Why being 50/50 on run pass selection is BS

[Coach34]

Go back and look at who led the SEC in rushing or is top 2 at worst and see how they ended up

2007- LSU was 2nd in the SEC in rushing and won the NC
2008- Fla led the SEC in rushing and won the NC
2009- Bama led the SEC in rushing and won the NC
2010- Auburn led the SEC in rushing and won the NC
2011- Bama led the SEC in rushing and LSU was 2nd- they played for the NC
2012- A&M led the SEC in rushing went 11-2 cause of no D. Bama was 2nd and won the NC
2013- Auburn led the SEC in rushing- played for NC

This is why I said I want us to lead the SEC in rushing. Passing doesn't get you to the NC in college football

#RTGDF

[Pollodawg]

Fact: We are a better team when we run the ball creatively and effectively. It's what our offense is built for. That's why I don't care if Dak doesn't throw for 3,000 yards this season as long as our offense is effective.

[starkvegasdawg]

Go back and look at who led the SEC in rushing or is top 2 at worst and see how they ended up

2007- LSU was 2nd in the SEC in rushing and won the NC
2008- Fla led the SEC in rushing and won the NC
2009- Bama led the SEC in rushing and won the NC
2010- Auburn led the SEC in rushing and won the NC
2011- Bama led the SEC in rushing and LSU was 2nd- they played for the NC
2012- A&M led the SEC in rushing went 11-2 cause of no D. Bama was 2nd and won the NC
2013- Auburn led the SEC in rushing- played for NC

This is why I said I want us to lead the SEC in rushing. Passing doesn't get you to the NC in college football

#RTGDF

While I agree that you have to be able to run the football to be successful, I would like a little more information to go with these stats.
While these teams either led the SEC in rushing or were 2nd, did that mean they ran the ball at a much higher than a 50% mark or that they were just able to run the ball very effectively when they did run?
How many times did these teams have large leads late and were just running the ball every play in the 4th to eat up the clock to skew the ratio?
Were they so successful running because they had a legitimate passing threat forcing the teams to play honest? I know with our past teams we had no passing threat and were constantly trying to run against 9 man fronts. A viable passing threat would have forced them to play some back making running easier.

I ask all that to say this. It doesn't matter how good of a RB you have and how good your offensive line is. If the other team knows running is all you got then you could run at a 95/5 ratio and you still wouldn't lead the conference in rushing because it would be constantly against 8/9 man fronts. If Dak can throw the ball like we think he can this year then he will absolutely torch defenses that try to do that forcing them to keep safeties and corners back. If we are consistently running against 5-6 man fronts then I easily see us leading the SEC in rushing.

[Really Clark?]

It's been 58-73% rush vs pass percentage in those years mentioned above. It's not rushing the ball effectively it's passing the ball effectively enough. Even FSU last year ran the ball at a 53% clip vs passing. But in the SEC for the last decade you had better be 60-40 runs vs passes. We've had the running part in the past the hope is that our passing is now effective enough that the elite defenses have to scheme against that as well. One dimensional is not about the percentage is about being effective in both aspects of the game. GA Tech is one dimensional.

[Bo Darville]

One dimensional is not about the percentage is about being effective in both aspects of the game.

I agree with this. I think MSU should be run-heavy. I think we should run the football bigtime. It is how we will win. The passing game has to be effective to keep defenses honest. If they stack 8 in the box you must be able to burn their ass. Bama has always been a running team under Saban. But they always had the wideouts and quarterbacks to force you to respect the pass. That meant you couldn't load up the box to stop the run. If Bama had Ty Evans at QB and Antonio Hargro at wideout, teams would have put 8 or 9 in the box and Ingram and Richardson would have been much less effective.

If teams play us straight, we should be run-heavy. When they cheat to stop the run, you must be good enough to burn them with the pass. When they get burnt and return to playing you honestly, you go back to running 60-40 or 65-35.

[Coach34]

It's been 58-73% rush vs pass percentage in those years mentioned above.

exactly- the lowest split is 58-42 run to pass. I'm not saying we shouldn't throw the football- we have to. I'm saying we have to have the mindset that we are going to RTGDF and impose our will. We do that and we will get big plays in the passing game. As I've said- we don't need more passes- we need more big plays in the passing game.

Im in hoping we end up in the 64-36 range run to pass. And if we do- we will have a successful season offensively

[DudyDawg]

Coach, you need to get a RTGDF sticker and paste that bad boy to your cowbell ha

[HoopsDawg]

exactly- the lowest split is 58-42 run to pass. I'm not saying we shouldn't throw the football- we have to. I'm saying we have to have the mindset that we are going to RTGDF and impose our will. We do that and we will get big plays in the passing game. As I've said- we don't need more passes- we need more big plays in the passing game.

Im in hoping we end up in the 64-36 range run to pass. And if we do- we will have a successful season offensively

Tell it to Mullen. You are preaching to the choir. I want that lead blocker back too. Shumpert fits the mold if he can accept the role.

Side note: Balance isn't 50/50. Balance is being able to throw when they take away the run and vice versa. That may mean running 95% of the time if they can't stop you.

[The Croom Diaries]

Here is the percentage of how much we've run the ball in each SEC game under Mullen. It's become 50/50 basically after running a ton the first couple of year.

