1/28 The Call

As I’m sure all of you realize, Alabama is currently in the process of searching for a new offensive coordinator.  Major Applewhite left to become the Running Backs Coach and Assistant Head Coach at the University of Texas.  I’m sure that Saban will find someone excellent to replace him, but to be honest, I was really sorry to see him go.  Even though our offense wasn’t stellar this year, I thought it improved a lot compared to last year, and I thought the playcalling was much better under Applewhite than it has been at Bama in quite some time. 

Anyway, during this search for Applewhite’s replacement, several names have been mentioned.  One name that arose from the rumor mill was Bruce Arians, who you Bama history buffs will remember was our offensive coordinator in 1997.  He made a questionable call at the end of the Auburn game, and as a result, DuBose fired him.  So that brings me to the point of this blog.  I’m going to take perhaps the most unpopular position that any Alabama fan can have.  I’m going to explain why Arians’ call at the end of that game was in fact the right call.

Here was the situation.  We were heavy underdogs, having suffered through a terrible season with a 4-6 record, facing a ranked Auburn team in Jordan-Hare Stadium.  We were ahead 17-15 late in the fourth quarter.  We had the ball deep in our territory, at about the 20-yard line (I can’t remember exactly).  Anyway, we effectively needed two first downs to run the clock out and win the game.  We got the first one when Shaun Alexander ran around the right end for a 12-yard gain (again, approximately).  We then ran two plays, gaining two yards, leaving us with a third and eight from around our 35-yard line.  I can’t remember the exact details, but I know that Auburn had one timeout left, and they had just finished moving the ball with ease and scoring on us two drives earlier.

And that’s when it happened.  Instead of doing the expected, running Shaun Alexander, probably not getting the first down, and punting, Arians decided to make a legitimate effort at making the first down.  He called for a swing pass to Ed Scissum around the left end.  It was set up well, but Freddie Kitchens threw a poor pass that broke Scissum’s forward momentum, and the defense was able to catch up to him quickly.  However, not only did they catch him, but Martavious Houston knocked the ball loose, and Auburn recovered the ball near our 40-yard line.  From that point on, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.  Our defense did what it traditionally does, and Auburn walked down the field to the 21-yard line, where they used their last timeout, and Holmes kicked the game-winning field goal with only a few seconds left (yes, I know some interesting things happened after that, but those events aren’t the subject of this blog).

Alabama fans were in an uproar!  How could any sane person throw a pass in that situation?  We should have run the ball, forcing Auburn to use their last timeout, and then punted!  I have one word in response to those fans: Wrong!!!!  How can anybody that has watched our defense crumble each and every time the game is on the line over the last few decades think that the best thing to do is to put the game in their hands?  I would argue that we would have lost anyway.  We would have punted, and they would have had the ball at their own 30 with about a minute left.  Remember, the clock stops on first downs, and you know that we would have given up 10 to 15 yard passes at will until Auburn was well within field goal range.  Arians knew that all we had to do was execute one simple pass, and we win the game.  In my opinion, the choices were 1) run the ball, punt, and lose, 2) throw a pass, don’t make a first down, punt, and lose, and 3) throw a pass, make a first down, and win.  Unfortunately, we didn’t properly execute the play, and had disastrous results. 

I know that we’ll never know what would have happened had we run the ball.  You can argue that this one time the Bama defense would have manned-up and made a stop, and I admit it’s possible.  However, our defense did allow Auburn to walk the ball into field goal range after the turnover, so I would argue that the defense wasn’t going to stop anything at that point.  Finally, I hate the fact that we actually had someone running the offense that tried to win the football game, and he got criticized (and ultimately fired) for it. 

I’m sure Arians won’t be the new offensive coordinator.  He’d be crazy to ever come back after the way he was (and still is) treated around here; he must have felt like the only sane person in an insane asylum.  I just hope that the person we do hire actually tries to win the game when it’s there to be won, and then I hope we’re not dumb enough to criticize him for it.

As always, feel free to send me any questions or comments. 

Until next time,

Kenny