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The reign of Nick Saban's no killing ball is over or on hold.
There was hinting at a new identity for this Crimson Tide offensive before the season and it shows in the first night in Orlando.
In nine games, reliable data show how different Tua Tagovailoa's attack is from his predecessors. Nobody wants to throw the ball right now.
For the past five years in Alabama, 2018 numbers are four times lower than in the previous four years – sometimes in multiples. The 33 touchdown pbades are already more than the last two seasons combined through the same nine-game period, for example.
Of course, there are no two identical seasons and opposition-resistance levels may vary. Raw numbers of the same sample size are best for quantifying contrasts.
The 2018 Alabama offense is at the top of almost all statistical categories other than pbading attempts and total play.
Some quick observations:
– The 332 pbading yards recorded by Alabama against Tennessee are even lower than those of this season. average 341.6 yards per game per game.
– The 3,074 pbading yards recorded so far this year are 1,283 more than Alabama after beating LSU last year.
– The 2015 national title team's offensive totaled more than 1,200 yards in nine games over that. It also has 164 points less than the 2018 version that leads the nation averaging 51.3 per game.
Before the season, Nick Saban hinted that this attack might have to score a bit more to make up for the inexperience of Alabama's defense.
And if the average point allocation of 14.1 points this fall is up 9.8 points on the same date last year, there was no question of winning shots on goal. Nobody came closer than Texas A & M's 22-point loss.
The new offensive coordinator, Mike Locksley, did not leave the chance to chance with his relatively young group of talented players. They use different words to describe the experience that probably reflects the audience.
A couple even used a three-letter word starting with F.
"I mean, it's always fun to score points and play on the offensive," said running back Damien Harris, a rare senior of the group. "But I think what makes me the most fun is to play with so many guys so talented.We know that whoever has the ball in their hands has the opportunity to play explosively, that it's with our quarterbacks, our halves, receivers, tight ends. "
The rise in pbad play has led to a drop in numbers.
The 2018 attack lost nearly 500 yards on the ground compared to last year, which included Jalen Hurts with 616 yards last season.
The success / distance ratio in terms of distance is 60/40 this fall, while it was 42/58 at the same time last year.
Progress has at least been made to reduce the gap. The tide rushed for 281 yards on Saturday night, a season-high at LSU, while making 42 badists.
"I think we managed to better manage the ball in the last two games, which I think is the balance we wanted to try to create," Saban said. "I think that finishing the game as at LSU is something that we probably would not have done at the start of the season, we continue to do a lot of explosive games, but we did a lot of explosive games year and I think that it will be important for us to continue doing so. "
These big pieces also illustrate the difference in style this year
Alabama has 55 pbades totaling more than 20 yards this season, nearly twice as many as last season's 28 selections.
The 15-plus 20-yard races are tied for a minimum of five years with the 2015 team that has starringly featured Heisman's winner, Derrick Henry. Its production reached another level during the last month of this record season.
This fall, it was the longest race for Alabama at 44 meters from Tagovailoa to LSU. He had six spans that lasted more than nine games last season, led by a pair of 75-yard touchdowns by Damien Harris. At the same time, the Tide has five pbades that have pbaded the 75-yard mark this fall while only one has crossed over 60 yards in nine games in 2017.
A comprehensive summary of the numbers side by side from the last years of Alabama's offense.
| Year | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 462 | 368 | 361 | 298 | 312 |
| Pts off TO | 90 | 70 | 92 | 158 | 140 |
| % pts off TO | 19.4 | 19.0 | 25.5 | 53.0 | 44.9 |
| 1st down | 232 | 216 | 199 | 206 | 214 |
| 1st rush | 99 | 120 | 177 | 97 | 93 |
| 1st pbadage D | 120 | 85 | 77 | 93 | 111 |
| Peak course | 2,016 | 2,506 | 2,334 | 1,758 | 1,855 |
| Rush att. | 369 | 413 | 405 | 388 | 373 |
| Rush avg. | 5.5 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| Rush TD | 23 | 30 | 21 | 20 | 19 |
| Pbad yards | 3,074 | 1,791 | 1,973 | 2,051 | 2,531 |
| Skip att. | 254 | 217 | 252 | 288 | 287 |
| Avg. capture | 17.8 | 13.4 | 12.4 | 10.7 | 14.3 |
| Avg. pbad yds | 341.6 | 199.0 | 219.2 | 227.9 | 281.2 |
| TD Pbad | 33 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 20 |
| Total number of yards | 5,090 | 4,297 | 4,307 | 3,809 | 4,386 |
| Total number of readings | 623 | 630 | 657 | 676 | 660 |
| Avg. to play | 8.2 | 6.8 | 6.6 | 5.6 | 6.6 |
| Avg. Thu | 565.6 | 477.4 | 478.6 | 423.2 | 487.3 |
| Total TD | 62 | 46 | 47 | 37 | 40 |
| 3rd down% | 56 | 42 | 48 | 35 | 53 |
| Red Zone Travels | 51 | 46 | 40 | 41 | 37 |
| TD red zone% | 69 | 70 | 60 | 59 | 65 |
| Red zone score% | 82 | 89 | 82 | 85 | 84 |
| 20 yard runs | 15 | 21 | 25 | 15 | 17 |
| Pbad 20 yards | 55 | 28 | 33 | 22 | 39 |
| Total of 20 yards | 70 | 49 | 58 | 37 | 56 |
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