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Does This Scheme Work Against Elite Defenses?
Posted on 10/20/26 at 5:44 am
Posted on 10/20/26 at 5:44 am
When we hired CKD the concept was that we were bringing in one of the most elite offensive minds in the nation.
We were in theory going to evolve as a program into a team that would stress defenses like Kirby using vertical passing concepts and start out scoring teams like we did from Kiffin on under Saban.
The problem is that even setting aside the Milroe era which I don’t blame on him really it hasn’t happened thus far against similar tier teams with top 15 defenses:
2026
UGA: 17
TN: 10
2025
UGA: 24
UGA: 7
OU: 21
OU: 34
IU: 3
Granted, 2025 had major OL issues and an injury at QB. Neither of those factors exist in 2026.
My hope is that two subpar gameplans caused what had been an ultra elite offense to temporarily break and we can adjust and become a team that can score at a level at which you can win games against elite competition.
But I’m starting to question if this systems base concepts just don’t work against defenses of the caliber we see a couple times a year. The same 3 move routes that created explosives against mediocre defenses get you sacked in elite matchups because they take too long.
If we aren’t going to gameplan to take what teams give us and we can’t force our concepts to work against what they’re doing we have what amounts to an offense that isn’t going to scale against elite teams and that’s a huge problem without a peak Saban era defense.
We were in theory going to evolve as a program into a team that would stress defenses like Kirby using vertical passing concepts and start out scoring teams like we did from Kiffin on under Saban.
The problem is that even setting aside the Milroe era which I don’t blame on him really it hasn’t happened thus far against similar tier teams with top 15 defenses:
2026
UGA: 17
TN: 10
2025
UGA: 24
UGA: 7
OU: 21
OU: 34
IU: 3
Granted, 2025 had major OL issues and an injury at QB. Neither of those factors exist in 2026.
My hope is that two subpar gameplans caused what had been an ultra elite offense to temporarily break and we can adjust and become a team that can score at a level at which you can win games against elite competition.
But I’m starting to question if this systems base concepts just don’t work against defenses of the caliber we see a couple times a year. The same 3 move routes that created explosives against mediocre defenses get you sacked in elite matchups because they take too long.
If we aren’t going to gameplan to take what teams give us and we can’t force our concepts to work against what they’re doing we have what amounts to an offense that isn’t going to scale against elite teams and that’s a huge problem without a peak Saban era defense.
This post was edited on 10/20/26 at 5:46 am
Posted on 10/20/26 at 5:57 am to tide06
Our defense reminds me of what he would run at South Alabama, when smaller team facing a bigger team. They run a D that tries to contain the bigger team so they can stay in the game and hope the bigger team makes a mistake. Very much the bend but don't break perspective.....Its not SEC-mini NFL innovative level.
This post was edited on 10/20/26 at 6:38 am
Posted on 10/20/26 at 6:57 am to tide06
I have no doubt that you could take this offensive scheme and make it work against any defense by adjusting to take advantage of the way that the defense is choosing to play against you. The problem is, we don't do that.
Posted on 10/20/26 at 7:19 am to tide06
I think we bought his system at maximum value and he's going to have to bring in a new perspective at OC next year to save his job long term. In the last few years the conventional wisdom on defense in the NFL has changed to counter all the vertical passing attacks that dominated pro football in the late 2000s into the 2010s. Teams are running the ball more and trying to stress defenses horizontally again because no one wants to let you beat them over the top anymore. It's too hard on DBs to stop it from happening with the rules on contact, so they're sitting in 2 high so there's always a safety over the top.
Posted on 10/20/26 at 7:36 am to tide06
Yes it will work. The “elite” defenses you speak of are elite for a reason. Mainly bc they have shut down other opponents to be considered elite . As you mentioned we had issues in 2025 with the worst OL I can remember in many years . As Bama fans , we are spoiled from past years where we had the talent advantage over most every team we played . That is not the case right now or in the new landscape of CFB. Not being a smart arse but EVERY play or system you name is designed to work IF it is executed properly . Football can be broken down in pretty simple points and the main one is you HAVE to beat the man in front of you or individual matchups . Not making excuses for Grubb by any means bc it is his job to find the matchups that we can exploit with what we have . We are very young on the OL, QB, and RB . If you go back and watch some plays from the UT game, man the majority of the line was getting manhandled at times . I get frustrated with some calls sometimes as well but we don’t always know what went wrong on some plays , especially pass routes. Some routes are straight forward where they go on the play and some require adjusting the route on the fly based off off coverage , whether the defender has inside or outside leverage , down and distance etc. it appears they are not on the same page some times as we have 2 or 3 players within a few yards of each other with no spacing . All that to say , I am frustrated with it at times and yes it is his responsibility to get the most out of what we have but I expected some growing pains on offense and they will be exploited at times by good veteran defenses .My disappointment is on the other side where WE have veterans and I thought a talent advantage over most teams . Not that they are terrible all the time but
we haven’t been dominant and often allow yds/ drives at the times we need them the most . The schedule gets a little easier (by SEC standards) the rest of the way so there should be improvement on the offensive side moving forward , at least that is my hope
we haven’t been dominant and often allow yds/ drives at the times we need them the most . The schedule gets a little easier (by SEC standards) the rest of the way so there should be improvement on the offensive side moving forward , at least that is my hope
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