…about the comments made by the staff about the running game.
Bo made a comment on his show that I tend to agree with–that since Enos arrived, the passing game has drastically improved, but the running game has possibly digressed. That may not be his fault…considering the state of the o-line last year. But, I do wonder what the ratio of time spent on pass pro versus running game is when the media is not allowed in there.
I love Enos as an offensive coordinator. And we certainly did need to spend plenty of time on pass pro this past spring and fall. Don’t get me wrong. But we HAVE to run the ball well in this offense (any offense, really).
When our o-line was giving up sack after sack last year, I said on this board that they were not EVER going to be good enough to pass block against the better teams in the SEC if we were not running it effectively. Think about what happens against a Bama or LSU if we cannot run it at all. With no running game, our offense is cut into half. They know we gotta throw. Then, within that half, play-action drop back and play-action waggles are also ineffective. (Think about how many times we ran a waggle last year against Bama or LSU, and they ignored the playaction, and just smashed Austin). That cut the passing game into approximately half. So you wind up playing a great defense with about a 1/4 of your offense.
I can’t help but think that with much more experience and the stable of backs we have, that we will get this sorted (as my London cousins who are staying with us at the moment would say). But I am hungry to hear more talk about how well the running game is coming round.
I certainly will be looking for an effective running game in the opener. The La Tech game last year was a forecaster of the difficulties to come…
Real simple. Better be able to lineup and run the ball or have another bad season. I am sure they know that. So much of the season rest in the hands of the Oline doing their job. Will they or can they. Will know soon.
Tough to be good at both. But that has to be the goal. I’m sure they had a lot of chemistry to develop in the passing game with the new receivers. And pass pro had to improve. Now, they have to get the running game polished. I am hopeful that can still happen.
I am not real concerned about the offense. Austin Allen will lead this offense to success.
The defense is the glaring problem. 2 years of horrible defense have cost us a great deal of success. What would our record have been in 2015 and 2016 if we had a decent defense. I think it cost us at least 2 wins each year.
im more concerned with the coaching staff thought process on running the ball. lets face it folks, we are not going to pound the ball on alabama or lsu and win the game. YES, we need an effective running game, but if we think we are going to line up and push alabama or lsu around consistently we are dreaming.
I’m glad enos has stressed a better passing game, we have to have it to be able to win games in the sec west. both run and pass blocking was bad last year. good to hear pass pro is looking better. glad they are working on the running game, but to me, and only my opinion, we lose games in the second half after a lead because we try to rely on the running game too much. use the clock, first, second down run, little yardage, now third and long and we can’t convert, or qb gets maimed, whatever. fine in the 4th quarter if you have a 24-7 lead, but not coming out of the lockers after half.
Running game must be effective enough for play action to work, so it has to be somewhat a threat.
Effective, efficient, productive. i just don’t see many teams other than the patsy’s that we play are going to be able to line up and pound them like we did Texas Tech a couple of years ago. we have to do both effectively. We don’t have the talent we had when pittman was here and offensive line recruiting has been ok at best. we still need depth there. Our new offensive line coach hasn’t proven himself yet to me. So yes i want to be able to run the ball, i just have my doubts we are going to be able to move the ball consistently against the defenses of the sec west jamming it down their throats time and time again.
Just thinking back to championship game last year, i don’t remember Clemson pounding Alabama time and time again with an occasional pass, or Ole Miss beating them 2 out of 3 years with a dominant running game, and thats the team we gotta beat to get to the top. Lastly i to am mildly concerned about our running game. i just want it to be effective. gotta make 3rd or 4th and 1 consistently running the ball, in fact anything 3 yards and in should present the opposing defense a quandary, load the box for a run, or play safe because these guys can pass…
The running game doesn’t have to produce 200 yards against the great defenses. It just has to be just effective enough to make those defenses respect it and allow Allen to have the entire offense as his arsenal. In turn, that will help the porous defense by not having to be on the field as long as it often was last year. The defense had many problems last year, but compounding those problems was the fatigue factor. The offense must be able to run enough to keep the clock moving and must produce enough push to gain first downs/touchdowns on third-and-short.
The best way to run on Ala and LSU is spread them out and make them move the LBers out of the middle.
You do not have to be a spread team to do this.
3 or 4 rec and the TE, it also makes it easier to pass
That is how they both have been beat.
LSU in the past had such a bad off that you could pound them a little and still win
It’s a positive that they figured this out now and not half way through the season. I think this is the best year since Coach B has been here that they are on top of things and able to identify and work on isolated weaknesses prior to the start of the season. Two weeks of concentrated effort on the run game, because they finally fill comfortable in pass pro, is a big blessing and should pay big dividends. However, experience, attitude and talent are the ultimate deciders.
Don’t know what I would have said before I had my first (or second, or . . . . . ) cool one (dang it’s hot down here), but at the present time (and condition) I strongly suspect that this comment from the coaches, as the other almost daily one regarding some area of play, might perhaps be taken by us as motivation rather than statement of condition. Based on subsequent feedback from earlier instances of “calling a player out”, it would appear that such motivation has proven rather effective to this point. I’m not going to be too concerned until I see the problem on the field, which hopefully will not happen. Last year’s approach did not work, but at this point it appears that this new one is proving fruitful. Always motivate them to improve! And for what (little) it’s worth, I expect us to get a ton of yards on both the ground and in the air this year. WPS!!!
You have to block either to pass or to run period. If they block and don’t miss assignments you will see us run with positive results. Bama and LSU we have in the past ran the ball and beat them. Recently it’s mainly been Bama we haven’t beat. Last year LSU caught played us and we were playing flag football on our offensive line ! We could block the goal post. Defense was the killer last year. The O line allowed too many sacks. We scored enough points last year and the year before to win 9 games.
The addition of speed and playing aggressive will cause the players to buy in and be accountable for thier performance.
Recruiting only gets better when you win!
The talent of our hogs will improve!
WPS. Get your popcorn ready it’s going to be a fun football season. Then Basketball and baseball.