Alabama Football: Four words for Ole Miss game, read, break, bust and disrupt

Alabama football matches offenses with complex defensive schemes. Seeing those schemes in action against the Ole Miss Air Raid will make Saturday night fun.

For Alabama football and most college football teams, making reads takes precedence over play-calling. Simply put, on offense teams take advantage of what defenses offer them. Run-pass options require quarterbacks to read defenses and select one of several options before and immediately after the ball is snapped.

A standard response by defenses is to disguise coverages with pre-snap adjustments and movement. Coaches try to orchestrate as much as possible but players have to finally read and react on their own.

Fans sometimes think the on-field chess match is restricted to a QB and the opponent’s defensive signal-caller. As in Saturday night, Jordan Ta’amu and Mack Wilson will match wits. There is more to the mental game than two players. All players make reads. The accuracy of those reads is a major determinant in the outcome of a game.

Breaking defenses with the Air Raid

On Saturday night in Oxford, the mental game will be most interesting when Ole Miss has the ball. The offensive coordinator for Ole Miss, Phil Long is an Air Raid guy. He knows the wide open attack works best at full throttle speed and a balance between running and passing. Ole Miss has the personnel to fit this offense. A smart, very accurate QB and at least four very athletic and talented receivers perfectly fit the Air Raid.

Typical Air Raid formations feature four WRs and one running back. Ole Miss transfer, Scottie Phillips fills that one-back role well. When Ole Miss lines up, Ta’amu and Mack will be reading and adjusting. One goal for Ole Miss will be to break as many big plays as possible, catching Alabama football vulnerable defensively. Another goal will be to sustain drives, hoping to tire the Tide defensive front. The Tide defense will try to bust as many Ole Miss plays as possible.

Alabama football will look to disrupt Ole Miss offense

Alabama football, with primary reads by Mack and Deionte Thompson, will be looking to disrupt. In terms of disrupting plays, first down may be more important than third down. The Crimson Tide wants to hold all teams, but particularly speedball teams, to three yards or less on first down.

Last season Ole Miss broke some big gains on first down. But the Alabama football defense won first down overall. In 15 first down plays,  the Crimson Tide defense held Ole Miss to three or fewer yards eight times. That is being disruptive on defense.

Ole Miss has reasons to be more optimistic about its 2018 offense against Alabama football. Ta’amu is more accurate than Shea Patterson. The Tide defense is inexperienced. The Crimson Tide defensive coordinator, Tosh Lupoi will be calling plays for just the third time. The defensive front seven for the Tide is not deep and could tire in a fast-paced game.

Alabama football fans have two primary reasons for considerable optimism. Ole Miss is dreadful defensively and reads alone cannot disrupt the explosive Crimson Tide offense. No matter how many explosive plays the Ole Miss offense breaks Saturday night, the Tide offense will have more. Even in a shootout, the Crimson Tide will win easily.

The biggest concern for the Ole Miss game is injuries impacting future games. The Tide is too thin at too many spots to overcome injuries to key players.