Trench Warfare | Oklahoma vs. TCU (Part 1)
Posted on: October 6, 2014
Here’s the first time on 2nd and 10 when we ran the zone read, with a triple option look off of it. You see both backers filling hard. Gary Patterson has a defense that will first…Attack. Secondly, they’re going to attack you, and just to make sure on the third note….They’re going to attack.
Problem #1…We don’t understand who our opponent is.
Coach Patterson believes in a system that allows his guys to play fast and not think a lot. What is option football to a defense? It is one that forces a defense to play assignment football…and have to think.
So Trevor gives the ball to Ross. Note the blue dots on Nila’s #54 and Savage’s #77. They have clearly come off of their combo’s too late to pick up the linebackers sprinting up to fill and “blow up the play. They’re mirror images of each other, and TCU’s speed and attacking nature was something we weren’t ready for. Had we been prepared, then our guys know to disengage earlier and get those backers. If we block the backers, then Ross gets a nice gain, and the only guy who can make the play is the safety whom I’ve circled.
Pretend that we let Trevor pull the ball on the triple option. TCU’s #17 is standing just above the 2 on the 2nd and 10 graphic. Trevor would then attack him, and have the option to pitch out or put a move on. No way that #17 could slow play that, and at this point if Trevor pulls it, then the safety on the 1st down line and bottom hash would have to close 10 yards and make an open field tackle. Either way it’s a better “option” than a straight called give.
Finally it’s poor execution for us missing those blocks, and poor play design by giving the ball. So my frustration lies with us making Trevor give the ball to protect him.
Because here later on in the 1st quarter, we run a designed QB draw. Perine crushes the backer on the lead block, and Darlington’s hustling up second level to get the safety. So if we’re protecting our QB by not letting him pull the ball on the option, why are we running the damn play to begin with? His chances of getting hit hard are greater on QB draws than they are in the option game. The guy has clearly shown that he understands that the team can’t afford to lose him. He’s slid, gotten out of bounds and shows a runner’s savvy when he has it. Let him be who he is.
At the mesh point, it’s clear that the defensive end doesn’t fear Trevor keeping the ball. He is turned 90 degrees sideways clearly crashing on the give. If Trevor keeps it, he walks in the end zone. Sterling has a good block outside and there’s a huge lane.
Now Perine wins this one on one here to ultimately score. Look closer inside the bottom right corner of the red circle. That helmet belongs to the defensive end who is crashing on Perine. That’s a split second after the give. But if we’re truly running the option, and our QB doesn’t have the ability to read it, then he doesn’t need to be playing. I can’t believe that’s the case, since I’ve seen him do it very well at K-State last year when he was allowed to do it. If he’s not doing it well enough to trust him to make the right read, then why is it a staple of the offense?
To wrap up this short but sweet take on Monday morning, there were countless shots of stuff like this. The wounds for everyone involved are fresh, and I didn’t want to pummel the staff or the kids. Me posting 70 pictures showing these kinds of examples over and over wouldn’t be in good taste in my opinion. I’ve got some other things I want to look at tomorrow, and I want to have a discussion with you all about what you’re seeing. I was texting with one of my former college teammates who was a running back for us this morning. When I was expressing my frustration about what Trevor keeping the ball could do for us he responded…
“Yep, and it’d loosen them up on Perine.”
So not only are you taking easy yards that THEY’RE GIVING US every time you run the play, you’re dictating to defenders that they can’t crash down on Perine. We all know what he does to people on on one.
61 Comments
On that note, where is Flowers? Why aren’t we using him or really any of the backs, but especially the fullback in the passing game more? Isn’t that why we brought Dimitri in?
I agree. There seemed to be so much talk about how great Flowers is and how much he was like Trey, but he has been missing in action. I would love to see us diversified enough on offense to spread the ball around to different playmakers.
Would like to see him in or Rip in place of Bell when we are running…
Is Stoops love for Bell too much to overcome?
