The Football Brainiacs

Like y’all, we’re itching for some football right now. I decided go back and look at the Spring Game and then figured while I’m doing it, I might as well share a few thoughts. It would be good to get the rust knocked off for me…

Right here we see David Smith take the handoff, and drift outside just a bit.  I drew the blue line to illustrate the tight line he needs to take to get through the hole quicker.  If he’s in the hole now or at least even with the block (red arrow) He can explode through the hole and possibly break the tackle of the linebacker scraping at the tip of the blue arrow.  He gets a gain of four, but it’s a cleanly blocked play that could have been a big one.

Below is why you love to have a mobile QB.  Trevor can make things happen when the play breaks down.  You see Geneo Grissom in hot pursuit, and the young freshman Dmitri Flowers in the route.  Trevor fired a laser to get us a first down and Flowers made a nice catch.

I have St. John and Tapper circled below.  This is basic turn back protection where we’re trying to sell the play action to the right.  St. John wants to stay square and force his guy down to the inside.  Tapp’s in a 4i, so it’s a one on one block for St. John…

A split second later, we see that since St. John didn’t post up that outside hand and plant his outside foot, Tapp’s able to throw him by the hole and get straight upfield for the sack.  Granted Tapp’s a special player, but at Oklahoma you need your left tackle to be as well.

This is the play that Evans blew up.  Again you see how quick Striker is to the QB in the red circle.  I know it’s a screen, but we gotta get more on em than that.

A split second later Evans has cleaned KJ’s clock, and Jordan Wade is hustling to the ball in the right circle.  Wade ends up getting a pick in what’s a signature play for Mike Stoops’ team D and what Monty brings to the table.

Going back the other way it looks like we caught the D out of position on the snap.  We got it walled off inside and the receivers are setting the edge at the bottom.  Ford’s on the corner and gets down to the 38 on a really nice play.

Coming back south, Daniel Brooks takes the handoff and what looks like a crowded play looking at it left to right becomes a really well blocked play.  We cut Walker on the very backside, and the safety is one on one with Brooks in the hole.

A split second later we see it really open up and Brooks has beaten the safety…

Now it’s off to the races…

Brooks gets it down inside the five and shows some of that trademark speed.  Our D looked really fast running him down.

After two shots at the run play on 1st and 2nd down, We come back with Play action.  Brooks showing his willingness to be a team player does a great job cutting down the D end(blue arrow).  The outside backer has no chance and Cody & McNamara make it look easy for the score.

Right after the score coming back the other way, we’re in the Diamond, and run the play action to the backside fullback who in this case is Flowers.  Right on the edge of the left circle, we see Evans almost get his hand on it.  Flowers makes a nice catch in stride and gets it out to midfield.  When you can run the ball, plays like this can be back breakers for the opposition.

Ford here on what looks like to be a crowded play coming right to left…

But when you look at it from the end zone, you can see Big Savage has Tapp locked up one on one with Ripkowski setting the edge on the outside.  If you look at Flowers(36), you can see in this shot he’s letting the game come to him and he’s not playing out of control.  Really hard to do as a true freshman learning the offense.  I like how he extends his arms to feel where Savage and Rip are, so that he knows he doesn’t need to clean anything up…

He gets the first man who shows a split second later, and you see Ford has a nice lane to get through.  Like a basketball player driving the lane, Ford was expecting contact and got out over his feet too much.  If he had been able to stay upright he may be able to outrun Byrd coming from the backside, but still he gets down inside the 30.

I gotta tell you after re-watching the game I’m a buyer when it comes to Baker Mayfield.  His initial reads aren’t there, so he takes off in a nice lane to get positive yards.

A split second later, we can see Sooner Dave getting ready to get a killshot on the backer, and Baker is down to the 40 on a nice tuck and run.

Another reason I really like Baker Mayfield is that he knows where his hot read is.  He’s getting early pressure and all three of his primary receivers are covered.  He gets it out quick with the D bearing down on him.

 

And the end product of Dave Smith dropping the hammer and finishing the run on the flare pass from Mayfield.  Love the physicality.  Look at the helmet about to come off of the defender!  That’s how you finish a run Dave!

Another example of us using the tight ends early in the game.  Off the play action Isaac Ijilana is dragging across the formation…

Baker does a nice job putting it on Isaac, and he shows soft hands and more athleticism than I thought he had…

Really showed a lot of ability on this play since the ball was behind him, and he turns effortlessly in traffic, catches it with his hands, and gets it down to the 10.  With Ijilana, Flowers and McNamara, we have some jumbo athletes who defenses are going to have to account for now.  We haven’t had that in years past except with Millard.  Now the bootlegs, sprintouts and all of that stuff that get your mobile QB’s on the move will simplify the pass game as well as really put defenses in a bind and make them play us honest.  Games begin easier to call from an OC perspective, and it really helps the run game as well.    That’s the 1st Quarter!  Glad to be back in the saddle, and I hope you enjoy it!