What Ryan Grubb is Emphasizing for Alabama Offense Heading into Oklahoma Rematch

The Alabama offensive coordinator wants his unit to get up to the line quicker against the Sooners.

Kalen DeBoer, Parker Brailsford and Ryan Grubb at Alabama football practice | UA Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama's offense will face an Oklahoma defense this Friday in the opening round of the College Football Playoff that leads the nation in sacks (41) and tackles for loss (115.) Coached by Brent Venables, the Sooner defense is known for making things incredibly difficult for opposing offense both pre and post snap.

That's why Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb is putting an emphasis on Alabama getting up to the line of scrimmage quicker heading into the matchup with Oklahoma.

"It’s always a concern, if I’m being honest," Grubb said during a Tuesday press conference. "It wouldn’t matter if they went Mach 4 to the line of scrimmage, it wouldn’t be fast enough. I think if you’re early to the test, you’re helping yourself. Get up there, paint the picture for the center and the quarterback. Have the threat of snapping the football at any second we get up there. That’s really what it should look like on every play. We certainly have not been perfect at that. Today I thought the guys did a better job of that. There always has to be the threat of the offense snapping the football. Those were some of the big plays we have against Oklahoma last time was snapping the football early."

Lining up fast was the first thing wide receiver Germie Bernard mentioned as focus for the Crimson Tide offense this week.

"It gives Ty [Simpson] a chance to see the whole defense," Bernard said. "Like I said, if he needs to make a check, he can make a check. And then it also gives us receivers and the O-linemen time to point out their guys. It gives receivers a chance to see the defense and see the structure of the defense, see if they’re going to rotate on different levels or whatnot. It gives us all an advantage if we line up fast.”

Football is a complicated sport, with both teams making checks and changes at the line of scrimmage to try and throw off the opposition. Traveling to a true road environment this weekend in a win-or-go-home game, it becomes all the more important for Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson to have time to make the right decisions.

Simpson frequently is making checks at the line, letting the play clock wind down. He explained his thought process and approach about when in the clock to snap the ball.

"I think it, one, depends on the play that’s called," Simpson said. "And then two, it depends on what the defense does. Three, situational awareness. Just because we have a lot of shifts and motions, a lot of stuff we’re changing the picture. Then, it depends on we’ve got to communicate on what the defense does. They can check our check, they can change different things. If the clock’s running down, if it’s a four-minute drill, we want to snap it close to five seconds, five or four seconds. So those are the big things.”

The Oklahoma defense collected five tackles for loss, including four sacks, in the previous matchup with Alabama back on Nov. 15. Alabama's offense has struggled in general in its last few outings and finding itself behind the sticks is not a recipe for success against the Sooner defense.

"We do have to get up to the line fast," Alabama left tackle Kadyn Proctor said. "For us [the offensive line],  I would say you do have to read out the defense and make our calls and make sure the wide receivers and the quarterback and the tight ends know that we’re prepared. We’ve had that preparation all week, doing that, getting up to the line, getting set, so they can make their calls, so Ty can make his checks. That's what we've been focusing on."