Totally agree. Is Bell truly one of the 5 most dynamic threats we have on the team at the WR/TE/RB/FB position? He played a lot this week and has not yet shown a nack for getting open or making plays. I love him for his sacrifice but that doesn’t mean we need to further saddle an offense that is already a little challenged at times.
Bell is open, or open *enough*, a lot. Knight doesn’t have the ability, or desire, to go that far into his progressions to see that.
On one of his interceptions last week, Bell was breaking open over the top. He had gotten separation and there was no one over the top, and he was directly behind the receiver Knight threw to on the interception. It was an easy touchdown had he thrown it over the top to Bell, and instead an interception by trying to force it to his primary read…
Knight isn’t good, and it’s making everyone else look really, really bad…
Does anyone really think there is a defense out there (including TCU) that can consistently stop Rip, Flowers, and Perine running the diamond behind this O-line? Just man up, line up and do it for God’s sake!! If they stop it, they stop it, but at least you tried it.
JY, thought I was over this befuddlement of a game and now you’ve opened up the wounds again. Do appreciate your efforts.
Hate to sound like my dad but,
This hurts me more than it hurts you…
Not likely.
only because you were able to watch the replay, while I have not been able to bring myself to hit the replay button several times up to this point…
Knowing that we left so much on the field makes it feel much worse than if we were straight up outplayed.
It’s frustrating because after all the mistakes and poor management etc, that game was still winnable in the end.
Which adds to my frustration because given TCU’s ball security issues, what happens if we attack them when we’re on defense and force Boykin to throw in tight windows and under duress..
He was throwing dangerous throws all game too, from the get-go.
Sometimes I wonder if the players really bought into the game plan. They played hard, but it felt like something emotional was missing, like having fun.
This was my whole point in an earlier article. First half I would have been getting after Boykin pretty hard. Even if it cost us (it did anyway), after picking his self off the ground a few times, he would have been pausing and looking whose headed his way.
I’ve been biting my tongue the last couple of days, but I’m going to go ahead and speak my piece then I’m out. I’ve really felt like the pieces have been coming together for this program to make a run for some time now, but this whole JH thing is laughable. Seriously, how foolish is it for us to be in a state of shock when Josh Heupel comes out and lays one of his big fat frigging Josh Heupel eggs? That dude is a known mother frickin commodity, folks, so hoping he might just show up one day and not be the inept, in over his head buffoon that he’s always been, requires us to go to sleep each night with our heads in the sand and awake each day in a world made anew. And please don’t tell me he needs to go back to the sideline and focus on coaching up our QB’s. I don’t know if there’s any solid proof out there in how large a role he really played in the development of our QB’s. What I do know is, he functioned under the direction of Kevin Wilson, a man I give much more credit to than a lot of Sooner fans. I think it’s foolish to suggest that Wilson, as our offensive coordinator, didn’t play a significant role in the development of our QB’s. Wilson was a constant throughout Heupel’s coaching career at Oklahoma, so please forgive me if I am hesitant to heap the QB coach praise upon JH.
And another thing to consider, Josh Heupel assumed the role as offensive coordinator with only four or five years coaching experience. In retrospect, that’s absurd for a program of OU’s stature, and it tells me that he likely lacked the necessary experience to satisfy the expectations and duties of the job. That’s why you see nice, sensible defensive adjustments at halftime from Mike Stoops, and inexplicable, fist-pounding, WTF offensive adjustments from the Josh Heupel turd show. Don’t get me wrong, I know he’s called some nice games here and there, but even a blind dog finds a bone on occasion.
Listen, I know I’m still upset and not really adding anything positive to the conversation here so I’ll bring this to a close, but we went thru this for how many years with Brent Venables before action was taken? Eight? The fact is, this isn’t going to change anytime soon. We’re stuck with this senseless blockhead AT LEAST until it reaches the point where his gruesome performances can no longer be explained away to our spineless media with a supposed, matter-of-fact Bobby Stoops coaching cliche. This whole thing is becoming more and more mind-numbingly painful to watch. I prayed for years that the Jobs Fairy would send something Venables way and it never happened. I will be shocked if someone actually offers Heupel a job he’s willing to accept, so we may as well get used to it.
