How Alabama 'keeps defenses guessing' with interesting wrinkles

JustNeedMe81

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Interesting Read

It appeared as if Alabama is adjusting the plan as the season progresses. There simply weren't many balls Hurts tried to throw beyond the linemen. Only four passes were thrown deep, including the Hail Mary that was intercepted on the first half's final play. Calvin Ridley was overthrown on the other two.
Lane Kiffin supplemented the run in different ways Saturday. The jet sweeps were tabled for a couple newer looks.
Tight end O.J. Howard had a career-high eight receptions for 69 yards with a healthy dose of H-back outs behind or near the line of scrimmage. He'd roll parallel to the line the same direction as the passer for short, high-percentage tosses. In all, five of the 15 completions were thrown to recipients behind the line of scrimmage.
There were also a few new looks mixing the read-option running game with a run-pass option. Twice Hurts pulled a hand off from a running back to throw a quick passes to Ridley and Howard.
There were also moments where passing plays were called before Hurts took off. His 37-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown began with Hurts dropping back, seeing nothing and breaking for the goal line.
In those moments, receiving targets become key downfield blockers. This is still an Alabama offense that entered the season with the most balanced talent at receiver during the Saban era.
 

JustNeedMe81

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I noticed that Jet Sweep and Screen passes didn't show up in the game against TAMU and I think it caught TAMU off guard. I think it's real good that Offense continues to evolve throughout the season and that gives LSU something to think about. I bet the screen passes will be back against LSU but in a new twisted way. Our blocking by WRs and TE has been real good lately and for some reason I have no idea to why our OL is struggling somewhat in Pass protection.

Either way, when you give Kiffin and Pruitt two weeks to plan for LSU, that usually ends up being bad for LSU and good for us. I'm hoping We can finally see Hurts settling in and making throws he's supposed to make.
 

Bamabuzzard

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Here's a positive note on this. Let's pretend that we are unable to get the downfield passing game "fixed" the rest of the season. There are still plenty of other ways to move the ball via the passing game without having an effective downfield passing game. First off, just taking four or five shots down the field a game (regardless if they are complete or not) has an effect on the defense. As a DC you simply cannot run the risk of assuming every deep throw is going to be errant and not account for it. All it takes is one deep one to connect (out of four attempts) for 50+ yards to change the game completely. Look no further than last year with Jake Coker before he got better at downfield passing. I remember he'd miss three or four deep throws badly. But connect on one that would swing the entire complexion of the game. It's like a boxer throwing haymakers. He doesn't have to land all of them to knock you out. He only has to land one.

Secondly, you can design an intermediate passing game that fits the strength of the qb. Right now it seems Hurts is a lot more comfortable with the intermediate passing game than the downfield passing game. Okay, play to that, mix in the three, four to five downfield attempts, all the while continuing to force the defense to respect stopping the exotic running game we've now got. There's more than one way to skin a cat folks. Granted, I hope we can get the downfield passing game fixed, but if we don't it's not the end of the world and it definitely doesn't eliminate us from winning another title.
 

JustNeedMe81

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That's what makes Offense so dangerous is the fact, opposing teams doesn't know what's going on with all the misdirection from the same play. It can be the same play with five different options and they don't know what's going to happen. I do wish Hurts would settle in a little. On the 4th quarter TD he had against Aggies, He had a pass play where OJ was getting open and he could've easily dumped the pass to him for a first down. I saw Ridley was open for a second.
 
That's what my assessment on that. Just give him short to immediate throws and then BAM, hit them with a deep one. They can't cheat up. I think we did this Saturday a couple of times. We have burners at the splits.
Here's a positive note on this. Let's pretend that we are unable to get the downfield passing game "fixed" the rest of the season. There are still plenty of other ways to move the ball via the passing game without having an effective downfield passing game. First off, just taking four or five shots down the field a game (regardless if they are complete or not) has an effect on the defense. As a DC you simply cannot run the risk of assuming every deep throw is going to be errant and not account for it. All it takes is one deep one to connect (out of four attempts) for 50+ yards to change the game completely. Look no further than last year with Jake Coker before he got better at downfield passing. I remember he'd miss three or four deep throws badly. But connect on one that would swing the entire complexion of the game. It's like a boxer throwing haymakers. He doesn't have to land all of them to knock you out. He only has to land one.

Secondly, you can design an intermediate passing game that fits the strength of the qb. Right now it seems Hurts is a lot more comfortable with the intermediate passing game than the downfield passing game. Okay, play to that, mix in the three, four to five downfield attempts, all the while continuing to force the defense to respect stopping the exotic running game we've now got. There's more than one way to skin a cat folks. Granted, I hope we can get the downfield passing game fixed, but if we don't it's not the end of the world and it definitely doesn't eliminate us from winning another title.
 

TideMan09

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With Hurts running our offense it's an absolute nightmare to gameplan for as a DC, you key on shutting down one part of the offense, Coach Kiffin scraps those plays & offensive game planning..Going with a complete different style of offensive plays that exploits what you're doing defensively, even then if that doesn't work, our O-Line is good enough to simply smash you in the mouth pounding the ball down your throat..

Our offense is the most "Multiple" offense in the history of the game, we can switch gears on the fly with one offensive style, to running a completely different style of offense the next series, go from ground n pound to HUNH Spread, to running The Pistol Offense in the blink of an eye..

