Diagnosing Some Of The Coverage Issues From KSU Game
Posted on: October 21, 2014
I’m going to go through a few key plays from the first half, but I’ll start by saying a few things:
– In terms of athletes, OU is much more talented team than this KSU team. Nothing ground breaking there but I feel the need to continually remind people that OU has some real players on their team despite the losses.
– These POP or run/pass option plays that KSU is getting away with aren’t cool. They appear illegal to me and this needs to be addressed.
– I’ve seen a lot of folks picking on Ahmad Thomas and Julian Wilson. I will address that below.
– Maybe I’m alone on this, but I’m really disturbed by all the blame being heaped on Hunnicutt. That kid has been so clutch for us. Him having one horrible day shouldn’t cost Oklahoma a home game to a team far less talented. Maybe some of you buy into this idea some are selling that the parity in college football makes these things inevitable. I do not.
There is more parity, but there are also still the haves and the have nots. I’m honestly more disturbed by the misuse of timeouts than anything else. Coaches are paid, Hunnicutt isn’t. The offense gave away more points than Hunnicutt missed. And this KSU offense only put 14 points on Auburn in Manhattan. They scored 24 points against OU’s defense. At a certain point, OU has to field a dominant defense. Not a defense that is just “good enough” to win. I’m talking about a dominant, Top 5, shut your ass down type of defense.
So let’s get started…
This first play I’ll look at was the big reception by Lockett over the middle. Folks wanted to blame Julian for this, but he isn’t guarding Lockett man-to-man on this play.
OU has become a team that plays some sort of zone coverage on at least 1st and 2nd down. They will even play zone occasionally on 3rd down. Let me talk about that for a moment.
Traditionally, it’s common to see a team play zone on 1st and perhaps 2nd down, then play man on 3rd down. The first two downs are typically considered run downs and depending on the call, you get more “run” defenders involved when you call a zone defense. In the Big 12, however, I don’t know if this traditional formula is the correct one. Earlier in the season, Oklahoma’s spacing and ability to match up in zone wasn’t as good as it probably needed to be. Additionally, if you’re trying to confuse teams out of a zone coverage, you have to be able to get pressure. Even if you pattern match, at a certain point the zone defender has to leave/hand his man off. If an opposing QB isn’t getting sufficiently pressured, then OU’s defense just ends up looking like any other average Big 12 defense (though many Big 12 defenses are favoring man now) where QBs just sit back and find holes in the zone.
The call here is a Cover-3 zone blitz on 1st and 10. Waters will hit the post coming open between the corner and safety. Striker is going to end up rushing and the boundary OLB is going to drop, so OU will end up rushing only four. KSU will leave seven blockers in and the motioning WR will actually end up running into Striker on his blitz, essentially give them eight guys blocking. Ever since WVU, offensive coordinators have figured out that if they simply go max protect against OU, they can give their QB time to find an open WR even when there are only 2 or 3 WRs running routes against 7 or 8 defenders. OU will continue to see this until they can resolve the issue. They will also continue to see throws on early downs if OU insists on playing zone coverage on every 1st and 2nd down. Mike Stoops has done a nice job of forcing teams out of constant 10 personnel, but now he has to find a way to take greater advantage of that.
The number two receiver, who I’ve circled below, is going to run a deeper route. The outside WR, who you can’t see in the image, is going to run a deep post. This is where the problem occurs. Ahmad Thomas as a deep middle-third defender is forced the respect the number two receiver that is going to run through his zone (can’t see his route), but he ends up in the far 1/3 which is Zack’s zone.
In the image below, that receiver running into the middle-third zone is not the one that will catch the ball. But because the underneath zone defenders arent dropping deep, it forces Thomas to respect that receiver so he comes up to guard him. But what you can’t see is that Lockett is running up the field and will come into Thomas’ now vacated zone on a post.
