Alabama doesn’t have a problem running the ball. Look at the average yards per carry. The problem is play calling.

Yep. 5.6 YPC. And only gave our elite RBs the ball 6 times each.

Rem, with all due respect, who says there is a problem? Virtually every team in American would love to be in Bama’s position. Nothing is perfect but Bama has been a close as you can get in the last 10 years. Wait till Nick leaves and we get another bonehead, you will again see what “The problem is”

Yep, yep.....I completely agree. I don't understand why when our backs are busting off 5....6...7 yard carries that we suddenly abandon it. ESPECIALLY when you're playing a team with a fast paced offense that you want to keep off the field as much as possible so the D doesn't get worn down. Bad skrategy....

Hey man, I get it. These are the good times. But it's just frustrating to get beat by Auburn, and no longer control our own destiny. If Ohio State had a single loss, we'd be on the outside looking in, and we'd be clamoring for answers.
Seeing Jalen throw it away 10 times a game is an area for improvement, that's all.

I happen to like Hurts and think he is a good QB.. Could he be a better passer? Yes he could be, I hate to say this but if we win it all this year it will be a miracle, our DL and OL is way weaker than what we had last year plus the play calling hasn't been that good at times, if we can get the injured line backers healthy then we have a better chance to win, one thing I am pretty sure of is we will be able to run the ball against the teams in the top 4...

For all of you screaming to put Tua in, I just don't get it, sure he can throw the ball and he seems to have good wheels but how would he handle playing in these huge games with all the pressure?? No one knows and these games are not the place to find out...

I agree 100%....But there are a lot of factors at work here. Hurts is still developing as a passer, last year he never stayed in the pocket like he does this year. Its obvious they are working hard to develop him as a passer. It takes time. He’ll get better. I believe Dabol is actually doing great. Once he gets fully settled in the college game, I believe the offense will take off. Bama was steamrolling everybody until the LB injuries forced to play a raw freshman. (He was 4th string heading into the season), then we couldn’t stop offenses. That forced Hurts into a catch up roll. We’ll see with Clemson, we’ll have 3 of the 4 back. And that should take the pressure off the offense and Hurts. JMO

Tru dat. I sat in the super dome and watched em blow a big lead, Henry was gashing Ohio, but they stopped running and decided to throw a gazillion times and mistakes (turnovers) mounted up.

Dabols play calling against the Barn pure sucked! And as for the missing starters Saban played a few in the Awbarn game and Wilson done more harm than good, he missed his man like 3 or more times on crucial 3rd downs. They should've kept the "healthy" fresh meat in there, if they weren't 100 percent. Hopefully they will be by January....

You guys are missing my point. They can successfully run the ball when the defense has a balanced or pass heavy alignment (a 3-2 box, or a 3-1 box something like that) but when the defense loads the box with run stopping support, Bama can't just run over them like they could in years past. This is what happened in the iron bowl. If you go back and watch the film, you will see that Auburn came out with a different responsibility box. So Bama gashed them with run plays (the counter play where they pull the backside G and T or TE was huge on this drive). This along with some missed tackles made it look like Bama could run the ball at will. But as soon as Auburn went back to the run heavy box, the OC knew he was going to have to throw the ball a significant amount to move the football.

Come on guys, they have 10 people in the coaches box that know way more about football than any of us. It's not fair to them to say "They were getting 5-6 yards a carry and just abandoned the run." Especially when you haven't broken down the film, seen what defense they are running, and see why he is calling the plays he is. It's a complex game when you get up to that level.

Now, it is fair to criticize the starting QB for not being an effective passer. He has a LONG way to go before he is able to successfully move the ball when the defense takes away the run. He's just a sophomore though and has only lost 2 games in 2 years. Just my 2 cents!

OKAY If he's not gonna attempt at least some runs up the middle (Bama has had success at doing in this in the past) to soften them up and believe me they will, cause Bama has a stable of RBs this year, then i take back every bad (well maybe not everything) damn thing i've ever said about LAME KITTEN cause at least his sideline to sideline plays would wear down the Defense..Oh and i think your not touching on one major issue this Bama Offense has no "identity this year" what so ever...

