Two Playoff Teams Rushed Like Amateurs, And History Says It's About To Get UGLY

Alright, Emerald City faithful, I know we're usually bleeding green and blue for our Hawks, M's, Kraken, and Sounders, but sometimes you gotta look outside our bubble to really understand what's cooking in the sports world. And what's been brewing in college football, folks, should have every single one of us paying attention. Because what went down in 2025 with teams that couldn't run the rock is a straight-up warning sign for *any* squad hoping to stay at the top. We're talking about a trend that history says ends in absolute pain, and two big-name playoff teams from last year walked right into it.

The 2025 Anomaly That Blew Up The College Football World

Remember 2025? Alabama was just plain bad at running the ball. Seriously, it's been the main talking point for the last eight months, everywhere from local chats to national breakdowns. The committee was moving them around the rankings like crazy because they couldn't string together 100-yard rushing games. After the season ended in disappointment, coaches have been hammered with questions about the run game, and every national preview or power ranking mentioning the Tide *still* brings up their 2025 struggles on the ground. Some optimistic fans are pointing to coaching changes, offensive line adjustments, and new running backs as reasons for hope. But the realists? They're looking no further than retaining offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb as a reason for doubt. Now, for a little truth bomb: we're talking about teams that finished in the bottom 20 nationally in rushing Predicted Points Added, or PPA, excluding garbage time, but still landed a spot in the Top 25 of ESPN's standings. PPA essentially measures the predicted points added per play. And honestly? There aren't many examples of teams pulling off good records while rushing the ball as poorly as Alabama did. The wild part? Alabama *and* Oklahoma both did exactly that in 2025, and both made the playoffs. You gotta wonder if they looked at the historical data.

History's Harsh Verdict For Ground-Game Struggles

So, what happens when a good team completely tanks in the run game? History, my friends, is not kind. Let's look back. In the post-Covid era, the Iowa Hawkeyes found themselves in this exact boat in 2021. They had the 11th worst rushing offense in the country but still managed a 10-4 record. How? A terrible passing game combined with an absolute lockdown defense. The next year? They dropped to a meager 8-5. And get this, they pulled the same trick again in 2023, owning the country's #1 worst rushing attack and going 10-4. The following year? Yep, 8-5 again. Before that, 2020 was weird with its shortened seasons, but we still saw USC and Indiana finish ranked despite terrible rushing. Both followed that up with losing seasons in 2021. Jump back to 2016, and the Florida Gators had a patchwork offense, led by QBs Austin Appleby and Luke Del Rio, that ranked 107th in scoring offense. Like Iowa, they leaned on an exceptional defense for a good overall record, only to suffer a losing season the very next year. Even the National Championship winning Clemson Tigers, with DeShaun Watson slinging it and an amazingly powerful passing game, fit this mold in 2016. This pattern isn't just a coincidence, it's a trend that screams "RED FLAG!" for any team ignoring its ground game. We're in early April, and this kind of early historical trend analysis is critical. What's at stake here for the college teams going into the 2026 season? Only their chances of repeating their success. Will Alabama and Oklahoma buck the trend? Or will history deliver its harsh verdict once again? Only time, and a whole lot of rushing yards, will tell.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.