Not everyone likes change at Bama.

[JF3]

BFloTide,

RH is not undersized. He is 5'11" 202lbs and has the speed to get to the corner and the size to run between the tackles. Shaud was only 186lbs and he ran between the tackles pretty good. (He led the SEC in rushing yardage last year) We will be able to move the ball with our running game.

KD does not have the experience, so we will have to wait and see. Hopefully he will stay healthy for the entire season. (Hopefully all of our players will.) He does have the potential to be a very solid back up to RH.

TC & LM will be solid at fullback. The lack of experience is not an issue. They are good blockers and both can catch and run as well.

Tight ends-we will have to wait and see.

Our young, inexperienced receivers can still be solid enough to help us move the ball. As the season unfolds, they will get better. (IE Prothro last year)

We will move the ball. If the offense develops some chemistry and the O-line is consistent with protection and run blocking, we will move the ball and score TD's. Watch and see...Confidence and consistency will make a big difference this season.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

BTW, Redwood...

Coach Bryant was the originator of that quote about passing. Or, if he weren't, he sure as hell said it about every other week on his TV show...

 

[Elwood Crimson]

Play to your strengths and to your opponents weaknesses

I have always believed that is the best coaching philosophy. If you install a balanced package then you can take what the other team is giving you. Very few defenses can cover everything. The ideal situation is to not be predictable (i.e. run, run, pass ....usually followed by punt). Furthermore, we do not have the depth to ground the ball out.

:BigA:

 

[TommyMac]

Coach Bryant was the originator of that quote about passing. Or, if he weren't, he sure as hell said it about every other week on his TV show...

Actually that was Darrell Royal's quote. Like Coach Bryant, he had a bunch of them.

 

[TexasTide]

I think our running game has been so well in the past, a lot of fans have forgotten how much we threw the ball. The passing game has been overshadowed.

Stallings ran a fairly balanced offense we just didn't have the QB that got publicity like the UF and UM QB's and we only threw it when necessary. We won a lot of games on Jay Barker's arm.

Without a strong defense the type of offense we run doesn't matter.

 

[imauafan]

TT, my memory of Stallings offenses is much different than yours. We were not balanced during his tenure, we were first and foremost a running team and only passed when absolutely necessary. Yes, we had a bit of success with Jay Barker and Homer Smith in 1994 but even then we ran the ball much more than we threw. My personal opinion is that Stallings biggest mistake as a HC was not striving to have a more balanced offense. I firmly believe we would have more more games, perhaps even another NC, and been able to recruit better had he been more flexible with his offensive philosophy. Had our offense been more balanced in 1994, we would have beaten UF in the SECCG and played for the NC.

 

[tidehawk]

I think y'all might be missing a more important point - Alabama has won championships with a multitude of different offenses. What has contributed the most to success? Easy - great defense with a solid kicking game. :biga2:

That is precisely why I don't cotton too much to Kines. His style does not emulate what has brought Bama success in the past.

 

[tidefan25]

I think tide hawk is right if we would have scored as many points as we did last year in previous years. People would be astonised by our offense but this year we would score 35 points and give up 36.I think pesonally is was because of depth and I hope we can shut out somebody this year.

 

[IH8Orange]

I do agree with the school of thought that says we should be able to recruit a better quality athlete with a revamped,pro-style offense.It's just that I think it may take a while for this sapling to bear fruit.

...and having a coach named Shula with NFL experience won't hurt our chances of recruiting top talent either.

 

[TexasTide]

Quite Different.

Kitchens threw 43 passes vs UT in '95.
Kitchens threw 43 passes vs AU in '95.
Kitchens through 45 passes vs UF in '96.
Barker threw 243 passes in '92. 226 in '94.
Barker threw 706 passes in his career. Kitchens threw 680. Both are more than Hunter or Hollingsworth.
Barker passed for 396 yards vs. UGA in '94.
Kitchens passed for 302 vs AU in '95.
Kitchens passed for 2124 yds in '96.
Barker passed for 1996 yds in '94.
Barker passed for 5,409 yds in his career #3 all time. I won't include Kitchens because he played in '97.
Barker threw 14 TD passes in '94.

There's a few more I could add but I think you get the point. Barker and Kitchens are near the top of every passing category. That would be absolutely impossible if we were a one sided running team. The other QB's in the mix are Zow and Hollingsworth with one or 2 others from the Perkins and Curry days. The only RB's that show up in any records from Stallings are Riddle and Alexander, and SA played very Sparingly in '96. If we were such a dominant running team under Stallings, there would be a lot more RB names on that list. The fact is we were fairly balanced, not perfectly, but more than we are given credit for.

You could argue that Perkins, Curry, and Dubose ran more balanced offenses than Stallings, but what were the results?

I'm certainly not opposed to a balanced offense, all I'm saying is:
1) We were not as one sided under Stallings as people seem to recall
2) We have had balanced offenses in the past, with marginal success
3) A balanced offense alone might get you to the SECCG with the right schedule and a little luck but it won't win you the National Title
4) You must have a good running game and a good defense

I just don't understand all the fuss. It's not like we've been a Tom Osborne NU team for the last 100 years. We have run balanced offenses before, we just did not get the publicity. Like I wrote before, I think that's just because our running game and defense have been so good.

 

[rollntider]

Just remember , as much as people hated Spurrier , he dominated the 90's and always had a top 5 rusher in the SEC. He was known for throwing the ball , but a lot of people are amazed they ran alot also. He liked to go deep alot and people assumed that is all he did. I think the 2 go hand in hand. If you pass too much much more of a chance of getting intercepted because the defense goes dime on ya. If you run to much , then 8 men in the box stop ya. but a balance will keep the defense in check. Plus the best defense is a good offense.

 

[imauafan]

TT, we're both on the same side so I don't want to get into a heated argument but I will post a few thoughts concerning your response to my earlier post. I noticed that most of the games that you posted, we either lost (some were blowouts) or were down early and had to pass to catch up. You provided some good statistics but stats don't always tell the truth. In my of way of thinking, a balanced offense doesn't mean that at the end of every game, the running and passing numbers are almost equal either in yardage or attempts. My idea of balance is a team that can be effective running or throwing and the play-calling is varied enough to keep the opposing defense continually guessing. That doesn't describe the offense during the Stallings era. I'll go further and say that a well-balanced offense would produce more rushing yards and attemps than passing in most games. My friends and I used to joke about Stallings that if he got a 3 point lead in the first quarter, he would start trying to run the clock out. I love CGS and miss him but his biggest mistake as HC at Bama was not allowing the offense to be opened up a bit so they could be equally effective running and passing. That cost us some games (e.g. '94 SECCG) and recruits. When DuBose took over in '97 the talent level was severely depleted on both sides of the ball but the offfensive talent had gone downhill before '97.