🏈 From questions to answers: Lane Kiffin leading red-hot Alabama offense

[Bamabww]

D.C. Reeves
TideSports.com Managing Editor

Remember the questions about fit?

Remember the potential distraction that polarizing offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin could trudge onto campus at Alabama?

Never has a the offseason seemed so long ago.

Between concern about his hire in the offseason and where Kiffin sits today is a boatload of offensive output for the Crimson Tide, piles upon piles of yardage that have quieted criticism and primed Alabama for a breakout season on offense.

Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has Alabama off to a hot start.
The Crimson Tide's 645 yards against Florida on Saturday - the most allowed by UF in its history - was the early crescendo. Alabama's top receiver, Amari Cooper, is on pace to shatter school records for receptions and yards.

"He knows exactly what he's doing," said Cooper, whose 43 receptions leads the nation.

Kiffin's first-year starting quarterback Blake Sims, one given little chance to win the starting job a month ago, tied a 45-year-old school record for total offense in a single game (457) on Saturday.

"You look at last year compared to now, you look at we're sitting there in the fourth quarter at the very end and see the 400-something yards passing, that's crazy," center Ryan Kelly said. "But obviously the more yards we can gain, the more points for us."

There have been plenty. Alabama is averaging 42 points per game, good for 22nd nationally, and the 2,350 total yards ranks sixth in the country.

For Kiffin, into his eighth year as a college play caller, the first four games this season are his best since his very first star-laden Southern Cal offense. With quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush - both would win Heisman Trophies - USC racked up 2,478 yards on 298 plays through the first four games in 2005, a gaudy 8.3 yards per play.

Outside of that, the Alabama offense, averaging 7.5 yards a play, has clearly been his best to this point in the year. Flaunting a unique version of the no huddle - more about simplicity than speed - the 312 offensive snaps is the most ever by a Kiffin offense.

It's not just padding stats, either. There are splash plays like the very first one from scrimmage Saturday. A tangible sign that Kiffin identified a weakness in the UF defense, he split running back Kenyan Drake out wide. The mismatched linebacker had no chance of staying with him as Sims connected for an 87-yard touchdown.

"That kind of set the tempo the rest of the game," Kelly said.

Through four games, it's that tempo that has Kiffin looking like a perfect fit.

The Fast Lane

With Lane Kiffin as offensive coordinator, Alabama is off to a red-hot start in 2014. See how UA's stats compare to Kiffin's previous offenses through the first four games of each season.

(I edited this table 3 times and still couldn't get it aligned right. Maybe you can figure it out that we're doing pretty good.)

Year School Yards Plays Yards per play
2014 Alabama 2,350 312 7.53
2013 USC (HC) 1,360 264 5.15
2012 USC (HC) 1,688 269 6.28
2011 USC (HC) 1,690 283 5.97
2010 USC (HC) 1,874 263 7.13
2009 Tennessee 1,474 270 5.46
2006 USC (OC) 1,656 293 5.65
2005 USC (OC) 2,478 298 8.31

https://alabama.rivals.com

 

[bamascw]

I think we all knew Lane was an excellent Offensive mind..just a poor head coach. Look at it this way, he is working with the same personnel that we had last year AND he is working with a first time starting quarterback but still getting better results. The guy can coach up some O

 

[bamaledge]

Let's not get ahead of our self here. I agree that everything looks Crimson up to this point, but the real meat of the schedule is coming up and it's not chikin', it's a big ole 64oz t-bone. We are getting better each game, but there are bigger and better offenses and defenses to face, more so than we have faced yet. We have to play mistake free ball to win it all.

 

[alabama mike]

Nobody ever doubted CLK could call offensive plays. He proved he could do that at USC, UT and in Oakland. This year, he has a boat load of talent to use.

 

[rick4bama]

As long as his doesn't speak. He will do ok here.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I agree that it's early. One-third through the year, a huge game like Florida skews the data. I do think the FL game revealed our potential. Because we kept turning the ball over, we had to keep our foot on the pedal, instead of taking the air out of things, to get a comfortable lead. There may be other shootouts this year against teams where we have to put up big numbers to win. I will say that if we can maintain that average we'll fare very well. I actually show our yards per play year to date at 7.61. For Bama reference, 2013 was 7.23, 2012 was 6.93, and 2011 was 6.47.

RTR,

Tim