Kansas State Film Review

[Ryan Bridges]

Ugh.

DEFENSE

How to Neutralize Hager

Add speed option to the list of things Texas' linebackers don't know how to defend. 



Kansas State is reading Breckyn Hager. Hager is a MONSTER when he can set his hair on fire before the snap and just play "see ball, hit ball." Opposing offenses would do well to make him make decisions, just like this. After his initial excitement at being unblocked, he gathers himself and diagnoses the play, which is good. But one thing he can't do is leave a running lane inside. He's so excited about the chance to hit two guys on the same play that he hits neither. It's a shame, because Anthony Wheeler did a good job scraping and avoiding the cut block. Had Hager forced the pitch, this probably would have been a negative-yardage play.

Get. Bonney. Out. Of. There.

I didn't think Kansas State would be an offense that could shine a spotlight on John Bonney's weaknesses, but I was so wrong. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed seven catches on nine targets for 53 yards and a touchdown. He also did this.



First of all, this is a very well-executed RPO. They combined their pass concept with QB draw, but it's so well done that it almost looks like Jesse Ertz is just scrambling on his own. Notice, however, that the back and right guard release to block for him. It's going to be a positive play, but Texas still has a chance to keep it to about a 4-yard pickup. Unfortunately, the 6'4" QB who posted a 4.94 shuttle time coming out of high school broke Bonney's ankles.

But we're not done yet.



Texas is playing man, and every receiver except the back (who's running a flat route) runs a slant. As a corner in this situation, you're really only worried about two routes: the slant and the fade. The harder of the two to defend (and the easier to throw and catch) is the slant. The football 101 solution to that problem is to align with inside leverage so that the receiver has to run behind or through you to run a slant. Line up to take away the slant, play the fade. If you don't, it looks like this. 

The 'Forced' Fumble

That "great" play people were crediting Wheeler with was not even good; it was lucky.



There's nothing fancy here. Everything he's seeing should be telling Wheeler to get downhill and scrape over the top of the guard. Instead, he hesitates — likely because he's contemplating trying to go underneath the block, as Texas' linebackers frequently do — and finds himself squarely in the guard's path. He's driven back 3 1/2 yards into the end zone. He flails wildly and accidentally knocks the ball loose. A "great" job would have stopped this play at the 3- or 4-yard line. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

Backup Linebackers to the Rescue

This, on the other hand, was a solid play by Ed Freeman.



Texas' go-to on 3rd and medium or more is Cover 2. Kansas State calls a Cover 2 beater. Freeman let the slot receiver, who was running a corner route, go and got his eyes on the next receiver, who was running right into his zone. He looks like a guy who used to play safety, probably because he did. I think Freeman has been underwhelming in most of his action this year, so I'm eager to rewatch this game since he got so many snaps.

Also, there was an egregious hold by the left tackle. The only way it could be worse is if he was tackled. It wasn't called.

OFFENSE

Oh hey, guys. Nice of you to join us (right before halftime).

Duvernay: Still Fast

I don't know why he didn't get more usage. I'll look into that. In the meantime:



This is the same concept we looked at a few days ago in the Iowa State film review thread. Shane Buechele (maybe) got his rib cracked trying to run it against Cal, then checked it down like a champ against the Cyclones. Here's what it looks like when the defense eats up the fake. The corner should have Devin Duvernay all the way, but he bites hard on the screen route and that's that. This offense is fun. Check out right guard Kent Perkins coming over late to chip Jordan Willis, who had just tossed Brandon Hodges aside, to help keep Buechele upright.

The 18 Wheeler Is Out of the Ditch

Some folks were ready to bury the 18 Wheeler package, but all it needed was to be run more intelligently.



Observe who is on the field besides Swoopes, Armanti Foreman (split out wide) and the offensive line. For some reason, the offense in recent weeks had been moving in the direction of trying to spread the defense out with the 18 Wheeler by adding more receivers. This time, they added 1,127 pounds of blockers. #52 from K-State tries to get cute and sneak inside Andrew Beck's block, but that only creates more space outside for Ty Swoopes and helps Caleb Bluiett release to #22 quicker. Swoopes does the rest. This package works if Sterlin Gilbert doesn't stray from what it is.

A New Goal-Line Play

It's not really "new" — they were running it in fall practice — but I don't think we've seen it in a game yet. Or if we have, it hasn't been executed.



Situationally, it's very similar to the slant play Kansas State scored on earlier. AND LOOK WHERE THE CORNERS ARE LINED UP: WITH INSIDE LEVERAGE. Note the result: To get inside, Dorian Leonard has to go around the corner (he doesn't have to, he just didn't put up a fight). The O-line gives Buechele a nice, clean pocket, which is great because, without an inside release, it takes time for the play to develop. The ball is on time and on target. Beautiful execution.

