Trench Warfare | Oklahoma vs. TCU (Part 2)

Okay, back at it.

After tying it up on the bomb to Shepard, we get the ball back.  We’re backed up in 3rd and 16, and Trevor escapes.  He recognizes man coverage and takes off.

TW357

At this point Trevor needs to put a move on the safety and get up to the 25 for the 1st down.  He also needs to read the blocks of his receivers.  Durron at the top has done a great job blocking his guy, but K.J. doesn’t have anything on his guy.  Trevor needs to fake right and then come back up off of Durron’s block for the first down.

TW360

He reads the blocks wrong and goes right into two players instead of up along the big 12 emblem inside of Durron’s block.  This is a 91-yard touchdown run if he goes the other way.  The guy moving in for the tackle here is the single high safety.  Trevor would have changed the game here with one move.

TW361

On the 3rd and 5 after the TCU score, Alex Ross cuts down the blitzer.  The corner is coming on a delay blitz, but Trevor’s already made up his mind to get out of the pocket, but at this point he doesn’t need to.

TW362

Word is out on Trevor amongst Big 12 coaches that if you pressure him he’ll look to run .  He has to recognize fronts better and trust his protection.  The corner is at the hash now, and in Trevor’s defense no one is open.  If he sits inside and goes through his progressions, he’ll see that corner on the delay blitz.  It would allow him to escape to his left and get the 1st down.  That’s the beauty of being in the shotgun on the snap.  Your back isn’t turned to your blindside.

TW363

Our most success running was out of double tight sets or a tight end with a fullback.

TW365

On cadence, Blake shifted from the wing up to the tight end spot, and Rip came off of the tight end back to fullback…

TW366

What ensued was a great play for us.  Blake does a great job sealing the backer and Rip does a nice job kicking out.  The angles that playing with a tight end creates a much more o-line friendly scheme and it moves the d-ends out one more gap.

TW367

Samaje gets through the hole untouched and shows his vision….

TW368

One on one you aren’t bringing him down.  Like Switzer had to do with Marcus Dupree in abandoning the wishbone, having Samaje and Keith Ford back there, It’s my opinion that we need to go to more I-Form or A-Sets.

TW369

You’ve got two downhill runners that are true talents.  Talking to defenders I know, going under center causes concern for them more so than the pistol.  You always tip your hand by having to offset the fullback due to the QB lining up where the FB normally does.  The FB either is already play side or has to come all the way across the formation to make the block.  Either way it allows the backers an easier read.

TW370

Sorry for the graininess of this shot.  Blake catches the ball with 1:12 left on the clock and needs to get out of bounds and a 1st down.

TW371

He doesn’t, and takes the red path, but doesn’t get the 1st down and keeps the clock running.

Little thing that cost us about 30 seconds.

TW372

So at this point we should have 51 seconds left.  Trevor’s looking at Durron here and has to see the corner blitz.  He must throw the ball away on 1st and goal, but to compound the mistake, he gets sacked and then rather than yelling timeout at time of hit which was 16 seconds, he lets the time go down to 11 before the sideline signals for the timeout.  We missed a lot of opportunities.  Between Blake and Trevor, two smart QB’s, we wasted 40 seconds that could have yielded 4 more points.  Oddly enough, that’s what we lost by.

TW373

23 Comments

  • Bluegrass Sooner says:

    JY, thanks for the pictures and commentary. It seems to me that our offense can still become really scary if we will improve on some things and maybe change some things we are doing schematically. I am hopeful that our guys will keep working and improving until the last snap is played this season. I am also amazed after looking at these reports and K’s report on the offense that we only lost by 4! The ceiling is so high for this team this year and for years to come it seems!! BOOMER!

  • DCinAZ says:

    Looks to me in the last photo that even though Knight is birddogging Neal, he has 6′-6″ Bell one on one with a LB and in position to just lean into the EZ because the second LB has already run himself out of position to help cover Bell on the checkdown or is spying Trevor.

