I think that the difference is that they're daring Trent to beat them this year. Based on our offense last year, its a justified defense against our team. The problem with it is that Trent is proving that we can beat teams this year by throwing. I think that eventually, opposing defenses will need to back off, which will give our running game a chance to shine.
Last year, our only weapon was the run (and special teams), but this year its more balanced, so I think we'll see a shift on how teams will defend us. That will balance out our attack as well.