"Why didn’t they just keep handing the da#@ ball to Bo?"

[Chechem]

Click here for link

Alabama coach Nick Saban said the Huskies made adjustments after Alabama’s first scoring drive to bottle up the Tide’s ground game. “We went into this game thinking that we really needed to run the ball. And I think early on, we ran it effectively, especially on our first scoring drive, and then we started to see a lot more inside backer plugs. We started to see a lot more corner fires, pressures from the edges, and that made it much more difficult for us to run.”

“I understand a lot of people think that Kiffin is ‘finesse’ or whatever, but he sets up what we do with all the ‘finesse,’” said right tackle Jonah Williams, who made air quotes each time he used the word finesse. “I’d like to think we could line up and just plow them over, and I think we could a lot of the time. But it does make it easier when we have all those motions and sweeps built in.”

So why didn’t Kiffin simply feed the 6' 2", 228-pound Scarbrough the way he used to feed 6' 3", 242-pound Derrick Henry last season? Wouldn’t a 40-carry game have made things easier for the Tide? Maybe. ...
Kiffin said Hurts was told to eat the ball or throw it away rather than take risks downfield against a ball-hawking defense that led the nation in takeaways (33) during the regular season. “His numbers weren’t very good, but that was part of the plan,” Kiffin said. “Make sure every drive ends in a kick.”

Apparently CNS was convinced that the defense could hold Washington, so once we got the lead we just played conservative football.  Unless a receiver was wide open, "EAT THE BALL".

 

[bamaphil]

As much as I joined in the "Run the ball, Lane!" fun, I kind of assumed that if Kiffin/Saban thought they could just run non-stop they would. Bama had the lead and Washington wasn't doing anything offensively, so there wasn't much need to open up the playbook.  As much as we'd like to see a 40 point win, there was no need to let Clemson see what surprises Kiffin and the offense worked up during the long break.

[Chechem]

As much as I joined in the "Run the ball, Lane!" fun, I kind of assumed that if Kiffin/Saban thought they could just run non-stop they would. Bama had the lead and Washington wasn't doing anything offensively, so there wasn't much need to open up the playbook.  As much as we'd like to see a 40 point win, there was no need to let Clemson see what surprises Kiffin and the offense worked up during the long break.

I get a bit impatient when our fans simplify the game to "Run the ball, Lane!".  The article (above) cited specifics about UW's adjustments to stop our running game, and we needed the wide plays and passing schemes to keep the UW safeties out of the backfield.  The writer did a good job of explaining (in fairly simple terms) that we were going to play a conservative game against UW, and that Jalen was going to keep the ball once we were ahead.

UW's D-line was stout, and they played us well with just the down 4 (much of the time).  They had a good scheme to crash with DBs and LBs periodically to keep us off balance.

Best news was we won.  And we know that we need to play better to beat Clemson.  I'd rather have a close semi-final game than a blowout, as long as everyone is healthy.  Still waiting on that report.

 

[Catch Prothro]

As much as I joined in the "Run the ball, Lane!" fun, I kind of assumed that if Kiffin/Saban thought they could just run non-stop they would. Bama had the lead and Washington wasn't doing anything offensively, so there wasn't much need to open up the playbook.  As much as we'd like to see a 40 point win, there was no need to let Clemson see what surprises Kiffin and the offense worked up during the long break.

I too felt like they weren't going to open up the playbook, saving it for Clemson.  Still, Kiffin was fairly predictable in his play calling, and I had to wonder if he is coaching with one foot out the door...

[ricky023]

I'm looking for hscoach to post his write up then I'll read it. The media writers don't like us and I don't read much of their stuff. RTR!

[N.AL-Tider]

Here is what I am hoping for against Clemson:  This will be Lane Kiffin's last game as OC for Bama so I'm hoping that he takes the leash off and calls the best game he ever has.  I'd love to see our offense opened up and Hurts throws the ball all over the field and Jalen/Damien/Bo/any other RBs just pound the ball down their throats.  I'd love to see our offense finish the game with 600 yards offense or more.  I want to see for the first time ever Bama have 3 ball carriers with 100+ yards in one game.

Of course, time will tell what they do and I feel confident that we will come out as NC's once again.  Clemson is a VERY GOOD team and I feel it will take our best effort of the year to win but I know we can...