  • Rashad See says:

    Here is my question…..Why, oh why, don’t we throw any fades to the 6’6 guy? If we go back to the days of yesteryear when we had a TE in the offense, when we neared the goalline we would split out our enourmous TE (be it Gresham, Finley or Trent Smith) against a smaller corner or safety and throw a simple jump ball. It would have alleviated the need to beat the corner blitz and stopped the clock if it fell incomplete. We should use our size to an advantage and it is a basic play that is difficult to defend.

    • Bluegrass Sooner says:

      I thought we had a couple of WR’s that are supposed to be able to go and get a ball like you are describing. I know they are freshmen, but let’s throw them out there and see how high they can jump!

    • soonermusic says:

      As long as Stoops is having to stop practice to tell those guys that they need to perform better or he’s not gonna have the confidence to put them in at game time, as he mentioned recently, I don’t think we’ll see it.

  • Ed Cotter says:

    Thanks for TW JY…..man, looking back at all the missed little things that happened on offense just makes me sick to my stomach. Even with all the struggles still had a couple chances to win this game down the stretch and couldn’t do it. DANG!!

    • boomersooner says:

      Yep. Makes you wanna puke. This is where I say that the best team didn’t win and yes give TCU credit, they took advantage of the situation and got a win, but I just can’t and won’t say they BEAT us. They were flat out handed that game. That makes me sick to my stomach

  • Krys Allen says:

    Regarding Trevor making the wrong cut on the QB runs… This is the main point I have been making to all the people who want to argue that there is no reason to “open the playbook” against inferior opponents. Trevor needs to have run the ball at least 5 times a game just to be in game shape (ie cramping) and to sharpen his skill set. Would we expect him to not pass the ball the first 4 games, then come in and all of a sudden throw precise passes? Almost made me sick last night watching the Seahawks run the offense last night that we should be running (minus all of the penalties that kept the game close).
    We should come out and hit the defense in the face with the real zone read and have them scared to make the wrong move all day, if Trevor gets hurt then its next man up. He could have just as easily got hurt on any of those bombs he threw where he took a shot from a linebacker while he was releasing the ball.

  • soonermusic says:

    Nice work, JY. In addition to taking off too early on the play you mentioned, seemed like a couple of times Trevor could have been a bit more patient in waiting to see if routes would come open. A bit of a balancing act, since the protection did break down a few times as well.

  • OUknowitscomin says:

    As hard as it is to see what could have ‘easily’ been….thanks JY

  • Boom says:

    TCU is like hitting one out of bounds when you are in the hunt. Re-focus and stay calm and play confident while making birdies coming in.

  • Kevin says:

    Awesome breakdown! Disappointed with the team results. Hopefully they can learn from their mistakes and improve!

  • JT says:

    I’m hoping this team (and Coach Heupel, for that matter) will take the post-Baylor meltdown form we saw last year. They screwed the pooch, took the hard lessons to heart, and then shocked the CFB world. Maybe?

  • J J says:

    Even at field level, it was obvious when Blake was setting blocks lined up wide, that the lanes were there.. As were potential passes to Neal. TCU gambled, leaving coverage gaps & either Trevor pulled a Landry & locked in or Heupel refused to take advantage…
    Token angry girl still put off by game & hot weather

  • Exiled In Ohio says:

    You’ve got a strong stomach, JY! Thanks for stomaching the game replay to shine the spotlight on what went wrong.

  • Ronald Keith says:

    On the 4th down stop at tha end of the game, rip is lined up wing right. At the snap, he comes all the way across the formation instead of leading up through the gap and getting the first down. Why line him up on the right side and not have him block anybody on the play. I could not believe what I saw. This was one of the most frustrating games I have seen in a while. Do any of you any idea about why that plkay was run that way?

    • Sooner Ray says:

      Our coordinator prefers to trick the D out of the hole rather than plow through them with all the beef we have on offense.

  • thebigdroot says:

    This is so depressing. Great job JY but man is this depressing.

    • Jake says:

      It’s hard to read these this week. A lot more fun after wins.
      I just like how I see some of the same things JY points out.
      On that TK run I knew for sure he would cut that to his left and at least get the first down, instead he ran right into the two guys who could stop him. Just one of the many mind numbing mistakes!!

  • Kevin Osborn says:

    Never miss a Trench Warfare post, great job as always!