Alabama Football: Which offensive Gurus can outscheme the Tide in ’18?
By Ronald Evans
It will take lots of points to beat Alabama football in 2018. Let’s review which offensive gurus have the best chance to take down the Tide in ’18.
Teams don’t beat Alabama football by trying to be Alabama football. Arkansas under Bret Bielema and LSU under Les Miles and Ed Orgeron have learned that over the past six seasons. Power football failed Arkansas under Bielema and LSU has not beaten the Tide since the 2011 regular season.
At this point, only Georgia is trying to be the exception. Without Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, even Saban disciple Kirby Smart may adapt. It takes more than schemes to win college football championships. It takes ‘horses’ on both sides of the ball and enough of them to survive a grueling season.
Schemes, executed by extremely gifted athletes can and have succeeded against Alabama football. The list is short. Manziel and TAMU did it in 2013. Ole Miss did it in 2014 and 2015. The other five losses from 2013-2017 resulted from a combination of factors. Luck played a big role for Auburn in 2013. A flat Tide did not rise to the challenge of Oklahoma in the 2014 Sugar Bowl. The losses in the 2014 and 2016 seasons to Ohio State and Clemson came against teams of equally superior talent. Scheme had something to do with the Auburn loss in 2017 but so did Tide defensive injuries.
Is there an offensive mind or pair of minds whose scheme has the sizzle to take down the Tide in the 2018 regular season? Let’s review the offensive minds who will battle the Tide. We will consider nine teams, excluding Arkansas State, Louisiana Lafayette and The Citadel for obvious reasons.
Who has the Horses?
Scheme alone is not enough and some teams do not have the talent or depth to beat the Tide. That does not mean Alabama football could not beat itself with compounding mistakes and lose to a lesser team. Any team can lose in almost any game.
Without going into a lengthy explanation of each team, we believe Louisville, Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee do not have the ‘horses’ to take down the Tide in 2018. That conclusion is no slight to the offensive genius of Bobby Petrino and Chad Morris. Tennessee will not back down under Jeremy Pruitt. Missouri has offensive strengths, particularly at QB with Drew Lock. But in each case, a Tide loss would have to be mostly self-inflicted.
Who has the Scheme and the Horses?
By process of elimination, we are left with Ole Miss, TAMU, LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn. The Aggies and the Bengal Tigers will have new schemes under Jimbo Fisher and Steve Ensminger. TAMU may not have enough defensive ‘horses’ to stop the Tide. Both teams have question marks at QB, especially LSU.
The other three teams should have explosive offenses in 2018. Though minimally experienced, Ole Miss has a talented QB, in Jordan Ta’amu. The Phil Longo ‘Air Raid’ offense has a great group of receivers. Theoretically, the Rebels/Black Bears/Landsharks could take down the Tide in a shootout.
Mississippi State will have a new scheme under Joe Moorhead. Moorehead’s offensive mind had much to do with Penn State’s success in recent years. Assuming Nick Fitzgerald fully recovers from injury, the Bulldogs can be explosive. It is likely to be the kind of offense the Tide can struggle against.
Then there is the Aubies and the ‘mad-Guster.’ Malzahn’s Guru status has frayed in recent seasons. But … he has a strong QB in Stidham and should field another tough defense under Kevin Steele.
Biggest offensive threat to the Tide in the 2018 regular season? That is a tough call to make. We’ll go with Ole Miss in Oxford. Not because we think the ‘Air Raid’ is lethal. Even its staunchest adherent, Mike Leach can be held in check by a strong defense. It is the mid-September date and an inexperienced Tide secondary that concerns us the most.
Next: 10 Best Tide QB's of All-Time
New offensive minds will shape Alabama football in 2018. Mike Locksley, Dan Enos and Josh Gattis will bring new ideas and perhaps even new schemes. The biggest imprint on the Tide ‘s offense will again be Nick Saban.