Tide tries to regroup for Houston

TUSCALOOSA | It’s not a running offense.

It’s not a passing offense.

Right now, it’s not much of an offense at all except in 2-minute mode, which really has the University of Alabama football team shaking its collective head the most.

Although this was supposed to be the strength of the Crimson Tide this season, five weeks in it suddenly isn’t able to move the ball, control the clock or score anywhere near like it did earlier this season.

Granted, there are hardly any black-and-white answers to what isn’t going right, but no one expected so many shades of gray across the board.

“Realistically, the first three games were great for us and I feel like we were clicking on all cylinders,” junior center Antoine Caldwell said. “The last two games have been tough. We’ve been off a play or two up front-wise, and everywhere on the offensive side of the ball. It’s one guy doing this, one guy not doing that, and that’s kind of what offensive football is.

“We have a great opportunity this week to get back on track.”

But somewhere along the way, particularly against Florida State’s stingy defense, Alabama lost whatever identity it was trying to establish, unlike most other SEC teams. The conference’s offensive team statistical leaders reflect the reputations.

Rushing: Obviously, it’s Arkansas, grinding out 358.8 yards per game. Alabama is fifth in the SEC at 182.0.

Passing: Tennessee has been living, and dying, in the air, with 285.8 yards per game, but the Crimson Tide has attempted the most passes, 195. In the rankings, Alabama is fifth, averaging 232.8 yards.

Passing efficiency: That would be Florida. The 183.6 rating distances it from the No. 2 team, Kentucky (158.6). Alabama is tenth with a 114.3 rating.

Overall, Alabama averages 414.8 offensive yards per game, which is purely average by conference standards (ranking six).

However, there are two other alarming statistics:

n Alabama is ninth in time of possession, averaging 29:13 minutes.

n The Tide is 11th in third-down conversions at 36.8 percent, ahead of only Auburn (35.2).

Obviously, the knee-jerk reaction is to try and pinpoint what’s gone wrong.

Is it receivers not getting open, pass-protection, the decision-making, errant passes, no big plays, the play-calling, blocking, coaches and players still learning about one another?

That answer is all of the above.

“I think we did form somewhat of an identity early in the season,” coach Nick Saban said. “I don’t think we’ve been able to maintain it in terms of what we want to try to accomplish and what we want to try to do. But, guys, this is a building process. We came here with the idea that we were building a program and that would take time; that it wouldn’t happen in a day; it wouldn’t happen in a month; it wouldn’t happen in a week; and it wouldn’t happen in two or three games. That’s been the case just about every experience that I’ve ever had.

“But the expectations here, especially after winning three games, are, ‘We’re going to win the national championship.’ Well, I don’t know how realistic that is. All I know is we’re not playing as good a football as I feel that we are capable of playing.”

Additionally, Alabama has played three good, physical teams the last three weeks with Arkansas, Georgia and Florida State, with the back-to-back losses by a mere 10 combined points. However, Saturday was the first time Saban though the Tide was clearly on the wrong end in terms of toughness and effort, not to mention consistency and “competitive character.”

One area that showed up in was the running game, which Florida State defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews successfully schemed against.

“Smart guy, kind of made some good adjustments against what we were doing,” redshirt freshman running back Terry Grant said. “Most people catch on to what you’re doing, and you still can get away with it, but they had an awesome game plan and stuck with it and kind of shut us down.”

Grant had carries of 11 and 13 yards, but was really never able to break into open field except for the 27-yard bootleg pass in the second quarter. Consequently, his production has gone from 134 rushing yards against Western Carolina and 173 at Vanderbilt, to 96, 80 and then just 36 against the Seminoles.

He also took a rough hit Saturday — what he described as a “Head with the ground collision” that was “probably was the first time I got scared in my career” — which likely contributed to his fumble, recovered by sophomore left tackle Andre Smith.

“I don’t think I really had all my senses back,” he continued. “Pretty tough team. They were swarming to the ball, more than any team we’ve played.”

As for the passing game, Saban made it clear Monday that the finger should not be solely pointed at junior quarterback John Parker Wilson.

“Technique-wise and fundamentally, he’s gotten better and better and I think that in this past game he got far too much pressure,” Saban said. “He got hit way too much and he showed a lot of mettle and character and competitive spirit in the way he continued to play because we didn’t do a good enough job of blocking him.

“Maybe you don’t see it sometimes when the throws come out and you get waxed, right, when you throw it? That can affect you sometimes in your ability to execute. So I’m not going to sit here and blame the quarterback when I think the entire offensive team should assume a better responsibility for being able to execute, especially when they play an outstanding defensive team like Florida State.”

However, Wilson’s 53 pass attempts against the Seminoles were the second-most in Alabama history (Scott Hunter, 55 vs. Auburn in 1969). That, perhaps more than anything, is an indicator of a struggling offense, because the game-plan had to be scrapped due to trailing on the scoreboard.

“The more I look at film and other things, it’s a play here, a play there and that’s how these big games are,” Caldwell said. “Florida State probably made three big plays against our defense and won the football game.”

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.