 

[Daniel Seahorn]

Great stuff as usual, Ryan.

 

[Harrison Wier]

This is great stuff Ryan. I have a question for you. Wouldn't it have made sense for Strong to start pressing the K-State receivers. I swear Ertz's bubble screens were hanging there for 3 seconds. Why give them 8 yards of cushion?

 

[longhorn_mig]

This is great stuff Ryan. I have a question for you. Wouldn't it have made sense for Strong to start pressing the K-State receivers. I swear Ertz's bubble screens were hanging there for 3 seconds. Why give them 8 yards of cushion?

Took the words right out of my mouth.

 

[TexCoyote]

If I knew my job was on the line and that K-State was such a bad passing team, I would press the crap out of their receivers and make him throw one over the top on me. If he could do that consistently then he just beat me. I wouldn't just sit there and play 10-15 yards off of them and give him so many yards underneath. If I did this and it still didn't work out at least the fans and my bosses and the players would go man that guy was doing all he could do. This is just my opinion.

 

[prosfromdover]

I believe Charlie said in the run up to this game that K-State / Snyder just makes their way down the field play after play and beats you down with execution. 

And Charlie seemed to scheme the exact way to help him do it.

I understand coaching scared when your corners are so beaten down and your job's on the line, but you have to fight that tendency with coaching logic.

Perhaps this highlights a main problem.

 

[bevo38]

I seem to remember K-State throwing those screens with 3 WR to the wide side of the field...I don't think you even need to press all 3 guys. Bring the guy on the middle WR up and press him while keeping outside leverage. It gives you defense both horizontally and vertically.

 

[echeese]

Good Lord that was hard to watch.

Appreciate the effort and you confirmed, verbalized what I saw. . .I saw "bad play", you explained why.

PS,

I'd always rather be lucky than good.

 

[Rotty22]

there was one play where the kstate guard, i believe, pulled down our Dlineman.  i don't recall who it was.  if i recall correctly, it was a high yardage gain by kstate.  the hold was so blatant.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

This is great stuff Ryan. I have a question for you. Wouldn't it have made sense for Strong to start pressing the K-State receivers. I swear Ertz's bubble screens were hanging there for 3 seconds. Why give them 8 yards of cushion?

Yes. I don't understand what the objective was. I thought they'd figured it out after last week. Hell, they played more aggressively against K-State last year.

What finally happened in the second half was they got out of 3-deep coverages (they were burned equally on Cover 3 and fire zones in the first half) and started playing Cover 2. K-State immediately stopped running the now screens, and the bubble screens became a whole lot harder to execute. The end result? In the first half, receiver screens averaged 6.2 yards; in the second half, they averaged 3.8 yards. Why it took a whole half to adjust is a good question. Why they didn't play more aggressive coverage in general is a good question too.

I believe Charlie said in the run up to this game that K-State / Snyder just makes their way down the field play after play and beats you down with execution. 

And Charlie seemed to scheme the exact way to help him do it.

I understand coaching scared when your corners are so beaten down and your job's on the line, but you have to fight that tendency with coaching logic.

Perhaps this highlights a main problem.

I could not agree more. With different players — maybe the 2014 defense — this game plan would work. But whether it's inexperience or bad coaching or both, I don't think Texas has the defensive personnel to win games trying to keep the ball in front and make tackles. Half the time they can't keep the ball in front, and two-thirds of the time they can't tackle. This has to be an attacking defense that laughs when it gets hit in the mouth because it knows it's going to hit back on the next play. They're coaching scared, and the players are playing scared.

 

[mctmatt]

You are hired Ryan, please be at practice today to start Coaching the defense we will discuss your pay later but trust all of us on this forum as we have collected a big pile of the green stuff to give you , but please just be at practice and take over coaching the defense....now for the rest of you guys I just went through my mom's purse and so I have $11.17  how much can the rest of you get and hurry up as he looks to be a pretty big guy!!!!

 

[North Texas Golfer]

Ryan, what's your analysis on what we're seeing with Malik's play?

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Ryan, what's your analysis on what we're seeing with Malik's play?

Instincts aren't great, misses some keys, but the biggest thing is a lack of physicality. I think the critics who questioned whether he had the mentality to be a great linebacker were right. There are plenty of examples, but here's a recent play that stood out. 

Forget the linebacker distinction — defensive players don't stand by and watch a ballcarrier move a pile forward like that, especially in a short-yardage situation. I don't know if that plays a role in all the missed sacks and tackles. I assume it does.

Naashon Hughes could be a useful comparison, though. He's still inconsistent, but Naashon had some plays like this in the past and he's improved. I wouldn't rule out that if the coaches can get Malik playing faster and more confidently, he'll start playing like a BAMF. (That goes for the entire defense.)

