Malzahn: 'We're going to do everything in our power to score points'

[RunInRed 16,992]

Malzahn on if he'll run some trickery against the Tide: ``Well we're going to do everything in our power to try to score points. Whatever that is and whatever they're giving us, hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of that. It's a big game, so we'll have to see."

http://jaygtate.blogspot.com/

Give the mad scientist two weeks to work on a game plan... -- now, whether we can execute it against uat's D is another thing. However, the possibilities are very intriguing. One thing is for sure, the Offense has to keep our Defense off the field. If we start stringing together three-and-outs, it's going to be a long day.

[WarTiger 3,987]

Malzahn on if he'll run some trickery against the Tide: ``Well we're going to do everything in our power to try to score points. Whatever that is and whatever they're giving us, hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of that. It's a big game, so we'll have to see."

http://jaygtate.blogspot.com/

Give the mad scientist two weeks to work on a game plan... -- now, whether we can execute it against uat's D is another thing. However, the possibilities are very intriguing. One thing is for sure, the Offense has to keep our Defense off the field. If we start stringing together three-and-outs, it's going to be a long day.

Agree. sustaining drives AND finishing them with points is critical. 3 and outs and we could be in trouble. Keep our defense fresh and hopefully they'll get some 3 and outs of their own and possibly a turnover or 2 or 3 or.....well, you get the idea. Giving our offense a short field to work on could be huge as well.

[JB33 1]

Malzahn on if he'll run some trickery against the Tide: ``Well we're going to do everything in our power to try to score points. Whatever that is and whatever they're giving us, hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of that. It's a big game, so we'll have to see."

http://jaygtate.blogspot.com/

Sorry, but this sounds like desperation to me. Forget tricks, we need to be sound and execute for four quarters, on both sounds of the ball. We really haven't done that this year against a quality opponents. We'll be in this game if wedon't beat ourselves.

War Eagle!

[TitanTiger 20,708]

Malzahn on if he'll run some trickery against the Tide: ``Well we're going to do everything in our power to try to score points. Whatever that is and whatever they're giving us, hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of that. It's a big game, so we'll have to see."

http://jaygtate.blogspot.com/

Sorry, but this sounds like desperation to me. Forget tricks, we need to be sound and execute for four quarters, on both sounds of the ball. We really haven't done that this year against a quality opponents. We'll be in this game if wedon't beat ourselves.

War Eagle!

In what way does it sound desperate? Malzahn isn't playing up trickery, he was asked a question about it. His answer was simply that we'll do everything we can to score points. I'm not understanding the reaction here.

[JB33 1]

Malzahn on if he'll run some trickery against the Tide: ``Well we're going to do everything in our power to try to score points. Whatever that is and whatever they're giving us, hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of that. It's a big game, so we'll have to see."

http://jaygtate.blogspot.com/

Sorry, but this sounds like desperation to me. Forget tricks, we need to be sound and execute for four quarters, on both sounds of the ball. We really haven't done that this year against a quality opponents. We'll be in this game if wedon't beat ourselves.

War Eagle!

In what way does it sound desperate? Malzahn isn't playing up trickery, he was asked a question about it. His answer was simply that we'll do everything we can to score points. I'm not understanding the reaction here.

Fair point. My reaction probably had less to do with CGM's quote and more to do with the "mad scientist" perception (see above) that some seem to attach to him, as if that's the real secret to his success. I think we agree that the foundational point of this offense is establishing Ben Tate running straight ahead, between the tackles. Not much "trickery" involved there . . . I guess my point was that people get all excited about "trickery" - and CGM obviously does employ a fair amount - but we're not going to beat uat (or any other quality opponent) with trickery; we beat them by playing sound, disciplined, smart football and executing (i.e., 'doing what we do' better than the opponent). That's really been the biggest problem with this offense this season - we've seen it's enormous potential, but too often, especially against quality opponents, we've beaten ourselves with stupid penalties, turnovers, mistakes and poor execution. Again, that should be our focus - not whether we can outfox uat / Saban's defense (forget about it), but whether we can play our best game of the year - limit mistakes, and out-execute them for four quarters. If that happens, we'll be in the game at the end.

All that said, you're right. CGM was asked a question, and he answered it. Maybe I'd have liked him to say, "Forget tricks. We just need to execute," but I can't really fault him.

[aubie316 76]

Malzahn on if he'll run some trickery against the Tide: ``Well we're going to do everything in our power to try to score points. Whatever that is and whatever they're giving us, hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of that. It's a big game, so we'll have to see."

http://jaygtate.blogspot.com/

Sorry, but this sounds like desperation to me. Forget tricks, we need to be sound and execute for four quarters, on both sounds of the ball. We really haven't done that this year against a quality opponents. We'll be in this game if wedon't beat ourselves.

