re: Hurts took what the defense gave him today.

I said last year that I thought that D. Watson's game in Jan 2016 convinced Saban and Kiffin that with the right QB, the spread RPO offense would work. Then, when Hurts had a very good game vs USC, they thought they'd found that guy.

Personally, I think that Watson is more suited to that offense because he was as much a passing threat (the P in RPO) as a runner. Actually, Hurts may be a better runner than Watson, but not as good a passer, so it's certainly subjective and a matter of degree as to which is better suited to the offense, but Watson has the ring from last year, so there is that. Then, of course, there was Scam Newton, who might have been better in that type offense than Watson was.

edit: also Manziel.

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Strange how we hammered FSU defensively and against Fresno we looked like a complete team.

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Did you mean completely different?

The defense played a ton of young players and played a mush rush and didn't blitz. Different packages for different things.

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why would you force Jalen to be something he isn't?"


You force him to work on what he's bad at. The reason being we would like to win a national title and a team like Oklahoma would blow our arse out if we played next weekend. Throwing the ball to the sideline 5 yards down the field will get you beat against a team with a really good offense.

The teams out there with a really good offense and decent defense would beat us right now, simple as that. Our offense isn't difficult to shut down and our defense can only carry us so far. Thankfully there aren't any teams like that on the schedule, but there are a few around the country. If Jalen doesn't get better at throwing the football we will not win the national championship, period. Jalen ran for 150+ yards against Fresno, but he didn't improve as a football player.

Look at the good offenses around the country, we are a dysfunctional mess in comparison. Yea, we have an athletic quarterback that can improvise and make plays, love that part of his game..it's not enough to win it all though

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What you say makes sense if you knew he wasn't a good passer. He hasn't been in a game yet to display really anything. We throw high completion throws in combination with a running attack. If we need the middle of the field or 50/50 which, are considered risky, we will use them. It's a game first and foremost by the numbers. Success based on doing things with and without risk.

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if we need the middle of the field or 50/50 which, are considered risky, we will use them.


I'd feel a lot better about taking those risks when they're necessary if we'd practiced it when they weren't. Do you smell what I'm stepping in? We don't get better by doing the same old shite against Fresno state. That's the trap LSU fell into with Miles. I'm by no means comparing Saban to Miles, just saying their anemic offense was anemic for a reason. They racked up 40-50 points on weak defenses by sticking to their strengths. They didn't work on their weaknesses. When the Alabama's and Florida's and Auburns came around, LSU got beat. Gun to my head I would take Oklahoma over Alabama 100/100 times right now, because they're talented enough on defense to shut down our simple offense and our defense can't hold them all game. We need to get better in the areas we're bad, not continue to prove we can do what we're good at.

I'm a sunshine pumper, but the game has changed. You can't win it all with a one dimensional offense and a great defense.

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Look I get what you want but it's not how they operate. They run the plays they need to win and play a game of percentages and risk vs reward. It's worked pretty well for us for awhile. We lost on the last play last year. Sucks but it is what it is.

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We lost on the last play last year.


Clemson won the game on their last offensive play but I think we lost on our lack of offensive plays. We couldn't sustain drives. 2 series more than 5 plays. 3 points for the 2 turnovers the defense forced on Clemson's side of the field. I think that's what we lost on.

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That's your opinion but mine is we had the lead, our DB's didn't win a single 50/50 and they didn't. The coaches refused to run the ball after Bo went down consistently and they wouldn't bring in subs for the tired starters.

Edit: oh and Payne for us a PF on the last drive

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Clemson won the game on their last offensive play but I think we lost on our lack of offensive plays. We couldn't sustain drives. 2 series more than 5 plays. 3 points for the 2 turnovers the defense forced on Clemson's side of the field. I think that's what we lost on.



That's your opinion

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No. It's not opinion. It's a fact that we did not sustain drives. It's certainly a fact that we had only 2 series more than 5 plays, same as it's a certain fact that the offense scored 3 points for the 2 turnovers on Clemson's side of the field. It's "technical" as you called your comment in another post.

I was going to make a thread about the game, but it seems most of my thoughts are covered in this one. So, I'll just piggyback here.

1. I thought Hurts played well. He (apparently) followed the game plan.

2. I thought we would have worked on the downfield passing game more, despite what the defense gave us. Maybe it makes sense to let Hurts play like it was a "real" game. I don't know.

3. I don't feel like I know any more about our passing game than I did before the season started.

4. I think someone else here mentioned it, but I think Saban latched onto this RPO stuff after struggling to defend it a few times. I hate it. Maybe that's just because I'm a purist who likes to see a classic running and passing game. I guess points are points, but I think points will be difficult to come by against better teams if the passing game isn't good.

5. So far, no part of this team has wowed me. They're solid across the board. It's early. They will improve, I'm sure. The offense is "meh" and the defense is talented, but not clicking. I'm sure the injuries don't help.

6. Saban isn't new to football. If I know LSU, AU, etc. are going to put their safeties on the line and force us to throw downfield, then he does too. Hopefully he's playing chess and working the long game while I'm playing checkers.

7. I still think we'd wreck shite with a good run game and a good pocket passer.

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Why Offensive Strategy Was Curious

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Guy doesn't really impress me, nor has he ever. If any team wants to play the Corners 6-7 yards off the receivers and play the safety high ill take that all day long. Why force a shot downfield. Anyway dead horse beaten.

I think it's jsut time to accept Jalen for who he is, a fantastic athlete that could become a competent passer. He's never going to wow you with his arm, but he will with his legs. He's still a great weapon.

I do feel for our receivers. If the first two games are any indication, they won't have many opportunities to shine this year.