The Alabama offense took a step forward with a cohesive outing against Arkansas, but once again, the Tide defense was the base that held the win in place.

The Alabama defense has been dominant in several key areas, including: rushing defense, red zone defense and defensive touchdowns.

In terms of rushing defense, Alabama leads the nation in yards per attempt (2.2) and yards per game (69.2).

Alabama held Arkansas to just 43 rushing yards in the first half and 30 rushing yards in the second half. Bret Bielema’s squad prides itself as a physical team, so finding modest success in the run game was paramount to the team’s game plan.

Instead, Arkansas had to throw the ball heavily and the passing game had mixed success. Austin Allen did throw three touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions and took a number of tough hits.

For the season, Alabama has seven defensive touchdowns. In two instances, the Alabama defense actually outscored the opposing offense (USC and Kentucky). Last season, Alabama had four defensive touchdowns through the course of the entire season. This season’s team has nearly double that number in less than half the time (six games compared to 15 games in 2015).

Perhaps most importantly, the defense is making its biggest efforts against the toughest opponents. Da’Ron Payne and Jonathan Allen both scored crucial touchdowns against Ole Miss. Tim Williams had a momentum-changing touchdown on Saturday against Arkansas, and Minkah Fitzpatrick sealed the game for Alabama with his touchdown.

While it wasn’t a score, defensive back Hootie Jones forced a fumble on a kickoff return that set up the second offensive touchdown of the game.

Alabama’s overall red zone defense is ranked 33rd in the nation while allowing opponents to score 77 percent of the time when in the red zone. That number went up slightly following the Arkansas game.

However, Alabama is particularly strong at holding opponents out of the end zone. Of opponents’ 13 total trips, they’ve scored 10 times, but they’ve had to settle for six field goals and only four touchdowns. Three of the four touchdowns occurred against Arkansas.

Entering the game, Alabama was tied with Ohio State for first in the nation in the category, allowing opponents to score touchdowns just 12.5 percent of the time in the red zone. Still, a meager 31 percent success rate from opponents is a strong number for the Alabama defense, good for third in the nation.

That’s not to say that Alabama’s defense isn’t showing any signs of weakness. The Tide has allowed 223.3 passing yards per game, which is eighth in the SEC and 61st in the FBS. Still, Alabama is still making things difficult for opposing quarterbacks, who have only completed 53.7 percent of passes (second in the SEC) and been sacked 23 times (first in the SEC, tied for fourth in the FBS).

So any way you slice it right now, Alabama’s calling card is still what it’s consistently been under Nick Saban.

Whether it’s making teams one-dimensional, standing tall at the goal line or assisting the offense on the scoreboard, the defense has come up big throughout the season, in particular against its toughest opponents.