Sizing up Alabama's mammoth accomplishments vs. the run under Nick Saban

Alabama has built one of the best dynasties in college football history, and one of its pillars has been a colossal barricade against the run.

There’s no doubt that success, especially that of a program with four national championships in the last seven seasons, will spawn contempt from those who are tired of seeing Nick Saban raise crystal trophies during the BCS era and now what appears to be a golden telescope in the College Football Playoff era.

However, maybe the most refreshing thing about Saban’s success in Tuscaloosa is the fact that the Crimson Tide have cut through the new era of flashy football with an old-school knife.

As a whole, the SEC has separated itself from every other conference in the trenches, and Alabama has simply been the tip of that pen, but the Tide has especially left its mark against the run.

Starting with Year 2 under its legendary coach in 2008, Alabama has only allowed 33 of its 103 FBS opponents to rush for 100 yards. That’s 32 percent of teams. I have to stress we’re talking about teams here, folks. Not players.

If we focus on players, Tide defenses have only permitted seven total 100-yard rushers from FBS schools. In comparison, the next-best SEC school in this regard is LSU, which has allowed 25.

Here’s a look at how the entire conference has fared over that span.

FEWEST FBS 100-YARD RUSHERS ALLOWED SINCE 2008

The discrepancy is pretty astounding. For a player to hit 100 yards against this red brick wall is a huge accomplishment, even for a player like Leonard Fournette who had 150 yards in seven straight games before only managing 31 against a machine that has rarely malfunctioned in devouring hungry Heisman hopefuls and others alike.

On average in that time frame, Alabama hasn’t even allowed one opposing player to reach the century mark in a given season while every other school averages at least three.

In the case of Texas A&M and Kentucky, they’ve allowed an average of at least six, enough to fill half of a team’s regular season schedule.

Contrast that to the fact that Alabama didn’t surrender one for nearly three full years from Oct. 13, 2007 (Ole Miss’ BenJarvus Green-Ellis with 131 yards) all the way to Oct. 23, 2010 (Tennessee’s Tauren Poole with 117 yards).

That’s a span of 41 straight games.

You think that’s an impressive streak? Alabama has led the conference in opponent yards per rush in each of the last eight straight seasons. The Tide has posted a mark of precisely 2.4 three times in the last five years. That’s only been equalled or bettered by an SEC team two other times since 2000.

No team in the country could match Alabama’s stopping force on the ground in 2015, which saw the squad surrender just 75.7 yards per game, a cool seven yards better than the next-best team despite playing 15 games.

Of course, the Tide have undergone some changes this offseason as former defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, who guided the program’s defense since 2008, is now the head coach at Georgia. Jeremy Pruitt has come over from the Bulldogs to assume that role now.

Meanwhile, Karl Dunbar was hired from the Buffalo Bills to replace defensive line coach Bo Davis, who spent six seasons in that position during Saban’s time in Tuscaloosa before resigning amid recruiting violations.

However, don’t expect the results to be any different.

Not with a front seven that will be loaded with talent despite taking a few hits to the middle of the defense with the losses of inside linebacker Reggie Ragland and defensive tackles A’Shawn Robinson and Jarran Reed.

The unit still has defensive ends Jonathan Allen and Da’Shawn Hand along with tackles Dalvin Tomlinson and Da’Ron Payne. Reuben Foster is expected to fill right in for Ragland and be the leader of the defense, and he’ll be flanked by Tim Williams and Ryan Anderson.

The secondary, with studs like safety Eddie Jackson and corners Minkah Fitzpatrick and Marlon Humphrey among others, will force opponents to test Alabama’s run defense at times.

As we can see, that’s not an exam that teams usually pass.