What you said.
BOOMER!
I tend to agree with you. I also think that JH is under the opinion that the QB, whomever it may be, has the same football mind as JH and that he’ll make the same on field calls. Just a thought.
that would be arrogance, would it not? expecting everyone one of his qb’s to read like him, or from what I see, Him just going ahead and reading FOR them. Seems he never lets his qb’s read anything for themselves..
I think he baby’s his qb’s by not teaching them to READ defenses for themselves. Stunts their growth as quarterbacks.
I don’t think we’ve had a QB since Josh who has been allowed to make the on field calls.
Yo, SGE, this is FortySeven from that other site … and I totally agree with you, BUT don’t forget that Bob hired this guy. Not all the blame goes to JH. Bob’s teams lay at least one egg a season, and I’m hoping this is it. If it isn’t then we’re in for another loss as bad or worse than this one.
Totally agree with this. I am not sure why everyone says we must give credit to Heupel for our QB development. Bradford was great but not sure how much is attributed to Heupel. And how many people out there truly think Landry developed or improved over the 4 years under Josh. Or where was there ever any bit of a sign of development of Bell?
You can say that Knight didn’t make a lot of throws but with a QB struggling why didn’t Josh give him some easy throws in the flat on bubble screens (that used to be like 25 percent of our offense) or with slants and screens to give him a little confidence? Seems like every week we see offenses taking what our defense allows but have never would expect that out of our offense. That is a scheme problem.
In good taste or not, I’d like to see more still shots of what we’re leaving off the board due to our poor schematics.
You’ll get em. This was only the 1st quarter.
Perciate what you do mayn. Even though it crushes my soul to see it.
Did anyone else notice Knight running with the ball far from his body and actually losing possession a few times when he was hit/tackled? I wonder if he has ball security issues in practice that influences the lack of his involvement in the run game? I’m sure he’s not getting hit in practice, but I was surprised at how he carried the ball during the game.
Personally, I think he was just rusty. He hasnt been allowed to run in a game in a while, and it showed first few runs. He seemed to have a better feel for ball security on later runs..
Absolutely right. It was as though he’d never been coached one day on ball security. Truly unbelievable.
And, lest someone think I’m pilling on: I like Knight and am still high on him.
He just has crap ball security.
It’s hard for me to believe Trevor can take the physicality associated with running the ball. He does not look the stuff of an option QB, much less the physicality of a Boykin. BTW: I’m screen name ‘FortySeven’ on that other site that JE used to frequent.
To add insult to injury, TCU’s Boykin & Dawson were named the BigXII’s Offensive & Defensive Players of the week.
http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=106181&SPID=13139&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209699791&DB_OEM_ID=10410
JY, thank you. Everything you pointed out is absolutely accurate.
We have some damn smart posters on this board, and some damn smart Brainiacs, too. But I know we are not smarter than the coaches (why they’re paid the big bucks amirite?)… How the hell do we ALL see this, and yet they can let Trevor get up on the podium and actually say “we are reading the DE and its always been a ‘give’ read.” B-freakin-S! This screen shot, and MULTIPLE others all season prove otherwise.
jy……..I hope your breakdown will include the 4th q when we get 2 to’s from the d and the o does nothing……..thxs
It will. I want to talk about the 4th down where we got stuffed too.
was it just my imagination or did 79 get in on a double team several times when he should have picked up the defender charging into the backfield? Or was there something else going on there?
I can’t wait to see your breakdown on that 4th down play. To me it is a perfect example of how poorly some plays are drawn up. First of all, I’m going with the Belldozer on that play. It’s like 99 for 100 in those situations all-time. But if you want to run Perine up the middle I’m fine with that too, but what in the hell are they doing sending the lead blocker (Bell) all the way out to the right side to block 20 feet away from where the run is going? Why is Bell even in there on that play when you have a guy like Ripkowski who may be the best lead blocking FB in the country???
