Post Practice Offensive Notebook (11.17.14)
Posted on: November 18, 2014
The Running Game
The rushing attack at Oklahoma has long been part of the DNA in Norman. But there were a few years before Bill Bedenbaugh arrived that the running game lost a little of it’s punch. This past weekend’s numbers may have been skewed by Tech’s inability to stop the run all season, but few would argue that OU’s running game hasn’t improved significantly under coach Bedenbaugh.
– In talking about the development of the run game, Josh Heupel said that the “change…in the amount of mass our guys have been carrying…I think that has been crucial in us having the ability to move the line of scrimmage.”
– In terms of coaching and recruiting, Heupel said that Bedenbaugh looks for “toughness…you want kids that are highly competitive…that are going to play hard every single snap.”
– Additionally, it doesn’t hurt having a big physical runner like Samaje Perine in the backfield. Jay Norvell said about Samaje, “He’s mature beyond his years as a freshman; the way he handles the ball and takes the pounding and handles so many carries is unusual for a freshman…it’s a great credit to him.”
– Adam Shead said that Samaje bought them pizza again this weekend.
– Shead said that guys like Samaje “makes you want to play harder.” Shead really summarized some of the change or perhaps reversion, back to old Oklahoma football under Bedenbaugh saying, “we pride ourselves on being able to wear teams out so that by the second half those five yard runs turn into ten or fifteen yard runs.”
– Shead described Bedenbaugh as “intense.” He said Bedenbaugh is, “hard, blue-collared, ‘we about to get this done’ kind of guy.”
– Ty Darlington on the type of mentality coach Bedenbaugh brings to the offensive line, “nastiness, playing hard, playing physical, dominating the game…it’s not good enough to just get in someone’s way, we want to dominate the game…dominate the line of scrimmage…we want it to be like it was in the 2nd half (of the Tech game) where we basically say…’we’re going to bring it home for you’.”
Darlington said, “when you’ve got a back there like Samaje running the ball, even when we don’t block some guys he just runs right through them…it’s a great thing to have.”
Cody Thomas Developing
– When talking about the OU rushing attack, one can’t forget to mention the zone read. Though he had a shaky first half throwing the ball, Cody ran the ball perhaps better than most expected in the second half. Adam Shead said it didn’t surprise him at all.
– The second half for Oklahoma was much better against Texas Tech but while coach Norvell conceded that they need to be better in the passing game, he also said that just not having penalties and doing a better job of taking care of the football really helped them quite a bit.
– In talking about Cody’s ability to throw the ball successfully Norvell said, “It’s about him just feeling comfortable…seeing the looks…seeing the different patterns that we’re trying to attack…seeing it, reading it…moving on…he’s plenty strong…last week he had a great week of practice…that’s gotta start correlating to the field the more he gets reps.” Norvell also said he feels Cody has a chance to be a big time college quarterback,”I think he just needs some game experience and gain confidence from it.”
– Josh Heupel then talked about the primary challenge for Cody is simply the lack of repetitions. “If you get thrown in the mix, it’s difficult your first week because you’re trying to knock some of the rust off.” Additionally, Cody’s injury in fall camp and at the beginning of the season further limited the number of reps he got.
– Heupel also mentioned that Trevor Knight has be there supporting Thomas’ development and has been willing to help him study film in addition to encouraging him and coaching him up on the sideline.
Tempo
– There was some discussion of the tempo and hurry up offensive tactics in the post practice presser as well.
– Coach Heupel explained some of his choices in going hurry up at times, but also conceded that it is more difficult at times for the offensive line to identify blitzes and pressure. But he also said that the tight ends, tackles, and of course Cody in how he deals with pressure have to be better.
– Adam Shead was very candid about the fact that in short yardage situations slowing down and not going tempo really helps the offensive line get settled and identify who they are blocking. Shead said they should be able to block it up regardless, but slowing down “definitely helps.”
80 Comments
I love that Our OC basically says how difficult it is for a guy that hasn’t gotten many practice or game reps. Then you hear players saying they weren’t surprised by Cody’s running ability at all. Yet we throw the ball as much as we ran in first half. Mind blowing.
Also all we heard about was how were behind the chains in first half so why not run draws and screens. Plays that are simple reads and usually get positive yardage and make your QB feel confident. I don’t know that Josh has run a draw play the entire season.
