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You Can't Stop A Rising Tide

The bye week is over. The weekend soon will be as well.

Alabama football has come a long way this season, but the journey isn't over. 8-0 is a reason to celebrate for some teams. For Alabama, it's just a beginning. More games await, more teams to battle and vanquish. The prize is in sight but not yet obtained.

Nationally-ranked teams have fallen at the feet of the number one ranked Crimson Tide. Others await. Two looming this coming month are the LSU Tigers this next Saturday, and at month's end it's the in-state nemesis Auburn Tigers. Both foes improving. Both foes believe they can win. Both foes trying to put together their best game of the season to stop the surging Tide.

Just when you think you have stopped the waves, Lane Kiffin sends another that someone eats away at the castle walls, proving once again you are just sand. Think you have figured out how to move the pigskin at will? Jeremy Pruitt sends another formidable pass rush and soon your quarterback is in the grass with Tim Williams or Jonathan Allen standing over him hot, sweaty and smiling.

Now comes the part of the season when all clubs have started showing improvement. With two-thirds of the season gone, teams have a lot in their arsenal and are well aware of the weapons of the Crimson Tide as well.

One thing has changed recently for Alabama. Earlier in the season there was very balanced offense, a pretty even mix to the run-pass ratio in the Bama attack. But recently, the Tide has resorted to more of a run game. Now that makes many Alabama fans very happy. Head coach Nick Saban, however, sees it another way. Sure, for the season the ration is running 54 to 46 in favor of the pass which is close. But recently it's gone to 69 percent rushing versus 31 percent passing.

Concerning bye week practice, Saban had this to say, "I think that one of the things that we have as a goal this week [was] to try to work hard on the passing game, to be a little more efficient getting the ball to our explosive guys down the field, which to me is not just about the quarterback. It's about the protection. It's about the route runners. It's about quarterback reads. It's about timing. It's about a lot of things that need to come together."

Saban's thoughts, which he has vocalized, is that a one-dimensional team can be stopped or greatly slowed by a top-rated defense. Slow the one-dimensional team down enough to allow your offense to score points and the one-dimensional team can lose. Besides, with an effective passing game, it opens the ground game to eat up even more yardage as the opponent much take valuable resources that have been used to stop the run to now having to defend the pass that could come at any point in the game, regardless of the yardline or the amount of yards needed.

LSU is proficient at stopping the run. Especially in their own house. A loud, noisy house. A house that, at night, is spooky. A house with so much noise you can barely hear yourself thing, much less hear one another on the field of battle. The Tigers are ranked 13th in the nation in stopping the run. That is one tough rushing defense. LSU hasn't allowed a run of over 35 this entire season. Alabama has 13 rushes so far this season of 30 yards or better. Something has got to give.

Everyone knows that Alabama has an arsenal both in the backfield and on the ends. Running and passing are both options. Lately the Tide has been unloading on teams with the backfield, but Saban and company are seeing the necessity to load the gun and fire it down the field.

Put the ball down-field enough times and the running game is even better. But put the ball into the endzone on pass play and you give your running backs a little breather as well.

Saban doesn't just talk to hear himself talking. There are things he shares, and when he shares them, it would do us all well to pay attention. Nick Saban has been in this game a long time, and it's more than just a game to him. He holds a lot of his cards close to the vest, so when he shares it is something that is of great importance.

No, Alabama is in no way going to abandon the run, or even greatly cut back on the number of run plays. Saban just wants the run game to be the best it can be, to be as efficient as possible. Saban has said how he, Kiffin and the offensive coaches..."analyze every running play that we have, what's our average, what's our efficiency. There's a difference between average and efficiency, because if you have one 75-yard play and then 10 zero plays, it's not very good efficiency but it's still a pretty good average. We kind of break it down both ways, see if it's something that we're coaching that we need to do better or how can we do what we're doing in a better way."

Saban and the Alabama coaches are committed to making every player the best player he can be. Coach isn't just satisfied with a win, as we have seen so many times in this season alone. Saban wants to see young men playing to their potential, playing an entire game, focused and concentrating on the task at hand and pushing themselves to their limits.

That's Alabama football.

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