I did LOVE Trevor’s response to the Katy Perry question. Classic. There is no doubt in my mind that got to his head a little bit. You know his “boys” were all over him about that pre-game when they got wind of it. Seeing his quiet, humble personality, that had to throw him for a loop…and not that Katy Perry is great or anything, but just the stardom factor. Like “really, Katy Perry just mentioned me on tv?” Craziness I tell you.
I agree with your point – know the opponent. Patterson is a good coach, this is a really big game for them and it’s in their house. They are undefeated and get no respect, they are the underdog and have a chip on their shoulder. In other words, they are dangerous. Yet we seem to take it for granted. We don’t attack them on defense and we don’t use any misdirection or use a true option read to exploit their aggressiveness and speed. Instead we play with one hand tied behind our back. Examples:
Strength – mobile, intelligent Qb – strategy require him to be a pocket passer.
Strength – best pass rusher in FBS – strategy require him to drop into coverage over half the time.
Strength – lots of offensive weapons – strategy use just 2 or 3.
agreed on all points. Great post!
Good post and this is what has frustrated me the most about this staff. They seem to do directly the opposite of what they should do sometimes and I just can’t wrap my mind around why that’s happening. I just don’t get it. I’ve thought about it over and over and over and I get nowhere. The only conclusion that I’ve come to is that I’m trying to rationalize in my mind that what I’m seeing is happening for reasons other than pure incompetence. I guess I really don’t want to believe that OU would turn over the keys to our ferrari of a program to a granny that doesn’t know how to drive it and fears it’s horsepower. But that’s what I see…..
Maybe that’s his way of telling us that he sees the DE turning inside, and is dying to burn them when he sees it, but, “the coaches wont let me”.
Great job again, JY. I am clearly puzzled by Trevor’s comment during the presser that he’s reading the DE, cause I agree with you, it certainly doesn’t seem like he’s being allowed to.
Oops. I posted that in the wrong spot.
This may not be the right place for my “vent,” and I apologize in advance for the length. I agree that things need to be fixed, and have no quarrel at all with JY’s great analysis above. This is mostly a response to Gus and Charles’ comments during the game with which I take disagree.
IMHO, the play calling during the game was not the issue. Receivers were not doing their job in getting open, and too many times the blitz pressure was allowed to come through untouched, sometimes when it looked like it would have been easy to pick up.
Keep in mind that at the beginning of the game, we spotted TCU a quick 14 points and without good play calling in the first half, including several inspired calls, we’re not even in this game at all.
Regarding the second half, we started with a long drive for a td. Then Charles and Gus started with their misguided analysis that Trevor was getting less and less accurate, helping to creat a false impression that he was “struggling.”
Here’s a quick run down of the string of passing plays, which were perfectly good calls, in my view. You can always criticize play calling in hind sight, when the team loses, especially, but while opinions may differ, this stretch of calls is far from “indefensible.” Here’s what I saw:
First play, Ross run, keeps them honest, but the line gets stuffed, and it goes nowhere.
Blocking breakdown, Trevor running for his life.
Bell, the intended receiver falls down.
——-
next series:
Play action on first down (this was the game plan, and was very effective) Durron breaks inside when it appears he should have turned out. If he had, the ball is in the right place and he’s open for a good play.
Great play action slant to Shep, 1st down.
Ok so far.
Perine run, keeps them honest, but again, the blocking isn’t there, gets no yardage.
Play action to KJ pass is open, but is tipped.
3-8 This is a key play, Durron is being held by number 17 after the ball is in the air making it appear that the pass is over thrown, but it’s not. I don’t know if this should be a penalty, or if it’s just good defense, but Durron would have arrived right where the ball was thrown if the defender hadn’t grabbed him. Of course, Gus and Charles miss that entirely and are talking about how we missed an opportunity because the defenders collided.
So far, from what I saw, no issues with Trevor’s accuracy. But Gus and Charles are talking like he’s really struggling, based upon his completion percentage.
