The 2011 Alabama defense led the nation in total defense (allowing 183.62 yards per game), scoring defense (8.15 points per game), passing defense 111.46 yards per game), and rushing defense (72.15 yards per game).

That, however, is not the amazing statistic from Crimson Tide Defensive Coordinator Kirby Smart.

Nor is the unusual statistic Bama’s performance on defense last season -- a poor one by the standard established by Nick Saban and Smart. In 2014 Bama gave up 328.4 yards per game (102.4 rushing, 226.1 passing) and 18.4 points per game.

Here is the astounding statistic:

In 2011, some 800 plays, Alabama’s defense had to deal with a total of only five run-pass option plays. Last year Bama was on defense for 945 plays and over 120 of them were run-pass option plays.

When Smart said, “I think every year we’ve had to change a little bit,” it probably was an understatement.

He said the Alabama defense of 2011 “was a big, physical presence team that had two first round corners on it.

“In recent years, the run-pass option has evolved to make offensive football a little bit better, and we’ve had to change with that. We’ve got to do more things. We’ve got to play more split-safety coverages, you’ve got to help your corners in a lot of different ways. And we’ve got to continue to grow in that area so we don’t give up big plays, don’t put those guys in tough situations…which I did last year, probably too often.”

Smart said the Crimson Tide has defensive goals and that “last year’s group was the worst goal-wise of the last seven years.”

Improvement, he said, needs to come in three general areas – forcing turnovers (“we didn’t do that last year”), not allowing big plays (“we didn’t do that last year), and third down defense (“we weren’t very good at that last year”).

Alabama did go 12-2 last year and win the Southeastern Conference championship and make it to the inaugural College Football Playoff. So the defense must have done something well, right? Yes. The name of the game is points, and Smart said, “We were good in the Red Zone area, which is the fourth spot to be really good, and you want to be a great team in the red area. We were good with that. And that helped us finish sixth in scoring defense in the country.”

He said there is special defensive emphasis on forcing turnovers in this year’s camp.

Smart calls it a good group of defenders who should be effective this year. He cited being “really deep in the D-Line,” having some players back in the secondary, and notes that he’s back coaching the inside linebackers “which is exciting for me.” He mentioned, particularly, All-America Reggie Ragland and the somewhat-to-date enigmatic Reuben Foster.

Because defense is successful with players who can make plays moreso than coaches who can draw up schemes, Smart said the evolution of the game in recent years has impacted recruiting. He said the defense has to recruit men who are big and strong enough to play against the physical teams and athletic enough to play against spread teams.

The defense has “42 or 43” of the squad and Smart would like to have men who can play both systems. “That’s hard to do,” he admitted.

Smart was asked about the tough four-game stretch in which Alabama plays at Georgia Oct. 3, is home to Arkansas Oct. 10, goes to Texas A&M Oct. 17, and is home to Tennessee Oct. 24.

“It’s challenging,” he said. He said just playing in the SEC Western Division is tough because you have teams like LSU and Arkansas that “hit you in the mouth, bloody your nose,” and others, like Texas A&M, “who can be anything. You’ve got to have two types of defenses. You’ve got to play spread sideline to sideline and then you’ve got to turn around and play smash-mouth.”

That doesn’t catch the Tide off guard.

Part of the Saban process is to use off-season (spring and fall camp) practices to introduce systems that the team will see later in the year. That way, when game-week arrives, Bama has already been exposed to the offensive and defensive schemes.

Even though, as Smart said, Alabama “gameplans way ahead for these opponents,” he said “it’s tough on the players, because their mindset has to change so much. From an Arkansas to a Texas A&M, you couldn’t find more polar opposites.”

One of the big stories of the summer was Smart’s revelation that he had talked to new Houston Coach Tom Herman, who was offensive coordinator for Ohio State last year in the Sugar Bowl, to discuss how the Buckeyes had been so effective against Alabama.

Smart called it “pretty commonplace” following a game against an out-of-conference opponent. He said he would talk to the Wisconsin offensive coordinator after Bama opens the season against the Badgers because he knows Wisconsin has been studying Alabama for months.

(“In conference, they’ve got to play us next year, so it doesn’t benefit us a whole lot to call the guy at LSU; they’re not going to give you much.”)

“You can share information,” Smart said. “Coach Herman was really good to us, very beneficial to us. That helped because they looked at us so long and did such a good job against us.”

Last year, Alabama defeated Texas A&M by a 59-0 score. The Tide held on to defeat Auburn, 55-44, and then lost in the College Football Playoff semifinals to Ohio State by 42-35. Smart was asked if during the offseason he would watch more tape of the Texas A&M shutout or more tape of the games in which Bama gave up 40-plus points.

Smart said that he would study tapes of all games, “but obviously to correct mistakes there are a lot more mistakes in the Auburn and Ohio State games than in the Texas A&M game.

“First thing attributable to that was quarterback play against us in those games. You’re talking about complete opposites. No offense to the Texas A&M guy, but he didn’t play very well against us. And we played better--executed better--against them. Now those other two teams had something Texas A&M didn’t have, which is a dominant, physical running game. Make no mistake about it now. Auburn and Ohio State are not spread football teams. They run the ball at you with power, they run counters, and they are very physical. The combination of that and giving up big plays is what got us. We’ve always been pretty good at the physical part of the game, the run, stop the run, not giving up big plays, exposure to risk at the corner. That was what got us and the good quarterback play in those games.

“We watch those games and know that is how people are going to attack us. They’re not going to attack us the way Texas A&M did. They are going to attack us like Auburn and Ohio State did. So we know what’s coming down the road.”