Mullen: We're a ball control team...

msstate7

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Nov 27, 2008
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Like. I want our defense to get rest. We'll win games by playing defense and running the ball.
 

79dawg4life1

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May 8, 2014
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Defense wins championships....

Just remember, this time of year, coach is not going to just spill the beans on what he is going to do. You can bet he will use his defense to win games when he needs to and when he needs the offense to roar, he will have them explode and score.

Ball control can also mean that when our defense gets us a quick 3 and out, Dak and offense will drive the ball down the field for a TD; then the defense will get back on the field for another 3 and out.... and then once again, Dak and offense will drive and score....

that's ball control!
 

drt7891

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Dec 6, 2010
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We've never been a quick strike, hurry-up team... and quite frankly, I don't think we have the personnel to run an effective hurry-up offense as a base offense. We did just fine slowing the game down and controlling the ball last year (That doesn't mean we can't play fast sometimes).

However, I know it's also about the team's dynamic, personality and identity, too. You will never succeed playing outside your element. Stick to who you are when it matters most.
 

missouridawg

Junior
Oct 6, 2009
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Like. I want our defense to get rest. We'll win games by playing defense and running the ball.

Only four teams have beat Bama in the previous 4 seasons.

2 did so with equal talent (LSU and OU). The other two with fast pace offenses and dynamic QBs (aTm and AU).

I hope we go fast paced.... Cause we are not as talented as Bama.
 

DerHntr

All-Conference
Sep 18, 2007
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I'm fine with that. Although, I hope we practice the damn 2 minute offense more. We need to be able to hurry up if necessary.
 

121Josey

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Oct 30, 2012
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The question came with the statement that Beckwith said that they were practicing an uptempo offense. I doubt that they run it just to gain a substitution advantage, but they'll run it for a change of pace. I see it being more like an early 90's Bills no huddle offense.
 

rabiddawg

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Aug 19, 2010
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As long as he snaps out of his usual "we're ahead so let's go conservative" mode I don't care he runs it. We were ball hogs in 2010 and that worked out pretty well for us.

I'm sick of vanilla football. I want to see us score like Spurrier used to do at Florida , especially with a QB that is getting Heisman hype.

And let's just do away with the notion of the PAT. 2 point conversions every time.
 
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BertleTheTurtle

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Nov 4, 2013
278
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I'm fine with that. Although, I hope we practice the damn 2 minute offense more. We need to be able to hurry up if necessary.

I'll add to this that I hope we practice the damn 2 minute defense too. Good grief, how many points have we given up with less than 2 minutes left on the clock in the last couple years.
 

RebelBruiser

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Aug 21, 2007
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Only four teams have beat Bama in the previous 4 seasons.

2 did so with equal talent (LSU and OU). The other two with fast pace offenses and dynamic QBs (aTm and AU).

I hope we go fast paced.... Cause we are not as talented as Bama.

The big thing with Bama is that the hurry up eliminates their ability to make defensive audibles.

Saban is the best in the business at the defensive audible. He'll adjust his defensive call based on what you're showing pre-snap. That's why he wants to slow down offenses, because the hurry up takes away one of his bigger defensive advantages, and he has to sometimes accept having a defense that isn't in the most optimal call pre-snap.

Malzahn is going to make his life miserable in the coming years, just because he's going to give him trouble in that biggest game every year....and I love it.
 

AFDawg

Senior
Apr 28, 2010
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We're not a hurry up team by any means, but we did run the 4th most plays in the SEC behind OM, Mizzou, and Georgia last season. That's up from 12th the year before.
 

121Josey

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Oct 30, 2012
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The big thing with Bama is that the hurry up eliminates their ability to make defensive audibles..

That would be defensive substitutions. Bama wants to substitute based on down and distance.

Auburn is the closest thing to running a hurry-up offense like a 2-min drill to exploit a defensive look. Otherwise, the offense waits to see what look the defense gives.
 

missouridawg

Junior
Oct 6, 2009
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The big thing with Bama is that the hurry up eliminates their ability to make defensive audibles.

Saban is the best in the business at the defensive audible. He'll adjust his defensive call based on what you're showing pre-snap. That's why he wants to slow down offenses, because the hurry up takes away one of his bigger defensive advantages, and he has to sometimes accept having a defense that isn't in the most optimal call pre-snap.

You're really bringing the unique knowledge today, Captain Obvious.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
56,942
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Yet a lot of people don't want to believe me when I say that the fast paced offense that have beat Saban in the last couple of years have exposed the weakness of his defense and given other teams the recipe to be able to compete with Alabama.
 

RebelBruiser

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Aug 21, 2007
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That would be defensive substitutions. Bama wants to substitute based on down and distance.

Auburn is the closest thing to running a hurry-up offense like a 2-min drill to exploit a defensive look. Otherwise, the offense waits to see what look the defense gives.

It's the subs AND the calls, but yes he does like to mix and match personnel moreso than most coaches.

I still think he breaks the practice time limits in a big way. There is no way they install as much as they do without doing so. That, or it's something to do with them having like 40 assistant coaches on staff with football operations titles, and they skirt the rules to get those guys coaching players.

Ultimately, I just hate Saban and like to see him squirm.

Bielema is worse to me though, because he wants to come in and pretend to carry the weight Saban does, but he hasn't done anything to earn it. I'm going to be pulling hard for Auburn in that season opener. I hope they run 100 plays and put up 50 points on Bielema.
 

engie

Freshman
May 29, 2011
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Yet a lot of people don't want to believe me when I say that the fast paced offense that have beat Saban in the last couple of years have exposed the weakness of his defense and given other teams the recipe to be able to compete with Alabama.

You are right.

Mullen is giving coach-speak here IMO. We've already got Dak and Beckwith on the record saying we're going alot faster and were conditioned for a hurry-up this year. Dak already went infinitely faster than Russell last year, which accounted for the difference in the past 2 years in number of plays...
To me, you should practice in the hurry-up 80% of the time. It helps the offense and helps the defense learn and get conditioned to defend against it. Slowing down is easy -- it's speeding up that is hard.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
56,942
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Dak already went infinitely faster than Russell last year, which accounted for the difference in the past 2 years in number of plays...
As much as I liked Russell (and he was better than a lot of people give him credit for), the one real knock I have against him is that he did everything slowly. Trying to go hurry-up with him just wasn't going to work.
 

Seinfeld

All-American
Nov 30, 2006
11,172
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I think we can all rest assured that our gameplan for Bama will be a little different than what we have seen up to that point against other teams.

I like the ball control mentality for the rest of the schedule, though. I think that we've finally got the size at QB, RB, and WR to almost always guarantee positive yardage, and as long as we don't get into repeated instances of 3rd and long, we should be very efficient at converting first downs. If we can do that and control the clock, then it gives our D a chance to really go all out on most plays.

Of course, everything that I just said is a whole lot easier to type than it is to actually execute. This season can't get here fast enough
 
Aug 22, 2012
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I hope we practice DEFENDING the 2 minute drill more. Last year it seemed like half of the teams we played scored right before halftime.