The Football Brainiacs

Alright here we go with the 3rd quarter:

1. Just a zone read here, on Damien’s big run to start the 3rd quarter.  We catch them in a linebacker stunt, but they showed their hand early.  See the left arrow walked up on the line, and the right arrow leaning.  Ikard and Irwin made this play, since they catch it and open a huge hole.

1. (cont.) A split second later, we can see both linebackers being handled by Gabe and Bronson.  The only one left at home is the single high safety.

1. (cont.) As Damien’s putting a move on the safety, he uses the ump as a shield.  What makes Damien special, is as he makes this cut, the corner at the bottom (left arrow) is already turned and running.  Damien’s in top gear now, and that corner can’t catch him.  When corners cant outrun your tailback, that’s great speed.

2. On the first and 20 after the Daryl Williams hold, the qb draw is set up nicely.  Damien and Adam both making good blocks.

2. (cont.) Not sure what Trevor sees to cause him to cut outside, but the lane is there where it’s designed to go.  That safety probably makes a play on him if he takes the lane, but at least it’s a gain of four or five.  If Trevor’s able to break a tackle it’s more.

3. This is a small thing, but it shows Trevor going through his reads.  Pump fakes out to Jalen.

3. (cont.) A frame later, with the second pump fake.

3. (cont.) Then as the lane opens up, he makes a quick decision and gets five yards.

4. 2nd and 5 here on Clay’s big run.  It’s a zone read, and that safety Trevor’s eyeballing is coming up.  Trevor’s eyes are upfield as they should be, and he makes a good read giving the ball.  The blue path shows where Trevor would have gone, and the red is where Clay went.

4. (cont.) While Brennan is not the fastest, most elusive, or strongest back on campus, he’s really good at a lot of things.  He’s very smart setting up blocks, and here on the same run, he cuts back up inside the blocks, and ends up getting down to the 21.  He’s one of those guys that you wonder how he’s so effective until you break his game down.

4. (cont.) A frame later setting up another block.

4. (cont.) Getting north and south, and down to the 21 for a gain of 22 yards.  Great run, vision and setting up blocks by Clay.  Shoutouts to the receivers for great blocking down field!

5. Great read here by Trevor.  Look at Trevor’s eyes reading the defensive end I’m pointing at with the red arrow.  Clearly that end is not crashing, so the give is the proper red here.  Bronson will block the guy I’ve drawn the line against, and in the next frame you’ll see it’s already over.

5. (cont.) The defensive end, can’t close fast enough(bottom red arrow) and Bronson’s block a tick later.  Clay is off to the races.  Great read by Trevor.  Great block by Bronson…

5. (cont.) And great speed by Brennan!  He’s broken a couple of huge runs this year showing more speed than most of the fan base probably thought he had.

6. Trevor’s really starting to get comfortable here.  Finch’s path shows top blue arrow, while the bottom blue arrow is the defensive end that Trevor is reading.  Look at the end’s body language.  He’s leaning inside, and with Trevor’s speed, that little mistake is all he needs.

6. (cont.) Trevor pulls the ball a second later, and the Dend is regretting his decision to lean inside.  Trevor’s quickness, speed and decisiveness is what makes it go.

6. (cont.) That same defender is unable to get back outside to make the play on Trevor, and it’s a gain of 24 all the way out to the 40 yard line.  Awesome read and execution by Trevor.  Oh yeah…guess who on the block?  Jalen Saunders again…raising the whole size of the dog in the fight or the size of the fight in the dog argument again.

7. Ok, this one will be the last play on the 3rd Quarter breakdown, even though it’s the first play of the fourth.  The ISU defensive end does a great job here staying square to the line of scrimmage.  You know he probably got coached up on the sideline, since they were slow playing this all day.  Coaches were probably telling him to stay square and don’t turn your shoulders.  At first I thought this may have been a missed read by Trevor, but the defender just plays it really well.  Trevor could’ve given it to Finch, but sometimes you’re just feeling it.  I like Trevor’s aggressiveness and wanting the ball in his hands.

7. (cont.) A split second later Finch(top blue arrow) most likely has a big gain had Trevor given the ball as well.  You see the defender’s got the angle on Trevor here due to playing great technique.

7. (cont.) You hear me talking about stuff you can’t teach, and before you can blink, Trevor’s negated that great technique by the defender with a hell of a move upfield.  Look at the movement Tyrus is getting on the downblock.  Finch is looking back to see what’s going on, and he’s upfield in a second to pick up a block.

7. (cont.) Receivers gotta get some dap on this one as they blocked their tails off all day long.  Trevor’s just so fast that Iowa State couldn’t adjust to it.  They were going to slow play us all day on that qb option game, but they weren’t prepared for Trevor’s speed.

7. (cont.) I’ve heard some chirping about how Trevor should have let Jaz’s block set up, but looking at it here, had he slowed down, there’s a couple of guys who could have caught him.  Again, the first picture, plus this one gives you an accurate picture of the mindset that Trevor has.  He wants the ball and pulls it, and then is just really aggressive running the ball.  This guy’s gonna be dangerous as they let him play and develop.