Ok I am done ranting sorry. Boomer!
They were stopping run pretty well in 1st half. If JH doesn’t have some passes, then the whole ‘our coaches are stupid’ crowd comes down on Josh for making things so 1-dimensional. I think he called a very good game. He’s had 2-3 games this year where I questioned the strategy, but IMO he’s getting far too much criticism for games that were actually called well.
This.
That’s what happens with the OC. They are the primary whipping child. I think he has done great at times this year but hindsight indicates that we should have used Knight more as a threat with his feet than we did. I think we’re a 1 loss team if we do that and we’re in the conversation.
With that I agree, running him more would have done much for season. However, one has to remember that CBS has been pretty clear that he didn’t want TK getting hurt. So I’d say that’s more on Bob than JH. Of course, if he gets hurt, fans drill them for that too. ‘He didn’t need to run to beat this team’ would prevail.
I don’t agree on the fact that most fans would be more upset about TK getting hurt then most are about him being virtually removed from running the ball for about half of the season. I see the concerns that they have for him being injured as he doesn’t hold up well to being tackled, but we should have used him more and taken that chance before losing several games in which it might have made a difference, in my opinion. We may well have just accelerated the point at which we put Cody Thomas or Blake Bell in, if necessary, and be ahead in the learning curve but with possibly less losses to contend with then we have now. I don’t see Trevor Knight returning as our starter.
One thing to keep in mind is we who criticize the OC don’t know all of the nuances, weaknesses, and tendencies of the players that the coaches know. We also don’t know what the skill players have been doing well in practice during the week that should work against a particular opponent. It all goes into the game plan and it doesn’t always work out because players make mistakes in execution in game situations that they don’t, or didn’t, make in practice. I will also say, I haven’t ever seen an OC who somebody couldn’t find a reason to find fault with. 😉
We may be tagging Trevor with the ‘glass’ label unfairly. He got one awkward hit in the KSU game and went out for a series and then got mugged by a dirty hit from Baylor. I know, I know, I’m ignoring last season, but let’s be fair, this last injury would likely have taken Tebow out.
‘Most’ and ‘more’ aren’t measurable, but I am absolutely confident that we have a strong ‘I hate everything’ crowd among the fans. Quite apparent.
amen
The losses have been disappointing, the reaction by some fans has been deplorable.
Amen, couldn’t have said it better. Embarrassing some times thinking what image some portray to recruits and families of our fan base.
Not running TK more didn’t cost us one game this season–not one. That’s not why we lost to TCU or K-State. Nor is it why we lost to Baylor. Since running TK more just wasn’t needed in the games that we did win, it made sense to protect him early in the season.
You are correct, while everyone contributed, the games at TCU & KSU were lost by pick 6’s by TK.
That and failure to get one yard to keep a drive alive.
been shouting that since it happened….and then happened again. guess i’m not loud enough. you CANNOT put the blame entirely on knight for pick 6’s, especially when one of them was in the 2nd freakin quarter and 2 plays later he got the points back. its narrow minded. and soonermusic will tell you it wasn’t a called throw. it was a run that could be pulled and thrown. bad read, but whiffs on blocks, missed fg’s, blocked pat’s, etc etc
Hate to rehash this and really hate to give our opponents credit, but the LB that had the pick six for TCU just made an outstanding play. He did the exact same thing to Petty on an identical throw. Sometimes, and I hate to admit it, the other guys just make a great play.
agreed. i’m just pointing out that to put the blame for 2 losses solely on knight is extremely short sighted and narrow minded. LOTS of things lost those games
Yessir.
The sad thing about the KSt game is I had just posted a thread at another blog praising ‘Moneycut’ less than a week before the game.
/d’oh
way to go. see you’re one more “thing” we can add to the list 😉
I jinxed us in the 1st half of the TT game by recording it and I jinxed us against TCU. I don’t know what to do anymore, don’t even have lucky socks. At least we have anecdotal evidence it wasn’t the coaches or players fault, but mine.
It has been said that some of the linemen complained about some of the short yardage plays being rushed not allowing them ample time to identify their blocking assignments. Bob is supposed to be rectifying that problem.
Look. If they were using his strengths, he wouldn’t have nearly as many INTs as he has TDs. Thats the big issue, the pick 6s cost us, but ints in other games just didn’t cause as much damage.
