The longest run of Damien Harris' senior season thus far captured the essence of a subtle change in Alabama's ground game.

Roughly nine minutes into the Crimson Tide's 51-14 rout of Louisville, Harris received the handoff from Tua Tagovailoa, slipped through a gap in the middle of the offensive line and darted into open space for a 32-yard gain.

Left guard Lester Cotton pulled from his position to team up with Ross Pierschbacher and create a wall on one side while left tackle Jonah Williams, who pushed his way into Cotton's original position, warded off multiple defenders on the other. Harris essentially maneuvered right over Pierschbacher's center spot before arriving at the second level.

The play illustrated Alabama's success running between the tackles, where 62 percent of their designed runs this year have been concentrated, according to ProFootballFocus.com.

"This offseason we've focused more on getting more movement on the inside running game,' Pierschbacher said. "I think that's been a big emphasis."

The results have quickly followed. After all, Alabama has owned the A gap, producing an 8.5 yards-per-carry average when the Crimson Tide's ball carriers have hit the holes between center and guard on both sides.

In contrast, Alabama has had less success when its backs have tried to go outside the tackles, gaining 5.1 yards per rush attempt the 30 times they've tried to do so this season.

It's an interesting development for a team that two years ago made a concerted effort to attack the edges. In 2016, during Lane Kiffin's last season as offensive coordinator, the Tide executed 41 jet sweeps, reverses and end arounds.

That year, Kiffin called four of those horizontal plays in a wild 48-43 victory over Ole Miss -- the team the Tide will play Saturday in Oxford.

But through two games this season, Mike Locksley, Alabama's current offensive coordinator, has yet to dial up a jet sweep, reverse or end around as the Tide has gradually moved back to the traditional ground game head coach Nick Saban has long preferred when he's had experienced players in the backfield.

Last season, when he was asked about the disappearance of the jet sweep pop pass that could have easily been mistaken as a run, Saban said, "We feel that we're a little more proficient in other areas that maybe we don't have to depend on that quite as much."

Instead, the Tide remains determined to send its ball carriers between the tackles, showing its might the old-fashioned way.

"We've had a good inside zone game so far," Pierschbacher said, "so we're just kind of pounding it home inside."

Rainer Sabin is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin