The Football Brainiacs

Image via 247 Sports

Yesterday, JY talked about offensive identity. So today I want to talk a little bit about defensive identity. I also want to address something Bob Stoops brought up in yesterday’s press conference. He put a lot of emphasis on the fact that much of OU’s problems came from mental errors. I read that as him saying assignment errors. While there were plenty of those, after watching back I don’t believe that was the primary issue. And I certainly don’t believe it cost Oklahoma the game. There was plenty of blame to go around. The offense had its poor moments. The defense had its poor moment. But I’m a defensive guy, so that’s what I want to focus on.

Part of fighting is a mentality. I hate bend but don’t break mannerisms or scheme. You are telling your defensive players to give up something out of fear that if they don’t give up, then they’ll give up something bigger. I prefer a defense that makes it’s primary message, ‘we aren’t giving you a damn thing.’ If you beat us, you beat us. Mind you, that doesn’t mean be stupid. It doesn’t mean you go Cover-0 and blitz all night or stack the box on every down. You have to go through the process of picking and choosing what to do based on formations, down and distance, etc. But within that decision making process, you have to define whether you’re going to make those calls from the perspective that “we are going to contest everything we possibly can” or “we are going to play conservative.” I’m of the mindset you have to contest everything.

What does “everything” mean though? Everything depends on the strength and weaknesses of a team.

In the case of TCU, we were clearly ill prepared for the option game. But at the same time, the option game isn’t what killed us. In my estimation, what killed us was showing Boykin what he wanted to see pre-snap far too often. I’ve watched the first half over and over, and it was clear that when OU showed a disguised pressure look and showed a press to 5-off look, Boykin’s mannerisms changed. He’s not a thrower. He just isn’t. Can he make throws? Sure. But what he wants to do is see off coverage, feel comfortable that he can instantly throw it to that man on a stop or get a free inside release on a slant, and if it’s not there he’ll run. But when you make him read the pressure point and give him no predetermined WR to go to, he gets happy feet and will sometimes run into pressure.

The bottom line to me is Oklahoma gives it’s opponents too much respect, and sometimes they don’t give the ability of their players enough credit. OU’s defensive mentality, in my mind, should be simple. Stop the run on first down, disguise and pressure on passing downs. What I want to do is go through some of the first half drives and show how different looks changed the outcome of the series. When OU gave Boykin favorable looks, piece-by-piece he took the heart of the defense. When OU gave Boykin an unfavorable pre-snap look, he eventually made a mistake. He made a mistake before OU’s defense did and that’s all that matters.

I’ve already outlined the first scoring drive HERE. In that first drive you can see OU giving Boykin things. He continues to take what OU gives him until he takes the lead, 7-0.

Now let’s look at the next scoring drive:

This starts out very promising. OU has them in 3rd and long, and they aren’t giving an inch at the snap. You’re seeing outside CBs in press position and you’re seeing a pressure look that Boykin has to identify. My take is, you live with the result of this all day. OU has Parker lined up over the number three receiver and he’ll come on a blitz. Evans is lined up the boundary edge and will drop back to spy or rob. I love field pressure against a running QB. It’ll be man free coverage.

The ball has to come has to come out quick and it’s short of the first down by almost five yards. Sanchez is right there to make the tackle. Unfortunately he not only doesn’t bring the ball carrier down, he actually grabs his face mask and it’s an automatic first down. Bad result but they make the right call defensively. And interestingly by playing a press technique, Sanchez not only forces Boykin to throw a good ball but he puts himself in position to make the easy tackle. He’s already driving to the receiver, who hasn’t even turned around yet. How he didn’t make this play…I have no clue…but playing him off would have made this tackle even more difficult.

As soon as they get this first down OU is going to bring seven into the box, play a safety down, and shift to man coverage. The coverage is good and Boykin will miss the throw. But for some reason on second down, shown below, OU is going to play conservative again. It looks like quarters coverage and the corners have a fairly standard alignment, about seven yards off. But it just doesn’t work. Sanchez isn’t going to stone his guy at the point of contact. I understand they might want to give the safeties some run reads and you can still make that call, but quarters uses man principles and you can see press or press and release. For the most part, when Boykin sees an off look in any coverage he’s going there with a stop route or a slant. Again, you know that you’ve got a corner that isn’t going to make that tackle clean at the point of contact, so let him play to his strength. Let him show Boykin a look he doesn’t want to see, namely press coverage. Bail him at the last minute if you really want to, but don’t let Boykin feel comfortable knowing he can throw it as soon as it’s snapped.

In the image above, I drew a blew line where the receiver eventually catches the ball. In the image below, you can see another line where he ends up as Sanchez attempts to drag him down. So the defense goes from 2nd and 10 to now giving up an easy eight yards giving TCU a 3rd and short. You want to get off the field on 3rd down? Quit giving them 3rd and manageable. To add insult to injury, Sanchez picks up another personal foul call and gives TCU an additional 15 yards and an automatic 1st down.

So in the image below it’s 1st and 10. OU is in man coverage with a single high safety. OU is going to play off about nine yards on both sides. They’re giving TCU a free inside release here. It doesn’t wind up costing them, but it easily could have if Boykin ever came off his first read (he makes at most two reads, and they’re almost always to the same side).

Below is the progression of the play above. Julian is playing so far off that he gives his man a free release inside and look how wide open he is! Could be an easy throw if Boykin actually saw it. Giving him an uncontested inside release this close? I just don’t get it.

So now OU is in 2nd and 7. Boykin picked up a mere three yards with his feet on first down. All is well, but OU is going to play a quarters/quarters man coverage next once again giving Boykin an easy throw and catch. Inside receiver is just going to run a quick curl/stop route and again get TCU into 3rd and short. The route will again be completely uncontested. In the red zone, if you play quarters to get your safeties involved in the run that’s fine, but you can’t give them this much space. Even if they planned an option here, they’ll check out of it for the easy pitch-and-catch.

And wouldn’t you know it, they get the easy pitch-and-catch. People want to whine about the front not getting pressure, but they couldn’t get to Boykin fast enough to stop this even if there weren’t five 300+ lbs men in front of them! And again, the coaches are complaining about 3rd down conversion defense. You win 3rd down on 2nd down! You can’t keep giving them 3rd and 1 and then complain about the 3rd down defense.

On 3rd down this is going to be an option but again, look at the off coverage! On 3rd and 1? If this is a pass, Boykin has at least an easy stop route to the boundary and a free, quick inside release to the field side. And if you think the backer can’t get in the window…no problem…they move the back to the field anyway on the option so they could just as easily have sent him to the flat and opened a clean window on a free inside route to the number two receiver on the field side. You can’t complain about not getting off the field on 3rd down when you aren’t even attempting to. I know OU likes to play a lot of off coverage in the red zone, but this is just making things way too easy for your opponent.

Below is what actually happens as things play out and its a failure by defensive alignment. OU is going to play four defenders to the boundary on two WRs. The ILB is lined up shaded over the nose, so even he isn’t in a position to take the pitch. And you’ve got your field defenders in man. Absolutely no way OU can stop this option. The tackle has an unimpeded shot at Jordan Evans, leaving Striker 1-on-2 trying to defend this option play. This time he’ll actually play Boykin (unlike earlier where he took the RB – which tells me that perhaps either he made a mistake earlier or wasn’t taught how to play the option during prep). The way Striker plays this is the most intuitive way for me, though there are multiple ways to play it, but of course he’s got to have a safety coming across the formation to take the running back.

Striker takes Boykin and there is no way Evans makes it to the pitch. And there is no safety in the area to help. Again, too easy.

I want to stop with OU’s defensive plays for a moment, because I just want to show you what happens the first time OU scores in the game. This time TCU decides too give too much space and it costs them. The safety is in man on Sterling…no way to cover that kind of stem. You’ve got an athlete like Shepard running right at you with green grass to the left and right of you. This was the TCU staff asking a player to do something he simply can’t do. But also note the outside cornerback alignments. They’re pressed to the boundary and even though they play off to the field, we’re still only look at a five yard cushion.