Nope. TCU and KState were much better at defending the qb run plays. That’s why he didn’t run as much, not because they were avoiding his “strengths.”
TK was 13 for 61 yds rushing vs TCU, that’s hardly “better at defending them”… Look at the box score sometime. The teams were basically equal. I am not gonna argue. I THOUGHT this discussion was about utilizing the mobility of TK. Clearly I am mistaken. It would appear that OU does not have an offensive identity & JH has had a difficult time calling plays to better suited to what this team can do. And if his WB is failing to execute, by misreads etc, then JH is failing to do his job as a QB coach. Either way, it’s the same circle.
Look at my post answering your other question where I detailed it. Those yards were gained on scrambles and the QB draw, which because it was successful they ran it a few times untill it was tackled for a loss. The other QB runs, the run around end, the zone read, were completely defended.
I was there. Watched live from 10 rows up. Thanks. Have a good week.
I apologize for not being more careful in the way I worded my responses. My view is different from yours about the various issues surrounding TK. In presenting those differences, I am sorry if my tone came across as confrontational. I didn’t mean it to be.
I did look.
One player hasn’t been the difference in those losses, they were all team efforts.
One of the first things I said was “while everyone contributed”….. TK strengths have been poorly utilized this season. That’s all I am saying. His strength isn’t his accuracy or his passing acumen.
Hard for me to say, he seems a little fragile for a running QB and inconsistent passing. At times he makes throws that are amazing, at times his receivers drop them, other times he makes throws that are just awful.
Running QBs always get hurt eventually. Personally, I only like to see them run when they have to or a naked boot when it fools the defense.
And you know I am not here to argue with you…
I don’t think playing the “blame game” is the way to go. When there are several plays in a game, any one of which would have kept us from losing, I think it’s wrong to pick out one and throw all the blame on it. It would be just as reasonable, and wrong in my view, to say that the KSU game was lost by Hunnicutt, because he missed two easy kicks. Furthermore, in the case of that game, TK threw a pick 6 and then instantly got the points back for us in two plays. Not fair to single him out for blame when so many other plays were equally responsible in both games.
Not blaming anything. An effective run game from the QB takes pressure off some of those throws. Especially versus TCU…
TCU was much better at defending the QB run game, which is why you didn’t see it as much. OU did manage to run the QB draw successfully a few times, but the last time, if it was a called draw it was tackled for a loss.
The other qb run plays didn’t go so well:
On a key 3rd down we ran the QB around the end play that worked so well against I-State. Needed 5 yards only got 2.
Key drive in the 4th quarter ran QB on 2nd and 6 and only made 4 yards. Then ran the zone read on 3rd and 2 and only got 1 yard.
It wasn’t effective against TCU’s defense.
The days of being able to have your own opinion appear to be gone, the opinion police are patrolling hard. Best to just agree and move along. 🙂
Ahhhh yes my friend…. I am so good at not being opinionated. My dad taught me well. Lol.
[email protected]…
Email me. I’ll delete this in a bit
That’s harsh.
It is what it is. He has what 2 more TDs than ints? If his legs & mobility are his best attributes, then use them.
I would agree, but look at what TCU has done with less and better OC. Time for JH to step up or move on
That’s an entirely different subject. I am not saying I have full faith in JH, not at all. I’ve been frustrated. BUT….I try to be fair too. So many fans piling on for anything and everything, as if any move he makes is obviously the wrong one.
The performance of Boykin has blind sided nearly everyone this year, based on his past performances. His new OC may be responsible for the overall success of their offense, but Boykin’s improvement since working with a guru in the off season has been phenomenal.
Agreed. TCU offense was tailored to fit his abilities which is why he’s thriving. The OC knows what he can and can’t do so they are playing to his strengths. In addition, they are not playing scared as there is no one to back up Boykin.
You don’t go from average at best to his level in one spring. OC has a lot to do with his performance on the field.
Boykin’s passing accuracy this year is due to his training in the off season with a QB guru. The offense may suit him better because he is such a threat to run, but his improved accuracy is on Boykin.
