One Alabama Football Team Record will not fall in 2024 and why it doesn't matter

Alabama football fans know well that two team records matter more than all the other team records. Those records are SEC Championships and National Championships. Since the Alabama Crimson Tide holds the SEC record for championships and college football's record for the most national championships, the 2024 season cannot be a major, record-breaking year.

There will likely be some Alabama Football records broken in 2024. The 2024 roster has too much talent not to set any new records. What will not be broken is the Team Records for Scoring Defense. It is impossible to predict if Offensive Team Records can be broken. It is a new offensive era in Tuscaloosa. Kalen DeBoer's offensive smarts are highly valued. Who is to say that DeBoer's offense; with roster talent exceeding any team he has coached before, will not be record-setting?

Team scoring records can be misleading. For example, the Baylor Bears averaged 44.5 points per game in 2012 and 52.4 points in 2013. In 2012, Baylor scored 63 points against West Virginia - and lost. In the same season, the Bears rang up 50 points on Texas; and lost again. The point is to win challenging games, even great offenses need a good defense.

Of the 10 National Champions in the Playoff Era, eight of the champions had an FBS No. 13 Scoring Defense or higher. Seven of the eight had No. 5 or higher Scoring Defenses; five of the seven had No. 1 ranked Scoring Defenses. The two outlier defenses from champions were Ohio State ranked No. 26 in 2014 and LSU, ranked No. 31 in 2019.

Looking back to the Alabama Crimson Tide's 2009 National Championship and through its 2020 one, Alabama's Scoring Defenses were ranked No. 2 (2009), No. 1 (2011), No. 1 (2012), No. 2 (2015), No. 1 (2017) and No. 13 in 2020.

Alabama Football Scoring Defense Records

The 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide defense allowed only 8.2 points per game. The all-time record for a single season was 13 points in the 1930 season. That is not an average; it is the total points scored against the Tide defense that season. The Tennessee Vols scored six points and Vanderbilt scored seven in two Alabama wins. All the other games, including the Rose Bowl Game were Alabama shutouts. Football in 1930 and the 21st-century football cannot be compared.

The 2023 Alabama Football Scoring Defense ranked No. 16, allowing an average of 19 points per game. Rose Bowl victor and National Champion Michigan was No.1, allowing an average of 10.4 points per game.

Washington lost to Michigan because the Wolverine No. 1 defense handled the nation's No. 13 offense. And because Washington's No. 56 defense could not handle Michigan's power-rushing attack. Michigan ran for 303 yards against the Huskies after Alabama held the Wolverines to 130 rushing yards in the Rose Bowl.

A perhaps crazy supposition, that cannot be proven with fact, is that last season's Washington offense and the Alabama defense, combined in one team would have been the National Champion. Taking that premise into the 2024 season, Crimson Tide fans have good reason to believe the Tide's, Kalen DeBoer offense will be more productive than last season; and that after some growing pains the defense can be stingier in allowing points. If so, no scoring records will be needed to win championships.

Note: Stat data provided by rolltide.com, cfbstats.com, and Sports Reference