War Eagle!

What you don't understand is that we don't have the talent just to line up and go toe to toe with them. I think we will need some trickery to beat them. Bama's defense is to tough. I hope we keep them guessin all afternoon!

War Eagle!

[JB33 1]

Malzahn on if he'll run some trickery against the Tide: ``Well we're going to do everything in our power to try to score points. Whatever that is and whatever they're giving us, hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of that. It's a big game, so we'll have to see."

http://jaygtate.blogspot.com/

Sorry, but this sounds like desperation to me. Forget tricks, we need to be sound and execute for four quarters, on both sounds of the ball. We really haven't done that this year against a quality opponents. We'll be in this game if wedon't beat ourselves.

War Eagle!

What you don't understand is that we don't have the talent just to line up and go toe to toe with them. I think we will need some trickery to beat them. Bama's defense is to tough. I hope we keep them guessin all afternoon!

War Eagle!

Disagree. I don't dispute that uat's defense may have an edge, talent-wise, but that doesn't mean that we can't outexecute them. (Where we may really need 'trickery' is on DEFENSE . . . e-gad!) As Trott said in the Scarbinsky column (see that thread), this isn't David vs. Goliath. We've beaten uat six out of the last seven years. They've been the better team in 2008 and 2009, for sure, but we're not THAT far behind. We'll need our best game of the season, no doubt, to be in it, but, again, nothing has done more to slow down our offense this year than US - penalties, turnovers, mistakes. If we play smart, disciplined football, our offense will be the biggest challenge uat's defense has seen this year. We CAN make a game of it, just by 'doing what we do.'

[McWeagle 4]

If Gus Malzahn pulls a rabbit out of his ass, and said rabbit scores a touchdown Friday, then I will be just as happy about that as if it had been Ben Tate running it between the tackles.

[RunInRed 16,992]

Part of what makes Malzahn's offense intriguing and fun to watch is some of the non-traditional elements he incorporates into the overall package.

Now, you can call those components "trick plays" or whatever else you want, but we'll need to execute on them to move the ball Friday. That's not desperation, it's just the facts. Not b/c we can't "man up" w/ bama this year (although, they do probably have talent and depth advantages across the board), but rather because finding a way to get playmakers in open space is an integral part of how his offense works.

[cehuff21 0]

Malzahn on if he'll run some trickery against the Tide: ``Well we're going to do everything in our power to try to score points. Whatever that is and whatever they're giving us, hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of that. It's a big game, so we'll have to see."

http://jaygtate.blogspot.com/

Sorry, but this sounds like desperation to me. Forget tricks, we need to be sound and execute for four quarters, on both sounds of the ball. We really haven't done that this year against a quality opponents. We'll be in this game if wedon't beat ourselves.

War Eagle!

Even if we play sound. All Bama has to do is also play sound and they will win because they are the better and deeper team. If we play sound these "trick plays" will most likely work and that could give us the edge in a close game getting points where we typically would have ended up punting...

[Shug2003 1]

REPETITION is the key to EXECUTION! Sometimes trying to add too much to your "package" is not productive. Several times this year, our execution has been pitiful and I have to wonder if enough time was spent on reps on that particular play. Of course injuries and new personnel can also affect execution. The "amazins" of 72 only had 10 or 12 plays but they ran them to perfection. JMO.

[Bottomfeeder 244]

Malzahn on if he'll run some trickery against the Tide: ``Well we're going to do everything in our power to try to score points. Whatever that is and whatever they're giving us, hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of that. It's a big game, so we'll have to see."

http://jaygtate.blogspot.com/

Sorry, but this sounds like desperation to me. Forget tricks, we need to be sound and execute for four quarters, on both sounds of the ball. We really haven't done that this year against a quality opponents. We'll be in this game if wedon't beat ourselves.

War Eagle!

In what way does it sound desperate? Malzahn isn't playing up trickery, he was asked a question about it. His answer was simply that we'll do everything we can to score points. I'm not understanding the reaction here.