So the score is now 14-7 TCU, and OU is finally going to get a stop. They’re going to it by showing their aggressive identity. First down goes for a 4-yard run and Boykin misses a pass on 2nd down to bring up 3rd and 6. TCU will go with 5 WRs. OU shows a press look on the edges and two high safeties, but this will become a Cover-1 robber where Byrd comes down to get in the way of any inside routes and keep eyes on Boykin, then Thomas will drop back deep.

OU shows four rushers but Geneo will take a step or two forward at the snap, as if he’s going to blitz, and then drop as a spy. Pre-snap, Boykin knows he’s going to have to make a play. There’s nothing easy here! Boykin immediately takes the least daunting task, he’s going to hit the slant (bottom of the pic, inside WR) against Jordan Evans in off-coverage. This is how I love to see OU play.

Look how tight the coverage is! Boykin hits his receiver, but it’s a perfect throw. If he can make that all day, then he deserves to win. I have no problem with this completion. The other guys are going to make plays on occasion, so sometimes you just have to tip your cap. But at least on this particular play OU is being aggressive and not simply conceding an easy completion.

On 1st down, OU will play quarters and Boykin completes a pass. On 2nd and 6, shown in the image below, again no easy throw at the snap. Press look allows Sanchez to disguise the corner blitz, while the safety will rotate over and pick up the WR. Boykin will run right into the cornerback blitz and OU stuffs the run. There ends up being a penalty on TCU and that pushes them back anyway.

 

So on 2nd and 21, OU is showing a press look to the field. OU is going with zero safety coverage. This is a time when one might have the corner off five yards playing inside leverage to force the WR to the boundary. Instead, OU chooses to press here and while Boykin completes it, again I’ve got no problem with it as Boykin simply makes a perfect throw.

As you can see below Julian is on top of the route through the release.

 

Again below, Julian is still mostly in phase with the receiver. He turns to find the ball, but Boykin drops a perfect pass into the outstretched arms of his receiver. Julian trips a little at the end and isn’t able to make a play on the ball. Again, if Boykin can hit that all day with a blitzer in his face, then he deserves the win. The reality is he can’t, and he didn’t. Julian has a great ability to turn and look for the ball, but he does it a touch early at times and has given up a couple plays as a result. That said, I don’t fault him for it. I’d rather have a corner with the instincts to turn and find the ball lose a few battles, than someone who doesn’t have that instinct at all. People taking shots at Julian aren’t giving him enough credit. In his first year at outside corner, he’s doing a nice job and plays with good technique. In my estimation, he’s currently the best corner on the field.

Even after getting beat deep…Julian is back up on the line in the WRs freakin’ face. I love it! This ends up being an attempted screen that OU reads and stops.

On 2nd and 10 below, Boykin immediately looks over to the off-coverage right away but even though Sanchez shuffles, he still stays tight with his man and doesn’t allow the WR to stem very far. As soon as Boykin sees his first and second reads aren’t open, he tucks it and tries to run but ends up getting sacked by Striker. That’s how you play these teams. These aren’t pro QBs. You make them throw into tight windows consistently and don’t give them anything. If they beat you, they beat you. Better to go down with no bullets in the chamber.

On 3rd and long OU is going to play two man under and rush three with Geneo spying. The reason I love this play is it shows you how easy it is to create turnover situations. People are praising Boykin for taking steps forward as a QB, but that doesn’t mean he is a lights out passer just yet. If you force him to consistently make contested throws and take away his pre-snap target, he will make mistakes just like any other QB. In this case he tries to hit Julian’s man on the deep inside route. He misses his wide receiver by a bit and…

Throws the ball right into the safety’s (Byrd) hands. Unfortunately, he drops the would be INT. Remember, this is the first drive where TCU finally doesn’t score. Though it begins with a perfect deep throw by Boykin early in the drive where he hits the deep route against Julian, OU refuses to back off their coverage! So a drive that began with a single perfect throw nearly ends in a pick and definitely ends with NO points. That’s how you play freakin’ DEFENSE. Make those suckers beat you. Let him know before he even snaps the ball that he may have to go through multiple targets, and he may have to make a tight throw. Make him guess what the coverage and technique is on the play. Make the WR wonder if he’s going to have to beat you off the line, or if he’s going to have to make a contested catch.

