Run Gibson 40 times vs Bama!!

[BuckyIsAB****]

They'll get more tired than us, defense has to run more than the offense and they are down 4 starters right now. Not allowing them to sub at all amplifies the lack of 4 starters even more. Look it is damn near impossible to beat Bama but there's an opening here with them down 4 defensive starters. It took Luke a one in a million shot to blow up the death star and he did it. Well Saban is the Dark Lord so let's blow up the death star damn it! I am allowing hope to sneak back in on me again. **** this happens to me every year

Im with ya Im not saying we have no shot, Im just saying going Jackie Sherrill on offense plays into their hands

[Dawg61]

Im with ya Im not saying we have no shot, Im just saying going Jackie Sherrill on offense plays into their hands

If you don't fully commit to it than yes it does but the 4 starters being out is the best shot we got. It's pretty lucky actually. They are basically missing half their starting defense from spring ball and it's vs us. Gotta find a way to exploit that advantage we've never had before vs them.

[bulldawg28]

Aeris definitely should be the starter and he is solid and productive. But can someone explain to me why it seems like he doesn't have very many explosive plays? Is it vision?

It's Not necessarily a vision problem it's that he has slow feet. Gibson can see the same hole and burst through it without slowing down. Aeris has to "chop his feet" to change directions. The problem is good run defenses have a smaller hole and less time to get there.
All that chopping equals "no gain "

[louisvilledawg]

Aeris definitely should be the starter and he is solid and productive. But can someone explain to me why it seems like he doesn't have very many explosive plays? Is it vision?

I personally think he's a tad slow

[Anonymous]

Aeris definitely should be the starter and he is solid and productive. But can someone explain to me why it seems like he doesn't have very many explosive plays? Is it vision?

Short answer, its his top end speed. Long answer, our offense isn't designed around getting him open grass windows. We need him to get the consistent hard yards to suck defenses in, the ideal RB play for us right now is 8 in the box converging on the backfield while we make 4-6 yards out of nothing. We have a running threat at QB with great top end speed who is the big play threat, as well as (well theoretically) receivers who should benefit from blown coverages and 1 on 1's. Look at our statistics in plays where the offense is really moving, Aeris averages ~5-6 YPC while Fitz is getting 10+ a pop. When offenses are able to set the edge and stop the RB for less than 4-6 yards with the front 7, we struggle. See the UGA game for a prime example. The good news is not many teams have the LB's capable of doing that, the bad news is Bama is one of those teams.

He is as complete a back as I've seen in a while minus the explosiveness. Great vision, amazing acceleration, and a great blocker, just doesn't seem to have that next gear. Unfortunately top end speed generally isn't something you can teach.

[Anonymous]

The reason teams havent committed to 2 TE sets and beating their head against the wall is because your kids get tired too and they are going to get beat up. If you had 5 terminators on the OL and superman at RB this would work. Agree with you we shouldnt be intimidated and be who we are though. We arent going to compete throwing it 30-40 times either

I think the one thing that gets overlooked is we don't have to run someone 40 times. Hill and Gibson combined for 2 carries last week, meaning they are 100% fresh. We have a QB who will probably carry the ball ~15 times in a given game.

We could theoretically run the ball 60 times without anyone getting over 15 touches. Realistically Aeris 20, Gibson and Hill 10 each, that's 50 touches if Fitz only runs 10 times.

The issue is that you aren't going to be able to do that. You aren't going to consistently move the chains against Alabama without a balanced offense.

[War Machine Dawg]

Aeris definitely should be the starter and he is solid and productive. But can someone explain to me why it seems like he doesn't have very many explosive plays? Is it vision?

My theory is speed. He's got a good first step, but his top end speed isn't great. I spent a couple of years saying he was a rich man's Ashton Shumpert, and I haven't really seen much from him to change my mind. I love A-Train, but when it comes to running the football, he's our 3rd best RB. Hill & Gibson are both better as pure runners. A-Train plays because he does everything else really well and is a "program guy." And we all know how much Mullen loves those.

What frustrates me is why it takes us years to get a RB ready to play a significant role. There's no reason that Gibson, as a RSFR, shouldn't be doing everything else well enough by now to overtake Aeris. And there's no reason Hill shouldn't be playing a significant role 9 games into his true freshman year. But that's a different rant.

[Liverpooldawg]

I personally think he's a tad slow

THis is it. He isn’t a burner. He is still the best back we have, total package. It’s kind of funny but since we can’t really harp on how the back up QB should be ahead of the starter Now we had to find another position. It seems we have settled on running back.