Fair point. My reaction probably had less to do with CGM's quote and more to do with the "mad scientist" perception (see above) that some seem to attach to him, as if that's the real secret to his success. I think we agree that the foundational point of this offense is establishing Ben Tate running straight ahead, between the tackles. Not much "trickery" involved there . . . I guess my point was that people get all excited about "trickery" - and CGM obviously does employ a fair amount - but we're not going to beat uat (or any other quality opponent) with trickery; we beat them by playing sound, disciplined, smart football and executing (i.e., 'doing what we do' better than the opponent). That's really been the biggest problem with this offense this season - we've seen it's enormous potential, but too often, especially against quality opponents, we've beaten ourselves with stupid penalties, turnovers, mistakes and poor execution. Again, that should be our focus - not whether we can outfox uat / Saban's defense (forget about it), but whether we can play our best game of the year - limit mistakes, and out-execute them for four quarters. If that happens, we'll be in the game at the end.

All that said, you're right. CGM was asked a question, and he answered it. Maybe I'd have liked him to say, "Forget tricks. We just need to execute," but I can't really fault him.

What JB33 said.

[JB33 1]

If we play sound these "trick plays" will most likely work and that could give us the edge in a close game getting points where we typically would have ended up punting...

Precisely - IF we play sound, "trickery" could make a difference. But trickery won't mean squat if we're down by 30 points, which is exactly where we'll be if we make the stupid penalties and mistakes that have been our albatross all season. Execute, and we'll be in the game. That's all I'm saying.

[vatz22au 142]

REPETITION is the key to EXECUTION! Sometimes trying to add too much to your "package" is not productive. Several times this year, our execution has been pitiful and I have to wonder if enough time was spent on reps on that particular play. Of course injuries and new personnel can also affect execution. The "amazins" of 72 only had 10 or 12 plays but they ran them to perfection. JMO.

I agree... Malzhan and his offense runs best when it's a short playbook but with great execution at a very fast pace. See Arkansas as an example of why a big playbook fails. If we execute we go toe to toe. The last thing I want to see is Kodi taking a snap and trying to execute a triple option pass play.

[RunInRed 16,992]

Every time we run a "trick play" for big yards, I hope some of you are sitting back screaming "dangit, we just need to run the ball straight ahead and execute!"

[Bottomfeeder 244]

Just get it done right the first time, that's all.

[vatz22au 142]

Every time we run a "trick play" for big yards, I hope some of you are sitting back screaming "dangit, we just need to run the ball straight ahead and execute!"

As far as the trick plays have gone this year... it hasn't been very successful. Now my idea of a trick play in this offense may be different than others. For example: A WR reverse? Not a trick play with this team but a play we run very often.

If we do get some big yards off of some trickery you can bet I'll be screaming with nothing but good coming out

[aubie316 76]

Every time we run a "trick play" for big yards, I hope some of you are sitting back screaming "dangit, we just need to run the ball straight ahead and execute!"

^^^^^^What he said!

[aubie316 76]

Every time we run a "trick play" for big yards, I hope some of you are sitting back screaming "dangit, we just need to run the ball straight ahead and execute!"

As far as the trick plays have gone this year... it hasn't been very successful. Now my idea of a trick play in this offense may be different than others. For example: A WR reverse? Not a trick play with this team but a play we run very often.

If we do get some big yards off of some trickery you can bet I'll be screaming with nothing but good coming out

I hope we see OM lined up right behing the linemen squatted down like in the TN game and run it. We have not seen that except in that game.....

[Auburnfan91 1,408]

I like McCaleb but I hope he doesn't play against uat. He's not going to be able to handle some of the hits. He's not 100% anyway because of his ankle. So I think he should rest up for our bowl game.

We should see more Fannin. Fannin is a lot more physical than McCaleb is and can take more hits. Tate/Fannin could be a good combination because we rarely let Fannin line up and run the ball. We can still use Fannin for screens and short passes but he should get some carries as well to keep the defense guessing.

[TitanTiger 20,708]

He's going to play. End of story.

[WarTiger 3,987]

I always find it comical that people worry more about certain players getting injured against certain teams more than others. Good grief. OM is a Division 1 caliber RB and has taken hits all season. There is no increased likely hood of him getting hurt against uat than there is against anybody else on the schedule. He's going to play and he may just be a HUGE key to us sustaining drives with the combination of his speed and tate/fannin's power running.

[OldNewby 27]

I'm a 15 yards and a cloud of dust person myself.

[smilin tiger 0]

I'm a 15 yards and a cloud of dust person myself.

[JB33 1]

Every time we run a "trick play" for big yards, I hope some of you are sitting back screaming "dangit, we just need to run the ball straight ahead and execute!"

^^^^^^What he said!

Anytime we get a big play, however it happens, I'll be cheering as loud as you or anyone, I assure you.

I welcome any response to my comments, but the discussion tends to be a lot more meaningful when the response is in the same ballpark as my point. Thanks for playing, though.