I thought you were specifically talking about running Cody. I've rarely seen Cody pursue to the sideline, because he's always double-teamed, which ties up, typically, a center and an OG. If you pull a guard to block wide, that leaves him singled, and that could be trouble. In addition to being able to dunk a basketball and dunk a football over the goalpost, he's a lot faster than he looks. On a general basis, though, I have to agree. Spread offenses are the ones which have had the best luck against UA, or maybe I should just say "Saban defenses." I should say that the teams which run the spread most of the time have had luck. Those who try to go to a part-time spread just for us haven't done so well. Nick has done a lot of work on defending the spread since Utah made us look so ill-prepared in the SB...
LSU must throw the ball downfield or the best-case scenario is a tight low scoring game (if our D can hold them). Bama will have the safeties close and will stop the run and take away short passes. some misdirection may loosen them up a bit but probably not much. max protect and chuck it. even if they dont connect it should help with the underneath stuff later on. On D, its a mirror image. make elroy beat us. this game is all about the linebackers. good thing its chavis' strength. their TE coming back is a major concern. it should really help out elroy to have him there.
That is what I am afraid of. He needs to be patient and not be intimated by their defense and the hostile environment. If he stays sharp like he was in the Peach Bowl, we stand a chance. It is going to need a whole team effect in this game with sound play calling....
we'll have to incorporate more slants and middle screens to give our receivers a chance to catch and run. hopefully we'll catch them in a blitz or two and turn a 5 yd slant into a 65 yd td.
JJ's timing on these plays has to be right on for them to work, a problem that he has been working on successfully as of late.
A lot of good points that illustrate opportunities and challenges for both teams on both sides of the ball. To me, it's almost as simplified as saying "the team that scores the most points", but I think it all comes down to QB play. Which JJ will show up for this game? Which Bama offense will show up? Will McElroy and his coaching staff get on the same page and see things the same way? A recent article up here in the Ham suggested that the QB thinks things are just fine and performance has been good but Nickie has a different perspective of things. Alabama has the edge on defensive statistics but LSU is closing the gap. It will be interesting to see if both DC's put a lot of mass in the box and dare the two questionable QB's to throw the ball. If that happens then I like our chances. If we can use 'em, we have more firepower on offense and I think our secondary is a little stronger. This is going to be a great battle and I don't think anyone can walk in with dreams of domination. This contest has all the makings of becoming a baseball game. LSU wins a close one and steals the dream 3 - 2. :geaux:
