Nick Saban points out Alabama's 'issue' before Oklahoma game

Given the multitude of big games he coached at Alabama, ESPN analyst Nick Saban has experienced more than a few concerns with the Crimson Tide over the years. He took that expertise into his TV role, pointing out on College GameDay his major issue with Alabama ahead of the Tide's battle with Oklahoma. For those who remember most of Saban's excellent Alabama teams, it's probably not shocking what concerned him-- the Tide's running game.

Nick Saban's Take

Ty Simpson has done a good job. I think the receiving corps is probably the strength of the team. But the issue for Alabama has been their inability to run the ball with consistency. They're going to face a really good Oklahoma defense.
Nick Saban

Bama's running struggles

To Saban's point, Alabama is averaging a shocking 3.5 yards per carry this season. For comparison's sake, Saban's last Alabama teams averaged (from 2016 up): 5.8, 5.7, 5.2, 5.0, 5.0, 4.1, 5.6, and 4.3 yards per carry. Kalen DeBoer's first Alabama team managed 4.6 yards per carry.

The 2025 Alabama team has already had four sub-100 yard rushing games (including their season-opening loss to Florida State). Only once all year has Alabama topped 147 yards rushing and that was in a blowout win over Louisiana-Monroe in Week 2.

Not only has the current Alabama team suffered in making consistent gains, they also haven't made big plays. Alabama has just six 20+ yard runs all season. 2-7 Arkansas has 23 such runs on the season. Alabama's one 30+ yard rush on the year trails teams like Missouri (12) and Vanderbilt (11).

Saban's ground attack

Saban's final Alabama team in 2023, for comparison's sake, had just one sub-100 yard game all year (in a win over Texas A&M) and topped 150 rushing yards eight teams, including running for 172 yards in the season-ending loss to Michigan. That team also had 22 20+ yard runs and nine 30+ yard runs.

So far, the lack of a running game hasn't hurt the Tide. Despite the Week 1 loss to Florida State, Alabama has managed to grind out three one-score wins. In each case, they didn't run the ball very effectively (3.1 yards per carry against Georgia, 2.8 against Missouri, and 3.1 against South Carolina). But their former coach sees trouble lurking in the Tide's struggle to run, and Oklahoma could be the team to exploit the liability.

Kalen DeBoer's Alabama team is struggling on the ground... and it worries Nick Saban ahead of a Week 12 battle with Oklahoma. | Jeff Blake-Imagn Images