When you take a look at the 5 national championships that Alabama has won since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007, all but one have one major thing in common. What is it you ask? The offensive game plan.
2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015 all had an offense built around a pro-style quarterback and a solid running game. Let’s dig deeper.
In 2009, Alabama’s quarterback was Greg McElroy who went 198/325 for 2,508 yards, 17 TDs, and 4 interceptions. The backfield for Alabama was led by Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram as well as Trent Richardson. In 2009, Ingram ran for over 1,600 yards and Richardson had over 750 yards himself. There were only three games where Alabama had more passing yards than rushing, and even in those games, the margins were pretty close. In the national title game against Texas, McElroy only had 58 yards passing, while Alabama, led by Ingram, had over 200 yards rushing to win the national title. For the season, the Crimson Tide attempted 601 rushing plays while only attempting 346 passing plays.
In 2011, Alabama’s quarterback was AJ McCarron who went 219/328 for 2,634 yards for 16 TDs and 5 interceptions. Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy, and Jalston Fowler were the 3 main running backs who helped lead Alabama to a comeback victory over LSU to win the 2011 National Championship. Although the Tide has 6 games with more passing yards than rushing, the margins were still, very close. Alabama ended up attempting 508 rushing plays, and only 357 pass plays.
The following year in 2012, McCarron was still the starting quarterback, but now Alabama had two incredible and dominant running backs in the backfield: Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon who both recorded over 1100 yards that season. Lacy had 1,322 yards and Yeldon had 1,108 yards. Incredible. McCarron finished the season with over 2,400 yards passing, 30 TDs, and only 3 interceptions. Alabama once again showcased its dominance on the ground as the Tide had 5 games with more passing than rushing and finished the season with 570 rushing plays and 328 passing plays.
The 2015 national championship season was led by Jake Coker, a Florida State transfer who became known and loved by Alabama fans, especially after winning the Tide’s first national title since 2012. He recorded impressive numbers as he went 263/393 for 3,110 yards, 21 TDs, and 8 interceptions. But even with his impressive numbers, the Tide excelled on the ground. Led by Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake, the Tide was unstoppable. Henry finished the season with 2,219 yards and 28 TDs on his way to winning the 2015 Heisman Trophy. Although the Tide had more yards passing than rushing, it was only by 500 yards. And there were over 200 more attempts rushing than passing.
Those 4 years were “run it down their throat” football. Then came dual threat quarterback Jalen Hurts, and after him came Tua Tagovailoa.
Both of these quarterbacks changed the offensive setup at Alabama, especially Tagovailoa.
In 2016, Alabama still had more attempts at rushing than passing, but a lot of that was due to Hurts’ ability to be a dual-threat quarterback. By the end of the season, Hurts had 2,780 yards passing for 23 TDs and 9 Int. He also had 954 yards rushing for 13 TDs. The Tide had 3 main running backs in 2016 that dominated: Bo Scarbrough, Damien Harris, and Joshua Jacobs.
2017 was the season the change truly began for Alabama. Hurts led Alabama to the national championship where Tagovailoa took over in the second half and won with the infamous “2nd and 26” game ending touchdown. Statistically, the stats were similar to 2016. Hurts finished the season with over 2000 yards passing and 800 yards rushing for 25 total TDs.
But once Tagovailoa took over in 2018, things changed.
In 2018, it was the first time since 2010 that a single Alabama running back didn’t record over 900 yards. Some seasons such as 2012, even 2 running backs had over 1,000 yards rushing. It didn’t seem like a huge change at the time, but looking back, it was. Tagovailoa finished the season with 3,966 yards passing and 43 touchdowns, the most passing yards since Blake Sims in 2014. Alabama running back Damien Harris was the leading rusher that season with 876 yards and 9 TDs. Although there were more attempts rushing, Alabama almost had 2x the amount of passing yards than rushing yards.
In 2019, Alabama once again had almost double the passing yards than rushing yards. Tagovailoa endured a season ending injury, but still managed to record 2,840 yards passing for 33 TDs and 3 interceptions. Mac Jones also recorded 1,503 yards passing for 14 TDs and 3 interceptions. On the ground, Najee Harris did rack up over 1,200 yards rushing, but it was far less than previous years. It was very evident Alabama was relying on their passing game more than the running game.
Even when Alabama won the national title in 2017, the Tide was still able to record more rushing yards than passing. Sure, a lot of that had to do with Jalen Hurts, but Damien Harris also had 1,000 rushing yards, even with Hurts’ 855 rushing yards.
All of that to say this, Alabama is used to winning national titles under Nick Saban with a pro-style quarterback and with a dominant running game.
You can see a clear difference in the Tide’s season last year. Before Tagovailoa got hurt, Alabama always had more passing attempts than rushing. But with Mac Jones as QB1, all but one game had more run plays than passing.
People have continued to doubt and criticize Mac Jones, but in all honesty, he could be the guy to help Alabama win it all.
People forget that it was Jalen Hurts who led Alabama to the national championship in 2017, it was just Tagovailoa who sealed the deal in the second half.
Mac Jones is a great quarterback. There were so many moments last season where we saw his ability to be a great leader and passer.
Jones handled the task as well as anyone could have in such a position. Sure, there were mistakes, but, overall, even his teammates were impressed and confident in Jones’ playmaking abilities. But Jones was never given the credit he deserved. Throughout the season, he was simply labeled and seen as “Tua’s backup.” Even CBS’ announcers would continue to say several times a game, “Jones is no Tagovailoa.” They’re right, he’s not. But there’s nothing wrong with not being Tagovailoa.
By end of the season, Jones had a quarterback rating (186.8) that ranks as the highest of any returning signal-caller (minimum four starts) in the SEC for 2020, which is amazing considering his only four starts were this past season.
When you take into consideration the fact that Alabama will have a quarterback in Jones who we know can throw the ball deep downfield with the backfield they have returning led by Najee Harris, this season has the vibes of 2015, maybe even 2012. Both times, McCarron and Coker had impressive stats, but so did the running game, and honestly, that’s what Alabama needs to get back to.
There’s no denying that Bryce Young is a great quarterback, but I think Jones is the guy for the job this year. Maybe Jones will have an incredible performance like Jake Coker did in 2015, or maybe Young will come in and replace him as QB1.
Only time will tell.
But Alabama has the tools they need to win a national title this year. They have incredible talent returning on both sides of the ball along with an impressive signing class.
I wouldn’t be shocked if both Najee Harris and Mac Jones are Heisman contenders this season. And you can look for this to be Harris’ best season, by far.
Regardless, this is going to be an epic season to watch. And who knows, maybe, just maybe, Alabama will rise to the top once again as the best college football team in the country.
