What a difference two weeks make.
The Crimson Tide offensive line, 14 days after getting manhandled by Virginia Tech and its veteran front seven in the Georgia Dome, flipped the script against Texas A&M and gained 568 yards against the young Aggie defense. It gained only 206 against Virginia Tech.
Visible adjustments were made in both run and pass blocking for the Crimson Tide, and the stats showed clear improvements. While Alabama’s rushing attack gained more than twice as many yards than the previous game, AJ McCarron tripled his total from game one to game two, throwing for 334 yards.
The Monday after the Virginia Tech game, head coach Nick Saban said improved communication would be critical for the offensive line going forward. Communication, he said, would lend itself to better cohesiveness for the starting five.
“They did a great job of communicating,” McCarron said. “I felt like communication was going to be the biggest thing for us. I felt like everybody did a good job of communicating and it helped our offense out a ton.”
Center Ryan Kelly embraced that criticism and made corresponding adjustments in his second game as a starter.
Kelly did not appear as overwhelmed while barking out blocking assignments Saturday. His confidence spread to his fellow linemen, which was particularly evident in run blocking. Kelly would frequently pull and shift to either side of the line, almost always accompanied by left guard Arie Kouandjio or right guard Anthony Steen.
Use of two or more linemen for the directional runs is a reflection of a larger theme for the Crimson Tide’s offensive line, in that the unit moved almost in unison on many of the run plays, staying physically close to one another. T.J. Yeldon and the rest of the running backs enjoyed the trailblazing done by the offensive linemen to the tune of 234 yards and two touchdowns. Alabama failed to gain 100 yards rushing against Virginia Tech.
“[The] offensive line did a great job for us, and we have to continue to build on that,” running back Jalston Fowler said.
The improved cohesiveness didn’t just help the Crimson Tide in run blocking, though. After running for his life on what seemed like every snap against the Hokies, McCarron was not sacked against Texas A&M and upped his quarterback rating from 23.4 to 93.8.
The icing on the cake for the passing game was the lack of interceptions. McCarron showed a renewed decisiveness in his decision making, getting the ball out quicker than he did against the Hokies. His crisp play also seemed to relax the offensive line.
Alabama’s offensive line didn’t turn it around all on its own, though. Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier frequently flanked the line with tight ends, which lended more bodies to the blocking effort. Brian Vogler showed deceptiveness with his blocking schemes, and the development of Brandon Greene as a battering ram up front helped the offensive line dominate in the trenches.
“Obviously I think of the offensive line as a unit,” Vogler said. “We all really communicated well and got things across the board. When we’re all on the same page things just work really well. Obviously you saw in the previous game we all weren’t on the same page, people were going different directions. This game we were all on the same page.”
Though the Aggies’ front seven are weaker than that of the Hokies’, the improved communication and trust were clearly visible from the Crimson Tide offensive line in its SEC opener.
