Ask pretty much anyone the No. 1 reason the Alabama Crimson Tide have won three of the past four BCS titles, and the answer is routine. The Bama defense has allowed just 4 yards per play since 2009, easily first in the country, and that defense has sparked those runs to the crystal football.
But the focus on Nick Saban and Kirby Smart's defense has become almost a preoccupation -- it's caused neglect, a lack of attention for what has been a highly efficient offense in that same time frame.
It begins with a simple formula, one that most teams attempt to execute but few do well: run and stop the run.
By being able to run -- the team's 5.29 yards-per-rush average was fifth in the FBS from 2009-12 -- Bama is opening up the passing game and creating general balance.
"They're committed to running the ball, and they do it better than just about anyone outside an option offense," one SEC assistant told me this week. "When you can run like that, and when you commit to run, it opens up everything else."
To read Travis Haney's full blog on how efficient Alabama's offense has been over the past few seasons, plus check in on some notes from the start of spring football, you must be an ESPN Insider.
Travis Haney
ESPN Insider• Joined ESPN as Insider's national college football writer in April 2012
• Previously wrote for The Oklahoman and The Post and Courier
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Travis HaneyTravis Haney joined ESPN in April 2012 as Insider's national college football writer. He previously covered the University of Oklahoma Sooners for The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman for one season, and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks for The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier for four. Additionally, Haney has contributed since 2003 to ESPN publications and projects, including ESPN The Magazine.
A native of Cleveland, Tenn., Haney's initial introduction to a college football cathedral was Neyland Stadium. He later graduated from the University of Tennessee, in 2003, and has spent time covering the Volunteers, the University of Georgia, Clemson University, and other schools. Safe to say, football, and football in the South, was injected into his bloodstream at a young age.
Haney is the author of three books -- Gamecock Glory and Gamecock Encore, which chronicled the South Carolina baseball team's run to the 2010 and 2011 national championships, and State of Disunion, a historical look at the Clemson-South Carolina football rivalry that he co-wrote with Larry Williams.
Haney resides in Charlotte, N.C. You can follow him on Twitter here.
