What is Moorehead?s strategy on offense Saturday

[TUSK]

See bolded. This year, will Tua have the advantage of his WRs being able to run out of bounds and come back in to catch the ball like Hurts did last year????

Won't be necessary this year... I'm saving that ref payoff money to make certain Clemson isn't allowed to to pick our DBs in the CFPC.*

[parabrave]

So the big question is how gimpy are the Knees?

[TUSK]

So the big question is how gimpy are the Knees?

Tua says he's "fine"... hasn't been addressed in the "injury report"...

Only injury stuff I've been able to glean is that Ruggs (WR) and Najee (RB) are good... Devonta (WR) is better... Hurts is still gimpy...

[Jarius]

Bama was very thin at LB last year due to injuries. I think they have some banged up guys in the secondary this year, but their health overall is good - so I don't look at last year for any comparisons.

The key will be can our Oline block well enough to move the ball and Fitz maintain proper mechanics and not sling it off his back foot.

Our secondary will be tested and I'm scared of the result. They have shown a tendency to get lost at times and you can't do that against this NFL receiving core. They don't drop passes and they all run like gazelles.

I'd feel better about us covering the spread if this game was at home. We haven't shown to be a good team on the road.

Their defensive line got pushed around up front last year. We knocked them off the ball. Go rewatch the game. Even McElroy was talking about how it was the DL and not the backers that were getting pushed around.

[Jarius]

He's not going to run HIS offense. We don't have the players to do that. He's going to do what he's done the last two games. Basically the zone read with some simplified RPOs from his offense and probably a new wrinkle or two here and there. If we come out trying to throw the ball around, we're getting killed. We don't have the ability to do that. But we're getting killed either way if the defense doesn't score and somewhat shut down AL.

Well, as close to his offense as he can get with this personnel. Not the Auburn/LSU offense he ran. It will be like the last 2 games. He has to throw the ball some if we have any chance. Running it 75 % of the time is forfeiting the game.

[TUSK]

Their defensive line got pushed around up front last year. We knocked them off the ball. Go rewatch the game. Even McElroy was talking about how it was the DL and not the backers that were getting pushed around.

Keith Holcomb got abused in that game.

MSU was comparably very productive running last year vs Bammer, but let's not keep parroting the misnomer that they "Ran at will", or "ran it down Bammer's throat"... unless we've different definitions of those phrases...

[defiantdog]

We need to be solid on defense and hope for the best on offense. Honestly, we need Bama to have an off game and make a lot of mistakes.

[Jarius]

Keith Holcomb got abused in that game.

MSU was comparably very productive running last year vs Bammer, but let's not keep parroting the misnomer that they "Ran at will", or "ran it down Bammer's throat"... unless we've different definitions of those phrases...

Your entire front 7 got abused that game by Alabama standards. We kept the ball nearly the entire game. I do not know what you watched.

[TUSK]

Your entire front 7 got abused that game by Alabama standards. We kept the ball nearly the entire game. I do not know what you watched.

Agreed, that's why I said "comparably"... I was impressed.

[Lord McBuckethead]

We may do it again. We may not. That is the beauty of football, anyone can win, but only half do.

[Turfdawg67]

This. You can't beat Bama without explosive plays.

Plus with Bama being healthy in the front 7 this year, we won't be able to run it like last year.

Explosive plays are how OM beat them twice. Throw it downfield.

[gravedigger]

He is going to run his offense. .

Not a chance.

Last time we tried that was the Florida game. He has changed (for the good) the plays we run to benefit Fitz and the receivers. This offense we have been running since the Auburn game is all you will see this year unless they somehow get good at Joe's offense in bowl practices.

You are correct though. That offense does require the qb to make quick and correct reads, the OL to hold the blocks for 2.5-3 seconds and the wr's to know what route to run based on the coverage.

Fitz has a couple of RPO's, a couple of pass plays, and a few runs that he can choose from. But it is NOTHING like what Moorhead had at Fordham or Penn State. My guess is that we will only see that offense in it's true form next season in the first game.

[ShotgunDawg]

Explosive plays are how OM beat them twice. Throw it downfield.

