Clues Conclusions

The Charlie Strong era of Texas Football saw it’s first official action on Saturday afternoon with the playing of the annual Orange & White scrimmage to conclude Spring practices. Did the Spring Game did show what might be in store this coming season between the white chalk lines?

As per usual, the team played it very close to the vest and didn’t show much in the way of scheme or game plan. By necessity, the offense did show a wide array of formations, but didn’t get too elaborate. After about two full series fans had been shown all they were going to glean. As a result of some tendencies in the game, the ever-restless Texas fan base may have enough evidence to deduce just what the 2014 Longhorn offense and defense will look like.

Armed with a pen and notepad, I charted formations and checked for trends in play calling. Let’s review what was shown and project that to what might be seen this fall…

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photo credit: Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Defense

This will be short, because, frankly, the defensive scheme and intensity was only at a level slightly higher than what’s played at the NFL Pro Bowl. There wasn’t a lot of mixing the fronts, or the variations showed in the alignment of the backers in a base 4-3. The coaches chose to play their front 7 straight up (or over to the left or right) for a majority of the time.

There was a lot of man coverage and cover 3 in the secondary but hardly any blitzing from the secondary. In fact, the majority of the blitzing came from the outside linebacker spot, and it was exclusively off of the weak side edge.

On the defensive line they played things straight-up and didn’t show a lot of stunts or twists. In my opinion, fans will see a much different look next fall as Coach Bedford and Strong mix their fronts and bring pressure from different spots. The key word being thrown around by the Texas defensive coaches is “multiple” and none of that was shown on Saturday.

Offense

While the offense didn’t stray too deep into the playbook, they did show a variety of formations. Most of the packages featured at least one tight end, and five formations included at least a two tight end set.

Based off what was revealed Saturday, the name of the ground game is going to be inside power and the zone stretch to the outside. The passing game looks like it will rely heavily on three step drops for quick passes. The air attack will then use play action and bootlegs to push the ball down the field.

Most of the passing went down field with traditional screens mixed in to slow the pass rush. The offense had some success with running back screens and I expect a return of the bubble screen in some form due to the playmakers at receiver.

Interestingly, the offense did show a little bit of a pistol look, but did not run a true read option out of the formation since contact with quarterbacks was off limits. It’s impossible to know how much that will factor into the game plan this Fall.

The most regularly used formation was a single back with two tight ends or a slot receiver. Many of the packages looked like Alabama’s classic “Ace” set. For variety, the offense spread the field with a traditional “4-wide, one back gun” set along with a “4-wide pistol” look. Up front, the offensive line mainly base blocked with not a lot of zone or pulling, although they did show some outside zone.

The main takeaway is that the Horns plan to move the ball using a power run game and play action attack. The bottom line is this offense will go as well as the quarterback plays, and capable play at the position will afford Shawn Watson and Joe Wickline with options.