- Jun 19, 2014
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Founding Member
The first thing that popped into my head is that his Alabama offenses ran the best screen plays in college football. You may roll your eyes at that, a screen isn't as sexy as Spurrier's signature "Mills Play" but it says a lot.
A good screen requires a lot of coordination between the QB, the RB, and the OL. It's a hard play to execute correctly. There is a lot of timing and spacing that you have to get just right. You'll see the screen play executed poorly in the NFL on Sundays. Alabama ran that play like clockwork. It was a thing of beauty. I always thought a team that could perfectly execute a good screen play was well-coached.
The next thing that popped into my head was the running game. McElwain had bigger backs at Alabama that he used to great success (much to our chagrin). However, he's also had great success with smaller, shiftier backs at CSU. Remember Dee Hart? He was a running back on the same Orlando Dr. Phillips team as Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. They were best friends, highly ranked recruits, and sort of a package deal to Alabama. Hart is a small back, 5'-9" 190. Hart didn't get to see the field much at Alabama, he had a knee injury, was behind some other backs, they tried him at corner for a bit without success, then he got arrested for weed and Saban booted him off the team to make room for the next 5 star. Hart transferred to CSU. This year he's rushed for over 1,200 yards at a rate of 6.7 yards per carry. So, McElwain's offense can be effective with different sorts of running backs.
My last thought was QB. Who is better suited to running this offense, Harris or Grier? Harris got a lot of experience starting at QB this season but his accuracy was shaky. Maybe that was just the result of his injuries? Harris looks very cool under pressure, not panicky or lost (cough, Driskel, cough) which is very important. Don't know anything about Grier except what we saw in the Spring Game. I guess we wait and see on that one.
Alex.
A good screen requires a lot of coordination between the QB, the RB, and the OL. It's a hard play to execute correctly. There is a lot of timing and spacing that you have to get just right. You'll see the screen play executed poorly in the NFL on Sundays. Alabama ran that play like clockwork. It was a thing of beauty. I always thought a team that could perfectly execute a good screen play was well-coached.
The next thing that popped into my head was the running game. McElwain had bigger backs at Alabama that he used to great success (much to our chagrin). However, he's also had great success with smaller, shiftier backs at CSU. Remember Dee Hart? He was a running back on the same Orlando Dr. Phillips team as Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. They were best friends, highly ranked recruits, and sort of a package deal to Alabama. Hart is a small back, 5'-9" 190. Hart didn't get to see the field much at Alabama, he had a knee injury, was behind some other backs, they tried him at corner for a bit without success, then he got arrested for weed and Saban booted him off the team to make room for the next 5 star. Hart transferred to CSU. This year he's rushed for over 1,200 yards at a rate of 6.7 yards per carry. So, McElwain's offense can be effective with different sorts of running backs.
My last thought was QB. Who is better suited to running this offense, Harris or Grier? Harris got a lot of experience starting at QB this season but his accuracy was shaky. Maybe that was just the result of his injuries? Harris looks very cool under pressure, not panicky or lost (cough, Driskel, cough) which is very important. Don't know anything about Grier except what we saw in the Spring Game. I guess we wait and see on that one.
Alex.
