Cal vs. Texas (Sept. 19, 2015) Film Review

[Ryan Bridges]

This drive in the second quarter is a fun place to start. Jared Goff had just thrown a touchdown on 4th & 3 to put Cal back on top, 14-10. After a boneheaded kick return by Johnathan Gray, Texas' offense lined up 5 yards from its own end zone. 

It starts with inside zone read to the TE side. Something's up, because usually this would be run away from the tight end.

The end squeezes down so Heard keeps the ball. Meanwhile, the tight end, Caleb Bluiett, has released outside into the flat. (Side note, I'm encouraged by what I've seen from Bluiett so far.)

Heard's second read is the nickel, who has a problem — he has to keep the ball inside of him, but he also has to cover the tight end, who is taking him farther away from his run responsibility. Finally he gives in and chases Heard.

Just my opinion, but the quarterback should be taught to hold the ball like it's speed option until he's made up his mind to keep it or is about to cross the line of scrimmage. When I've seen the Seahawks run versions of this play, that's how Russell Wilson has handled the ball, and it helps avoid penalties like this one.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Backed up even more, Texas lines up with an H-back in the backfield. Texas has been having success the past two games running lead zone plays from similar formations, but that's not what they're running this time.

This is Inside Zone Read Arc. It functions the same as regular Inside Zone Read except there's a tight end or, in this case, an H-back "arc" blocking the linebacker. 

Bluiett does a nice job locking up on the linebacker and sealing him inside long enough for Heard to get the edge. Three other things I want to point out: 

1. Notice how this play and the one before it work together. In both, you have the quarterback running zone read to the tight end/H-back side, and the tight end/H-back releasing outside. Until he starts blocking him, it's hard for the linebacker to know whether Bluiett is going to run a route or not.

2. The left tackle, Connor Williams, squeezes past the defensive end (who is being read) and sets up to cut off the linebacker in case Heard handed off. The linebacker would be cut off either way.

3. Patrick Vahe, the right guard, has improved quite a bit since week one. Look at him work to the second level to block the other linebacker. Somehow, senior center Taylor Doyle ends up on the ground — you can find him there pretty regularly. If they aren't already, by the end of this season I believe the two freshmen will be the best linemen on the team.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Cal is on their heels now, and it's about to get worse. 

This is Outside Zone Read with a bubble screen to Daje Johnson on the other side. Cal is aggressively attacking the bubble screen, which is fine with Texas — it opens up opportunities to fake the screen and throw deep later, and it prevents that safety from being able to help in pursuit against the run going the other way. (The corner is still there, but he has farther to run.)

There are some great blocks and some OK blocks here. Left guard Sedrick Flowers actually cuts somebody, which is stunning. Williams does as well, which I actually expect at this point — that says a lot about the state of the O-line. Right tackle Kent Perkins probably got away with a hold, but when you've got good hand placement and can keep the defender close, you usually will get away with it. Doyle winds up in the backfield, and Vahe's man blocked himself more than Vahe did. 

More so than the first two plays, this play succeeded more because of what Cal didn't do. There's a safety back there who should be screaming downhill to make the tackle after a short gain, and he doesn't show up in the picture until Gray is already 5 yards past the line of scrimmage. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Does this play look familiar? Because this play should look familiar.

This is the exact same 3 Verticals play-action pass that Texas used to torch Rice's secondary for two touchdowns. From this set, Texas can run several run plays it has had success with (including one you'll see in a moment), and Cal brings a safety blitz right where those plays would attack. It's actually a three-deep, three-under zone blitz, so John Burt is matched up one-on-one with a corner. Heard is going to see this a whole lot.

It's a good job by Bluiett to play the safety inside-out and give Heard time to make the throw, and Burt makes a veteran play adjusting to the ball (by which I mean using his hands to escort the defender away from it). In an unrelated note, it looks like Heard can only throw about 55 yards.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

I wish I could see the end zone shot here to see exactly where Cal's defensive line was lined up. 

The receivers are all on the same side, but otherwise the core of this formation is nearly the same as it was on the 2nd down play where Heard broke loose for a big gain. The only difference is the H-back, Bluiett, has moved up on the line. But Cal's defensive line is shifted away from the tight end this time, and it looks like the defensive end and defensive tackle to the tight end side may even be head up on the left tackle and center. 

