Why the Shift in Alabama's Offensive Philosophy?

bamafaninOhiO

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May 11, 2010
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I prefer balance too but that doesn't mean 50% passing, 50% rushing. I think for us and our talent distribution, this should be more in the area of 55% rushing and 45% passing instead of the opposite. My 2 cents.
what do they say about hindsight? If the play at the end of the game had worked (and it well could have if it had been executed properly), people wouldnt be saying this...

not long ago, under Jim Mcelwain with Greg McElroy running the offense, every wanted to see a more opened up offense....
opening up our passing game didnt cause us to lose the game...mistakes and poor execution did

if we had run the ball 4 times and turned it over on downs, everyone would be saying why didnt w pass it?
 

bamafaninOhiO

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May 11, 2010
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yessir. and of course it's just not our fanbase. look at lou holtz's comments. people take losing in different ways. it seems most people (by most people i mean those who post on internet sites and call into national shows;)) want to throw out the baby with the bath water.

this may sound a bit crazy but after the game i was almost relieved we lost one. you could tell that outside entities were heaping all this unwarranted praise on our program. it's never good when people start comparing your team to an NFL franchise. in just about every instance, the program starts to falter. however our situation is different. we have a very determined bunch who can use this loss as just another stepping stone to reeling off another run of wins. this loss may be a hidden gem for years to come.
that doesnt sound a bit crazy to me...it sounds a lot crazy.
Who wants to lose a game so that they dont have any pressures to win?
 

Rama Jama

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Jan 4, 2011
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I think Fowler would have been in on the play, but not as a ball carrier...;)
Agreed, Kelly Johnson is no where near the blocker Fowler is. I would have put in Jesse, and Fowler on the goal line, but the next game I win will be my 1st.

I do think our OC Nuss sometimes reverts back to his Washington play calling days at times. This is just part of his adjustment to the SEC. I think he has really called plays better than CJM up until last week. Even with the injuries, we should be what we are, a power running team.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
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The thing I disagree about the 20-0 score dictating more pass is that you don't have to abandon the gameplan with 45 minutes remaining. In fact, Alabama got back into the thing - taking a 6-point deficit to halftime - by pounding the ball down the field for two scores. The questions come from why not try to continue exploiting that to start the second half? They got a stop and I expected Alabama to feed Lacy and Yeldon the ball and take control of the game leaving TAMU think how it was only a 3-point game or how they were down 1 after their hot start. Nope, we got another series where we tried to pass it on them and continued that throughout the third quarter when TAMU was practically asking Alabama to seize all the momentum.
 

glasscutter256

All-American
Jan 31, 2009
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Agreed. Personally, I hate the concept of a "balanced offense." Screw that. Do whatever works. But maybe that's just me.
Ironically, a "balanced offense" does work. Look at the aTm offensive numbers and they were balanced too. You have to be able to run and throw at any time or the defense can scheme to stop you if you are predictable. I have no problem with the play calling. AJ has the ability to audible at the LOS if he sees an advantage.
Bottom line is that their players wanted it more than our players. They made a play and we didn't. Every play the OC calls is designed to score. The result depends on our execution of the play.
 

TiderInTally

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May 4, 2005
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i don't see too much of a difference. about the same amount of runs to pass. when you're behind 20pts in the first quarter, you're going to have to pass a little more.
One of the differences is the timing of the plays called. If you go back and look at the play-by-play, Alabama did not abandon the run being down 20 in the 1st vs. aTm. Quite the opposite. In all the drives in the first quarter, the offense ran passing plays in atypical passing situations - when NOT "behind the sticks" (2nd and < 10, say). Down 20 with 45 minutes to play, the coaching staff actually went back to the run - until they had to go into the 4-minute offense before halftime. Which, incidentally, was critical in cutting the lead to 6.

Point being, Alabama's offense is more consistent and effective when opponents are getting a healthier dose of road grader. Which makes the early-game pass-first phenomenon (titling the thread as a "shift" in "philosophy" was probably a mistake on my part) all the more mystifying.

And to those who view this thread as a criticism of the staff, let's be clear. I am not second-guessing or Monday-morning quarterbacking. I am sure that there is a perfectly valid reason - probably plenty of valid reasons. CNS does not open a pouch of fresh, moist Red Man Golden Blend without a reason. But for the life of me, I cannot figure it out.
 

kapeman

New Member
Dec 13, 2011
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A bit late to this party, but anyway.