Auburn (2009) – 64%
Vanderbilt (2009) – 76%
LSU (2009) – 53%
Florida (2009) – 60%
Kentucky (2009) – 73%
Alabama (2009) – 65%
Arkansas (2009) – 81%
Ole Miss (2009) – 81%
Auburn (2010) – 49%
LSU (2010) – 71%
Georgia (2010) – 74%
Florida (2010) – 84%
Kentucky (2010) – 67%
Alabama (2010) – 68%
Arkansas (2010) – 70%
Ole Miss (2010) – 71%
Auburn (2011) – 65%
LSU (2011) – 57%
Georgia (2011) – 51%
South Carolina (2011) – 55%
Kentucky (2011) – 60%
Alabama (2011) – 49%
Arkansas (2011) – 51%
Ole Miss (2011) – 77%
Auburn (2012) – 55%
Kentucky (2012) – 50%
Tennessee (2012) – 51%
Alabama (2012) – 37%
Texas A&M (2012) – 47%
LSU (2012) – 38%
Arkansas (2012) – 51%
Ole Miss (2012) – 42%
Auburn (2013) – 59%
LSU (2013) – 54%
Kentucky (2013) – 53%
South Carolina (2013) – 45%
Texas A&M (2013) – 51%
Alabama (2013) – 50%
Arkansas (2013) – 54%
Ole Miss (2013) – 52%

[Bubb Rubb]

Here is the percentage of how much we've run the ball in each SEC game under Mullen. It's become 50/50 basically after running a ton the first couple of year.

Auburn (2009) – 64%
Vanderbilt (2009) – 76%
LSU (2009) – 53%
Florida (2009) – 60%
Kentucky (2009) – 73%
Alabama (2009) – 65%
Arkansas (2009) – 81%
Ole Miss (2009) – 81%
Auburn (2010) – 49%
LSU (2010) – 71%
Georgia (2010) – 74%
Florida (2010) – 84%
Kentucky (2010) – 67%
Alabama (2010) – 68%
Arkansas (2010) – 70%
Ole Miss (2010) – 71%
Auburn (2011) – 65%
LSU (2011) – 57%
Georgia (2011) – 51%
South Carolina (2011) – 55%
Kentucky (2011) – 60%
Alabama (2011) – 49%
Arkansas (2011) – 51%
Ole Miss (2011) – 77%
Auburn (2012) – 55%
Kentucky (2012) – 50%
Tennessee (2012) – 51%
Alabama (2012) – 37%
Texas A&M (2012) – 47%
LSU (2012) – 38%
Arkansas (2012) – 51%
Ole Miss (2012) – 42%
Auburn (2013) – 59%
LSU (2013) – 54%
Kentucky (2013) – 53%
South Carolina (2013) – 45%
Texas A&M (2013) – 51%
Alabama (2013) – 50%
Arkansas (2013) – 54%
Ole Miss (2013) – 52%

It depends on the game situations. Without looking at box scores, I would venture a guess that in all of those games where we were close to 50/50, we were playing from behind and trying to get back into the game.

[Really Clark?]

Tell it to Mullen. You are preaching to the choir. I want that lead blocker back too. Shumpert fits the mold if he can accept the role.

Side note: Balance isn't 50/50. Balance is being able to throw when they take away the run and vice versa. That may mean running 95% of the time if they can't stop you.

Uh...what and why should we tell Mullen anything? He has already proved in the past that we will be at least 60-40. The only year it wasn't was 2012 when we were 50/50 with TR and last year when we probably would have had the same offense game plan if TR had not gotten hurt. And even then we ran at a 55% clip. The first two years under Mullen we ran almost 70% of the time. He was trying to adjust to TR strength and we will see it swing back to running more with Dak's strength but the hope is the passing game will now be more open to us with his passing ability.

[The Croom Diaries]

It depends on the game situations. Without looking at box scores, I would venture a guess that in all of those games where we were close to 50/50, we were playing from behind and trying to get back into the game.

For most, yes, however:

Ole Miss and ARK 2013 was even the whole game.
UK 2013 we were ahead
Arkansas 2012 we blew them out
Tennessee 2012 pretty even or we were ahead
Kentucky 2012 we were ahead
Auburn 2012 we were ahead
South Carolina 2011 we were even the whole game

The Tyler Russell games I understand why it was 50/50. My hope is we will get back to running at least 65-70% of the time like we did in 2010 with Relf. Pretty much all of those games last year were near 2013 and Dak was QB for most of them. We'll see how it goes, but I'm with C34, I want to see us run the ball more.

[coastie]

I think it just depends on your identity as an offense. If your strength is running the ball then you need to have a decent passing game to keep defenses honest and vis versa.... One will not work without the other. 50/50 is not necessary but a good team needs to at least be good enough at the other to keep defenses honest and keep them from loading the box or playing dime all game and just blitzing the qb

[Coach34]

Championship teams are committed to running the football.

#RTGDF

[coastie]

Florida State won last year with the majority of their yardage coming through the air. I just think one needs to balance the other out

[Really Clark?]

Florida State won last year with the majority of their yardage coming through the air. I just think one needs to balance the other out

What does yardage have to do with run vs pass play percentage? What have been Alabama's number recently? What have been the SEC numbers recently? You know the conference that has dominated the last decade. I suspect you find find that at best Bama has been 50/50 in run yards vs pass yards and they have had championship runs with passing yards higher than rushing. That's irrelevant to the discussion tho.

[War Machine Dawg]

Coach, you need to get a RTGDF sticker and paste that bad boy to your cowbell ha

I want one, too.

[Coach34]

Florida State won last year with the majority of their yardage coming through the air. I just think one needs to balance the other out

Fla St didn't play an SEC schedule

Lead the SEC in rushing- compete for championships

[Coach34]

The best Bama has finished in the Saban Era in passing has been 3rd in the SEC. And they didn't win it that season. In their 3 title years- they have finished 8th, 4th, and 8th in the SEC in passing

in those years they were throwing it around 350 times while rushing it 550+ times per season