OK... Old School. just kidding I'm not so sure that the O-Line is as good as some said it is. At least they haven't lived up to the expectations thus far. (I'm talking about the run blocking) Hopefully, that will change. Jimbo does seem to have a history of abandoning the game plan kind of early if not successful right away, and not giving it a fair shot.
I think the O-Line is as good as is cracked up to be. Its just that Saturday, along with everybody else on the offense they played way below their capabilites.
Right now I think the question as to how good or how bad the O-line is up in the air. To this point they haven't gotten the job done by opening holes for the running backs although they do pretty well protecting the QB. I believe with Toe and Davis in the backfield this O-line could have gotten the job done because those two backs were really good backs who hit the hole fast enough for the blocking to be effective. I believe the inexperience at the running back position has something to do with the fact that the O-line is not looking like we all thought and were told they would look like this season. I agree though this team can't be a one dimensional team and expect to win.
I think it's a combination of the Oline not opening up enough holes and the RBs not finding the right ones. I've noticed that Addai seems to miss the hole from time to time. After seeing the replay, I counted twice in the first half where he miss an opportunity to cutback and pick up more yards. I know it's easy to second guess, but I don't recall seeing Shy miss a cutback opportunity very often this year. We need a healthy Shy! I'm also not thrilled with our stubbornness to keep running up the middle. I think our Oline is good enough to pull and run more misdirection and counters. Anyway you cut it, we must figure out how to run the ball more effectively ... as someone pointed out, we aren't going to beat many teams having to throw 30+ times a game.
From a different perspective on this, it seems to me that you beat a good defense by being as balanced as possible. If you have to depend on a passing game alone to get the job done, even an average defense has a much better chance to significantly slow you down. The same if you only have a running attack. Without both a decent running attack and a decent passing attack combined, it becomes extremely difficult to win at the BCS level.
If you watch the replay you will notice when Addai or any of the other backs had a hole, they made some yards. Many times the DL was in the back field at the snap of the ball. Some times there was a holding call by the time the back ran into the pile. The running backs aren't the problem. The running backs have proven one thing that was a concern prior to the season. Can they stay healthy? Neither Carey, Addai, nor Henderson seem to be able to take the hits for an entire season.
I agree that an adequate running game is necessary if you are going to win in the SEC, but I think people are overlooking the fact that we can put 4 and 5 wide receivers on the field who are all as athletic and more often than not more athletic than the defensive backs covering them. The biggest problem I have with our offensive scheme is we continue to send all our receivers out on routes within 10 - 12 yards of the line of scrimmage and we have no deep threats, not because of lack of ability, but because of play calling. Let's not forget our offensive play of the season to this point was another 3 yard route when we needed 4, with one option to throw to. Fortunately, Skyler Green ran the wrong route and it resulted in a touchdown. There comes a time when you have to have enough confidence in your receivers to recognize single coverage and hang it up deep and give them a chance to make a play. Just look back at what the Davey to Reed combo did a few years ago. I also have griped about seeing Clayton and Henderson constantly line up on the same side of field in the spread formation. It's no secret these are our "go to guys". I realize the thought might be to avoid double coverage on both, but by keeping them on the same side it allows the defense to defend only half the field. The running game definitely stunk Saturday, and I am afraid unless we stretch the field and start making defenses cover the entire field, there will be a few more games like this past Saturday. The strength of this offense is our wide receivers, whether Mauck is a quarterback who can take advantage of this has yet to be seen. I would like to see him get the chance to prove himself, though. Yes we do need to run the ball, but we don't need to get 200 yards per game to win with the talent we have at wide receiver. I'm not saying we should become Kentucky, but a Florida type game plan the way they were under Spurrier would definitely fit the talent we have.
I agree with marcmc99 that the strength of this team is the receiving corps. I also think that a serious strength is our pass blocking. Our QB had all day to throw the ball. BUT!!! All that is negated when the QB and play calling are not getting the job done. Mauck was staring down receivers and not checking off to open receivers (as usual). Plus, he was holding the ball too long and not making a decision. I don't put all of the blame on him. I put much of the blame on the coaches. They keep drilling into his head what is not natural for him. He is out there trying to be the QB that Jimbo wants. He is not playing instinctively. Mauck ven made comments to the press about needing to play instinctively. Instead, he is turning into a head case. Instead of allowing Mauck to check the first receiver and then just tuck it and run, they force him to fight his instincts and hang in there. On the plays where he is sacked, watch him back there, he looks confused and lost. We need to design a lot more plays where Mauck gets rid of the ball quickly. 1,2,3 Bam! If the ball does not leave his hand on the count of three, the lineman need to switch to run blocking. Do that more often and you will have guys open 10 to 15 yards down the field later in the game. As it was, FL just played their corners deep and soft and had them simply watch Maucks eyes. As soon as the ball got to the receiver, the DB was all over him. LSU tried to combat that with the crossing patterns and they worked well. But, those are also a bit slow to develop and are much more dangerous (as Clayton found out). We should have run more short quick routes to pull the dbs up. Then go to the bread and butter of Jimbo's offense (10-15 yard routes). When a QB is rattled, coaches start calling more running plays. Sounds great until you are in 1st and 30. I would assume that the coaches wanted to relieve some pressure from Mauck, but the other players kept digging us into deeper holes with penalties and missed assignments. So it is hard to fault the coaches as far as play calling. Bottom line, it was a team loss. Mostly offensive mistakes and Mauck not being sharp at the right times. It seems like everytime he was sharp, the play was called back and everytime he screwed up, the play would stand. I think that this was just one of those games. Burn the game film and move on.
Well, tigermark, it is up to Saban and Fisher to choose the offensive identity that best fits this team for the rest of the season. Will we be a shotgun oriented offense that runs draw with the RB and the QB? Or will we be a true pro-style offense that is commited to establishing a conventional running game eraly in ballgames to promote balance? Either way, they need to determine what the offense can do best and what players can execute the gameplan. If Carey is healthy, it seems that spreading the field with WRs and both rushing and passing from the spread makes alot of sense. Or will Vincent and Broussard/Edwards become an effective running tandem from the basic pro sets? I believe that this team must put Mauck in the best position to succeed first and foremost. Like it or not, he is the QB for the rest fo the year and must be placed in the best possible situations for success. OR the season goes down the toilet like last year.
Can't say I disagree with anything you said Jwho77. It is up to Saban and Fisher. I just think that there are tweaks to the offense that they are passing up. Maybe they just didn't have it in their gameplan. You can't prepare for everything. It just seems natural to give a QB who is struggling fewer reads and a quicker release time. That is pretty much what FL did with Leak. It also seem logical to attack a defense that is sitting back and reading the QB with a few more quick passes. Now which formations to run the types of plays I am advocating, that is up to them. I just wanted them to shorten up the routes and get rid of the ball more quickly. No doubt about Mauck being the man. But, I think that we could have afforded to put Randall in at the end of first half just to get Mauck on the sidelines to cool him down. Run the ball a bit and throw a few safe passed with Randall. Then put Mauck back in for the second half regardless of how Randall did. It may have snapped him out of his funk. Plus it could have snapped the rest of the offense out of their funk. Back to the original topic of this thread... I think that lining up in the I and smashing it at them may have helped a little in this game as well. Their defensive line was getting some penetration and their LB was coming into our backfield right behind that push. Maybe a FB whacking that LB would have helped our RB to bounce it outside. Plus, I don't see a lot of deception in our running attack. The LBs can really sell out and come after us. We need to mess with their minds a little more.