I think that's why Williams ends up blocking the end this time instead of leaving him to be the read man. Then I wonder if Flowers should have worked up to the linebacker, who ended up making the tackle. Either way, something went wrong here. Texas probably could have run speed option to the tight end side and had an easy touchdown, though.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

And here's the play Cal was worried about, Lead Zone. Every Big 12 defense should be worried about stopping this play.

If you want to see something funny, compare how Williams uses his feet to how Flowers uses his. In the time it took Gray to get the handoff, Williams took twice as many steps as Flowers.

The nose tackle plays a really tight shade, almost head-up with Doyle. That means Vahe can fire off to the linebacker straight away. I'm interested to see how Cal adjusted to this formation later in the game. FWIW, Texas' next touchdown came on almost the exact same play, so we'll see. 

 

[bcherry168]

Good stuff!

 

[Chitownhorn]

Great stuff.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Outstanding, Ryan

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Here's Cal's first touchdown.

Texas is playing Cover 2 with the linebackers and nickel in man. I wonder if this was the coaches' solution to the problem they were having against high/low passing concepts inside. Think back to the first Notre Dame touchdown on the pass at the goal line against Dylan Haines — same idea. I don't know for sure because FOX's broadcast sucked, but that's probably what Cal was trying to do here with the "mesh" (two shallow crossing routes meeting in the middle) concept and probably an in-breaking route like a dig or post behind it.

Hassan Ridgeway bull rushes the right guard and gets right in Goff's face, and then another chronic problem of the defense reared its head: the front seven's inability to tackle a quarterback. The defensive end at the top, Shiro Davis, came inside and lost contain at precisely the wrong moment. Goff should have been spinning right into Shiro.

Again, the broadcast sucked so I've got no idea what happened in coverage in the end zone, but it's hard to cover a receiver for 5.5 seconds.

 

[oldmanriver]

How you break it down with the animation and diagrams is beyond me but it is really good. Did the staff simplify the playbook for Heard and does he have the authority to run at will? I have always been curious if guys like Young and now Heard can take off running at will. Please keep up this article on the site. Its one of my favorites.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Texas' first touchdown came on the same play (different formation) that got called back for an illegal forward pass. This should never have been a touchdown. In fact, it probably should have been a handoff.

I think Cal knew this was coming and shifted their linebackers over to the side of the back (that's the only direction Texas could run zone read to). Also notice how there are two 1-techniques (lined up on the outside shoulder of the center), which screws up the zone combo blocks. 

The player Texas is reading is a safety, who slow-plays it. For me, this should be a give. (1) The read man is square with the line and has Heard out-leveraged, so Heard shouldn't be able to get the edge. (2) You need two yards, and the unblocked read defender is 190 pounds and is standing on the goal line. I'd rather force him to keep Gray from gaining six feet than test his ability to run — what he was recruited to do.

Anyway, this play is DOA. Except Texas has Jerrod Heard. 

Because I was bored, here's an idea for countering this defensive front.

Run weakside Power Read and/or see if that safety will let Daje sneak in behind him. I bet when Heard and Gray start moving his direction with eyes on him, he forgets all about #4. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

A technique breakdown — and talent gap, to be honest — was behind Cal's 4th down conversion that went for six points.

It's Cover 1 (man coverage with one deep safety) for Texas, and Cal is running slants at different levels on the trips side and a fade route with the isolated receiver. 

The corner on the top of the screen, John Bonney, is in a press technique. He stopped his feet and didn't stay square with the receiver, letting him run right by. Because Bonney opened his hips and gave the receiver a clear path downfield, the receiver was able to run right past the jam. Bonney didn't really affect the receiver's release at all.

I still don't agree with the decision to put Bonney outside.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Here's a mirror image of the Lead Zone play Texas scored with earlier with one major difference: This time there's a read element.

That's because Cal played seven in the box in the first example and eight this time. They're playing Cover 0 (man across the board), and although the defensive line is lined up the same as before, the linebackers are both on the line of scrimmage and the safeties are both in the box. Texas has only six blockers, which was OK when they could block all but one box defender — he wasn't in a position to make the tackle — but it won't cut it against eight defenders. So they're going to "block" the seventh guy by reading him.

