Bama running game fixes!

[ForeverBama]

My befuddlement with the offense is well document. To speak about things such as the lack of offensive consistency is anathema to many: We are not the coaches and the coaches know best. Of course it is sadly true. I am not the coach as evidenced by my salary.

After a year and of half with this present offensive, players and system, it is what it is. Against Ole Sis, the primary running formation was two tight ends, qb under center and TB deep....a pro style set. It was not successful, but there had to be a reason for the decision to go with this set.

Perhaps the reason the coaches ran from this set is because the pistol is more suited for a running qb? And as many have said, it is possible that the lack of success in the running game is directly affected by the lack of a true deep threat. Obviously, if this were true, then the coaches would make the proper changes in the schemes and personnel.

Mysteries abound and I don't have the answers, but I do so enjoy discussing such matters.

 

[Dallas4Bama]

How about the first drive of the second half? Ingram takes the ball for 9 yards and then we run a QB draw with GMac on 2nd and 1?!?!

I was equally confused by that call. 2nd and 1 is when you run some type of play action or air it out.

One thing I did notice last night was that we threw the ball down the field deep 4 times in the first possession. We completed none of them and went away from it.

Another thing that bothered me last night was as much about our fans as the play calling. After the 3rd incompletion on the first drive the crowd booed. What the heck is up with that? Ok, you want us to throw it deep and not run it every down, but then you boo when the pass doesn't work. Coach Bryant used to say that when you pass 3 things can happen and 2 of them aren't good. There will be incompletions if you pass and booing them is ridiculous.

 

[bamaga]

one last thought. whatever happened to MASHING defenses. maybe we need to scout ourselves more!.......or less.

 

[Im_on_dsp]

The war is won and lost in the trenches.

It's hard to win a war when the enemy is fighting with 9 guys and you only have 7. You've got to take the war to the part of the field where it's 4 against 2.

 

[bamanix]

it is sad that opposing teams, especially def tackles are calling the tide offense out. they claim they know how to defend our offense, especially the run. i have to say they have been right for 3 games in a row. i keep hearing with the experience of our offense, balance is the difference. we have no balance. we treat pass plays as running plays. 4,5 yards, and hope the receiver gets more yards. coach has stated the last two weeks, we need better passing. well, what is it going to take. we have talent, kenny bell looked real good on his reception. alexander looks good going against the middle. i am afraid greg just does not have the arm to go downfield. he has become a game manager, a lot like jp wilson was, except he did throw the ball long on occasion, especially when he had receivers like hall, brown. we have big receivers if needed, let them go get the ball sometimes. we appear afraid to complete on the big stage. we see teams like auburn, oregon, boise state, tcu, letting it hang out, and getting it done. we all thought this years off line is better than last years, but, now they dont appear to be able to handle the 8 in the box defenses. we did last year. i believe we can beat the remainder of our schedule, my big worry is auburn with the best qb in college ball, cam newton. he adds a major threat to defenses with his size, agility and speed. we match up well with the rest.

 

[JAXFLBAMAFAN]

Bottom line.... we don't have an offensive line that can "mash" a defense like we had in 09. Pass defense they do just fine with but consistently opening running lanes, just has not happened so far this year on a regular basis against good SEC defenses.

 

[CrimsonSEC]

Ingram seemed like he was hardly in the game last night. I was scrathing my head on that one. The only thing I could come up with is that maybe he's hurt?

I've noticed it in the last couple of games and I've come to the same conclusion as you.

 

[45longcolt]

I've noticed it in the last couple of games and I've come to the same conclusion as you.

:frown::frown::frown:
I feel that both Ingram and Richardson are hurt!!

 

[GMacFan]

Bottom line.... we don't have an offensive line that can "mash" a defense like we had in 09. Pass defense they do just fine with but consistently opening running lanes, just has not happened so far this year on a regular basis against good SEC defenses.

We have three returning starters from that line...the other two are DJ Fluker and Chance Warmack. They're pretty good run blockers. Lack of success in the running game is the result of many factors, and OL play is probably the smallest one.