Below you can see that Lockett has just found that space between Ahmad and Julian. Not really a bad call on first down. I’ve said for a long time now that I don’t believe Ahmad Thomas has the overall athleticism and range needed at safety, but I’m not sure what people want him to do here? If he let the number two receiver run through his zone and Waters hit him, he would have been off to the races and everyone would have been blaming him for that. And for folks that want to say Julian got burned, again, he wasn’t in man-to-man.
The play below is the one-hitter-quitter TD from Waters to Baby Gronk. Again, this is 1st down and the call appears to be quarters coverage but KSU is going to throw, again, on an early down. Traditionall,y this is a good defensive call on 1st down. Quarters gives you the ability to have four matched up defenders for deep routes. But those safeties, that I’ve circled, have two reads; they have a run read, in additions to their pass reads, so a lot of DCs like this call on first down because it gives the defense nine potential run defenders.
This is going to end up being one of those run/pass option plays and Gronk is going to run right past the LB (Alexander). As you can see, the safeties (below) have come down because they read run. But they’re still in position (for now) to cover a deep route that might release as the play progresses. When that HB/FB slips out of the backfield, the LB has to have a collision with that guy. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen, so he runs totally free at top speed up the seam. Thomas will see what we all see…
Thomas correctly reads run because look (below) how far down the field the offensive lineman are! I have always been under the impression that the lineman can only block no more than three yards down the field on a pass play. The ball isn’t out of Waters hand yet and the linemen are already past that three yard mark. Again, if Thomas hadn’t come downhill and Waters did run it, we would have been saying…Thomas isn’t triggering fast enough. If the LB collides with his guy throwing him at least a little bit off his route, then Waters has to hold on to that ball a little longer and the three Sooners coming for him (seen below) sack/tackle him.
Bottom line to me, this is a penalty and KSU is getting away with it time and time again. This is a lot like Baylor getting away with excessive picks in their pass game. These things frustrate me because they give teams that may otherwise have inept offenses an undeserved, and by rule illegal, advantage. I never faced a fighter in the ring who came at me with a knife but just because I’m quicker, longer, and savvier doesn’t mean the rules should be changed for him. He just has to take his loss like a man or quit boxing. The refs need to put an end to this nonsense.
Below is one of the more frustrating plays for me. KSU will score a TD here. First, you can see OU’s secondary alignment. In the red zone they play seven (!!!) yards off with no inside leverage (Nebraska does this too and I don’t know if OU took it from them or they took it from OU…Nebraska isn’t exactly a defensive powerhouse so I hope they copied OU just because I want to believe OU isn’t taking too much defensive advice from Nebraska).
While folks might argue this protects them against the fade and gives them a chance to break on the slant, I simply don’t believe in that principle. I believe that firstly, different corners are more comfortable with different techniques. For example, OU continues to try to play Julian in off-coverage, but big corners are typically more comfortable playing some type of press coverage, even if it’s just a mirror technique. When you’re big, having the ability to feel where your receiver is can really help. Add to it the fact that you can possibly move your receiver around a little, it gives the bigger CB an advantage. Additionally, your bigger receivers are going to be harder to beat on a fade anyway. However, when you play the type of alignment below, you put him in a situation where he is being forced to move in space against a WR who is not only smaller and quicker, but also knows exactly where he’s going. It’s a big misconception the public holds that off-coverage is easier than press coverage. You have to be an absolute dawg to play this alignment against a guy like Lockett.
KSU knows it so they are going to isolate Julian on Lockett. They will send their HB into the flat, forcing the underneath defender to come up, which opens up that throwing lane. The number two receiver will run a slant to move the safety over, and now you’ve got Julian playing way too far off trying to move in space against Lockett. It’s a failure by design.
Want to add insult to injury? While OU will show five in pressure pre-snap, they’ll actually end up only bringing three. So Waters will have plenty of time to wait for the route to come open.
I’ll add more commentary in a subsequent post, because I want to put together a list of things I think OU could perhaps change to be more effective on defense. I’ve said it before but I’ll continue to say it, this team has the talent to be a great defense. I believe some simplification of the calls would do wonders for this defense. Mike Stoops has forgotten more football than I’ll ever know and he is a great DC, but the current results are not commensurate with the level of talent. I freely admit that I could be wrong (it wouldn’t be the first time) about a number of things. But what I am confident about is the fact that, while the defense hasn’t been bad, there is more in this defense than we are seeing on the field.
