Commit To The Run, and We Win

Ldlane said:

I really don't think our backs had any gas left.

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Then put Jesse Williams in at fullback and give the ball to him. Four rushes from inside the 10 yard line should have scored for the Tide.

Yes, run it 4 times and we win. I'm confident of that. It's a shame.

Agree 100%. WE HAVE 3 ALL-AMERICANS ON THE O-LINE. Run the ball four downs, if necessary.

a game we could have won. i also wonder why we get away from the run so fast. its like we have throw one of those 3 or 4 yard passes to keep the offense balanced. i was amazed we gained an average of over 6 yards against lsu. we was gouging their defense with the run often. i do notice that when one of our guys make a mistake they rarely get back into the game. yeldon had the ball ripped out of his arms while moving a 7 yrd gain. he is a freshman, and a great back. we left lacy after the fumble to carry the load. he did a great job, but, i think a little to much with the game in the balance. we never ran any rush plays outside of the tackles. yeldon is fast enough to get to the corners. we miss a couple of throws downfield and we forget about the pass. those two long passes to cooper and bell, were available most of the game. we always shut down the downfield passing if we dont connect early. that last drive was bad. we ran every ball to the same side. never to the steen, fluker in critical rushing plays. i think steen, and fluker are better road graders, because they are mean. why are you rolling to the right and passing to bell, when we have been successful all season with williams in the end zone. i also say rush the ball down their all day long. poorly called game, and poor execution on the passing. norwood getting hurt was bad, but, when we are in a potential shootout, what is wrong with having our two best deep threats bell, and cooper going deep. i dont get it. even so, three turnovers, and none for them is hard to overcome, but, we should have.

Really Big Bama Fan said:

Then put Jesse Williams in at fullback and give the ball to him. Four rushes from inside the 10 yard line should have scored for the Tide.

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Really

No doubt Bama should have run the ball more. However, what play was called last week against LSU that led to a long drive by LSU? A run, which ended in a fumble. Earlier in the game, TJ fumbled... On a run play.

As fans, we talk about AJ being a leader. Isn't a team supposed to put the ball in its leader's hands at the end of the game?

RTR91 said:

No doubt Bama should have run the ball more. However, what play was called last week against LSU that led to a long drive by LSU? A run, which ended in a fumble. Earlier in the game, TJ fumbled... On a run play.

As fans, we talk about AJ being a leader. Isn't a team supposed to put the ball in its leader's hands at the end of the game?

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First down and 6, I play the percentages. Eddie averaged 6 yards a carry. He's our starting RB, and we've won 2 of the last 3 NC's running the ball in that situation.

TideFan in AU said:

First down and 6, I play the percentages. Eddie averaged 6 yards a carry. He's our starting RB, and we've won 2 of the last 3 NC's running the ball in that situation.

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I recall a particular PA pass into the flat in 2009. That play was called by CNS because he wanted to go for the W, while Mac wanted to go for the FG.

I agree!

BAMAccounting10 said:

The last 2 games we have been a throw first, run second team. Running the ball successfully has won us 2 championships in the last 3 years. Why abandon the run now? I just dont understand why we've become a pass first team.

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Amen to that. I am similarly baffled. I truly don't understand with as stout as our line is and as talented as our backs are why we suddenly changed our gameplan either. Yes, we will run into teams who sell out against the run. Fine. Think about changing the plan ****IF*** a team figures out how to stop us from running it up the gut. Otherwise, we should be passing just enough to keep their defense honest. It's not that AJ, Cooper, Norwood, etc. aren't talented, but we should be playing to our primary strengths that we KNOW will win games.

I'm afraid this is mostly on the offensive staff and the OC...
Agreed!! 2 Turnovers (not counting last one) surely did not help either.

BAMAccounting10 said:

The last 2 games we have been a throw first, run second team. Running the ball successfully has won us 2 championships in the last 3 years. Why abandon the run now? I just dont understand why we've become a pass first team.

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The past two game have been especially frustrating. We averaged 7 yards a carry against LSU. Fortunately It worked out in that game. I just knew we wouldn't make that mistake against A&M.

TIDE-HSV said:

We've had other games (1/09/12) when we had to use the 1st down pass to loosen up the run game. Today, we dropped that philosophy. Once we established the run game, we instantly abandoned it. I understand the late long passes and they got us back in the game, but I think we threw away a lot of opportunities with the run game without even trying to exploit them. I'm afraid this is mostly on the offensive staff and the OC...

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It seemed so anomalous to our past philosophy and so far from the correct strategy to win this game, I began to question the motive.
I must be missing something.

If we had ran the ball more during the entire game, I don't think so many of the 3 and outs would have happened. Would have scored at least one more TD and the defense would not have been so gassed. We run=we win!!!

Boy was I ever Wrong!

I felt this team would have a Big Game & Win Big.

Our problems are deeper than how many times we run. Although I agree & was yelling at the tv as well. But AJ was off & if we play like this again LSU may be our last win this year.

Something changed with this team & I don't know what it is.

TrueGritnPluck said:

WHY go away from it on first and goal from the 6?

No way they stop us, or come back after we score

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First, A.J. underthrew a couple of deep balls that would have been TDs if they had been thrown out in front. The first was the 51 yard play on the drive that ended in a Yeldon fumble. The second was the catch by Bell that put us at the six. With that being said, I also thought we had four shots to run the ball from the six. I assumed we would go with power sets and get two or three yards a pop and stick the ball in the end zone. I can't for the life of me understand why we don't use our biggest assets on offense: offensive line and running backs. I want us to be balanced on offense, but there are times when you have to go with your bread and butter. It was mind boggling. We can't do anything about it now, so I hope we regroup and take care of business the rest of the way. We still have an opportunity to win thirteen games and an SEC title and maybe even a national title if we catch a couple of lucky breaks. Roll Tide!

You ran only 26 run plays, with the best O-Line in the country, against a team that cannot stop the run. You made this mistake against LSU and were given a reprieve. Not so in this game. Just as your play calling was to blame for the near loss against LSU, so are they to blame for this loss.

What a waste.

Not sure why, but I think our running game is hurting. Our starter is banged up and TJ is fumble prone.

Nussmeyer came in and changed his style to meet what Bama is set up to do. The last couple of games it seems obvious to me that he is now trying to change the team to fit his style. Square peg meet round hole. One loss does not define a program but this one loss should tell Coach Saban that Nuss's needs a good chewing out.