Why do we have no run game?

[GulfCoastTider]

It's an air raid offense. Yards on the ground are gravy, not the main course. That is hard to accept at Alabama but unless CKD remakes his philosophy we'll have to accept it.

 

[81usaf92]

I’ve been told by someone in the know that Dear is the best running back on the team but his pass blocking and catching would get our quarterback killed and that’s why he isn’t playing.


To why Jam is playing over Hill…. That’s like asking why has Jam been higher on the depth chart than Haynes in both of the last two years. He is either doing something better than them that we aren’t seeing or his abilities in the pass game are just that much advanced than everyone else. Because his running game the previous two years were nothing to write home about.

I think the Oline has some blame to go around but it’s appearing to be less of an issue of mental lapses and ability. I just think we don’t have the Oline to support the backs we have and the offense we actually run.


But good gosh…. Grubb is not helping either. He is making BOB look like an offensive guru. At some point we need to say “stop with the gimmick plays”

 

[81usaf92]

I think the better question, at this point, is, "Why do we keep trying to run the ball????

Tom Brady only had one elite running back in his 20 years playing with the pats and that was for about 2 years. He kinda made the 3-5 yard check down his running game.

 

[SeventhHeavenRanch7777@gm]

We need lean strong musecular OL that can move. Jam is a pretty good pass blocker but sometimes instead of jumping outside to run he just runs right into the log Jam. We wont go very far with just a passing game. And honestly we have been lucky in a few games to pull out a win. I will take those of course but Oklahoma and Texas A&M have a pretty good DL. We might have trouble there plus the Barn looked better yesterday so we will see

 

[ReturnToGlory]

Need the short to mid-range passing game to kinda be out run game. I felt like we did this earlier in the season; but vs USCe and LSwho, it seems we've tried to throw deep.

 

[bamaga]

I’d love to see Hill tote the rock 15 times in a game. Let him get rolling.

And stop running up the middle on most first downs. Mix it up.

Short passes on first sometimes. Extension of the running game. Even if incomplete, it isn’t much worse than the 1 yard gain run up the middle.

 

[December05]

I’d like to dive a little deeper for any poster who has any high-level high school or above coaching experience relative to game planning and who has input on the scheme decision in-game.

Casual fans have a habit of laying all conceivable blame for in-game mistakes and shortcomings at the feet of the coordinators. Obviously, position coaches play a huge role in Spring and Summer development, but what portion of what’s happening right now lays directly on Coach Cap?

I know position meetings and film review still take place in season aside from team wide film study. To me, the coordinator has the overview plan that he wants to run in a specific situation, but it’s up to the position coach to assist in how to best do that. Is this a situation where Grubb is saying, “I need to get four-plus yards on 2nd and 7, and I want to run strongside B-gap power in order to set up _____ on 3rd” to which Cap would say “we need this pull and that slant and ____ in order to do that.”

Is this a situation where a better OL coach would disagree, or is this a situation where Deboer and Grubb (or any head coach/coordinator) would relay their blocking philosophy and scheme that Cap/OL coach would have to follow?

Also, when we see O-Linemen talking and pointing out defensive cues to watch out for, are those typically taught by the position coach or coordinator? I would tend to believe these in-game situations would lean more towards the OL coach.

Lastly, it’ll be interesting to see how Deboer responds in the offseason to an area of the team that is unacceptably lacking if we do overcome that and finish strong in other areas that would result in championship(s) or a deep run. His vibe is sort of “don’t rock the boat” if things are overall succeeding. Would he be loyal to Cap or take a hard look and conclude that regardless we can be better than that?

 

[MS TN NC Tidefan]

Does anyone have an understanding of our OL blocking scheme/philosophy and can explain it? Honest question.

 

[Elefantman]

We can't convert fourth and 18 inches. Pitiful. That's one thing I appreciate about the Eagles. They make that play an automatic first.

 

[davefrat]

We are what we are at this point in the season.

We’re not going to see dramatic changes this year.

 

[Clay]

Well

We don't block right.....

or left......

or middle

Seriously, it is frustrating....

 

[alwayshavebeen]

No explosive running backs, they are decent but not outstanding, but mainly its the OL. Nothing really complicated here.

 

[Methylred]

I don't know what the problem is, but it's getting worse as the season progresses.

The OL's performance last night against a very mediocre LSU defensive front was giving me Bucket Step Bob flashbacks.

I'm honestly concerned for Ty's well-being when we face Oklahoma.

 

[CrimSonami]

We are what we are at this point in the season.

We’re not going to see dramatic changes this year.

This. It’s the 2nd year of a new regime and 1st year OC. The days of loading a roster 2-3 deep with 5*’s are pretty much gone. Patience is thin for our fanbase. We are a spoiled and frustrated bunch. And although I keep trying to remind myself of this I still wanna comfortably win every game by 3 or more scores.
ROLL TIDE!!!

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Why is water wet? Our OC coaching philosophy doesn’t promote good running game techniques.

But its not designed to be this bad. He had a 1,000 yard rusher his last year at UW.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I don't understand why OP is asking this question when it has been discussed and forseen. Who is the offensive coordinator? Go look him up and do a little reading on the play caller. This is expected!!! It's Ryan Grubb's offense, just get used to it as long as he is here, it's working too. Just relax and embrace the offensive philosophy change.

No one's offensive scheme has bad offensive line play as part of the scheme. This is a player/ position coach problem and it was showing under Saban too. We've not had very good OL play or coaching for over 5 years now.

 

[Tide&True]

I think both Alabama and LSU looked a bit rusty after the two week break. Also, there is a lot of film to watch after nine games into the season (everyone knows your weaknesses and how to exploit them). Every team we play wants to ruin our season or use it to salvage their own season.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

Because the RB is focused learning how to throw passes back to the QB!

 

[teamplayer]

Oklahomas DL will eat our OL alive. They'll have a week off to prep and their coach will know all our tendencies and tells.

Not to mention, he is a notorious sign stealer. We better be able to hold OU to under 13 because I doubt we can score more than that against them. Who knows, though, maybe everything clicks next week and we fire on all cylinders.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

I've asked this question before and haven't seen an answer better than the OL is horrible at run blocking. Whether that's due to mis-evaluated personnel, lack of development, or poor coaching, I don't know.

As others have posted: At this point in the season, we are what we are and just need to do our best to scheme around the weakness.

I do think the lack of a credible running threat will cost us at least one game. Might be OU. Might be the barn. IF (two big letters) we make it past them, it'll be in the playoff.

If a top-flight D can just disregard the threat of the run, it drastically reduces time to pass and shrinks throwing windows. You can be one-dimensional and still beat an inferior team. If you're playing another quality team for something worth winning, it doesn't work that way.