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Let's take a look at some of the defense's issues against Kansas State (most of them apply to the whole season) and then throw this game away.

Soft Against the WR Screen Game

This was probably the most frustrating part of the game. Kansas State ran 78 plays, 67 of those outside of the red zone. Ten of those plays were WR screens. That's 15% of their offensive plays outside of the RZ. They accounted for nearly the same share of K-State's yardage.

Texas started off the game playing Cover 3 and running lots of zone blitzes. The soft coverage on the outside made them vulnerable to the screens.



Here's what it absolutely shouldn't look like. Dylan Haines never gets his eyes back to the quarterback, and by the time he recognizes screen, he's being engaged a yard and a half deeper than where he was lined up before the snap. The receiver has seven yards to accelerate and go whichever direction he wants because Haines sat back and didn't attack the block.

This is better, but guys are still failing to defeat blocks or even force the ball back inside.



There's a lot to glean from this about what's going on with the defense. You can see here how the defense could have stopped these screens. Force the ball back inside and the pursuit will clean it up after a minimal gain. This is more a Jimmys and Joes problem than an Xs and Os problem. (It's fair to wonder, though, if the Jimmys and Joes are being coached up well enough to do their jobs.)

Because the three-deep looks weren't working, Texas changed the Xs and Os at the half. Instead of asking the nickels and safeties to force the ball inside, they asked the corners — who had better leverage on the play — to do it.



It didn't seem like it because tackling and pursuit (we'll get to that) were still bad, but the change worked. The ballcarrier could no longer get the edge, and although the corners still weren't shedding blocks, the linebackers and safeties were able to come over and get stops. The change probably should have been made sooner. The nickels and safeties probably should know how to force a play inside and defeat blocks. But if you're looking for a bright side, here's a halftime adjustment that made a difference.

Roach in Space

While we're on the topic of guys making plays on the outside, I want to address the commotion about Malcolm Roach lining up over slot receivers. Most people don't have the "luxury" (lately it's anything but) of rewatching the games, so all they see is a 263-pound man lined up across from a 180-pound receiver and then the other team marching downfield and assume something's wrong there. The first problem is that it's a mistake to think of Roach as a 263-pound man. He is, but he moves like he's like 230.

The second, much bigger problem, is that Roach isn't being asked to cover anybody. The coaches know he can't run 40 yards downfield with a slot receiver, so they aren't asking him to. They're playing zone. Actually, more often than not, Roach is rushing the quarterback, but when he isn't, he's not out there in man coverage.

The third problem, which I'll highlight here, is that Roach may be the most instinctive player out there. This is a great look because you can compare how he and Jason Hall, playing the same coverage, react to the same play.



Roach recognizes screen and gets his eyes to the quarterback in 1.2 seconds. Hall recognizes... umm... he sees the receiver set up for a screen but decides to cover an imaginary wheel route? It is very much within the realm of possibility that Roach would have pick-six'ed this play if it had gone to his side. And talk about WR screen kryptonite — which receiver on K-State's roster is capable of blocking Roach in the open field and living to tell about it?

Time and again, Roach does things like this. Remember when he announced himself to the UT world with the big hit against UTEP? He recognized that everyone was running away from him and that that probably meant someone else was running toward him, then he blew that guy up. He's extremely athletic and he's very smart. Now, personally, I think he'd be better utilized in the box, where he can start beating blockers sooner and be around the ball more. There are also route concept that you could run that would force him to carry receivers downfield. But this notion that he's been a liability outside, or that the coaches are totally clueless, is false in my opinion. I think they recognize the things I just laid out and are trying to find ways to get him on the field.

Bonney Is Not the Answer

His pass interference wasn't as bad as I thought. Basically, the ball was underthrown and he interfered when the receiver was trying to come back to the ball. Everything else was worse than I thought.



How does a guy get this open against man coverage? Kris Boyd was consistently challenging short routes, and he played those first-series fades as well as I'd expect a true sophomore who hasn't played a ton and who's not the team's premier corner. The defense was going to give up some of the hitch routes just by virtue of the coverage, but a good corner should still have a chance at breaking one up from time to time. Boyd did. Bonney didn't.

If I were handicapping this season for Vegas and had been told Holton Hill and Davante Davis weren't going to play, I might lower the win-loss prediction by half or even a full game (that's a lot). Props to Charlie for sticking to his principles I guess, but they have to find a solution. I'd look at Brandon Jones.

Every Linebacker Was Butt

I don't have Jeffrey McCulloch or Tim Cole in here, but that's probably only because they played so little. Cole made his way onto my notes a couple of times, but his shortcomings were of the physical variety. Ed Freeman, on the other hand... He looks solid in coverage, but he has issues against the run.