While I do wish we played a more smash mouth run between the tackle wearing you down offense cause we have the O-Line to do it, but, I'm loving the explosiveness & pure domination results from the true "Multiple Offense" that's really dominating in a fashion us Bama Fans aren't used to seeing..I like the "Pick You Poison" our offense forces DC's to gameplan against & think Coach Kiffin has been brilliant calling our plays this year..
 

AlexanderFan

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Right now we are winning on superior talent coupled with execution from the ten other players on offense. Hurts is progressing, but he still has consistency issues which are only glaring because he's the starting quarterback on the best team in the country. I'm not sure if the hits from running are beginning to take their toll but his accuracy is suffering and maybe this off week can reset his body and get him back on the right track to get zeroed in on the long throws.


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RTR91

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A genius would have run the ball for td's inside the 20 those first 2 possessions.
Travis Reier addressed this yesterday in his "Seven Sequences that Shaped the Game" article. He pointed out where Alabama started inside the 10. First and goal at the 10 and first and goal at the 9 are not the best situations to run because the distances to get the touchdown. Those are typically passing distances.

Comparably, OJ's touchdown came on a pass on first and goal at the 5. Calvin's touchdown came on second and goal from the four.

If those first two drives did not start at the 10 and 9, the play calling would have been probably a little different.

Or you can look at it another way - Kiffin learned from those two drives and how to properly call pass plays against TAMU, which led to OJ and Calvin's TDs.
 

Alasippi

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With Hurts running our offense it's an absolute nightmare to gameplan for as a DC, you key on shutting down one part of the offense, Coach Kiffin scraps those plays & offensive game planning..Going with a complete different style of offensive plays that exploits what you're doing defensively, even then if that doesn't work, our O-Line is good enough to simply smash you in the mouth pounding the ball down your throat..

Our offense is the most "Multiple" offense in the history of the game, we can switch gears on the fly with one offensive style, to running a completely different style of offense the next series, go from ground n pound to HUNH Spread, to running The Pistol Offense in the blink of an eye..

While I do wish we played a more smash mouth run between the tackle wearing you down offense cause we have the O-Line to do it, but, I'm loving the explosiveness & pure domination results from the true "Multiple Offense" that's really dominating in a fashion us Bama Fans aren't used to seeing..I like the "Pick You Poison" our offense forces DC's to gameplan against & think Coach Kiffin has been brilliant calling our plays this year..
I think we'd be simple to stop on offense. All you have to do is stop the run inside, the run outside, the Quarterback keeping the ball, the quarterback throwing the ball long, the quarterback throwing short, the jet sweeps and the reverses.
If I was a DC I have a very simple game plan. Play 32 players on defense :wink:
P.S. For some reason my blue font button didn't work correctly.
 
Last edited:

mdb-tpet

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I think we'd be simple to stop on offense. All you have to do is stop the run inside, the run outside, the Quarterback keeping the ball, the quarterback throwing the ball long, the quarterback throwing short, the jet sweeps and the reverses.
If I was a DC I have a very simple game plan. Play 32 players on defense :wink:
P.S. For some reason my blue font button didn't work correctly.
You forgot about teaching your offense to stop the NOTs too...
 

TIDE-HSV

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You forgot about teaching your offense to stop the NOTs too...
Yes, probably that. When your RB who dropped the ball with the QB's help can't find the ball; the QB just says "Dang, too much effort," and your one willing guy is so top heavy and unused to running more than a few yards falls on his face, it allows the recovering 300lb DE the room to trot into the EZ like a thoroughbred. They definitely weren't carefully taught, even though they were coming up against the leading team in NOTs... :D
 

CoreGroup

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Good defensive line play can take away some of the run plays that Hurts does. Imo he was better in the Usc game and has regressed on his touch when passing. Allen said on bye weeks they work on improving self issues. Hopefully Hurts can spend a lot of time this week on his deep passes.
 

dvldog

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your one willing guy is so top heavy and unused to running more than a few yards falls on his face,
That may be the hardest I have ever seen anyone fall down on their own. Dang. Every time I see it I think, I hope that guy didn't break something. Dang.
 

B1GTide

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aTm's defense was strong on the edges, so you attacked the middle of the field. They never really slowed you down. LSU's defensive strength is in the middle of the field. They don't miss tackles, and they are great at stopping the run between the tackles. I see a switch back to sweeps and perimeter plays against LSU.

I also see Hurts getting a little more time to pass against LSU. aTm attacked him vertically, causing him to step forward in the pocket and then run or pass, and when he chose to pass his timing was off. LSU's attack will be less vertical, which means that Hurts can play his game, scrambling sideways while able to create.

I just don't know how good LSU's secondary is. Alabama hasn't really faced a team that could pressure him and cover receivers and stop the inside running game at the same time. Can LSU do all three?
 

92tide

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Yes, probably that. When your RB who dropped the ball with the QB's help can't find the ball; the QB just says "Dang, too much effort," and your one willing guy is so top heavy and unused to running more than a few yards falls on his face, it allows the recovering 300lb DE the room to trot into the EZ like a thoroughbred. They definitely weren't carefully taught, even though they were coming up against the leading team in NOTs... :D
i particularly liked allen's footwork when he stepped over knight on the way to the td
 

Matt0424

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Good defensive line play can take away some of the run plays that Hurts does. Imo he was better in the Usc game and has regressed on his touch when passing. Allen said on bye weeks they work on improving self issues. Hopefully Hurts can spend a lot of time this week on his deep passes.
He hasn't regressed at all, he's just playing against actual defenses now. He needs to up his game, yes, but it's because the defenses we face are getting tougher as we go.

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