Disagree, at least if you run the ball more like 80% of the plays in the first half your accomplishing multiple things
1. Wearing out the D
2. Not throwing interceptions
3. Not stopping the play clock
So even if they managed to stop our rushing attack for the most part in the 1st half we would most likely still have scored the same amount of points, but have 3 less interceptions and probably would have won the field position battle, while also controlling the clock better which rests the defense and keeps their offense off the field. Plus mentally not having 3 turnovers would be a boost for both the offense and defense.
Hypotheticals…..sure. If he ran the ball 3 more times on drive where we were 1st &17, fans would be saying the opposite IMO. Coulda woulda shoulda.
exactly right. damned if you do, damned if you don’t. if you can bash someone then you also need to step up and commend him when he does well. people have a preconceived notion about something and won’t come off it. just follow the crowd to the noise and start yelling, i guess would be the best way to sum up a lot of people. “well, obviously what we did only got us 7 pts, but when we ran it for the whole half we scored a bazillion….ipso facto if we had run it every single play in the 1st half….we would have won 3000-0. man, now i hate everything and everybody, too. fire em all. boo.” sounds about right to me
Not at all what I said… specifically I said that we would prob have the same amount of points (7).
as was stated to you above, what about our rushing attack in the 1st half says that we would have scored the same amount of points? you can’t say something on a hunch. the stats aren’t there and i can’t see the nonexistent past to agree with you. regardless of what anyone thinks they know, the offense came out in the 2nd half and crushed tech. we stunk in the 1st half and were awesome in the 2nd. period. is the 1st half because we passed half the time, or is it that we passed half the time cause the run game wasn’t too sexy? i’d lean towards the latter. serious question while we’re bringing up nonexistent pasts? would you be bitching the same amount if we ran 80% of the time in the 1st half and were down 21-0 or 28-0? i’d go out on a limb and say you’d be yelling for some passes
a) Im not bitching, and I never was.
To answer your first question, we scored 7 points in the first half. My point wasn’t that I was guaranteeing we would get the same amount of points, I was just casually pointing out that it wouldn’t be out of the question to say that we could score 7 points against a terrible team with any game plan. I would wager that we could dial up 30 go routes in the first half and manage 7 points. However with the run game you are taking our strength, and putting it against their weakness. Which brings me to my point all along that no one seems to be following, Heupel is gonna do what he is comfortable with, whether or not it is well suited to the current situation. That makes him a poor offensive coordinator.
Ok. Just the tone around here lately. Glad we’re not going that route again. You could see it your way. I can’t say that you’re right or wrong because that would be hypothetical. I would like to think that we could just take the field against tech and score at will but we didn’t in the 1st half. I get where you guys are coming from…we mixed it up and scored 7, we ran it primarily and then some in the 2nd and scored 35. But the ipso facto doesn’t automatically transfer to the 1st half. I believe soonermusic said we ran on 1st down in the 1st half several times with not much success. If I’m an OC that tells me to loosen them up and try it again in a minute. Did that too. Didn’t work in the 1st half. So when you run on 1st down and get zip it is now 2nd and 10. Do you run? You could but again if your OC has been getting bottled up in the run game at times all yr…which he has(the whole make Trevor throw to beat ya thing)…it might make him feel like he needs to loosen the d a little. Its easy to look back on that game and say we shoulda run like we did in the 2nd half, but supposedly they met at half, made adjustments and crammed it in the 2nd half. Its easier to run when you avg 68 yds on 1st down like the 2nd half( this is an over exaggeration but I’d bet the house we avgd a lot more on 1st down in the 2nd half)
Not true, sure some fans just bitch to bitch, however a lot of us would have agreed that the best thing to do at the time is run the ball and play it safe.
Riddle me this…..did JH call a good game in the Sugar Bowl last year? By fan standards this year, I would say absolutely not. He made him almost strictly a ‘pocket passer’ for that game. Why didn’t everyone freak out? Because we won. It’s then a brilliant plan.
Talking strictly about the TTech game, the situation was completely different and called for a different game plan. That’s my biggest issue with Heupel is that he just seems to want to be a pass first offense. The problem is against Tech, every part of that game called for a rushing attack. New QB, on the road, high winds, porous rushing defense, # 1 WR out of the game. Against Bama, almost none of those factors were there (plus we didnt have Perine), so I am okay with the Bama gameplan.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree
“most likely score the same amount of points,” Not sure how you get to “most likely,” when the only way we scored was by passing down the field. I’d say “most likely not.” At two yards a pop running the ball on first down, seems doubtful. More three and outs would have produced an opposite result from what you wanted, in terms of field position, wearing out the defense and mental attitude as well. And a far more likely result would have been the extra punts would have simply resulted in more points for Tech, as they were scoring every other time they got the ball and came within an inch of scoring more often than that.
