Alabama Football: What Offensive Surprises Has Saban Not Shown so Far in 2011?

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) So far this season, Alabama has played about as vanilla an offense as you can run.

What you haven't seen is a wildcat play, two receivers running a deep route on one play, trip receivers to one side, a reverse, a halfback pass or a no back set.

To not know history means living a life that dooms you to repeat your past mistakes. Why would I mention that old proverb here?

The last time Alabama played Arkansas with a rookie quarterback, Arkansas drew a line in the sand and said that Greg McElroy would have to prove he could beat them, and they put nine in box and shut the run down.

That backfired, as McElroy had his first breakout 300 yards-plus game while shredding the Arkansas team and blowing out the Hogs.

This year, Arkansas is a little soft on pass defense. Will they risk that strategy again?

If they do, can young A.J. McCarron step us as McElroy did? If he struggles, what can they do to take the pressure off him?

So what can Saban do to surprise the teams still to be played?

How about sending three receivers deep then dumping off to a back? How about that wildcat? What about a reverse to speedy Marquis Maze? DeAndrew White throws a nice spiral; how about a lateral throw to him and then have him hit Maze down field? What about lining up in a two tight end offense, a sure sign of a running play, but send Smelly on a post route.

In other words, so far, Alabama has used less than 25 percent of their playbook, and the possibilities are endless.

You haven't seen the "Jumbo" package on third and short or on goal line; a two back set has been rare to see. You haven't seen the guards pulling yet on a regular basis, and there hasn't been a called QB draw all year.

Alabama is content to bore opposing teams to death with base offense. Off tackle and toss sweep runs and an occasional short range pass or a dump off to a running back, all of these they are content to do as long as it works and the defense continues to stymie opposing offenses.

But make no mistake about it, they are prepared to surprise both the opposing teams and their own fans by what they are capable of doing.

McCarron has a sweet deep ball touch, none of the receivers have had a breakout game yet and are due one any game now.

Should Arkansas start stopping Alabama's vanilla offense, get ready for any of the above or any number of other plays.

They're not just squiggly plays drawn up in a playbook, they're plays they know, plays they've practiced and bullets that are ready to be fired.

The question is not if they'll be used, but when.

That will be biggest surprise.