The Next Big Thing: 3-4 Defense

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The Next Big Thing in defense: Saban's success sparks renewed interest in 3-4

Alabama won the 2009 national championship, in large part, because it finished second in the nation in rushing defense, pass efficiency defense, total defense and scoring defense. The Crimson Tide piled up those suffocating statistics using the attacking 3-4 base defense of Saban and coordinator Kirby Smart.

[The numbers are smaller in college, but growing. Rivals.com senior writer Tom Dienhart counted 14 Football Bowl Subdivision schools that will base out of the 3-4 this season. Seven of them made the switch in the off-season.

The new believers: Georgia, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, Houston, Notre Dame, Stanford and Texas Tech. New Tech coordinator James Willis worked under Saban at Alabama and Muschamp at Auburn.

The 3-4 gives teams flexibility in recruiting and in attacking and confusing quarterbacks.

On the recruiting front, it's a numbers game. If a team's base defense uses three down linemen rather than four, it doesn't have to sign as many down linemen. And coaches say they're the hardest players to find.

That's another advantage of the 3-4. Offensive coordinators don't see it every week, so it's harder to prepare for. Plus, with so many college offenses running some sort of spread, the 3-4 trades a down lineman who's not quick enough or skilled enough in pass coverage for an outside linebacker who is.