re: Bama Football Tidings

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Alabama running back Brian Robinson said Thursday, “The off week probably couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Alabama Coach Nick Saban made it clear this week that the Crimson Tide had not necessarily made the best use of that time. Specifically, he said that Tuesday’s practice was disappointing.

Robinson agreed “Pretty much,” he said, “I try to evaluate my performances at practices and think overall how the team practices. We did some good things and we did some bad things, but overall the focus was off. Coach was upset, a lot of players were upset, tired of making bad decisions. People just weren’t focused in practice. So it just didn’t feel like a good practice."

Both Saban on Wednesday and Robinson on Thursday agreed that improvement was made Wednesday, when Bama went into the indoor facility for its practice.

“We came together as a team,” Robinson said. “We talked. We discussed what this team should be about, what we should focus on moving forward, the practice habits we should work on. [Wednesday] was better energy.

“Not saying it was because we were inside, but it was a lot cooler and guys weren’t as tired. The focus was there. We knew we had a bad Tuesday and had to make up for it.”

In an unusual year, the calendar gives Southeastern Conference teams two open dates this year (Bama’s next one is Nov. 2). Alabama returns to action a week from Saturday, Oct. 12, at Texas A&M. The Aggies also have a bye this week.

Alabama is 5-0 overall and 2-0 in SEC games and ranked No. 1 in the nation. What has been done and where Alabama is ranked, though, was not up for discussion with Robinson, a 6-1. 226-pound junior.

The off week, he said, is about “recovering, getting my legs back under me and still trying to work on my game, fix all the little details in my game that I need to take into next week. I’m pretty much just focused on the game next week and preparing for the game next week now."

Robinson is coming off a good game for an Alabama running back in 2019. With Tua Tagovailoa operating at a high level and targeting wide receivers DeVonta Smith (last week’s national player of the week), Jerry Jeudy (last year’s Biletnikoff winner as the nation’s best wide receiver), and Henry Ruggs III, the running backs, notably starter Najee Harris and Robinson, seem to be almost afterthoughts.

In last week’s 59-31 win over Ole Miss, Tagovailoa passed on 36 plays (for 418 yards) while Bama rushers had 30 opportunities (including 4 runs by Tagovailoa) for 155 yards.

Robinson had the most carries by a running back. Ten. For 60 yards. He averaged 10 yards per carry with his long run 12 yards.

Following the win over Ole Miss, Saban raised the issue of the offense not only scoring, but controlling the play and the tempo to take something off the defense. That sounded like code for “We’ve got to have a better running game.”

Robinson said, “We have to keep the running game balanced. We have to be efficient on first and second downs; always get positive yards, at least half on first and 10 and then try to get half [more] if not four to five [yards on second down]. Keep the running game balanced. We have a lot of play-makers on offense. On the opportunities we get, we have to make the most of it.

"We can still improve as far as just converting on third downs and extending drives to keep the defense off the field. We've got a lot of things we still need to work on as far as making the right decisions, as far as QB reads, running back reads, receivers running the appropriate routes at the appropriate depth, linemen finishing through blocks and transitioning blocks once the guy has the ball in their hands."

As for himself, Robinson said he’s working on “finishing plays, playing a little bit better scheme, make better second level decisions— working on my burst, having a plan once I get to the second level.” By that he means what he does after he gets past the line of scrimmage to maximize yardage.

Sounds like a plan.

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