Just for fun: What's your offseason wish list for Coach Nuss?

ccc2259 said:

Not what you're looking for, but my wish is that he doesn't change anything!

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I like the what if's discussions just to see the different views but I think last years team nailed the offense almost as well as the Wishbone days. Nuss did an outstanding job of game planning but when things did not work they were able to adjust quickly. Take the SECCG for example.

This is going to be a fun year to watch & I'm sure Nuss will have some wrinkles that will surprise all.

CraigD said:

Toss sweep. Not a lot, just every once in a while. Keep those edge guys on edge and prevent them from stacking the box. Think about what a toss sweep to TJ would have done in our last series against UGA - when they knew we were going to run three times right into the middle... he probably would have scored.

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This invokes memories of Bobby Humphrey running the toss sweep against the Viles in the 1980s. What a beautiful thing it really was!!!

And yeah, TJ could handle the toss sweep with no problem!!!

I wouldn't mind seeing some 4-wide, 5-wide sets. We should take advantage of McCarron while we actually have him. A dream of mine is to see some Run and Shoot, but that's way too risky and out of character for us.

have a game plan to score 100 on Auburn:biggrin2:

bamabomber said:

Fowler in front of Yeldon in an I-formation would be fun to watch.

To answer the OP, I just really want to see us utilize our TE's more. We have the possibility of an elite talent in OJ Howard, and I would love to see him used early and often. I would also love to see some open wildcat formation with Sims. I loved the system we ran with Maze where he was a threat to run and throw, and Sims could be unstoppable in that formation. You don't want to over use the Wild Tide formation, but I would love to see it more utilized.

Now chalk this up to mere curiosity, but I wonder who will be our big hoss to use on the goal line. In years past it was Cody and Jesse Williams, so I wonder who will be this year's bulldozer.

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My guess is Brandon Ivory. It makes sense since the last 2 were our NG's.

I would like to see AJ and Blake Sims in the backfield. Either one can throw it down field and Sims could run with it. Split Sims out wide or as a RB. Double screen passes. Halfback pass. I think their secondary would be going crazy trying to figure out which one will throw it.

Run the ball on 1st and goal. If that had happened, Johnny Manziel would not have been the Heisman winner, period. If the Tide had ran on 1st and 2nd down, there would not have been a 4th and goal. My only complaint from the entire season, and I will not speak of it again, but it nearly cost Bama the National Championship.

I haven't seen the physical equal of O.J. Howard on an Alabama team, ever (I wasn't around to watch Ozzie Newsome, but I'm not sure how similar they are). I feel like there's a way to make him a matchup nightmare, assuming he develops as expected. I don't think Julio's talents were fully utilized at Bama, and I hope the same doesn't happen for someone like Howard. I'd love to see us doing everything we can to get Howard involved early and often.

Aside from that, my hope is that, despite all the talent we have at QB and WR, I don't want us to lose our identity as a physical offense that can hang its hat on a strong running game. Nussmeier seemed to wander away from that at times last year, even with the greatest run-blocking OL Bama has had in a long, long time, and maybe ever. The last time we got away from that identity on a long-term basis was 2010, and I didn't care for the results.

bonehouse81 said:

I haven't seen the physical equal of O.J. Howard on an Alabama team, ever (I wasn't around to watch Ozzie Newsome, but I'm not sure how similar they are). I feel like there's a way to make him a matchup nightmare, assuming he develops as expected. I don't think Julio's talents were fully utilized at Bama, and I hope the same doesn't happen for someone like Howard. I'd love to see us doing everything we can to get Howard involved early and often.

Aside from that, my hope is that, despite all the talent we have at QB and WR, I don't want us to lose our identity as a physical offense that can hang its hat on a strong running game. Nussmeier seemed to wander away from that at times last year, even with the greatest run-blocking OL Bama has had in a long, long time, and maybe ever. The last time we got away from that identity on a long-term basis was 2010, and I didn't care for the results.

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Revisionist history.

USCe just had a world-class day on offense that day, and if our defense had somehow kept Stephen freaking Garcia in check, we would have won. We lost the Auburn game due to three things: 1. Barron's injury 2. Awful playcalling in the second half and 3. Cam Newton. The LSU loss was very close- Miles pulled a rabbit out of his hat and we just lost our wind in the 4th quarter.

CrimsonProf said:

Revisionist history.

USCe just had a world-class day on offense that day, and if our defense had somehow kept Stephen freaking Garcia in check, we would have won. We lost the Auburn game due to three things: 1. Barron's injury 2. Awful playcalling in the second half and 3. Cam Newton. The LSU loss was very close- Miles pulled a rabbit out of his hat and we just lost our wind in the 4th quarter.

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Not really. You're assuming I'm referring to the results of games. I'm just talking about the offensive results. We had a harder time running it when we really had to.

Now, it's possible Bama passed more in 2010 because the coaches saw the running game just wasn't as good (even though yards per carry still ended up being 5.1 for the season). However, for whatever reason, we didn't run it as well in short yardage.

As for the outcomes of those games, you could argue that if we'd been able to run it worth a flip against Auburn, that one would have been a win; but you could say the same about a dozen crazy things in that game.

I thought the O was great last year! Don't change a thing!