It has been discussed ad nauseam all season, but it has ramped up in the aftermath of another disappointing performance over the weekend against LSU.
Alabama's running game is a major problem. After producing just 56 yards on the ground in a 20-9 win over LSU, the Crimson Tide now ranks 113th in the country in rushing yards per game at just 112.6. The advanced stats are even less friendly. Alabama ranks 128th in rushing success rate, per Game on Paper.
It has been a systemic failure at every level for Alabama. From play-calling, scheme, blocking, and the backs just flat out not being good enough, not much has gone right for the Crimson Tide when they have tried to run the ball.
Ryan Grubb has remained stubborn with his play-calling and hasn't completely abandoned it. He may not have a choice for much longer.
Alabama appeared to be turning the corner in October. Jam Miller keyed the Tide's ground attack with a 136-yard rushing performance against Vanderbilt. Alabama ran the ball solidly in the road win over Missouri the next week, especially considering the Tigers entered the game as the nation's No. 1 run defense.
But it's been downhill from there. Alabama wasn't able to effectively run it against Tennessee a couple of weeks ago, despite the Vols struggling to stop it. Against LSU, it was completely ineffective and served to keep the offense stuck in the mud all night.
It's a major problem; one that could derail the team's College Football Playoff hopes with two more SEC games to go. ESPN's Bill Connelly considers it the team's "fatal flaw", something that no Alabama fan would argue with.
ESPN's Bill Connelly says Alabama's run game is its "fatal flaw"
Connely wrote the following about Alabama in his column about the fatal flaw of each College Football Playoff contender:
"Alabama ranks 83rd in yards allowed per carry (not factoring in sacks) despite a solid showing against an admittedly poor LSU run game, but the more alarming part was on the other side of the ball, where Jam Miller and Daniel Hill combined to rush 15 times for 34 yards. Bama is 126th in yards per carry and continues to put everything on Ty Simpson and the (strong) passing game."
It's probably too late to fix the running game. By mid-November, you are what you are, though perhaps a few more carries for redshirt freshman Daniel Hill couldn't hurt. His size and physicality could be what it takes to carve out a few years here and there. He didn't have a good game by any means (7 carries, 21 yards) on Saturday, but it was better than Jam Miller's (8 carries, 13 yards).
Since suffering a concussion in the 4th quarter of the win over Missouri, Miller has carried the ball 30 times for 54 yards (1.8 yards per carry).
Miller's struggles sum up the struggles on the ground. Miller is a better pass protector than Hill, which is why he continues to see more snaps, but Hill has found marginally more success running the football in recent weeks.
At this point, it's worth a shot to give Hill the lion's share of the carries. Even improving to below average would be a step forward from disaster.