JessN: SECCG wrap-up: This Was the Georgia We Expected, and the Alabama We Feared We'd See

[JessN]

Dang, that was fast. Have two drafts written and post the one needed based on the outcome?

Ha, not really, I just kind of had it written in my head from about halftime onward. Sometimes it just pours out when you sit down at the keyboard.

CKD and CRG simply didn't have to play this physical in their previous stops.

All of our problems on offense can be laid at the feet of philosophy and design. Basically coaching. They spent a whole season last year doing stuff they didnt want to do. And they were damned they were going to do it again this year.

I'll tell you what's odd about this: Look at Alabama's final offensive rankings last year -- 42nd in total offense, 47th in rushing offense, 56th in passing offense, 22nd in scoring offense.

I'm not calling for a return to the Milroe days but that's a balanced offensive output. It just wasn't enough of either. But whether it was due to the change from Sheridan to Grubb calling plays or the QB differences or whatever, Alabama had balance in the attack.

Our rankings right now? 67th in total offense, 116th in rushing, 21st in passing, 41st in scoring offense.

 

[JDCrimson]

I wonder what the rushing ranking would have been last year without Milroe's runs? Not suggesting you look it up.

We got to where we didnt even look like an offense last year.

We look like an offense this year albeit poorly orchestrated one. Maybe we are in a baby step rebuild...

Ha, not really, I just kind of had it written in my head from about halftime onward. Sometimes it just pours out when you sit down at the keyboard.

I'll tell you what's odd about this: Look at Alabama's final offensive rankings last year -- 42nd in total offense, 47th in rushing offense, 56th in passing offense, 22nd in scoring offense.

I'm not calling for a return to the Milroe days but that's a balanced offensive output. It just wasn't enough of either. But whether it was due to the change from Sheridan to Grubb calling plays or the QB differences or whatever, Alabama had balance in the attack.

Our rankings right now? 67th in total offense, 116th in rushing, 21st in passing, 41st in scoring offense.

 

[CaliforniaTide]

I wonder what the rushing ranking would have been last year without Milroe's runs? Not suggesting you look it up.

We got to where we didnt even look like an offense last year.

We look like an offense this year albeit poorly orchestrated one. Maybe we are in a baby step rebuild...

Much like Auburn claiming to be #1 in Alabama if you removed the Crimson Tide, I'd bet the rushing stats w/o Milroe would look similar to this year's numbers.

 

[JessN]

I wonder what the rushing ranking would have been last year without Milroe's runs? Not suggesting you look it up.

We got to where we didnt even look like an offense last year.

We look like an offense this year albeit poorly orchestrated one. Maybe we are in a baby step rebuild...

Much like Auburn claiming to be #1 in Alabama if you removed the Crimson Tide, I'd bet the rushing stats w/o Milroe would look similar to this year's numbers.

So I'm going to attempt to give some context to this.

The first place to look is starting RB.

* In 2024: Jam Milller -- 145 carries, 668 yards, 4.6 avg., 7 TD
* In 2025: Jam Miller -- 123 carries, 493 yards, 4.0 avg., 3 TD

Jam in 2024 was a far superior runner to Jam in 2025, but Jam in 2025 has been hurt badly three different times. However, here's where you start to see some real differences -- backup RB:

* In 2024: Justice Haynes -- 79 carries, 448 yards, 5.7 avg., 7 TD
* In 2025: Daniel Hill -- 61 carries, 228 yards, 3.7 avg., 5 TD

There is no comparison here. And we're up to 14 TD on the ground in 2024 for the top two guys compared to 8 TD in 2025.

Now, we do Richard Young all by himself:

* In 2024: Richard Young -- 27 carries, 146 yards, 5.4 avg., 2 TD
* In 2025: Richard Young -- 23 carries, 64 yards, 2.8 avg., 2 TD

In case you're wondering, here's Jalen Milroe's stat line for 2024: 168 carries, 726 yards, 4.3 avg., 20 TD. Includes yardage lost to sacks, too.

In 2025, Ty Simpson: 81 carries, 98 yards, 1.2 avg., 2 TD. That's pretty inline with what most pocket quarterbacks who can scramble are likely to get. That's almost half exactly the number of carries Milroe got a year ago so if you double Simpson's carries (a dubious thing to do but let's just do it for argument's sake), he extrapolates to 196 yards and 4 TD, which again you'd kind of expect because he's not Milroe.

Point being, there is no metric in 2025 that shows an edge over 2024. And I think the gap is significant enough that you can't just blame it on, "well, we don't have Milroe this year so the defenses can key on the RB" -- the idea this year was defenses would have to hang back to respect the pass.