82 Comments
For the life of me, I can’t fathom how anyone, let alone M.Stoops, can look at this type of stuff on film and believe this is an effective scheme. Defensive “genius” or no, you’re setting your damn guys up to fail (as K has said).
Every time I read one of these, which are fantastic btw, it just further pisses me off b/c it seems so glaringly obvious and yet nothing seems to change.
Frustrating.
I think that is the frustration of most, if not all, of the fans Jordan. Mike and Josh are both regularly putting these guys in positions to fail. I wish there was a journalist in the Norman area who had the balls to ask Bob about the ignorant coverage with Hayes 7-1/2 yards off the WR who only needed 3 yards for a 1st down. I know they won’t because Bob Stoops acts like a spoiled little brat anytime somebody questions their calls and judgments.
I think Mike was conceding that Thomas could not cover his receiver in press coverage. But to me play off 7 yards is conceding the first down and that is conceding victory.
No one can question the great and powerful Bob.
MS is far from Genius!!! A genius would have figured out a better scheme!!!
I agree K and Jordan. It continues to be baffling how our CB’s — particularly in the red zone — play so far off the line of scrimmage. I was watching the Alabama vs A&M game. Bama’s corners lined up and absolutely jammed the A&M receivers which threw them off their routes. Couple that with bringing 5-6 and you’ve got a recipe for forcing the QB to make quick (and oftentimes) poor decisions.
It seemed we were very concerned with Waters running that we played a quasi run protect/prevent defense. Seemed eerily similar to how we played against Boykin and TCU.
I agree. Mike is afraid of letting the opponent’s QB run, so instead lets him sit back there for 20 seconds against a lame 3 man rush. On the other side, most games OU is afraid to let their QB run. OU is playing with two hands tied behind its back and it ruined the season already.
Mike is playing scared and that is how our players are responding.
That is really frustrating to see how the o-line was so far down the field blocking on the run-pass option plays. Maybe if we would have had the crew that reffed the FSU-ND game we would have gotten one or two of those calls!
So are we still waiting to here about Ripkowski’s block which doesn’t matter a hill of beans now. Or do you think the BIg 12 conference officials might comment on the items you brought up here?
Not sure what there will be to hear re: Rip. He was ejected in the first half, missed the rest of the game. I don’t expect he’d receiver any further type of punishment.
I think he’s asking if the big 12 will say the officials were wrong on rips ejection or explain to stoops what he did wrong.
I think there needs to be more latitude on those “targeting” calls because in this case that player was stumbling and rip basically was caught in no mans land kind of like Evans against la tech.
My point is it doesn’t matter. Once the kid is ejected (in the first half) they are going to miss the whole game anyway. If it happened in the second half sure they could come back and say we are wrong and he doesn’t have to sit out part of the next game.
Unfortunately whether they were wrong or not is mute as he missed the game and it’s not like they can give it back. What does a “we are sorry” do for us here? Not to mention it looked pretty solid helmet on helmet which is probably why it was called.
Are there actually people that think he shouldn’t have been ejected? I’m not judging the logic of the rule itself, but the way it was written, that was a text book example of a player that would be ejected.
Was he defenseless? Hmm, he plays on DL. This rules intent was for WR’s who were getting killed. I will bet there is no other college FB that will be ejected by using the crown of his helmet. If he runs directly into the line, he will use the crown, is that called? Hitting with the crown happens on every play within 5 yards of LOS. I don’t feel the rule was put in place to protect DL.
I think this makes some sense, but maybe he was blindsided that they called it and stuck with it? Not sure.
I think the argument as Boom referred to has to do with the fact that he’s in the “box” and not a defenseless receiver downfiield. A better call would have been to flag the guy who injured Knight’s shoulder by spearing him when he was down. Protecting defenseless qb’s is supposed to be a point of emphasis.