In the one scoring drive in the 1st half of the 80 yards a personal foul on TT accounted for more yards than our RBs did, 5 rushes for 12 yards(2.4ypc).
One can arrive at a multitude of conclusions with speculation.
The fact is adjustments were made, then adjustments to TT adjustments were made and OU won the game.
Based on the second half, I’d say we did just fine at wearing down the TT D in the first half.
That doesn’t justify wasting the first half
OUknowitcomin First, of all I want to be clear. I totally agree that in the history of OU the OC is THE job that more people want axed than any other. I never asked for or thought Chuck Long or Kevin Wilson did a bad job. They both were incredible, AND had incredible players at their disposal.Honestly I wish of any former OC that Wilson would return. He had this offense rolling.
I think we all know and agree that Josh doesn’t have Sam Bradford or Peterson. Even so I think it is fair to say that since Josh has taken over as OC our QB development has not been as strong as it was, our offense has no real identity, we often have game plans that make zero since, and I think we would all agree that we have certain strengths we don’t utilize.
Last years example: Playing Baylor. Your defense was playing lights out in the first half. You were playing a QB that you had benched. Baylor’s D was in the bottom half of conference in rush defense, and at one point we had 3 straight possessions with 0 run plays. Poor game plan.
How often have all of us asked the question why is Knight not running the ball. This is poor coaching of a players strengths. But injuries. If you play this game to not get hurt you get hurt. Also we are not saying 15-20 run plays I think 7-10 genuine run plays for knight would be ideal or Thomas.
This past week with Cody Thomas who very limited time and playing in pouring down rain. His first 3-5 passes are crossing routes at 15-20 yards and deep routes. Call a screen, bubble screen, slants, curls, anything shorter and quick to get him in rhythm and confident. I don’t have problem taking a chance at stretching the field but it didn’t need to be often and early.
PS Perine was averaging 3.7 and Ford 3.8 yards a carry in the first half. 2 of our drives end on picks not the run getting stuffed.
This is just my OPINION. I beleive that Josh has the potential to be a very good OC…..BUT I believe one of three things are true. Maybe he is just not quite ready to have the feel for those things like he will later; OR Maybe he is a system guy like Leach who recruited him, and this zone read/run based offense is just not who he is, so he is unable to have a feel for what he wants because Bob is asking him to be a square peg in round hole; OR Josh is really not very good at all but the marriage to Borens daughter keeps him a float.
Judging by how much more effective the OL was in blocking for the 2nd half, Coach Bedenbaugh may have had a little talk with his guys.
Was a great effort by the Oline and Rip/Bell in second half of the Tech game. But overall, think this group has not lived up to the billing. Hard to get excited when they repeatedly failed when we needed them most in short yardage. Should blame the game preparation of the offensive coaches as well, if they had figured out the FB dive option a little earlier in the year, our record might look a lot better than it currently is.
Agree with your point about the difficulties on key third and fourth down plays. Very frustrating. As far as the FB dive, they’ve tried different formations, they’ve tried different calls, and this one worked, but might need to consider the defense and also ask if someone misses a key block in the middle would it still work. I think it’s a great call, too, but I suspect that how successfully they block on it is as much a reason for it’s success as is the concept of it being a “miracle play.”
And the FB dive might not be a viable option going forward since it was successful in this one game.
I agree, in the TCU game, they never suspected that the short yardage would fail, since things they tried in previous games (%wise) were quite successful. In KSU game, Rip wasn’t even in the game. But, I wish, they would have given it a shot in the Baylor game (having beforehand the information that they had failed on it multiple times), but like you say, it might or might not have worked, also the way the D played, it wouldn’t have made that big a difference either. But, I gotta throw dirt in some direction, considering our disappointing season. haha.
I don’t buy into the idea that the play calling was all that bad in the 1st half. Some like soonermusic have shown the actual stats, and they seemed pretty reasonable given how the plays turned out.