I won’t do an outline of it, but I’ll tell you that OU will shut TCU down again on their next offensive series.

The next TCU touchdown is just a breakdown in coverage. TCU sends their RB out as a WR and goes 5 wide. At the snap, OU only has three men to cover four guys. Generally, that can be a problem. I’ve numbered each receiver below that was on the field side. Sanchez is in man (at the top of the pic) and doing a dang fine job of covering his guy, though it won’t matter because trust me, Boykin will almost never come off his first or second read. I believe the call was split coverage, man to one side and Cover-3 to the other. But Julian either didn’t get the memo or didn’t play it right. Instead of picking up the No. 2 WR, who is running a wheel route he’ll eventually score on, he mirrors his WR (No. 1) as if he thinks it’s man. The way he plays off though, it’s clear he knows the call isn’t man. I think this is just a mental lapse, or perhaps Julian just didn’t see the RB/WR running the wheel route. Not sure.

EDIT: Went back and looked at the play below again and it actually please to be a cover 3 zone blitz. When Striker blitzes, the safety picks up the slot receiver and as he puts his hands on him you can see him play outside leverage so I’m assuming he has sseam/curl zone. Just not sure why Jordan Evans comes over and picks up the RB in what appears to be man. OU actually tried to fool Boykin here by bringing the field pressure and dropping the boundary OLB (Geneo). A qb would normally see this and throw to the pressure side. I was a little thrown by the closed technique to the field (Julian) but some teams do basically lock the corner in man to make it look like man free.

Here Sanchez is going to press and bail. One of things I want you to notice as we go through this play is the clock. You can’t see it all but the time on the clock is 10:10 in the second quarter.

At the snap, Sanchez is going to immediately open up and give the WR a free inside release. Look at Jordan Phillips in the middle of the DL. At the snap, he is going to give his man a swim move and beat him immediately.

Look at the time! Within one FREAKING second Jordan Phillips is pressuring the QB, but the secondary can’t even squeeze the route long enough to make Boykin hold it for longer than that one FREAKING second!

That play went for something like 20 yards. Next time you’re quick to say the defensive line gets no pressure, be sure to look at the whole field. The more I look at this play the more I look at this play the more I think this may have simply have been a case where because Sanchez aligned in press man inside the WR, OU assumed Boykin would go away from that side or would assume he has to throw a fade and not a slant. Problem is, if that’s what Boykin thought he had no problem with it and when he turned to throw it, he got a nice surprise with a WR run free inside of the corner.

Now the good on that drive. Look at this 3rd and 4 (below). OU is saying at the snap…nothing is going to be given to you, Boykin. You’re going to have to earn it. And on this play, Boykin isn’t up to the task. OU shows a Cover-2 man under look that ends up becoming a Cover-1 robber at the snap. Sanchez is going to play a hard press technique to the boundary. The receiver tries to take an inside release, Sanchez gets physical with him at the line, and doesn’t give him a free release. Credit to Sanchez here! Tapper is going to smoke the tackle and guard through the B gap and pressure Boykin. Credit to Tap! The running back is going to go out on a wheel route.

In the image below you can see the red arrow pointed to Sanchez where he’s made the WR’s life miserable and taken away Boykin’s first read. You can see Tapper blowing by the linemen and closing in on Boykin. And you see the STUD Jordan Evans in coverage with the running back on that wheel. He’s going to play the ball beautifully and pick it off. This was just excellent team defense that was designed to be aggressive, refused to give Boykin anything easy, and demonstrated what I expected to see from Boykin if OU forced him to do this more often…he’ll make the mistake.

I know a lot of people believe the defense just isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. But there are a ton of talented players on this defense. How good they can be is about trusting them to play up to their ability and recognizing that you are going to get beat on occasion. But if you play defense simply to not get beat, you’ll die a thousand slow deaths. We saw it play out in the Notre Dame game two years ago, we saw it in that nightmare of a game against West Virginia, and we saw it play out — at least on occasion — in the TCU game this past weekend.