[Bandit]

Honestly we had some decent drives going running the ball and had stupid penalties. Hard to keep running the ball when its 3rd and 21. I fully believe without the penalties, we would have had at least 1-2 more scores. IMO, those drive killing penalties have to be the first thing fixed this week.

[Old Tider]

Will this be the fifth straight game where the enemy scores first?   

[McBaman]

Honestly we had some decent drives going running the ball and had stupid penalties. Hard to keep running the ball when its 3rd and 21. I fully believe without the penalties, we would have had at least 1-2 more scores. IMO, those drive killing penalties have to be the first thing fixed this week.

Good point there Bandit.  Don't know how much noise was a factor on some of the false start penalties.   Tampa stadium is outdoors so noise situation will be different.

[Marshal Dillon]

Click here for link

Alabama coach Nick Saban said the Huskies made adjustments after Alabama’s first scoring drive to bottle up the Tide’s ground game. “We went into this game thinking that we really needed to run the ball. And I think early on, we ran it effectively, especially on our first scoring drive, and then we started to see a lot more inside backer plugs. We started to see a lot more corner fires, pressures from the edges, and that made it much more difficult for us to run.”

“I understand a lot of people think that Kiffin is ‘finesse’ or whatever, but he sets up what we do with all the ‘finesse,’” said right tackle Jonah Williams, who made air quotes each time he used the word finesse. “I’d like to think we could line up and just plow them over, and I think we could a lot of the time. But it does make it easier when we have all those motions and sweeps built in.”

So why didn’t Kiffin simply feed the 6' 2", 228-pound Scarbrough the way he used to feed 6' 3", 242-pound Derrick Henry last season? Wouldn’t a 40-carry game have made things easier for the Tide? Maybe. ...
Kiffin said Hurts was told to eat the ball or throw it away rather than take risks downfield against a ball-hawking defense that led the nation in takeaways (33) during the regular season. “His numbers weren’t very good, but that was part of the plan,” Kiffin said. “Make sure every drive ends in a kick.”

Apparently CNS was convinced that the defense could hold Washington, so once we got the lead we just played conservative football.  Unless a receiver was wide open, "EAT THE BALL".

 

Sorry, I'm not buying the story. Remember when Kiffin ran the jet sweep 400 times against LSU with no success? We got a cock & bull story on that, too. He was trying to open up the middle. Same crap here, Kiffin called a lousy game, period. Hurts ran the ball 19 times, same number as Scarbrough, except Bo had 184 yards. Don't p**s down my back and tell me it's raining (from Clint Eastwood movie).


 

[Chechem]

Jalen Hurts said the same thing in his interview.  Maybe they're all in the protect-Kiffin conspiracy.

 

[Marshal Dillon]

I'm sure an 18 year old kid would never think twice about contradicting his head coach and coordinator.




   

[bamaphil]

I'm sure an 18 year old kid would never think twice about contradicting his head coach and coordinator.




  :eyeball:

And I'm sure that immediately after the game before the press came in the locker the whole team got together with the coaching staff and concocted a story to protect the outgoing OC.

[Marshal Dillon]

I'm sure an 18 year old kid would never think twice about contradicting his head coach and coordinator.




  :eyeball:

And I'm sure that immediately after the game before the press came in the locker the whole team got together with the coaching staff and concocted a story to protect the outgoing OC.

Was the whole team interviewed and say the same thing to reporters? Like I said, the excuse seems a little too convenient since this is he 2nd time we get some excuse for bad play calling. It's the nature of my past jobs to be cynical about such stories.


 

[N.AL-Tider]

I'm sure an 18 year old kid would never think twice about contradicting his head coach and coordinator.




  :eyeball:

And I'm sure that immediately after the game before the press came in the locker the whole team got together with the coaching staff and concocted a story to protect the outgoing OC.

Was the whole team interviewed and say the same thing to reporters? Like I said, the excuse seems a little too convenient since this is he 2nd time we get some excuse for bad play calling. It's the nature of my past jobs to be cynical about such stories.

Yeah, and as I recall, when Coach Saban brought Kiffin in you were one of the more vocal opponents of doing so.  I argued that we needed to trust Coach Saban's decision and again you were skeptical.  How did that turn out?  Coach Saban still has my full trust and if he says that UW was focusing on stopping our run then that's good enough for me as a "REASON" (not an excuse mind you) for trying to change up some of the play calls, even calling a "vanilla" offensive attack.

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