The reason is... we play in the SEC. But yeah, I agree... I hope to see an efficient, high powered offense as well as the same defense we've been seeing. I can't wait.
I think the reason was plainly obvious. Marcus Randall was an absolutely horrible quarterback in the SEC. He was impatient. He couldn't read defenses. He was a wildly inaccurate passer. As a quarterback, he was a good running back. Apparently, Russell did not have good study habits and Flynn had not developed. Also, I think Saban felt obligated to give Randall every chance because he was best friends with Spears and other team leaders, and because he was a good guy who gave everything that a coach could ask of himself. The story of last season is the story of a mistake made by Nick Saban before the season began. Nick should have realized that Randall had proven that he did not have enough talent as a passer. He should have removed him and made the competition between Russell and Flynn. Many fans have known this about Randall since his sophomore year and we were proven correct. Some fans are fans of whoever the coach thinks should be quarterback or whoever has the most experience. Nick was a great coach but he made a mistake. Who would have done this stupid thing that I am suggesting? Well, luckily for me, Fulmer was faced with the exact same situation and he did the right thing and he won the East. I think that Russell or Flynn would be alot further along if they had done this, but maybe we wouldn't have gotten Perrilloux if the freshmen were given the opportunity to develop. I don't blame Jimbo at all. Perhaps I am wrong. I see an OC who is great at tailoring an offense to his personnel. He did it with Davey. We had a great downfield passing offense. He did it with Mauck. We were a great team at the bubble screen and short passing game complimented by big play running of Vincent. He did it with Randall. We were a running team led by Broussard. Fisher tried to pass early in the season. He even tried bubble screens, but Randall was so inaccurate he could not even complete a bubble screen.
If there is such a thing as having more heart than skill, that would be Marcus Randall. I still get chill bumps thinking about him laying the block to spring Alley in the Arkansas game as well as dropping his shoulder and running over the Ark linebacker (JeMarcus was the first guy to run up to MR and was smiling ear to ear). I think JR learned alot from MR. As much as I hated on Randall during the season, I am glad that he was a Tiger. That being said, Nick made a mistake of playing the two QB system and never really letting one of the guys get in a rhythm with his receiver.