TK was sliding in a head first way and there is a greater latitude when that type of slide occurs rather than feet first.
I thought it was as simple as he hit the other guy in the helmet with his helmet, aka “targeting”. PERIOD. It doesn’t matter whether he was in a box, a circle or a circus. He lowered his helmet and used it to hit another player in the helmet. Very disappointed that the guy who left his feet, launched himself and went helmet first into TK’s shoulder didn’t get tossed as TK laid on the ground.
Exactly. That’s why it was called, and he was tossed.
Had they called the personal foul on the K-State player that speared TK all he would have gotten was a 15 yard penalty that would have offset Rip’s penalty. But Rip would have been the only player thrown out of the game.
“Coaches are paid, Hunnicutt isn’t” This, this and some more of this. People should really quit calling out kids that are trying their best.
Excellent as always. Is it possible that MS is playing so much zone, quarters, cover 3 for prepping our system to match schemes of Baylor/TCU/TTech that predicate upon running a bunch of rub/pick routes? The problem seems to be that with this zone coverage, we are giving all these QBs eternity to throw the ball, and if we don’t rough them up, we don’t have a chance.
I think that’s exactly what he’s doing.
It’s the staff decisions that are costing the team far more than any single play, player or bust by a player. As some have said, the advent of the mobile QB/multiple offenses has left MS grasping. He would be in his element in the old sec or B10 but looks clearly out of it in the B12. Thanks K and fellow posters. Am learning a ton about coverages.
Yes, we are learning quite a lot thanks to JY and K. But, us learning is only making things even more hard to watch on Saturdays. Hope, the coaches take some notes from here, REALLY.
You can avoid a lot of the pick routes with Banjo coverage which is essentially a man/zone hybrid. I think the movement to a heavy zone scheme is about stopping the run while protecting the secondary and using the Stoops’ zone blitzes. That’s what they’re comfortable with. It’ll be interesting to see what they do against Baylor because last yr mike chose to play mostly man free. It worked pretty darn well until the offense eventually put the defense in too many rough spots.
We call out other players all the time when they have bad games. Knight and Sanchez have been raked over the coals for some of their performances. They aren’t paid either. Kickers deserve to be called out when they have a bad game too. Hunnicutt had a horrible game and in the end, all else being equal, we would have won if he had made his kicks. Kickers prove their mettle when they have to make kicks when the game is on the line. He failed. So, yes, for this week it is totally fair to criticize him.
I don’t agree that you call a player out every time he has a bad game, constructive criticism with an eye on how he can improve – I totally get that. But, pointing finger at a particular player and putting the total blame on him for a loss is not appropriate. There were 22 other players on that field who could have helped to make that one extra play that could have got us the W, imo.
Hunnicutt just had a bad day. Who hasn’t? The young man has been a heck of a player for us and no one should be down on him. If anything we should be boosting him up. If you’ve ever had a bad day striking a golf ball, you know the tendency is to try harder and that just doesn’t work. In my opinion, that’s where Hunnicutt was. He’s still one of the greatest kickers in OU history and always will be.
Additionally having the EP blocked on his previous kick probably invented Hunnicutt to rush his FG attempt somewhat.
To play that far off all the time makes me think they don’t think they have the corners that can cover the WRs in press coverage. If that is the reason, need to get the CBs that can then.
Any idea if the downfield blocking on pass plays by KState was one of the topics BStoops was addressing with the league? Is there a 3 yd or more ‘zone’ given?
I hope so. It’s cheap and needs to be addressed. Take that away from KSU and they don’t have much.
I thought that KSU had a TD called back for an illegal man downfield?
yeah they did.
I would have liked to have seen them raise this point with league officials before the game if they saw it on game film. If this was the first game KSU has done it, then officials should have adjusted during the game to call it. We should have been all over the officials about it during the game. It makes it impossible for safeties. Too bad we’re not getting the Florida St calls to save our games!
Perhaps we need to implement the same passing plays in our offense. If the refs are not going to call it than make certain you take advantage of how the refs call the illegal player downfield.