You have too. It's the only way to beat them. You can't be scared to losing & have to take your shots.

[ShotgunDawg]

We can win Saturday if we hire a few Ole Miss tacklers for a few plays

[Dawg61]

Try to go 60 minutes without shitting his pants on national television**

[Jarius]

Not a chance.

Last time we tried that was the Florida game. He has changed (for the good) the plays we run to benefit Fitz and the receivers. This offense we have been running since the Auburn game is all you will see this year unless they somehow get good at Joe's offense in bowl practices.

You are correct though. That offense does require the qb to make quick and correct reads, the OL to hold the blocks for 2.5-3 seconds and the wr's to know what route to run based on the coverage.

Fitz has a couple of RPO's, a couple of pass plays, and a few runs that he can choose from. But it is NOTHING like what Moorhead had at Fordham or Penn State. My guess is that we will only see that offense in it's true form next season in the first game.

We have run the same plays all year minus the Auburn and LSU game (with the exception of a few wrinkles for each opponent). We are in no way running the same offense we ran against Auburn and LSU. That was qb left and qb right 40 thousand times a game. We lit up a G5 team in La Tech and an SEC team with a pass defense ranked 100 in ATM. The offense was the same as it was every other game minus auburn and LSU . The competition level was different so the execution was higher.

[Liverpooldawg]

I totally understand that, and you are correct. However, that gives us no chance to win. That was mullins strategy the past 9 years. We gotta take some shots like the past two games and run some motion like we did against Auburn. If we want to have a chance to win, we gotta really mix it up. When that doesn't work, yes it will get ugly.

It's the only chance we have to win.

[Liverpooldawg]

This. You can't beat Bama without explosive plays.

Plus with Bama being healthy in the front 7 this year, we won't be able to run it like last year.

If we can't, we get beat, bad.

[gravedigger]

We have run the same plays all year minus the Auburn and LSU game (with the exception of a few wrinkles for each opponent). We are in no way running the same offense we ran against Auburn and LSU. That was qb left and qb right 40 thousand times a game. We lit up a G5 team in La Tech and an SEC team with a pass defense ranked 100 in ATM. The offense was the same as it was every other game minus auburn and LSU . The competition level was different so the execution was higher.

Are you assuming that Fitz was just running a static play in Auburn and LSUgames? He has a choice on each play either way. The difference in the games pre and post Florida is that the construct formation and the routes (plays) have been severely limited by Moorhead. But that didn?t prevent Fitz from attempting to call his own number in the LSU game to make up for the interceptions.

I promise you, this offense is in NO way what Joe was trying to implement when he got here and right up to the final whistle of the Florida game. Fitz just doesn?t get it and neither do the Wr?s.

What we are watching now is something essentially whipped up to take advantage of what we can do. Bama is probably going to catch on at half and stop it if not before.

But again, what you said is true in that if Fitz starts getting rid of the ball more quickly that means he?s at least attempting to do what Joes offense calls for.

[Jarius]

Are you assuming that Fitz was just running a static play in Auburn and LSUgames? He has a choice on each play either way. The difference in the games pre and post Florida is that the construct formation and the routes (plays) have been severely limited by Moorhead. But that didn?t prevent Fitz from attempting to call his own number in the LSU game to make up for the interceptions.

I promise you, this offense is in NO way what Joe was trying to implement when he got here and right up to the final whistle of the Florida game. Fitz just doesn?t get it and neither do the Wr?s.

What we are watching now is something essentially whipped up to take advantage of what we can do. Bama is probably going to catch on at half and stop it if not before.

But again, what you said is true in that if Fitz starts getting rid of the ball more quickly that means he?s at least attempting to do what Joes offense calls for.

We literally ran the exact same play 75 % of the LSU game. Fitz did not just decide he wanted to run the ball every single snap. Joe cut out a lot of RPO for that game and ran qb power. Other than the first few drives where he faked the power and had the chance to throw it the pass option was never even there. It was a straight nun call for most of that game. The offense is still not what he wants it to be but it is nowhere near as basic as it was against Auburn and LSU.