Sark will be fine

LA4Bama

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Take away Jalen's 30 yard run and he is averaging 3 yards a carry, and take away Damien's 13 yard run and he is averaging 3, and Jacobs had 2 runs for 16 with a long of 13. Not exactly earth shattering as you seem to believe. Clemson's line was pretty darn good and they controlled our line for most of the game. Their second level was their weakness, so we had to get there.
How silly to take away everyone's best runs and then point out how they didn't have success. Nobody said "earth shattering", but any way you slice it the averages for the run game are far better than the pass game, and yet we asked the true freshman to control at least 60% of the offense through his arm, so make of that what you will.
 

teamplayer

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Take away Jalen's 30 yard run and he is averaging 3 yards a carry, and take away Damien's 13 yard run and he is averaging 3, and Jacobs had 2 runs for 16 with a long of 13. Not exactly earth shattering as you seem to believe. Clemson's line was pretty darn good and they controlled our line for most of the game. Their second level was their weakness, so we had to get there.
I think they controlled our lines pretty well last year, too. We just hit more big plays and had a little more consistency in the running game with DH.
 

81usaf92

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How silly to take away everyone's best runs and then point out how they didn't have success. Nobody said "earth shattering", but any way you slice it the averages for the run game are far better than the pass game, and yet we asked the true freshman to control at least 60% of the offense through his arm, so make of that what you will.
The whole point is we needed to back them off, and we tried with the run early in the game but they were willing to take their chances. So we needed to pose a credible passing game, and we didn't. Again outside those two drives Sark was calling reasonable plays. So what more could you ask for? Kiffin? Mac?Nuss? None of them would've probably done any better.
 
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CoreGroup

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Part of the issue is that Sark did the same thing kiffin has been known to do. Run for 5 yards and then throw 2 straight incompletions. Or run and get a first down and then throw 3 straight incompletions. Passing may have opened them up defensively (if passes were completed) but running takes time off the clock and gives the d a break. Our first 7 drives of the second half....none were longer than 2 minutes.
 

rgw

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Sep 15, 2003
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We lost this game because the pass game wasn't efficient enough and it caused a massive snap disparity that eventually dulled our defensive unit. You could have the 2000 Ravens out there and if they were on the field for 100 snaps, they'd start making more mistakes too. In games against elite offenses, your own offense has to be a defense of sorts too...limit that elite offense's touches. Couldn't get that done and we loss.

I don't think Sark's plan was a bad one. It just wasn't executed well enough on a consistent basis. Jalen's age and his still raw development as a passer really showed at times last night. This is a big offseason for Hurts. He did a lot of great things but he hit a massive wall as a passer around November when the defenses got better.
 

Alasippi

Suspended
Aug 31, 2007
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Coker at qb would have won this game.
Why's that? Which throw that would have been a touchdown had Jalen not been off target indeed have been a touchdown if Jake had thrown the pass?
Which 30 yard run for a TD would Jake have accomplished?
Which ball that hit Dieter and Foster in the hands that they dropped have been caught if Jake had thrown the pass?
Would Jake have thrown the TD to O.J. better?
Why would Coker have won this game when compared to Jalen?
 
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81usaf92

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Why's that? Which throw that would have been a touchdown had Jalen not been off target indeed have been a touchdown if Jake had thrown the pass?
Which 30 yard run for a TD would Jake have accomplished?
Which ball that hit Dieter and Foster in the hands that they dropped have been caught if Jake had thrown the pass?
Would Jake have thrown the TD to O.J. better?
Why would Coker have won this game when compared to Jalen?
The comparison is there because it's practically the same matchup with two different qbs. Coker was way more experienced using his arm than Jalen and I don't think there is any question about it. Jalen will get there, but he hasn't got there yet.
 

KrAzY3

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The fact is, this thread is about Sark and presumably his play calling. I for one thought we passed too often when it was clearly not working as well as the run game, and that while it is only one game, and admittedly played under odd circumstances, that this seems like stubbornness similar to that shown by Kiffin, (except last year Kiffin wasn't stubborn and we won the game).
Two things have to be pointed out. The first is that this was Sark trying to integrate himself into the play calling in one week. I'm not sure how many times this has happened, but it's not very often that a guy has gone from off the field to calling plays in one week. That's pretty unprecedented. This wasn't his offense, this wasn't really his choice of plays, almost everything was inherited. So, when it came to calling plays his hands were tied somewhat. He has to call plays the team had been practicing and do it in a way that caused the least confusion. Clearly there was some confusion though, we saw that when OJ stepped in front of Harris and prevented that could have been a huge play. That's just one example though, we have no clue how many other similar things happened and what impact that had not just on the game, but on the flow of the offense and on the efficacy of the offense.

To go one step further, without knowing exactly what Sark expected to happen, exactly what the execution was supposed to be, it's really hard to judge his play calling. I can name that one instance in which clearly it was executed the wrong way, but there's no real way of knowing on some of those plays how they were supposed to be executed and what exactly was supposed to be happen. I can pretty much guarantee there was more miscommunication than the average Kiffin game, simply because no one can integrate themselves seamlessly into the offense in one week.

