Early in the season, pundits from Birmingham to Sports Illustrated wondered aloud if this year’s Alabama defensive unit was the best D of all time.
Heady stuff.
Turns out the Crimson Tide was quite good enough to fend off LSU at home, so the “best ever” talk has died down in recent weeks. Still, Bama could be the best defense of the past 25 years from a statistical standpoint.
Mark Inabinett of Al.com points out today that Kirby Smart’s crew could lead the nation in all four of the major defensive statistical categories: rushing defense, passing defense, total defense and scoring defense. The last team to accomplish that feat was the 1986 Oklahoma Sooners led by Brian Bosworth. (That defense gave up just 6.6 point and 169.6 yards per game en route to an 11-1 record and a #2 national ranking.)
Here are the current rankings in each of the four major defensive stats:
Rushing Defense
| School |
Yards Allowed |
Avg. Yds Per Rush |
Rush TDs Allowed |
Yards Allowed Per Game |
| Alabama |
519 |
1.82 |
2 |
51.9 |
| Cincinnati |
721 |
2.39 |
6 |
80.1 |
| LSU |
838 |
2.61 |
6 |
83.8 |
| Fla. State |
850 |
2.35 |
7 |
85.0 |
| Georgia |
871 |
2.88 |
9 |
87.1 |
Passing Defense
| School |
Yards Allowed |
Avg. Yds Per Att. |
Pass TDs Allowed |
Yards Allowed Per Game |
| Alabama |
1295 |
4.5 |
5 |
129.5 |
| Wisconsin |
1463 |
6.0 |
8 |
146.3 |
| S. Carolina |
1505 |
5.1 |
12 |
150.5 |
| Mich. State |
1575 |
5.7 |
13 |
157.5 |
| Penn State |
1677 |
5.4 |
6 |
167.7 |
Total Defense
| School |
Total Yards Allowed |
Yards Allowed Per Play |
Yards Allowed Per Game |
| Alabama | 1814 |
3.15 |
181.4 |
| LSU |
2532 |
4.01 |
253.2 |
| Mich. State |
2594 |
4.14 |
259.4 |
| Georgia |
2733 |
4.44 |
273.3 |
| Fla. State |
2795 |
4.19 |
279.5 |
Scoring Defense
| School |
TDs Allowed |
FGs Allowed |
Total Points Allowed |
Points Allowed Per Game |
| Alabama |
7 |
7 |
71 |
7.1 |
| LSU |
11 |
9 |
107 |
10.7 |
| Penn State |
14 |
11 |
129 |
12.9 |
| Temple |
18 |
3 |
136 |
13.6 |
| Michigan |
20 |
5 |
155 |
15.5 |