I was very surprised at the three pass calls from the 6 yard line, since we were mostly successful running on them. Especially on the fourth and one. Pound it in at that point.

I thought those days were over when CJM left. Apparently, those calls are from CNS.
 

Airborne Tider

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Aug 2, 2008
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A bit late to this party, but anyway.

I was very surprised at the three pass calls from the 6 yard line, since we were mostly successful running on them. Especially on the fourth and one. Pound it in at that point.

I thought those days were over when CJM left. Apparently, those calls are from CNS.
Yep just like the terrible call to pass in the Auburn game in 2009 on the goalline...

It really is amazing. I swear just last week there was a thread near the top of this forum about how much better Nussmeier was in the red zone than CJM. I guess we are the worst about the "what have you done for me lately" mentality...

Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2
 

kapeman

New Member
Dec 13, 2011
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Yep just like the terrible call to pass in the Auburn game in 2009 on the goalline...

It really is amazing. I swear just last week there was a thread near the top of this forum about how much better Nussmeier was in the red zone than CJM. I guess we are the worst about the "what have you done for me lately" mentality...

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I don't think it has anything to do with a "what-have-you-done-lately" mentality, but a concern about playing against our strong suit.

Call a pass play on 1 or 2 of the four downs inside the 10 and I don't see a problem or any (legitimate) complaints. Where I see a problem, is calling 3 passing plays when our strength is running the ball.

And, until lately, I was thinking that the inside the ten play calling was better than past seasons.
 

RTR91

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Nov 23, 2007
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I don't think it has anything to do with a "what-have-you-done-lately" mentality, but a concern about playing against our strong suit.

Call a pass play on 1 or 2 of the four downs inside the 10 and I don't see a problem or any (legitimate) complaints. Where I see a problem, is calling 3 passing plays when our strength is running the ball.

And, until lately, I was thinking that the inside the ten play calling was better than past seasons.
In the last two games, Alabama has had a promising drive end in a fumble on running plays. The one against LSU was a bad exchange. The one against A&M was something that just happens. My point is simple; not all plays work as well as think they will. CNS said after the game he liked the call but would have liked to run since the pass didn't work. The cliche rings true again - hindsight is 20/20.
 

TIDE-HSV

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Oct 13, 1999
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In the last two games, Alabama has had a promising drive end in a fumble on running plays. The one against LSU was a bad exchange. The one against A&M was something that just happens. My point is simple; not all plays work as well as think they will. CNS said after the game he liked the call but would have liked to run since the pass didn't work. The cliche rings true again - hindsight is 20/20.
The one at LSU was on AJ. I put the one on Yeldon with TAMU. It was a clean rip out and he just didn't have the ball secured the way it should have been in heavy traffic...
 

RTR91

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Nov 23, 2007
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The one at LSU was on AJ. I put the one on Yeldon with TAMU. It was a clean rip out and he just didn't have the ball secured the way it should have been in heavy traffic...
I agree. Point remains that running plays aren't always a guarantee positive result.
 

TIDE-HSV

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I agree. Point remains that running plays aren't always a guarantee positive result.
No, they're not. However, it didn't seem to me that the pass plays were all that. I would love to have seen a couple which would have stretched the field a bit more. I say this without having looking back at the game, which I don't seem to be able to do yet...
 

MOAN

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Aug 30, 2010
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No, they're not. However, it didn't seem to me that the pass plays were all that. I would love to have seen a couple which would have stretched the field a bit more. I say this without having looking back at the game, which I don't seem to be able to do yet...
A little more imagination in the pass play calls would have helped and I think they should have called a timeout after the second down play to come up with something a little more imaginative, but.... :)
 

BigBama76

Suspended
Oct 26, 2011
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Atlanta, GA
We've lost our offensive identity.
Haven't heard that one during all the complaining. Just like many of the other complaints, this one makes no sense.
It makes some sense to me although I don't know that we've lost our identity as much as circumstances took away our identity or at least the coaches perception of our circumstances.

With AJ playing cold for long stretches two games in a row either the coaches thought he'd come out of his funk if they kept calling pass plays or AJ could have changed them based on what he saw the defense doing. Either way we've had little offensive consistency and frankly have become predictable.
 

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