Then there was the Clemson defense and what it took to move the ball against them. It's not really fair to point to successful runs as an example of the coordinator failing. That just means that he set those plays up well, it does not mean that he merely had to repeat those plays to have the same success. For instance, one long Jacobs run was in what an obvious passing situation. It caught the other team off guard, and it worked perfectly. But there was little likelihood of it working again. I remember one unfortunate Alabama game in which they ran the ball (in field goal range) three times in a row, up the middle, in a short yardage situation. It did not work and they ended up losing the game. Now, in hindsight we can all say why the heck did they keep trying to run it up the middle? However, I can guarantee you that had they not done that, had they tried a pass people would have said "why didn't they just run it up the middle?". That's how those things work though, we only know to complain when things didn't work, and we can't really tell if something else wouldn't have worked (so the grass is always greener). I am not saying Sark called a perfect game, I'm saying it's very difficult to judge the job he did without knowing more. I just think he did an admirable job if one really considered the circumstances.

Clemson's line was pretty darn good and they controlled our line for most of the game. Their second level was their weakness, so we had to get there.
I think when Bo got hurt, hope for Alabama just running the ball down Clemson's throat went away. Alabama just didn't have a Henry type guy that was capable of doing that, and while big runs are nice, if you resort to just calling run plays, you have to make first downs. Not just have one big run and then several short ones.

He'll be fine when he learns to run the dang ball when we need to run time off the clock
The issue was Alabama never had the personnel, nor the chance to really just run out the clock. Pretty much every time Alabama had the ball late in the game, they knew they needed to score. There was never enough of a lead to just sit on it. So, yeah I'd have loved either for Alabama to just run the ball and wear down Clemson and the clock. But who could have done that? Clemson's defensive line was doing a good job, and Alabama's bruising runner was hurt. Alabama just never reached the point where three and outs on running plays made sense...
 

Ole Man Dan

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I think anyone who blames Hurts or Sark for the loss really didn't grasp the situation.

Sark might have had an easier transition, but he still had one week to go establish himself as a playcaller. He didn't have a chance to really introduce his own offense. So, his first game calling plays is against a top ten defense (that made Ohio State look like crap) and he was basically calling Kiffin's plays. Add to that, Hurts is a true freshman... that's a stacked deck. I'd have liked to see a few more sustained drives, but if not for a couple drops and penalties that would have happened. I am excited about the potential in the future as Sark and Hurts both have time to settle in.
Sark's first game calling our Offense was a Baptism by fire.
Under poor circumstances Sark did ok. Even thou he knew the Offense, the players were not used to his preferences and cadences of called plays. Should be better next year.
 

Tidewater

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The whole point is we needed to back them off, and we tried with the run early in the game but they were willing to take their chances. So we needed to pose a credible passing game, and we didn't.
Concur completely. And I do not say that to pile on Jalen. He played his heart out and played with great composure. The passing game is just going to have to become more credible next year to back DBs off a bit. The effect is synergy. The more success the passing game has, the more success the running game has (as DBs back off a bit). And vice versa.
 

KrAzY3

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The passing game is just going to have to become more credible next year to back DBs off a bit. The effect is synergy. The more success the passing game has, the more success the running game has (as DBs back off a bit). And vice versa.
This is why I have a bright outlook. Hurts was thrown into a situation that could have wrecked even more experienced QBs. Look at Ohio State's much applauded veteran QB, sometimes Heisman candidate. Clemson made him look completely inept (and worse than Hurts). Hurts has to face elite defenses and a shaky playcaller situation, and yet when it came down to it he put the team in the lead every time he had to. On Sark's end, he has to jump in against a hot top 10 defense with a true freshman and one week to go from off-field to calling plays. If this is how they look in that situation, the potential is scary once both have time to settle down and improve.
 

CoastGhost

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Oh, I hope Sark goes to Clemson and borrow few plays from them. there were some plays I saw last night that I liked and would love to see it incorporated into the offense. Sark did pretty good job for what he had to work with in one week. If he had taken over few weeks ago, There would be no doubt we'll be celebrating the trophy by now.
Especially that one where one receiver blocks the crap out a defender and frees the other receiver! That play is awesome!!!
 

Bamabuzzard

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This is why I have a bright outlook. Hurts was thrown into a situation that could have wrecked even more experienced QBs. Look at Ohio State's much applauded veteran QB, sometimes Heisman candidate. Clemson made him look completely inept (and worse than Hurts). Hurts has to face elite defenses and a shaky playcaller situation, and yet when it came down to it he put the team in the lead every time he had to. On Sark's end, he has to jump in against a hot top 10 defense with a true freshman and one week to go from off-field to calling plays. If this is how they look in that situation, the potential is scary once both have time to settle down and improve.
This has been my train of thought as well. Honestly, going into the game there was a part of me that was expecting a train wreck on offense due to the switch of OC's seven days before the game. Though I was disappointed with the outcome I couldn't help but think if this is how they (Hurts and Sark) performed under that type of situation. Good night alive, what will they be able to do when they actually have time to prepare, practice and develop chemistry together? I'm excited for our offense in 2017.
 

BamaMoon

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Why's that? Which throw that would have been a touchdown had Jalen not been off target indeed have been a touchdown if Jake had thrown the pass?
Which 30 yard run for a TD would Jake have accomplished?
Which ball that hit Dieter and Foster in the hands that they dropped have been caught if Jake had thrown the pass?
Would Jake have thrown the TD to O.J. better?
Why would Coker have won this game when compared to Jalen?
Surprised you can't see the difference. It would have been a different game plan with JC. He would have completed a wide array of passes all over the field. It would have opened up our running game, tremendously.

Nothing personal against JH to admit this. JC was a 5th year SR. JH's passing is just not there yet.

I believe if we would have had GMac playing we win this game. With AJ or JC the game is over in the first half. Blowout.
 

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