Why do we have no run game?

[Bamabuzzard]

Some portion of this has to be credited to SEC defenses. He didn’t face these Dlines at Wash.

I agree, we have to take that into consideration as well. The staff has a lot to work on this offseason to get better at the run game for next season, that's for sure.

 

[arthurdawg]

On a positive note... It does seem that they understand very well that the run game needs improvement.

Hope it happens.

I also hope that we tighten up a bit and get back to what worked earlier in the year, less trickeration, keep occasionally going long to make defenses guard it, and mix up the running a bit better.

 

[BamaFanInTally]

The Film Guy does a heckuva job breaking down some of the reasons our running game is so bad. He says part of it is the running back and how he (Miller) approaches the LOS. But A LOT of it is our offensive linemen take bad angles to their blocks and have bad footwork. He dissects about 20 plays and shows all of these things in play. We're just not a fundamentally sound run blocking team. Too many guys getting their pads over their feet, not taking the correct angles to their blocks and having bad footwork.

IMO our lack of an effective running game is primarily on the Oline. The problems stem from poor Oline coaching, lack of leverage, power, and scheme. To totally fix it we need to go back to square one in the spring.

Could it be improved now in season? Yes, some. I’ve (not jokingly) said that DeBoer should reach out to Joe Pendry for a short term consulting role. Pendry knows more about optimizing Oline play than the entire coaching staff in the building. But it really needs to get fixed in the off season. We can have both a dynamic passing game and an effective running game.

 

[graydogg85]

I agree, we have to take that into consideration as well. The staff has a lot to work on this offseason to get better at the run game for next season, that's for sure.

BhamtoTexas beat me to it. This staff has never consistently faced SEC-level talent in the defensive front seven. Accordingly, they could get by with dedicating more practice reps to passing concepts in the past.

Maybe they are figuring this out, but IMO this isn’t a mid-season adjustment situation. More of an off-season retooling.

I would add that we’ve really only faced two defenses this season that would be considered “bad” - Tennessee, who ranks 97th in total defense and ULM who ranks 89th. Every other defense we’ve faced this season is in the Top 60, and all but one of those (Vandy at 58th) is in the Top 45. So 6 of our 9 opponents have been ranked in the top 30-ish percent of all defenses nationally.

Aside from Eastern Illinois, it doesn’t get any easier. OU is 7th in total defense (4th in rushing defense), and while Auburn is 43rd in total defense, they are 9th in rushing defense.

I would be shocked if we saw dramatic improvement from the run game given the above. I think our own defense (which is ranked 18th nationally) along with Ty and the receivers will have to carry this team for the rest of the season.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

BhamtoTexas beat me to it. This staff has never consistently faced SEC-level talent in the defensive front seven. Accordingly, they could get by with dedicating more practice reps to passing concepts in the past.

Maybe they are figuring this out, but IMO this isn’t a mid-season adjustment situation. More of an off-season retooling.

I would add that we’ve really only faced two defenses this season that would be considered “bad” - Tennessee, who ranks 97th in total defense and ULM who ranks 89th. Every other defense we’ve faced this season is in the Top 60, and all but one of those (Vandy at 58th) is in the Top 45. So 6 of our 9 opponents have been ranked in the top 30-ish percent of all defenses nationally.

Aside from Eastern Illinois, it doesn’t get any easier. OU is 7th in total defense (4th in rushing defense), and while Auburn is 43rd in total defense, they are 9th in rushing defense.

I would be shocked if we saw dramatic improvement from the run game given the above. I think our own defense (which is ranked 18th nationally) along with Ty and the receivers will have to carry this team for the rest of the season.

I'm just afraid teams are starting to make the adjustments of taking away the mid to intermediate routes and are forcing us to either throw deep or run the ball. Which we don't do either very well. I think this is why USCe had so much success against us. They put speed rushers on the edges and flooded the zone where we would normally go to the intermediate stuff. It caused Ty to hold the ball longer and I noticed it in the LSU game as well. I can guarantee you Venebles, with two weeks to prepare, is going to have the most confusing defensive scheme Ty has seen all season.

