The Football Brainiacs

Image via USA Today Sports/Jim Brown

I watched some film of last week’s Tennessee vs Bowling Green game. Below are some of my takeaways. Dan Harralson (@DanHarralson) who covers the Vols for Football.com was kind enough to let me bounce my own thoughts off him and supplement some information regarding personnel, strengths, etc.

Offensive Notes

– Their starting quarterback, Joshua Dobbs, is poised and accurate. At first glance he can appear to lack the vision to see receivers breaking open. But as you look closer it’s clear that he’s a patient QB who is smart enough to know when there’s going to be more. On multiple occasions he’d have a quick hitch or an out in a levels concept breaking open. I’d be thinking…”there it is! throw it!”…but he’d pass it up. A second or two later he’d have a mid-range receiver come open. When I mentioned this observation to Dan he said that’s kind of Dobbs M.O. He said Dobbs is indeed a very intelligent quarterback who sees the field well. Dobbs isn’t an elusive guy but he’s mobile enough to get himself out of trouble if necessary. He can afford to be patient.

– The Tennessee offensive line is much better than they were last year. That isn’t necessarily saying much as the Vols line last year in Norman really struggled. This year they’re doing a better job of passing off defenders against movement and they’re better at opening up running lanes and sustaining blocks. They aren’t going to part the seas but…

– They’ve got a couple running backs in Hurd and Kamara with good vision who can weave their way through traffic. Kamara is a smaller back who is agile and can bounce and get up-field in a hurry. Hurd is a bigger back but who doesn’t come down easy but still has sufficient agility. Again, the offensive line isn’t going to open up huge lanes consistently but they’re firing off the ball better and creating a little space for their backs to navigate.

– While the offensive line for the Vols is better than the one we saw last year in Norman, they’re still clearly a work in progress. There still appear to be some communication issues allowing defenders to come free unimpeded. They aren’t a dominant run blocking team but in their zone runs they get enough serviceable blocking to let their two backs find some space. They are surprisingly good when they run power though. With OU’s athleticism on the defensive line it’ll be interesting to see how successful they are against Tennesee’s pulling linemen.

Dan agreed with my assessment. Dan described the Vols offensive line as “good not great” which is essentially what I came away thinking. Dan and I also agreed though that the quality of the RBs and the mobility of Dobbs can help the Vols offensive line.

– Tennessee has a few nice receiving targets. Guys like Von Pearson, Marquez North and Josh Malone give the Vols size. Perhaps their most dangerous wide receiver is “Pig” Howard who is small inside receiver. Howard didn’t play in the Bowling Green. According to Dan, Howard was suspended for the first game but will be back for the OU game this weekend.

Another guy to keep an eye on is tight end, Ethan Wolfe. Dan mentioned that Wolfe worked hard during the offseason on developing himself as a better blocking tight end. He’s a natural flex type TE with great body control and great hands but the film does show a better developed blocker which makes Ethan more of an every down tight end. Bowling Green didn’t use Wolfe in the pass game a lot against Bowling Green but when they did he was effective. I expect to see him released up-field quite a bit more against the Sooners.

– I asked Dan how much better this year’s Tennessee offense is compared to last years. He said in his opinion it’s, “night and day different”. I think there is little doubt that OU will be facing a much more explosive offense than they Sooners saw last year in Norman.

Defensive Notes

– This is an aggressive defense. Their defensive line gets up field in a hurry. The linebackers play downhill, sometimes in a way that is undisciplined but results in a lot of disruption in the run game. Their secondary played primarily man coverage against Bowling Green.

– As most of you have read by now, one of Tennessee’s starting interior defensive lineman, Danny O’Brien, will not be available in this weekend’s match-up. Dan mentioned that O’Brien is a blow in that he does a nice job of anchoring down against the run. However, the Vols have a few other upperclassmen that can play. Also, McKenzie and Tuttle, two freshmen will play. Tuttle actually played more than McKenzie in the opener.

– Tennessee runs primarily a single gap 4-man front and has a couple good book-end edge rushers in Derek Barnett and Corey Vereen. With OU being so green at the tackle position, these edge match-ups will be more than notable. Though I think more critical will be how OU’s offensive line adjusts to different pressure looks from Tennessee. There’s little doubt Tennessee is going to try to confuse Oklahoma’s young defensive line and trust their secondary in coverage…

– I know a lot Sooner fans have been critical of the Tennessee secondary and some of the criticism is, in my opinion, warranted. I think they lack physicality at the safety position. They don’t play the alley particularly well. And as centerfielders they are sometimes late getting over to help and when they are there, they aren’t going to go Major Wright on a receiver. Most of you probably saw their cornerback, Emmanuel Mosseley, struggle on 9 routes against Bowling Green. Dan did mention that Justin Martin, the JUCO CB out of NEO may be back this weekend. Martin doesn’t have great technique but he has great length and speed. On the opposite side Tennessee has a very good cornerback in Cam Sutton.