History tells me that if they start calling it on OU they have to call it across the league.
This stuff pi$$es me off so bad I can barely read it……I still love and appreciate the work that goes into these posts though.
I guess part of what we all already know is…it’s inevitable that a player (even one has reliable as Hunnicutt) will eventually have a bad day. But you hope that the rest of the pieces around him doesn’t fail. We just made too many mistakes to overcome one of our best players having that terrible game.
From the pick six, to Neal’s interception throw, to timeout misuse to questionable calls. One of those things happens you survive, maybe two of those you get a W; but when it’s problem on top of problem you get the L.
I thought Huepel finally learned from his poor game plans against TCU and UT, but Mike is still running the same poorly designed schemes. It looks like we are running a defense from the pre-spread era. OU is never going to win a NC is they get out coached 2-3 times per season.
I will give JH a break on the texas game. The defense got picked apart in the first half and didn’t stop texas plus we got a defensive td and a special teams td so that probably shifted his play calling to more conservative in the first half. The 2nd half was good.
But if were going to kill JH for poor play calling we have to do the same for mike stoops with the defenses inability to stop drives and force turnovers and now also not being able to get relentless pressure.
It’s kind of flipped somewhat. Mike was making pretty good 2nd half adjustments, but Heupel wasn’t. This game it didn’t seem like Mike made any adjustments, but I don’t know for sure…..didn’t seem like it.
Seems like all I see every Saturday anymore is our coaches on both sides of the ball getting coached out of their shoes and humiliated. It’s a very disturbing trend to witness. That’s why I think the power structure has changed in the BIG XII. More innovative coaches are having no trouble outfoxing old foxholed coaches at the banner programs who refuse to do things differently.
For all the fan complaining about the offense, it has always been the average to poor defensive numbers that bother me. If the numbers were good, I would not question the 7 to 10 yard cushions by OUr corners, but if Mike Stoops thinks this scheme is working, he needs to get a second opinion.
My only question is why wasn’t Sanchez following Lockett around all game? After the first couple series it was obvious that Wilson couldnt handle him.
They put Sanchez on him at some point. Julian has a bum ankle apparently. Would have loved to see a healthy Julian on Lockett playing some sort of press technique.
I like Wilson but he isn’t made for small shifty guys like Lockett, he did a decent job on Kevin White though
Sanchez guarded Kevin and had a rough go. Julian def seems to have more trouble with the smaller guys which us to be expected but I still think allowing him to play up tighter on a small receiver might help him with his spacing in coverage and allow his size to make an already difficult throw to a small wr, even more difficult.
Sanchez also was nursing a bum shoulder against WV. Looks like it has improved.
Not to mention if they are playing the correct press technique it is harder for them to release (unless they are #2) and throws of the timing of quick release play sets.
Hey, K or Brainiacs. We’re nearing month now without any hint of our next commitment. Do you have any updates or predictions on this? I know the season hasn’t gone well but I still believe OU can end up in the Top-10 in recruiting.
Stephen I like your optimism but I can’t see top 10 right now. If they win out? Yeah they’ll be close but the way this is looking I see right around 15th like the last several years. Which is still good IMO
Well obviously Top-10 would be if everything falls right. But if you look the players we’re targeting, they’re all talented and rank well for their position.
Recruiting has been incredibly quiet these days. I think what’s important right now is for OU to bring in the right guys, not necessarily the highest “rated” guys. Haughton and Reid would be fantastic safety signees even though they aren’t “4 stars”. They bring a diverse skill set and the intelligence for the position.
I know correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation but over the past 6 or so years OU has only had one recruiting class rank inside the Top-10 and during those years we haven’t had the success OU has been accustomed to and expects. On the other side, Bama, FSU, and even ND have been pretty successful. I know you can argue star-rating doesn’t matter but the data does say something there.