What should the gameplan be? I would argue you wear them down in the 1st half, and then exploit that in the 2nd half. Isn’t that what happened? In the first half before the D is worn down, you have to mix in some passes to move the chains. That’s what we did. In the 2nd half you pound; that’s what we did. Where’s the issue?
So why were we all so dissatisfied with how the game unfolded? I would argue for 2 reasons:
1. Cody wasn’t passing too well, so the 1st half drives stalled. When the passing game isn’t working at all, I think it is overly optimistic to think we can just line up and dominate the D in the 1st half before they are tired.
2. Our D wasn’t making stops. If the 3rd quarter score had been 7-7 instead of 21-7, and then we dominated the rest of the way, we wouldn’t have been so unhappy about the game. But is it JH’s fault that the D had busts?
Yeah, I was really unhappy on Saturday about the game. But the more I think about it, I’m just not sure JH deserves the amount of blame he is getting.
Its a cumulative thing. We’ve been dissatisfied this entire season. And there’s been some just cause to be bewildered and let down by the O. And so, Josh has much less good will to expend than he’s had in the past.
Can’t argue with that ….
Not sure where you get the idea that Josh has ever had good will to expend in the past, certainly not from his critics, certainly not last year, or the year before, or….:-) Agree that the O has had it’s difficulties, and been frustrating, but the play calling has not been the problem.
I’m only saying that Josh has had less and less ‘mojo’ for want of a better term as time has gone by. His heat shield is very thin right now.
I think the argument people like Jordan are making about Heupel’s playcalling is both a general statement that he wants to pass too much and a specific statement about the TT game. The argument about the TT game is that we were facing the 119th rated run defense in the country, while playing a QB making his first start, with strong winds, and having 3 monster running backs behind him waiting for the ball; so perhaps a near 50/50 split of run/pass in the first half wasn’t the best idea. or so the argument goes. And clearly in the 2nd half when they ran it 33 of 36 plays they were successful. Now whether that was because TT was tired from the first half by then, or because that’s what we should’ve been doing all along, is another story.
The stat that TT is 119th against the run is good in that it tells you what to reasonably expect. But once the game starts, you can’t be so caught up with that, as the announcers were, that you don’t pay attention to what’s actually occurring on the field. You also can’t just look at a percentage of run versus pass without looking at how you arrived there. When the run is getting stuffed on every first down, you will, and should, have a different mix than you will when every first down run is gaining huge yards.
Well said.
I also think that if the OL had performed as well in the 1st half as they did in the second conversations like this would have been moot.
I’m glad we had CT in the second half when we needed him, the 3rd and goal pass for a TD to Neal over the middle was beautiful.
Yes, that one play by CT to Neal was executed as well as it can be done. It gives me great hope CT can progress into a very good QB.
As multiple as the offense is this season, HUNH, ZRO, diamond power, it’s more than just run/pass. When to go up-tempo or when to slow it down, as Shead said. Personally, seems the slower pace with this team and oline and pounding it with some PA has paid dividends. Mix in some QB mis-direction and that FB dive looked great. Excited to see how it evloves with Cody in there again.
They haven’t fully developed but I do believe they are growing.
I really think the “lack of repetitions” is an excuse. If not, it’s incompetence. We had 15 practices before the Bowl, spring practice, August and the season to give Cody reps. Sure, TK got 2/3 of the reps, but Cody should have gotten 1/3. He also should have played more against 3 of our first 4 opponents.
Having Cody ready to go should have been a priority since we were an injury away from inexperience.
As for play calling, it is inconceivable that the game plan wouldn’t stress the run in the first half. You put them away, then you let Cody get involved in the passing game. Josh’s explanations are weak.
Why can’t we employ this strategy (not necessarily out of a spread but just the idea of designing plays that make the option choices easy based off what the defense gives you)? http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/10/17/6993475/bob-stitt-coach-offense-colorado-school-mines
Everybody looks good in practice, but Heupel and Norvell said the same thing about Cody just needing more live game snaps. And after watching it over again I’d have to agree I think CT has more upside, now I know the coaches didn’t say that, but Switzer was really high on him last yr. I was really impressed with how he can run his cuts were sharp and for a 6-4 qb he’s plenty fast. The qb race is going to be the best in the stoops era.