Anytime an offensive lineman is leaning against one of your teammates while he's waiting for you to recognize the play so he can block you, it's not great. At least he still made the tackle. That's far more than we can say for the others.



The first thing I have to say about this play is that Malik Jefferson (maybe) would have made a great play had he not been held. It is what it is. Had that TFL happened, we never would have known that Anthony Wheeler didn't know where the ball was. I'm not sure that it would have mattered if Wheeler had been in the right spot to blow up the lead blocker, since Malik had been taken out of the play, but it couldn't have hurt.

This one isn't a case of not knowing where the ball is (we have another one of those coming). Rather, it's one of so many examples of a linebacker trying to go under a block.



This play has almost everything. Roach, the defensive end, is slanting left as part of a safety blitz but winds up going a gap too far and gets hooked by the left guard. Hall spills the block of the fullback, but Wheeler doesn't scrape over the top of the tackle's block and it's off to the races. Someone's going to argue that Hall should have taken the block on with his inside shoulder. I don't know, doesn't matter — there still wouldn't have been anyone in the C gap because Wheeler got himself cut off. Keep watching and you'll get to see bad pursuit angles and poor tackling lead to so many extra yards.

Did someone say pursuit angles?



Credit where it's due, this was a good playcall by Kansas State. Wheeler doesn't have time for high-hat reads and decides this is iso coming right at him. He quickly realizes his mistake, just in time to witness a terrible friggen throw from Jesse Ertz. The 235-pound coach-on-the-field fullback has to come to a complete stop to catch it. Nine stars' worth of linebacker is staring him down. He makes both of them miss. This is bad coaching, sure, but by the time you reach this level of football, how many hours of your life have you wasted devoted to doing pursuit drills?

You Can Only Hope to Contain Them — Except You Can't Do That Either

We're reaching the fun part where the errors are piling on top of each other so that it's difficult to split this up into discrete sections. This is lost linebacker + end loses contain + bad pursuit angles.



The counter play gave both Freeman and Wheeler fits. I do not think Wheeler had any idea where the ball was on this play. Chris Nelson does and is able to flash color in the hole. Unfortunately, Charles Omenihu gets caught peeking inside, and Ertz is able to bounce it outside. Bad pursuit angles from the secondary gift Ertz another four yards. (I realize now that the angles I drew are what they ran. I've made a lot of gifs tonight; cut me some slack.)

Ertz ran for approximately 96 first downs. Here's one of them.



I don't think this was a case of Bryce Cottrell just being stupid because I've seen Texas run this double stunt often on passing downs. The problem to my mind is simply that Nelson got stopped by the right guard from getting outside to his responsibility. "It seems like a bad idea against a running quarterback to put a 300-pound man in charge of contain," you say, helpfully. Charlie Strong shrugs.

Clearly, it's not helpful to try to contain when there are blockers outside of you. It's also not helpful if you run upfield.



It's a simple inside zone read play. Maybe Omenihu was so excited about not being held that he temporarily lost control of his thrusters. Either way, he can't leave a cutback lane like that in his wake.

Remember the play where Roach got hooked by a guard and Wheeler didn't scrape? Here's the same blitz against the same run play. There are some differences: Haines, unlike Hall, doesn't spill the block, and Wheeler gets over the top of the tackle's block this time. But just like last time, the end — this time it's Naashon Hughes — get's hooked by the guard.



Guess where the ballcarrier goes. That's right: Straight through the spot where Hughes should be.

Let's end on a Hager note. He had a great sack. He had the play against speed option that resulted in a touchdown. This play is more like the second one.



Just hold your ground and this is a minimal gain. Instead, Hager tries to do two jobs at once and ends up preventing someone else from doing theirs. That tight end beat people up all day.

Now What?

There are problems at almost every unit on the defense. The defensive tackles have been good. The ends had a rough game. There are no answers at linebacker. The answers at corner are on the bench.

I don't believe Strong went from defensive hero to zero overnight. If you look at stuff like how Texas was blitzing safeties into the lead outside zone play, or how they adjusted to some other formations (the trips to one side, nub tight end on the other comes to mind), it's evident to me that they have a good idea what plays are coming and how to defend them. It's true that they can't do the job for the players. It's also true that the players don't look like they've been equipped with the basic techniques to do the job. There are no winners here.

My answer is the same as it's been for weeks: Keep it simple, stop worrying about the big play and focus on creating negative plays. Let your young guys play reckless. I think they're trying to play bend but don't break with guys who already broke. Turn the sharp edges into weapons. I can't decide if it's good that I'm not having to put my theories to the test every Saturday, or if it's bad that I'm not getting paid 6-7 figures to try **** that doesn't work.