion. Even before that, Roberts was struggling to secure his starting spot.
Brailsford was mostly good. Proctor continues to be one of the biggest disappointments on the team. The former 5-star recruit is in his third year in the program and is garnering Top 10 NFL Draft hype. After one game in 2025, he has yet to live up to the considerable expectations he arrived in Tuscaloosa with.
If Alabama's offensive line can't get push, then it doesn't really matter who is running the ball. Even the best backs struggle when they don't have blocking.
Miller's return for Georgia in three weeks will be important. But if the offensive line doesn't take a big step between now and then, his presence will matter little.