————————-
1-10 KJ appears to cut the wrong way. Result, it looks like the pass is behind him. If he cuts out instead of in, it’s a catch and a good call. Wide open, good throw.
Great screen pass call to Perine.
Here’s the pick -6… Is this great defense, did they steal the play :-), or maybe it’s a bad play by Trevor. I dunno, clearly wasn’t designed to be an interception.
——————–
At this point we have passed on first down once, incomplete due to miscommunication, and we have run on first down twice, once with Ross and once with Perine, each time for no gain.
The most success is with the play action on early downs, per the game plan.
Perhaps in reaction to the interception, Heupel does what all the fans/media are screaming for, play action and rolls Trevor out. The execution on this had to be horrible. No one is open and Trevor’s running for his life again.
2-10 play action and nobody gets open, I think Trevor had to throw it away.
3-10 No body gets open anywhere and the rush gets to Trevor.
—————————————————
Since apparently no one is able to get open, Heupel returns to the run this series with Perine with only moderate success. We end up having to throw on third down, which Trevor does with perfect acurracy for a first.
Run Perine again, gets nothing. Short accurate pass to Neal, on second. On third and 5 combo of nobody open, and pocket pushed back into Trevor, ruining the play.
In Summary, the pass protection was suspect, and the receivers were unable to get open on key plays. Twice the receiver appeared to be open, but cut the wrong way.
Three times that we ran on 1st down we ended up behind the chains, gaining no yards, so obviously not being able to execute on the run plays was an issue.
Calling too many pass plays in this situation was NOT the issue.
Just my opinion, of course.
– Not going to execute many run plays from pistol zone read when always giving “give” call. Playcalling. Advantage defense.
– Not running any “in” routes, curls, swing passes, screens, etc…easy passes for your qb to complete, playcalling. Advantage defense.
– Not realizing running wasnt working on first down, or EVER with Ross trying between tackles, but yet you keep running ball on first down and keep running Ross into game… Playcalling and predictability. advantage defense.
– Not realizing the blocking isnt what its supposed to be because defense “tees off” everytime you run playclock down to 1 or 2, Playcalling and game management. advantage defense.
– Not ever running one stinking naked bootleg to keep defense honest, lack of playcalling. advantage defense.
I’m with you on Trevor not being entirely at fault, but to me, his struggles can only be blamed on one man (besides himself obviously), and that is JH and his game management, from beginning to end.
Not to put you out though Soonermusic, I always appreciate your thoughts, and hope you keep em coming…but I guess its as you said earlier, I suppose we agree to disagree about JH and his playcalling. But I’m okay with that. 🙂
“- Not running any “in” routes, curls, swing passes, screens,”
They did run some of those. There was a successful swing pass to Ross, and a key screen pass to Perine. I understand your frustration that there wasn’t more, but if the plays he calls are open, if executed properly, then it’s just a choice.
“Not realizing running wasnt working on first down, or EVER with Ross”
True, but it didn’t work with Perine either, as I pointed out above. On those plays it wasn’t the back’s fault, and and even mix of run and pass on first down during the above series was not predictable.
“Not realizing the blocking isnt what its supposed to be because defense “tees off” everytime you run playclock down to 1 or 2″
also true, but Trevor seemed to indicate during the presser that this was as much on him and Ty as anyone.
“Not ever running one stinking naked bootleg to keep defense honest”
I think the qb keepers and draws were filling this need. The qb draw was quite successful, up until the last time…:-(
Respect your opinions as well, Daddy R…
Looks similar to the easy walk in score vs Tennessee. Hate to say it but if he pulled this on occasion maybe teams couldnt overload the OL and have someone in the backfield to tackle Perine on 4th and 1s.
hmmm…sounds reasonable.
Great breakdown. I pause and use slow mo but still shots are best and all of you at TFB have a way of presenting that is very helpful. No vent, it’s over. I hope OU understands to win it all, they have to play every game TO win it all. If Trevor is allowed to play his game and stays healthy, we win it all. That’s when fate comes in.