 

[CrimsonSEC]

:frown::frown::frown:
I feel that both Ingram and Richardson are hurt!!

Trent's okay if he didn't get hurt in the awkward hit Saturday night. See screen pass for conformation, he was on all cylinders for that one.

 

[GMacFan]

I was equally confused by that call. 2nd and 1 is when you run some type of play action or air it out.

One thing I did notice last night was that we threw the ball down the field deep 4 times in the first possession. We completed none of them and went away from it.

Another thing that bothered me last night was as much about our fans as the play calling. After the 3rd incompletion on the first drive the crowd booed. What the heck is up with that? Ok, you want us to throw it deep and not run it every down, but then you boo when the pass doesn't work. Coach Bryant used to say that when you pass 3 things can happen and 2 of them aren't good. There will be incompletions if you pass and booing them is ridiculous.

Last night was the first time I had been to game a not sat in the student section in a while. Man the older fans are hostile! When we started going deep early, I was thinking this is good, we need this, I don't care how long it takes to get a completion, this is something we have to work on. Of course the fans were yelling "Run the [expletive] ball!" and "what are we doin'." After the first possession was unsuccessful, we reverted back to short pass, busted running play, five-yard pass, ect. If we could hit a big play deep, early in the football game, that would be like the light at the end of the tunnel. Like that play to Hanks against USCe that went for a TD, if that play had occurred earlier, I think it would have opened up our run game.

 

[GMacFan]

:frown::frown::frown:
I feel that both Ingram and Richardson are hurt!!

They just don't have enough space to make the plays.

 

[BamaMike05]

I'd love to hear a logical reason why a QB draw on 2nd and 1 is a better call than a simple RB draw to Ingram or Richardson

They're not running that play in hopes of getting a TD. It's a short yardage play. If you know you're only trying to pick up a short amount of yards, why are you running a QB draw? Especially in light of the fact that we're trying to get our running game going and since GMac has been pretty banged up lately.

I really see no logical reason whatsoever to call a QB draw in that situation. And when calls like that are made and you continue to fail to pick up yards, you lose confidence and everything starts to snowball.

As someone said before it was not a QB draw. It was a zone read play. Oline zone blocks right leaving backside DE unblocked if DE chases the RB the QB is to pull it and take off. He made the right read on the DE but the SS or LB I cant remember which one it was closed on it very quickly.

It is very easy to call plays from the couch or the stands. Being an offensive coordinator myself it really is easy to overthink things sometimes and that couldve been a situation on that play.

 

[BAMAFAN61]

McElroy is tipping off the run. When he lines up under center and gets ready to hand the ball to a back, he hops. If I noticed that, I know that the ole siss defensive coaches noticed it. Anyone else notice this beside me?

 

[Nolan]

Anyone think Mark might be back for one more year because of his lower production this year and uncertainty over the NFL CBA?

Impossible to say at this point. It all depends on what the League tells him, and we all know Saban encourages his guys to go pro if it's best for them.

I think (and I'm just an average fan, no expert) that we are missing a few blocks and assignments here and there - eventually this thing will start clicking and we'll see what we've been waiting for. But yeah, I think it would help if we could successfully stretch the field passing from time to time.

 

[mlh]

It is very easy to call plays from the couch or the stands. Being an offensive coordinator myself it really is easy to overthink things sometimes and that couldve been a situation on that play.

I think this is a big part of our problem. We have so many weapons that we can use and so many things that we can do that we wind up not doing anything very well because we don't do anything enough to get into a groove.

 

[BocaLance]

:frown::frown::frown:
I feel that both Ingram and Richardson are hurt!!

Don't know which game you were watching, but Richardson looked pretty spry breaking tackles and sprinting 85 yards for a TD with gas to spare.

 

[BAMARICH]

Bottom line.... we don't have an offensive line that can "mash" a defense like we had in 09. Pass defense they do just fine with but consistently opening running lanes, just has not happened so far this year on a regular basis against good SEC defenses.

