This stat gives hope that Alabama's early season run-game struggles will turn around

Alabama's struggles running the football through three games are well-documented. We've certainly written our fair share about the topic here. Against the two Power Four opponents the Crimson Tide has faced - Florida State and Wisconsin - Alabama failed to eclipse 100 yards on the ground against either team.

Alabama currently ranks 121st in the country - out of just 136 FBS teams - in rushing success rate. Fortunately, that has mattered little the last two weeks with Ty Simpson on an absolute heater, but it will be pivotal this weekend against Georgia that the offense is able to maintain some semblance of balance. If not, Kirby Smart will have his defense with their ears pinned back and attacking Simpson every down.

Alabama's ground game will get a significant boost this weekend with the return of senior RB Jam Miller from injury. Miller was the talk of fall practice in Tuscaloosa with coaches and teammates raving about how well he was playing. He suffered a dislocated collarbone in the Tide's final scrimmage of the preseason, which forced him to miss the first three games of the season.

There's optimism that Miller's return will be the spark Alabama needs. That and potential changes to the right side of the offensive line.

But one stat that was recently shared by College Football Nerds on Twitter provides some optimism that maybe things haven't been as bad as they've looked for Alabama on the ground. Maybe, just maybe, the Tide's struggles say more about its opponents:

Alabama's relative rushing performance has been the best in the nation

I would urge to not to read too much into advanced statistics like the above this early in the season because they are often skewed with small sample sizes. Florida State and Wisconsin are ranked as high as they are against the run in part because Alabama failed to run the football effectively against them.

Also, to date, Florida State hasn't played another Power Four opponent since. Their opponents post-Alabama have been East Texas A&M and Kent State, two teams that were at major physical disadvantages in the trenches.

While Wisconsin added a game against Maryland last week, its other two opponents were Miami (OH) and Middle Tennessee State.

The relative strengths of those run defenses will be determined in the coming weeks when they get into the heart of their conference schedules.

That's also when we'll find out if Alabama can run the ball at all or if they're just going to lean into being an Air-Raid team now. One of the biggest knocks on Ryan Grubb in his one season as the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks was how quickly he would abandon the run if it didn't work quickly. He's impatient. That's something Alabama fans got a taste of against Florida State.

Grubb will need to be stubborn on Saturday against Georgia to put Simpson and the rest of the offense in position to find success.