I know the recruiting process and the services very well. A couple years ago, Alabama offered a 2 star NG that subsequently was bumped to a high 3 star before any football had been played. He was also invited to the UA All American game. PJ Mbanasor was a 0 star in Feb of this past year holding 0 offers despite the fact that Rivals had seen him play on multiple occasions and his film was available for all to see. He received numerous offers and was subsequently bumped to a 4 star even exceeding Holton Hills ranking. This happens all the time. There is a lot more to the story of recruiting. All that matters to me is evaluation and fit. If that kid happens to be bumped to a 4 star fine. If he doesn’t fine. In my estimation OU just needs to find the right guys. Michigan State plays excellent defense by having a scheme they believe in and recruiting guys to fit. And by the way that CB Mich State grabbed out of Dallas is rated a 3 star but he’s as good as any CB in Texas.
I agree with you on the right guys, and I also understand higher rated players don’t work out all the time (Jarboe/Metoyer are pretty good examples) but it feels like sometimes we miss the right guys (Peat) at critical positions. Still, I think we can get some really good players on the defensive side of the ball and I’m excited to see what the future holds when the stadium renovations are completed.
You’re right. They miss on a lot of good players. They’ve just gotta keep grinding…watching film…talking to kids and trying to find the right ones.
The NFL grades their draftees on more than physical skills. They also put players through batteries of tests that reflect their INTELLIGENCE! Don’t know the HS for Jarboe but if you couldn’t get good grades where Metoyer went you probably couldn’t dig ditches either!
But I do not think that OU knows what “fit” they need. They recruit talent that are rated as high as they can get and hope they “fit”. And if it works everyone is happy and says the coached “coach them up” no matter how many stars. I would almost bet my hat, ass and gas mask that the school getting the most stars will be the most consistent in wins year after year.
We need LBs bad. I dont have a good feeling with the guys they like (Jefferson, wheeler ). I agree we need to find the right guys for our system and practice habits. Would love to have Haughton. Think he is the best prospects of the safeties we are looking at. Can cover a lot of ground and play like a corner.
Disappointing coaching overall, especially defensively where this team has so much potential.How can we keep repeating the same mistakes on D, and we’re talking about eye-popping mistakes a fan with below-average knowledge can point.Is it stubbornness or is it incompetence.Either way it is a pity because in my opinion we could be really dominant on D
How in the world can there not be inside safety help for Julian, particularly with 8 in coverage? I like his chances against the fade, but having Julian 1:1 with one of the best receivers in the league seems very strange. Did the ILBs not get deep enough?
It was a well designed play by KSU and not the best defensive call by OU IMO.
Super K. Good analysis… But the team that Auburn saw out of K-State was probably less far along in personnel placement and what works and doesn’t work from the initial pre season game plan developed by the Snyder crew (not making an excuse for the D just throwing in another variable). I think teams morph as the season goes along thus the terms ‘pre and mid season form’. I would tend to agree if we had played them immediately following their tilt with Auburn. With that being said would love to see dominating defense too regardless of the seasonal form though. Still waiting on them to let the dogs out. There are a lot of dogs on this defense I think. Opponent offensive schemes and the OU defensive caution has somewhat stunted their progress it seems. Thoughts?
Also in the goal line situation it seems like we were not schemed to take away their primary target ( maybe having the high safety play underneath since the backers are to primarily key run.) Is the Free safety slightly misaligned from the start of the read? Especially since the TE is already covered up and it appears we have good defensive leverage to that side.
I think you’re right. One of the things OU is dealing with right now is the max protect. It’s a strange phenomena but if you play most DCs in 10 personnel with only 5 blockers…they have no problem bringing 5 and maybe even 6. But the more blockers you add the more they seem to want to play coverage. Part of the reason for this is because you’re forcing their best pass rusher to come from further away. And I don’t think it’s a mis-alignment in that I think they are aligned the way the call was intended but I agree that showing an overload blitz to the boundary and then dropping it when there is only one potential immediate receiving threat to that side seems like a misuse of some valuable defenders.