Despite some of the weaknesses I’ve noted, Tennessee plays so much man coverage that, if for no other reason than experience doing it frequently, they have some guys that can cover man-to-man even at the linebacker and secondary level. OU may see more sophisticated coverage calls this weekend as the Vols may have played it fairly vanilla last weekend. Though it is common to see heavy doses of straight man coverage in the SEC. I’d wager the Vols are going to try and force Mayfield to make tightly contested throws as opposed to reading defenses and finding space between zones. There are ways to attack such aggressive coverage.

Four Keys

– Attacking man coverage. This is critical because we’ve seen all too often SEC teams that can pressure and play tight man coverage eventually begin to slow down and even halt production of the spread passing attacks. Tennessee will try to take away the easy stuff. OU will likely look to attack the Vols heavy dose of man coverage with plenty of rub routes and crossing routes. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of stack and bunch formations. I also expect to see Mark Andrews more involved in the passing attack this Saturday. Look for him to keep the safety from widening to get the Sooners some space on the outside. The Sooners are going to have their chances to take shots down-field and Mayfield is going to need to pay those off. The ability to beat man coverage deep is critical. Nickel and dimes can only buy you so much. The key to Baylor’s ability to move the ball on anyone even when their run game is stifled (like we saw in the Michigan State game) is their ability to make plays downfield. Man coverage is risky business and OU needs to make them pay. If the Sooners are able to give Mayfield time, OU has receivers that I suspect can get separation. Additionally, Mayfield is a capable runner and man coverage takes eyes off the QB. So the Sooners may be able to hurt the Vols by sprinkling in some QB runs.

– Slow the up-field attack. The Vols are going to try to disrupt the passing game by pressuring Mayfield and taking away his first two reads. OU has to protect him. Tennessee’s LBs also like to play downhill against the run. What you want to do is make second level defenders accountable for as much as possible. Draws and screens are obvious. But you also want to give them a heavy dose of outside zone runs early in my opinion. They’ll blow it up but it’ll slow their first downhill step and keep them reading steps. OU has two backs in Mixon and Perine and a tight end in Andrews that can help in protection. After watching the Bowling Green game, OU’s OL issues notwithstanding, I’m not convinced Tennessee can get consistent pressure with 4 (if they can…yikes). Mixon, Perine and Andrews (or any other TE/H-back) are able to not only protect, but they are passing threats and can be released in the pass game to put a fast flowing downhill defense in a bind. A few completions to these guys will reinforce the run/pass conflict that linebackers have to be cognizant of. Do that and the Sooners can get them hesitating. The OL will still need to block up the run game but it helps when you have linebackers hesitating. Sooners also showed that they can get good blocking out of their receivers on edge runs and throws to the flat. And again, with the Vols playing a lot of man coverage OU can run some guys downfield and limit the front numbers against the run. Finally, as mentioned above, I’d get Mayfield involved in the run game early on. Keep their ends or scraping LBs hesitating early.

– Stay balanced. If you assume first down is a run down and third down is a pass down then the offensive balance is in the hands of 2nd down. If OU is able to pass all over the Vols then by all means, let it fly. But Tennessee is going to come out with a lot of energy looking to suffocate the run game early. In a game that most predict will be tight, the body blows in the first half and giving the offensive line a chance to find a run blocking rhythm will be critical in the second half. OU can’t do what OU has done many times in the past in their spread sets which is to abandon the run at the first sign of resistance.

– Middle and delayed blitzes. As I mentioned, Dobbs is a patient guy. He wants to take everything he can. A timely delayed blitz can have him rethinking just how long he’d like to hold on to the ball. OU has lacked an interior blitzer (one could argue that Nelson was starting to flash out of the Eagle front before he got hurt). OU has had good edge rushers with guys like Eric Striker, Obo and Bond. However, edge rushers come from further away. Offenses can get extra help on the edge. Lineman can run edge rushers up the field and a good QB will step up in the pocket. Dobbs isn’t a start/stop runner but once he gets going he moves pretty well. If you pressure him from the edge and give him a pocket to step up into you’re not only giving him more time to scan the field but you’re opening rush lanes by vacating pass rush lanes. Pressure up the middle is more immediate, it forces help in front of the quarterback while taking edge help away, but it also forces Dobbs to step back or laterally making him a more pedestrian running threat.

Game Implications

This should be a fun game to watch. The game carries a lot of weight for both programs. For coach Stoops it’s a way to get things back on track after last year’s tough season. A win would give the Sooners a lot of confidence and some time to continue to get better before they face their most lethal threats later in the season. For Tennessee this could be their “we’re back” moment. Butch Jones’ has recruited well. He’s come close to having a signature type win on multiple occasions only to have it slip through his fingers.