Things were looking bleak for Alabama’s offense in the first half at Bryant-Denny Stadium last Saturday.
Against Ole Miss, the team settled for a mere field goal through the first quarter, although things opened up a bit during the second quarter. Calvin Ridley ran a direct snap into the end zone for the lone offensive touchdown before the break.
Eddie Jackson helped close the gap with the final score of the first half, an 85-yard punt return for a touchdown to make it 24-17.
At first glance, it appeared Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin was getting lazy with his play calls. The team ran a series of jet sweeps and bubble screens, most of which were unsuccessful during the first half.
However, according to head coach Nick Saban, the offensive play calling was all by design.
“Well, I think that a lot of the stuff that we did in the first half set up some of the things that we did later on,” Saban said at his Monday media press conference. “But I also think that we thought that we could execute these things, and if you look at them on the film, if we were to block them correctly — again attention to detail and execution — they would have been better plays.”
Following the game, Saban was happy to get the win and pleased with his team’s physical fight but displeased with a lack of execution, justifiably so.
The team allowed Ole Miss to recover an onside kick that later resulted in an Ole Miss touchdown that cut the Alabama lead to an uncomfortable 48-43. On Alabama’s ensuing offensive drive, Bo Scarbrough fumbled the ball, something Saban alluded to and something that clearly disgusted Saban.
Alabama has a chance to work out the small details, but having an easier opponent like Kent State helps with the team coming off a taxing, physical game, which was nonetheless part of the game plan as well.
“We were trying to run the ball on the perimeter to see if we could get them tired, which we did, and then we had a lot more direct runs later … and had success running the ball inside. Sometimes one of these things builds on another,” Saban said. “That was the plan in the game. They’ve got pretty good speed on defense, and they’re pretty good on the edges. Then, we came back and ran the ball on some of the same motions and the same formations.”
Showing some irritation, Saban justified Kiffin’s play calling by explaining that a lot of armchair coaches sometimes question the calls without realizing there is a rhyme and reason behind the calls.
“You’ve got guys going on the jet. Now, you hand the ball and run a counter the other way, and they’re all running out there because you ran the play in the first half and now you bust them on this play. You all don’t see that. You just see, ‘Well, we ran that play, so why don’t we run it some more?’”
Adding some much-needed humor, Saban added that his wife Terry Saban and daughter Kristen Saban also second-guess his coaching decisions without understanding his rationale.
One can’t argue with the results. Alabama produced 31 points in the second half, 17 of them offensive points. While 17 points isn’t significantly greater than the 10 in the first half, the offense played unquestionably better after halftime. After hurting his wrist, quarterback Jalen Hurts looked better, Ridley made a spectacular catch, Gehrig Dieter made a few nice catches (2 catches, 47 yards) and Damien Harris played well.
Harris’ splits back up Saban’s comments. This season, during the first half, Harris has 112 rushing yards and no touchdowns. During the second half, Harris has 215 rushing yards and one touchdown. The difference in his yards per carry average leaps from 5.6 to 13.4.
While ArDarius Stewart running jet sweeps and Ridley setting for a quick bubble screen might become predictable, fans are advised to practice patience. Saban and his staff are trying to set up the offense for better things.
