At Alabama, it’s all about trying to get back to the 2012 level. That, of course, was the season the Crimson Tide finished 13-1 and crushed Notre Dame to capture the BCS National Championship. It was classic Nick Saban at Alabama with a dominating defense and a balanced pro-style offense capable of shoving around even the best opponents.

That Tide team finished 12th in the country with 38.7 points per game and did it by averaging 218 yards passing and 227 yards rushing. It’s hard to get much more balanced than that, and with A.J. McCarron successfully running the show at quarterback, Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon each eclipsing the 1,000-yard rushing mark, the Tide was incredibly tough to beat.

It was also a team that returned four starters on the offensive line from the year before: Barrett Jones, Chance Warmack, D.J. Fluker and Anthony Steen. They were eventually joined on the line by future All-American Cyrus Kouandjio, who took over the left tackle spot while Jones moved to center.

But the past two years have seen the personnel at Alabama change a bit, and when Lane Kiffin came in as offensive coordinator last season he made adjustments to the traditional Tide pro-style attack. It helped Blake Sims enjoy a breakout season in 2014 and Alabama made the four-team College Football Playoff, but this year’s Alabama team may be closer to resembling the 2012 group.

Jake Coker comes closer to fitting the McCarron mold at quarterback as more of a pocket passer who has a strong arm but relies a lot on making good reads and getting the ball out to a talented group of wide receivers in space. Among them is freshman Calvin Ridley, who is coming off a breakout performance against Georgia and is once again inviting comparisons to Amari Cooper, who reached 1,000 receiving yards in 2012.

In the backfield, the load isn’t split as evenly as 2012 with Derrick Henry getting the majority of the carries when the game is on the line, but senior Kenyan Drake is also capable of moving the ball and offers a nice balance to the powerful Henry with his great speed.

The big question is whether or not the 2015 Tide has the offensive line to simply shove it down the throat of their opponents.

It’s looking more and more like that could be the case after the big boys up front stepped up in a major way against Georgia. Coker was well protected from the start of the game and Henry was running through huge holes much of the day, including a 30-yard touchdown run that saw him get to the end zone untouched. The offensive line deserved a lot of credit for helping Alabama get through a rainy day in Athens without any turnovers because, frankly, you are a lot less likely to lose the ball when you aren’t getting hit.

Perhaps it was a matter of motivation because the Tide offensive line had not been incredibly impressive in wins over Louisiana Monroe and Middle Tennessee State, but Saturday it manhandled the favorite to win the SEC East.

With center Ryan Kelly and tackles Dominick Jackson and Cam Robinson leading the way, the Tide mostly kept the Bulldogs out of the backfield. Georgia finished the game with just 4.0 tackles for a loss and Alabama didn’t allow a sack or a quarterback hurry. It’s no coincidence it also happened to be Coker’s best game as a starting quarterback.

Whether or not the Alabama linemen can keep it up is another question. Following this weekend’s game against Arkansas, the Crimson Tide heads to Texas A&M to face one of college football’s best pass rushes, led by sophomore sack master Myles Garrett. They will face another stiff challenge in the regular-season finale at LSU.

If the Bama offensive line can rise to those challenges the way it did at Georgia, then the Tide might have a shot of finishing the season with a celebration reminiscent of 2012.