Best answer to Alan's original question. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are not as strong up front as we were last year. Last year, teams stacked the box the same way they've done the past two games... and we still forced our will on them running the ball. Simply put, PD is not Colin Peek. CW isn't Mike Johnson. And DJF/AM isn't Drew Davis. At least... not yet. Add to that MI coming off of injury/showing weariness and TR showing what the rigors of SEC football looks like and you've got a running game that can be shut down.

Like it or not, the bye week is probably our salvation... along with commitment of our up-front guys to improve week-to-week. Oh... we've got to throw the ball downfield also!!!

 

[kyallie]

How about the first drive of the second half? Ingram takes the ball for 9 yards and then we run a QB draw with GMac on 2nd and 1?!?!

Sorry but that's absurd. You're goal as an offense is to keep the ball moving downfield and the way to do that is to get a fresh set of downs. GMac going for a QB draw is not a "potential big play." It's a play designed to get a couple of yards. Just like a draw to Ingram up the middle is designed to get a couple of yards, not necessarily a homerun.

So we do the QB draw which gets us no yards forcing us to run Ingram on 3rd and 1, only this time, Ole Miss knows its coming. Ingram trips as he's trying to get to the corner and fails to pick up the first down.

QB draw on 2nd and 1 when your offense is struggling is an AWFUL way to start off the second half.

And we've completely gone away from the Pistol formation, why? It's what's gotten us almost all of our big running plays this year. How many times did we see it last night? 3? 4?

Our we trying to fool other teams on defense by making them think we're schizophrenic on offense? I just don't get it. We're not fun to watch on offense and that's a sad statement considering we've got some of the best weapons that have ever stepped foot on campus.

At least our D showed up last night, they looked much improved. I know a lot of people were complaing about giving up 3rd downs, but you can't stop the other team on every 3rd down, it's just not possible. Ole Miss was 8-19 on 3rd down conversions last night. That's not a bad % for us considering how bad we looked over the last few weeks.

Spot on. That, and Greg needs to throw the ball down field 30 or 40 yds. to lengthen the field. This will help open up the run game. I think these bye weeks have given defenses time to specifically diagnose the way to recognize their lanes and gaps vs our offense. MI & TR only need a small opening, but they've been hard to come by the past 3 weeks, especially when they can cheat the pass and load the box at will. Our QB MUST lengthen the field, in order to help to create these small openings again.

 

[Dallas4Bama]

Spot on. That, and Greg needs to throw the ball down field 30 or 40 yds. to lengthen the field. This will help open up the run game. I think these bye weeks have given defenses time to specifically diagnose the way to recognize their lanes and gaps vs our offense. MI & TR only need a small opening, but they've been hard to come by the past 3 weeks, especially when they can cheat the pass and load the box at will. Our QB MUST lengthen the field, in order to help to create these small openings again.

Lengthening the field is a good thing, I will not argue that. What I will argue is that this is being over used as a reason for our lack of production compared to last year. First I think everyone should remember that what we saw last year out of Mark and Trent doesn't happen all the time. We were able to see an unreal display last year from those two, but I digress. Our O line blew people off of the ball on every snap last year in the run game. We aren't doing that this year. I don't know if it's teams scheming against us, I don't know if it's a lack of ability or maybe it's a tell or something but we aren't getting the same push up front. Now the fashionable answer this year is to blame it on the 8 or 9 in the box due to the lack of long passes to lengthen the field. "GMac is no deep threat so they load the box" etc... If that is the case someone please explain to me "The Drive" last year against SC. Not one single person in the stadium ever thought Mark Ingram was going to throw the ball. Yet we marched down the field to score. There weren't just 8 in the box there were 10 in the box and they couldn't stop us. We blew them back off the line. Where was the deep threat there? There wasn't one and we still crammed the ball down their throats. BTW, that wasn't the only drive last year that we basically did that on.