Heupel, needs to watch himself on tape in 2000. He had a lot of scrambles to keep drives alive and he threw himself around a lot. Name the back up? Same scenario. Play Trevor ball and on defense, attack. That could be our identity week in & out.
TCU staff ran Treyvone Boykin for 22 carries and 77 yards.
Utah staff ran Kendal Thomson for 19 carries and 83 yards.
Our coaching staff are morons.
OU staff ran Trevor Knight for 13 carries and 61 yards. not sure what you’re getting at. could there have been more carries? sure, if your qb is cramping, might not want to chance it
could it have been more yards? sure
but when he had far fewer carries and almost as many yards as boykin and was on pace for KT’s #’s, not sure where the moron comment is going in this regard
Half of his runs were scrambles where Knight took off due to pass coverage downfield. My point was just to show how much other coaches with true dual threat QB’s are running their QB’s.
i get both sides. coaches are seeing cody in practice every day and might not think he’s ready to take the reigns just yet so they wanna keep tk healthy and maybe felt we could win with the infuriating called gives but to win every single game you have to be willing to take risks and answer questions later. its always a damned if you do damned if you don’t job. i’m with you though, just playing devils advocate. you play to win the title and if your guy gets hurt, he gets hurt, it wasn’t meant to be and if cody’s not ready and you still have a shot at a title you choose either him or try to get blake ready
Pretty sure it’s just the one guy on staff…although the boss continues to let him get away with it, so…you may be onto something.
Thanks JY, don’t know how you do it. I’ve only been able to make myself re-watch the game once because I get so angry seeing what “should have” been done. Still looking forward to the rest of the breakdown.
Thanks JY. I stated here after the game that I was very disappointed with the O line play.
That said, I’ll be staying away from TFB for a few days, far too much negativity being expressed here for my taste.
JY – am curious who decides what type of QB to go after in recruiting? If its Josh, then he surely needs to design a game plan taylor made for his chosen QB’s skill set. If we are preferring a dual threat running QB, we should take full advantage and use him as a dual threat. Either we are trying to avoid TK breaking in two, or he sucks at read option. Its pointless trying to fake things and believe ramming the same few plays over and over will work. A defense will never respect and honor what you never burn them on. It would be like running play action every play and passing each time.
If we are truly after another dual threat running QB like Torrance Gibson, I sure hope he gets his talents fully utilized.
I hope Josh Heupel is watching this Seahawks game, although Knight isn’t the passer Russell Wilson is, they let him throw on the run where Knight does well! Plus they use the quarterback run game to set up easy passes for Tight Ends.
Russell Wilson has been one of my favorite QBs to watch for years. Am fine with mobile running QBs but they need to be able to make all the throws and pass accurately first and foremost. There is a reason why the Tim Tebows, Collin Kleins, Eric Crouches, Seneca Wallaces and Terrelle Pryors never pan out as QBs at the next level.
JY,
If TCU’s D-line and LBs are going to attack and OU wants to run between the tackles with Perine or Ross (with Rip blocking or leading the way), then would counters, traps, and wham blocks work to relieve their attacking pressure or open up big holes by using their tendencies against them?
It seems that you’re pointing out that OU is playing “man ball” and blocking people almost straight up; no pulling, no trapping,… Does OU run traps, counters, or whams at all? Does OU utilize Bell to do crack back blocks?
These are examples of what I’m thinking:
http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1839627/iLyt5JbC8melv.gif
http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1839603/ibcs0EPhmJjTHg.gif
I don’t watch the games closely enough in this manner to pick out the O-line schemes.
What happened to a good old i-formation double tight formation? How come we are out of the pistol/shotgun 99.9% of the time. You want to be a power run team watch tape of Stanford or Bama or Mich. St. And btw we can work play action rollouts off of that as well.
I agree with about everything said. My biggest fear is that our staff will use this game plan for Baylor.