Man K, egos would likely not let it happen, but I’d sure like if ole Mike would call you in as and advisor – whiteboard together 😉 I really like him as a DC, but the tinkering might be a bit much perhaps. I always think it’s good (like before with Venables) to have 2 minds on something to run ideas by one another. Perhaps that’s part of problem, maybe our LB coach is just a yes man and doesn’t bring enough counter thoughts to table.
Believe me, I’d run the defense into the ground haha. But to your point, I think a lot of being good at anything is taking notes/advice from the right people…I’m not the right people…but there are a lot of DCs doing good things out there that any staff can learn from. OU’s staff certainly learns and shares ideas with folks and vice versa. I think moving to a modified 3-4 was a positive move by the staff and they were willing to learn (and continue to learn) how to run it and recruit to it. In the Big 12 now, just about every team (including TCU) has some variation of a front that employs 3 down linemen at some point in the game even though the alignment differs. But obviously trying to grow and adapt is a constant process.
I said same thing earlier, perhaps we expected too much too quickly from new schemes (O & D) after Sugar. It’s one thing to get them down, but to switch so many players & expect it to take back off obviously wasn’t in cards. We knew the secondary would be toughest positions to fill & Mike seems to really be doing a lot of things that are protecting them in theory, but end up having opposite effect by not using our strength…..pressure.
who woulda thunk…
After the Sugar, OU could have been looking at 3 losses before Nov.?
Under normal circumstances, TX could have/should have been a loss.
I’ll freely admit that going into the season, I definitely didn’t see it.
I defer to your knowledge and understanding of DB play, Super K. I’m an old lineman and that is the aspect of the game that I follow.
In saying that I do look at other aspects of the game on replays and I will say this, WV beat BU by playing press coverage and blitzing up the middle and not rushing from the edges. They have given the rest of the league the blue print for beating BU’s offense and I sincerely hope OU follows it. Once BU got rattled the wheels came off and their receivers were dropping passes and they committed many, many penalties.
Outsmarting a team with schemes has its own satisfaction, but it seems to me playing aggressive man coverage has the potential for greater success.
I’ve always believed that the best roadmap in college is an easy install and making the primary focus, repetition, skill development, flexibility. Over time that allows you to see exactly what kind of player you need in order to make your system work and recruit to it. Most coaches run the same stuff anymore. There isn’t a ton of novel stuff. They call it different things and they might mystify a person with the language but when it gets down to it…a lot of it is the same stuff. And any perceived advantage one way can always be argued another way. But to me the constant is always…believe in something, believe in it and be good at it.
Alright,.. I’ve lost something here yous two. Sos Ima gonna write this – EasTex – yes to the aggressive man coverage as I saw and see it. Super K – Last sentence – agreed. What am I missin? Same thing only different?
Here is the rule from NCAA rulebook. Ineligible Receiver Downfield
ARTICLE 10. No originally ineligible receiver shall be or have been more than
three yards beyond the neutral zone until a legal forward pass that crosses the
neutral zone has been thrown (A.R. 7-3-10-I and II).
One has to think that other teams will present the game film to the Big12 to ensure they aren’t hurt by a failure to apply the rule.
The two guys blocking down the field in the above picture are eligible receivers, because they’re the two tight ends… aren’t they?
Not unless one of OL has moved several yard outside of Striker on their right. Looking at the previous pictures on that play it appears the downfield blocker on the right is the TE and the downfield blocker on the left is the center or LG.
Yeah, appears so.
I completely agree with you about the POP play. The first thing I thought was, “That’s blocking down field!”. It wasn’t even close. If the QB was running, as he showed, we were there to stuff him. BD was made a rule because of plays like this.
Just a thought – anybody blamin one kid ((Ah, who was that All – American golden child? Moneycutt?) for a loss is a horse’s ass.
OU’s final touchdown. Darlington is 4 yards down field on a zone read fake. Darlington also never really engages anyone, just goes down field.
Even if you pattern match, at a certain point the zone defender has to leave/hand his man off
Maybe I’m confused, but I thought the point of pattern matching defense was that you never hand a man off to another defender, but that after the routes have expressed themselves everyone should find someone to man up on, and if not they just spot drop to their zone.