Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama is the best team in college football and it's not close

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:25 p.m. ET

Aaron Torres

Over the last couple weeks, quite an interesting debate has begun to unfold across college football: Is Alabama really the best team in the country? Sure, the Crimson Tide were ranked No. 1 in the polls. But with Ohio State putting up video game-like numbers, Michigan steaking and (milk) shaking their way to a 6-0 start and others like Washington and Texas A&M lingering on the periphery, the question seemed fair.

Well, Alabama silenced that debate with an almost inconceivably dominating 49-10 victory over Tennessee Saturday at Neyland Stadium. The Tide proved, for now, they’re not only the best team in college football, but also the most complete.

This was a total bludgeoning of a good team, and make no mistake -- Tennessee is a good team. They have two wins over Top 20 teams (Florida and Virginia Tech), and their only loss was in overtime, on the road, against a Top 10 squad. But they never had a chance against Alabama.

On offense, the Crimson Tide did what they do, controlling the line of scrimmage with the running game. Damien Harris has already established himself as the next great ‘Bama back, with three games of 100-plus yards rushing this season, and he had 94 yards on 14 carries -- a robust 6.7 yard average -- against the Vols. The only reason he didn’t top 100 yards is because he split carries with Bo Scarborough, who seems to be hitting his groove, topping 100 yards rushing for the first time this season thanks to an 85-yard touchdown run.

More impressive was the play of true freshman QB Jalen Hurts. For the past seven weeks we’ve waited for him to look like a freshman, and all he does is keep making us look stupid. That was definitely the case Saturday, where Hurts effortlessly moved the offense up and down the field, completing 16 of 26 passes and tallying 132 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Incredibly he seems to get better every week, and the scary part is that SEC defenses have at least another two-and-a-half years going against him.

Yet as good as Hurts and the offense were, the defense may have been even better. They certainly had their best performance of the season, limiting a Tennessee offense that came into Saturday averaging 448 yards to just 163 overall. They also limited the Vols to just 3 of 16 third-down conversions and -- get this -- a staggering one yard per carry. One! Remember, just last week the Vols averaged over eight yards per carry against Texas A&M. This week they got shut down like a JV team practicing against the varsity.

Just for good measure, Alabama added an interception return for a touchdown as well as a punt return touchdown, giving them 11 non-offensive touchdowns this season.

It's hard to find a weakness in the Tide. They can pound the ball between the tackles in the run game, and Hurts can beat you with his legs and arm, making the Crimson Tide’s offense seemingly impossible to defend. Their defense is playing as well as just about anyone in the country (especially considering their competition), and their special teams continues to produce points and good field position.

While there is still a lot of football left to be played, the Crimson Tide certainly look like the best and most complete team in the country and left little doubt about that Saturday.