The numbers are gaudy by anybody's standards.

The fact that the numbers reflect an Alabama offense sounds down right sacrilegious.

The Crimson Tide, known for stingy defenses and 3 yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offenses, has put up video game-like numbers in the first three weeks of the season.

Through games against Louisville, Arkansas State and Ole Miss, the No. 1-ranked Tide, led by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, has seen little resistance.

So, what could this offense, which scores 56.67 points per game, do against, say, the 1992 Alabama defense, which won a national title and is widely considered the best defensive unit of all time?

First, a reference point:

2018 offense

544.7 total yards per game

308 passing yards per game

236.7 rushing yards per game

1992 defense

194 total yards per game

139.2 passing yards per game

55 rushing yards per game

So, who you got?

We asked a few guys that might know a thing or two about that defense.

"They were awfully good," former Alabama coach Gene Stallings said of the 1992 defense. "They were ranked the best defensive team ever when a poll came out a couple of years ago. Yeah, they could handle (Tagovailoa). Would we shut him down? I don't think that would happen, but it would be an interesting game. I'd love to see that matchup."

Stallings - along with 1992 Alabama defensive back Willie Gaston, linebacker Vic Lockett and quarterback Jay Barker - took on the task of breaking down 2018 Alabama offense vs. 1992 Alabama defense.

All four stated, in order to get the best of this year's offense, pressure has to come from an inside push, even if it means bringing extra personnel.

"We would definitely slow them down," Lockett said. "I don't know if we'd stop them.

"For sure, I would put some heat on him. He can't sit back there and get the option to read and make our DBs run with them. You have to have someone come in there and put some heat on him. You got to blitz him from the inside backer or somebody. That's the answer to me."

Gaston just laughed.

"You asked the wrong person that question," Gaston said. "I'm going to give you a real biased answer. I'm not going to take away from their talent, but I'm going to give you a really biased answer.

"As far as our secondary and our front seven, I can't even put it into words. You got George (Teague), who was a first-round pick, and you got (Antonio) Langham, who was a Thorpe winner, at your corners. You got Chris Donnelly at safety. You had Tommy Johnson, you had me coming off bench. Then, look at the linebacker corps. You had Derrick Oden, who went to Philadelphia. You had the bookends: (John) Copeland and (Eric) Curry. You had Jeremy Nunley right there in the middle with James Gregory.

"Then, when we wanted to add more pressure to you, we put Antonio London on the end, and Copeland and Curry together. I mean, come on!"

Gaston, at the end, was more diplomatic.

"I'm not going to say it wouldn't be close," he said. "I'm not going to say that because that would just be unrealistic. We see the talent. To go against the '92 defense, it would be a great matchup. I would say they would win some and we would win some."

Perhaps no one knows the '92 defense like the quarterback that competed against it every day in practice.

"The '92 defense, I think, would do pretty well against this offense, to a degree, because of the speed and the athleticism," Barker explains. "They weren't as big a guy. Curry and Copeland were big then, but they were also really fast as far as getting up the field and rushing a guy like Tua. The linebackers could run. I think everyone on that defense ended up getting drafted except Chris Donnelly. And, Chris got hurt.

"I'm not saying this defense would not give up points, but, man, I'd put that defense up against anybody."

Barker, however, said this year's Crimson Tide gets the edge over his '92 team.

"When you have a distributor like Tua it makes it really tough on the defense," he said. "I'll probably have to go with today's guys just because of the amount of talent they have on that side of the ball. I love my '92 defense and I think they could go up against anybody and play at a very high-pace. ...

"But, this is a very exciting group. And, it could go down as one of the best, if not the best, offenses, not only in Nick Saban's history but in Alabama's history."

Of those interviewed, Baker was the lone voice for Saban's team.

"We would have a tough time," he said of the '92 team. "I'm being honest. Defensively and offensively, they are elite all over the place. We're talking 5 stars and 4 stars everywhere. You look at the NFL talent going on. I'm just being realistic. The talent level and where coach Saban has taken this program, I don't know if it has ever been here."

Still, the '92 team wasn't too "shabby," Lockett said.

"Antonio Langham was not shabby at all," he said. "We had a good secondary with Sam Shades and Donnelly. I think for sure we could run with them."

Lockett said Tua could run but not get very far.

"We had linebackers that could fly," he said. "He wouldn't get too far. He'd get 6 or 8 yards, but he wouldn't break 10 or 20 or nothing like that."

Barker said it's the way Tagovailoa spreads the ball around that makes him special.

"I don't know if I've seen a guy, especially a true sophomore, that has been this accurate with the timing he's got and how he distributes the ball," Barker said. "That would be the hardest part for the '92 defense. How do you cover just every aspect?"

Gaston ranks this year's Alabama's offense among the best in Tuscaloosa.

But, not good enough for his '92 team.

Does the '92 team blitz or change up pressure?

"We just go," Gaston said.

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.