Cal's defensive line was pinching, but Perkins was able to keep the end from getting into the B gap — the same gap where Gray and his lead blocker, Chris Warren, were headed. The other problem for Cal is that they ran a failed scrape or gap exchange. Joel Klatt sort of described this during the game, but he made it sound as though the safety was just hanging out because he was scared Heard was going to keep the ball. In fact, he was expecting Heard to keep the ball because that's what the defense was designed to make him do. 

With the outermost defender crashing down hard (which he failed to do), the handoff is taken away and Heard has to (or gets to  ) keep it himself. In essence, that creates another gap for the defense to defend outside of that defender. That's where the safety comes in; he "scrapes" over the top, fills the new gap, tackles Heard and gets all the ladies.

Instead what you see is what makes coaches scream, "JUST DO YOUR JOB!" The linebacker who is being read sees an opportunity to make a play on Heard in the backfield and doesn't attack the inside run, instead opting to get upfield where he can tackle Heard. Instead, Heard hands it off and there's no one even there for Warren to block.  

Now that I typed everything out I realize this gif doesn't show what I want, but I don't feel like making it again. 

 

[Mike Roach]

When Norvell took over you said you wanted to see him and Heard put linebackers in conflict. It seems like that is happening often and that's what is opening up these big plays.

 

[joeywa]

Strong mentioned that several of the defensive breakdowns were due to being out of position or poor technique, both correctable.  I like that.  I think Bonney will be productive when it's all said and done.  Keep in mind-Youth, Youth, Youth.  A lot of these kids are not that far removed from playing on Friday nights and being some of the better talent on their HS fields.  This is a big step up and a completely different ballgame.  Now instead of having a small handful of D1 players on the other sideline, you have an entire team of them.  Once these kids get some experience, watch out.  

And thanks for the write up & breakdowns Ryan.  Great stuff.   

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Strong mentioned that several of the defensive breakdowns were due to being out of position or poor technique, both correctable.  I like that.  I think Bonney will be productive when it's all said and done.  Keep in mind-Youth, Youth, Youth.  A lot of these kids are not that far removed from playing on Friday nights and being some of the better talent on their HS fields.  This is a big step up and a completely different ballgame.  Now instead of having a small handful of D1 players on the other sideline, you have an entire team of them.  Once these kids get some experience, watch out.

I'm glad you mentioned that because ... 

It's pretty weird to see Goff go under center. Cal runs a Belly play — everyone blocks down and they kick out the end with the "fullback," who happens to be 300 pounds. The pre-snap motion clears out the defender with the best leverage to stop the play. But with the defensive end, Naashon Hughes, undercutting the attempted kick-out block, Texas is still in decent position to get the stop.

Unfortunately, Kevin Vaccaro dropped his head and didn't wrap up. To be fair, I don't think Haines makes this tackle either. In fact, I don't know if Texas has a safety at the moment who could make this stop. I can't wait to see DeShon Elliott. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

It's too difficult to show what was going on in this play from the sideline cam, but mercifully FOX showed the cable cam view as well.

For starters, this is Outside Zone packaged with Double Slants. Texas is in Cover 0, and I don't know what the linebackers' responsibilities are but I drew it up like Malik had the back. The fox and the strong safety are blitzing. 

The Double Slants concept is nice for attacking man coverage, so I'm assuming Goff recognized it before the snap and decided to target those two receivers rather than hand it off. The slot receiver's slant clears out the nickel (Duke Thomas), and after selling an outside release, the outside receiver is able to get inside the corner, Antwuan Davis. 

If a receiver intends to run an outward-breaking route, he's proooobably not going to take five steps trying to convince you of it, but Davis is still a young(ish) corner. Davis recovered well and was almost in a position to make a play on the ball, but it was well-placed.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

On Cal TDs we've seen a missed sack and loss of contain, a missed tackle, poor press technique, and now this. 

This is our play, Lead Zone. They used a 300-pound H-back instead of a back or tight end. The defensive line is slanting away from the run, with the playside corner blitzing. The playside defensive tackle and end, Ridgeway and Hughes, both beat their blocker, forcing the H-back to clean up instead of leading through the hole to block the linebacker, Peter Jinkens ... meaning Jinkens was unblocked. Jinkens lost track of the H-back and ran himself out of the play.