 

[arthurdawg]

Well... One positive may be that the staff has proven they are a solid unit and that they are aware of and going to work towards fixing the problems. Glad they have the time to focus on it and adjust to the ferocity of an SEC defense for the next couple of years.

 

[SkullDuckery]

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[gtgilbert]

At the 14:10 mark, Bama runs a wildcat with the QB and TE showing jet sweep act.
Here is the line-up.
View attachment 54241
It would see this is the intention.
View attachment 54242
This is what happens.
View attachment 54243
The right Guard does not take a good angle at the LB, who takes on the block with his inside shoulder, defeats the block and slides outside behind the DE who is crashing (not respecting the jet sweep action at all) and the LB meets the running back just outside the crashing end, tackling him for no gain. That looks like a not great play design, plus expecting more of the right tackle than he can deliver or a coaching failure to urge him to the correct aim point on the LB.
If in this case, the defense is giving no respect to the QB jet sweep action, maybe you do give the QB the ball, and he has a TE paralleling his movement to serve as a blocker for him to pick up some yardage.
Anyway, it seems to be a combination of not great play design, plus almost good enough blocking resulting in no gain.

Good illustration and it highlights something I have started to notice on a lot of defenses. While it used to be standard procedure for the end guy on the LOS to have outside contain and be the read point for a lot of these sone read type plays, many defenses are now coaching that guy to crash to the inside no matter what and putting the edge contain responsibility on another player - in this case the LB who was flowing over to the edge immediately at the snap. defenses have found just getting inside to mess up the likely mesh point and then counter with a faster player like the ILB works better

 

[gtgilbert]

Some portion of this has to be credited to SEC defenses. He didn’t face these Dlines at Wash.

This 100%. SEC lineman of the same size are faster, and get through the gaps behind pulling OL faster, or if left on the LOS expecting a pulling OL to get there, the SEC DL and LBs will get there much faster.

 

[Tidewater]

Good illustration and it highlights something I have started to notice on a lot of defenses. While it used to be standard procedure for the end guy on the LOS to have outside contain and be the read point for a lot of these sone read type plays, many defenses are now coaching that guy to crash to the inside no matter what and putting the edge contain responsibility on another player - in this case the LB who was flowing over to the edge immediately at the snap. defenses have found just getting inside to mess up the likely mesh point and then counter with a faster player like the ILB works better

I certainly think that the jet sweep motion by Simpson was intended to force the end wide. The problem was, the end was not buying it (or aas you state, was responsibile for crashing in and mucking up whatever was going to happen inside and relying on the LB to set the edge.

 

[December05]

I agree with the Bolded.

But it might be unfair to label the entire RB room as only mediocre.

We'd need 1988 Barry Sanders for a RB to look above average with current OL Blocking.

Imo Daniel Hill has Yeldon, Lacy, Jacobs type potential but he's just now getting some increased playing time and behind a very poor OL.

Jam was looking much improved to begin the year but he suffered a pretty nasty concussion and has not been the same since. He honestly shouldn't even have been playing again yet.

Riley has also shown some potential to run hard with some slashing ability and reminds me a little bit of Damien Harris.

AK Dear is going to be a PHENOM. He's almost as fast as Gibbs and faster than Drake. Why he's on the bench being RS is a complete mystery to me. We could as least use him in the Passing game as a WR to try and get him in space until he's up to speed on Blocking.

It's also worth noting that Haynes has had twice the yardage production in 7 games w/ Mich than 2 years at Bama. He's gaining 1.5 more YPC.

Our OL is HORRENDOUS.

Bringing up the younger backs is important. Aside from learning pass protections, running back is something a young player can see the field early with if he’s just that good. AK Dear saw the field for all of about three minutes this season and gave us the most electrifying play out of the backfield on the season. Granted, it was against Monroe - it was still burst and acceleration we haven’t seen since. If we don’t show a solid commitment to improving our ground game, how do we hold onto him and Crowell and the like? If I’m a running back and don’t have any prior allegiance, we’re not even on my radar to select. We only have so long to struggle before we lose the ability to get top RB prospects.