Agree with everything except that Jalen is developing as a passer and will get better. He will not. He is what he is going to be at this point. With over 2 full years in Bama's system, 2 different OCs trying to teach him and 27 D1 college games (2 full seasons) under his belt, there's not a lot of improvement left to get. Additional experience helps but for a lot of great HS Qbs, their brains simply do not allow them to process information quickly enough to make the quick decisions necessary to evaluate what coverage the defense is in as it drops, what is happening with all 4 WRs running different routes and who is going to clear and be open and in a window for 3/10ths of second, 1.5 seconds from now.

Jalen is a great athlete that can make all the throws but doesnt have the QB part, which going into his JR year, should already be there. It's like when I asked my son after he'd been at college all summer and through his first fall camp his freshman year. I said, what's the real difference between HS and D1. His answer was, everybody can run, coverages are disguised like you would not believe, DBs closing speeds are ridiculous, and if you wait until a WR is actually open, you missed your opportunity or you just threw a pick. The game is FAST.

Some people just cannot see the field in 3D and you've got to be able to see what is happening and have the ability to visualize where those seams and windows are going to open, and you've got to be able to see it before it actually happens and I think that is Jalen's problem. Some things cannot be taught, you either have the ability to do it or you dont. Jalen has all the athletic ability in the world and the calm under pressure attitude you want in a QB, which combined with the coaches and athletes that Alabama has, is why he is 25-2 as a starter, but IMO he doesnt have the ability to process what he is seeing quickly and move on to the next read which you have to have to be truly elite. His brain just does not seem to be wired that way.

Is Tua a better option? Who knows? In his limited playing time it looks like he definitely gets through his reads and even has time to come back to his primary a second time, so he does seem to be able to see and interpret what he is seeing better than Jalen but is he a better option than Jalen at starting QB? We dont see what Tua does in practice, so to second guess what the best coach, in all of college football, is doing personnel wise, with regard to who's starting is ridiculous. I promise you Nick wants to win. It is a mute point to even discuss Hurts vs Tua at this point. Jalen will start against Clemson and again against Oklahoma or Georgia, if we get that far. We just need to be thankful we have a great coach, a team full of great athletes and are in the playoff yet again this year. Roll Tide!

What do you mean by "in the past? Do you mean they could run the ball up the middle in years past? If this is what you are saying then you are agreeing with me. But know that running the ball on a regular basis up the middle has just as much to do with the o-line as it does the RB.

When you say identity, do you mean they don't have anything they do really well? I agree they are mediocre in most things they attempt to do on offense. Unless you look at the games where they could just man handle the defense. Then the identity was clear. Take what the defense gives you. It's when the defense is pretty good that they look in un-identifiable on offense.

Best comments I've seen on the whole thing. I've seen Tua in one practice (the REC scrimmage back in August), and he threw either two or three int's and a couple more that could have been picked but were dropped. I do agree that it *seems* like he does see the field better than Jalen, but there's more to it than that. My guess would be that he does not grasp the offense nearly as well as Jalen does at this time, therefore Saban isn't comfortable putting him out there when the game is not already in hand. He's definitely a "gunslinger", but that can be good, or it can be bad. I'd say that all bets are off in the spring.

I do agree that it's absolutely mind-boggling that folks here question whether Saban would play the guy who gives him the best chance to win.

I do not agree that Hurts will start against Wisconsin, if we get that far.

I understand that they shift into different defenses to stop the run but.....It’s ok to only get 2 or maybe 3 yards on some of those running plays. In some situations, like the Auburn game…. you still gotta keep pounding the ball….if for no other reason than to slow down the game….add to the number of plays you run…. and to take more time off the clock. You shorten the game and don’t let their offense have so many opportunities to run up and down the field on our banged up defense. Didn't they run a chit load more plays than we did?

Ooops. Sorry about that, I was talking to a guy here in the office that is a huge Miami fan and I was telling him I thought Wisconsin would walk them.
How about "if we get to "Oklahoma".

Exactly what au did in the ib. What was kj's avg/carry? He had a couple broken runs, but the barn didn't bail on the run after he was stopped a couple times.

All of you guys are making great points and I agree with a lot of them. I just think we are spoiled from years past with the great O-lines Bama has had. We are used to lining up with a TE in the 4th quarter and running down hill at a tired defensive front. This O-line is good but not that elite level as years past. Makes a huge difference.

I’m beginning to wonder if some of y’all watched the iron bowl or have ever seen a game at all.