Alabama has won six straight games since a stunning season-opening loss to Florida State, but there's still plenty of work to be done in Tuscaloosa if the Crimson Tide wants to be a serious contender for the National Championship.
Alabama continues to pass every test week in and week out, but there are a few things holding the team back from reaching its full form.
One of the biggest issues for the Crimson Tide this season has been an inability to consistently run the football. The return of Jam Miller from a preseason injury wasn't enough to tip the scales, and through seven games, Alabama ranks 94th in the nation in rushing yards per game. The advanced stats paint an even gloomier picture: Alabama ranks 127th in the country in rushing success rate, per Game on Paper.
With Ty Simpson playing at a high level, the offense is an effective running game away from being impossible to stop.
Former Alabama legend Trent Richardson, the 2011 Doak Walker Award winner as the nation's best running back, addressed the Tide's struggles on the latest edition of "The Dynasty" podcast with AJ McCarron and Chris Stewart.
"We gotta be able to run the ball," he said Tuesday on The Dynasty podcast via 247 Sports. "We can't be an unstoppable team if we cannot run the ball. I don't care what you say. If we cannot do the run game and the passing game on the same level, it's gonna be tough to be a championship team.
"Now, do I think we can do that? Yes. I think we do have the backs for it. I think we have the offensive line for it. I think we just have to keep pushing, man, and keep getting better. At the same time, people gotta realize too that we have been known to be a running school. People are gonna crack down on the run on us."
Trent Richardson believes Alabama has the ingredients to run the football effectively
Alabama certainly has talent in the backfield, though the talent level is lower right now than it was during Nick Saban's heyday. The Crimson Tide has been lacking an elite running back since Jahmyr Gibbs' lone season in Tuscaloosa in 2022. That could change next year with another year under the belts of guys such as Daniel Hill and AK Dear, along with the arrival of 5-star EJ Crowell, but for now, Alabama can only work with what it has.
The offensive line has the guys to move people around up front, but for whatever reason, they've struggled to consistently open up holes for the running backs. The line has done pretty well, save for a couple of games, of protecting Ty Simpson. That makes it all the more baffling that they can't open up the rushing lanes.
Last week against Tennessee, Simpson was kept upright the entire game. That was also one of the weakest games of the season for the Tide running backs, who managed just 47 yards on 22 carries.
Perhaps a healthy Hill will give the Crimson Tide a needed boost moving forward. But Richardson is right in that Alabama will need a more effective running game moving forward if it wants to reach its goals. It's hard to imagine this team winning the National Championship with one of the nation's worst rushing offenses.