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By Alex Byington Sports Writer
TUSCALOOSA — From the first question of Thursday's press conference ahead of the Sugar Bowl, Brian Daboll made his position clear: Now’s not the time for an assessment of his offense.
Daboll said he preferred to look ahead, with a focus on No. 1 Clemson ahead of Monday's college football playoff semifinal.
“I don’t go back in terms of numbers or anything like that. We’d be doing ourselves a disservice if we weren’t focusing on the task at hand with the team we’re about to play,” Daboll said Thursday. “Personnel-wise, scheme-wise, look you try to put together a good plan every week, execute that plan and give your players the best chance to be successful, and that’s really where our focus is on right now.”
Daboll was criticized for a perceived abandonment of the run game after junior tailbacks Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough received six carries apiece in the team’s 26-14 loss to Auburn last month.
In Alabama's scheme, quarterback Jalen Hurts has the option to hand the ball off or take it himself, and Hurts also has been criticized for his performance, with some fans calling for freshman backup Tua Tagovailoa.
“We’re in the public eye, so ... you have to focus on your job and doing the things you can do: playing smart, playing tough, playing competitive, understanding the team we’re about to play, understanding the stuff we’re installing, and really focus on that,” Daboll said. “Anything else is really not doing you any good.”
Daboll admitted he’s not satisfied unless there’s constant improvement from everyone within his offense — from quarterback on down.
“Look, I think it’s not just the quarterback position, it’s every position, you hope you improve throughout the year. That’s what good teams do, they get better at the things they’re not really good at,” Daboll said. “(Hurts is) constantly working with the other guys in what we ask him to do, and whether it’s in the pass game or the run game, I think everybody needs to improve in their areas.”
It may be in a few of those other areas where Alabama’s offensive success this season is possibly more evident.
“I think that we are No. 1 in the country in limiting negative plays. We’re also No. 1 in the country in run efficiency, so I’d say those are pretty impressive stats that zero people have ever said out loud,” sophomore offensive tackle Jonah Williams said. “But I think that says a lot for the consistency of the offense and the cohesiveness of it, as well as execution on everyone’s part. … That’s how you win football games.”
Through 12 games, Daboll’s offense is one of the most productive under head coach Nick Saban — including the last three seasons under Lane Kiffin.
Alabama’s average points per game scored has improved from 38.8 last season to 39.1 under Daboll, thanks in large part to the Tide’s 265.3 average rushing yardage per game, which far outpaced any rushing mark under Kiffin.
And while the passing game has lagged behind quite a bit — averaging 200.1 per game this season — the overall increased rushing production pulls Alabama’s total yards average to 465.4, which is second only to 2014’s record mark of 484.5 in the last decade under Saban.
And while that 2014 season still leads in both third-down conversion percentage (51.26) and passing yards per game (277.9), Alabama’s 41.5 conversion rate on third downs this season is not far behind last year’s pace of 43.75.
Much of what the Tide offense has accomplished under Daboll goes beyond any specific yardage.
“Sometimes you can’t really look at yardage, because yardage can get skewed by one guy breaking a tackle and running 80 yards,” Williams said, “but if you look at the efficiency and the lack of negative plays — like if you get a 3-yard run on third-and-2, that’s better than a 3-yard run on second-and-15. So that’s how you look at it.”
Perhaps the most succinct evaluation of Alabama’s offense under Daboll came from the man whose will try to stop it Monday: Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables.
“Anytime you don’t win a game, you’re under fire, under attack, those types of things,” Venables said. “All I know is they look pretty good to me, an excellent, excellent team with a great system that’s obviously tough to defend. If it was easy to defend, they wouldn’t be here.”
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Daboll said he preferred to look ahead, with a focus on No. 1 Clemson ahead of Monday's college football playoff semifinal.
“I don’t go back in terms of numbers or anything like that. We’d be doing ourselves a disservice if we weren’t focusing on the task at hand with the team we’re about to play,” Daboll said Thursday. “Personnel-wise, scheme-wise, look you try to put together a good plan every week, execute that plan and give your players the best chance to be successful, and that’s really where our focus is on right now.”
Daboll was criticized for a perceived abandonment of the run game after junior tailbacks Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough received six carries apiece in the team’s 26-14 loss to Auburn last month.
In Alabama's scheme, quarterback Jalen Hurts has the option to hand the ball off or take it himself, and Hurts also has been criticized for his performance, with some fans calling for freshman backup Tua Tagovailoa.
“We’re in the public eye, so ... you have to focus on your job and doing the things you can do: playing smart, playing tough, playing competitive, understanding the team we’re about to play, understanding the stuff we’re installing, and really focus on that,” Daboll said. “Anything else is really not doing you any good.”
Daboll admitted he’s not satisfied unless there’s constant improvement from everyone within his offense — from quarterback on down.
“Look, I think it’s not just the quarterback position, it’s every position, you hope you improve throughout the year. That’s what good teams do, they get better at the things they’re not really good at,” Daboll said. “(Hurts is) constantly working with the other guys in what we ask him to do, and whether it’s in the pass game or the run game, I think everybody needs to improve in their areas.”
It may be in a few of those other areas where Alabama’s offensive success this season is possibly more evident.
“I think that we are No. 1 in the country in limiting negative plays. We’re also No. 1 in the country in run efficiency, so I’d say those are pretty impressive stats that zero people have ever said out loud,” sophomore offensive tackle Jonah Williams said. “But I think that says a lot for the consistency of the offense and the cohesiveness of it, as well as execution on everyone’s part. … That’s how you win football games.”
Through 12 games, Daboll’s offense is one of the most productive under head coach Nick Saban — including the last three seasons under Lane Kiffin.
Alabama’s average points per game scored has improved from 38.8 last season to 39.1 under Daboll, thanks in large part to the Tide’s 265.3 average rushing yardage per game, which far outpaced any rushing mark under Kiffin.
And while the passing game has lagged behind quite a bit — averaging 200.1 per game this season — the overall increased rushing production pulls Alabama’s total yards average to 465.4, which is second only to 2014’s record mark of 484.5 in the last decade under Saban.
And while that 2014 season still leads in both third-down conversion percentage (51.26) and passing yards per game (277.9), Alabama’s 41.5 conversion rate on third downs this season is not far behind last year’s pace of 43.75.
Much of what the Tide offense has accomplished under Daboll goes beyond any specific yardage.
“Sometimes you can’t really look at yardage, because yardage can get skewed by one guy breaking a tackle and running 80 yards,” Williams said, “but if you look at the efficiency and the lack of negative plays — like if you get a 3-yard run on third-and-2, that’s better than a 3-yard run on second-and-15. So that’s how you look at it.”
Perhaps the most succinct evaluation of Alabama’s offense under Daboll came from the man whose will try to stop it Monday: Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables.
“Anytime you don’t win a game, you’re under fire, under attack, those types of things,” Venables said. “All I know is they look pretty good to me, an excellent, excellent team with a great system that’s obviously tough to defend. If it was easy to defend, they wouldn’t be here.”
Decatur Daily—Continue reading...
