Oklahoma State vs. Texas (Sept. 26, 2015) Film Review

[UTfish]

Take a look at how OSU kept Heard from running up the middle.

Texas is in an empty set, and OSU does something crazy — they pull both linebackers out of the box and leave just the four defensive linemen. Before the snap it looks as though Heard should be able to walk into the end zone. If left guard Sedrick Flowers and left tackle Connor Williams had been able to pick up the "Ex" stunt, maybe he could have, but that's the genius of this play call by defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer — there was no way Texas' offensive line was going to pick up these stunts.

Aside from the failed pick-up, what OSU ends up with is a slower pass rush but players moving horizontally instead of vertically. In your basic, straight-ahead pass rush, the ends would likely have wound up behind Heard and the tackles would have been mostly stonewalled inside, leaving several large creases for Heard to run through. Instead, the "ends" (actually the tackles because of the twists) are still in front of Heard and the "tackles" are flashing past more than one gap on the inside. 

And also, Flowers. 

It's hard to analyze the rest of the play without knowing what routes were being run on the bottom, but there is an 80% chance Daje Johnson came open briefly when he crossed the safety's face on his post route. Heard would have taken a big hit, but he could have thrown that ball.

But, watch what Connor Williams does do on this play...

 

[utisdabomb12]

You are correct.

Nice. I'm not sure what his read is here. I've seen him come off the corner in similar formations with pressure. I'm guessing he's given the option of bringing pressure if he doesn't have to pick up the RB out of the flat. 

This is an area Malik was struggling at earlier in the year, like most FR. He looked improved in the OSU game on making the right reads in these situations. I'm not sure what the read is here for Malik, but I would be willing to bet in the ND game he leaves the RB open in the flat. 

 

[Shannon Kelley]

Well, I was asking for an example of a play-action pass for that Swoopes package. I forgot there was an example in this game. 

This looks like it's going to be the QB Power play — and they could pull the backside guard if they really wanted to sell it. When Charles Omenihu's more experienced, maybe he'll give the fullback a little nudge to buy some time for the man covering him (here it's Dylan Haines). Ultimately it's on Haines to be able to run with a damn 250-pound fullback. 

And yes, the announcers may have inadvertently circled offensive pass interference. 

Yes, it is PI..That said, it rarely is called when the receiver is covered with man coverage, particularly when he releases inside as if he's running a slant. Honestly, the receiver does a great job pulling this off. The h gets out in the flat, because this guy was digging our our DE's all day. When a DE has a an H-back that is a brawler, it wears on them, and what the end up doing is start avoiding the collision and soft shoulder the H-back. The H-back here, sells it as if he's coming at the DE again.. That is tough in the red zone and the safety gets out of position because of the sell. 

These plays you are diagraming are spot on.. Thx

 

[Shannon Kelley]

Take a look at how OSU kept Heard from running up the middle.

Texas is in an empty set, and OSU does something crazy — they pull both linebackers out of the box and leave just the four defensive linemen. Before the snap it looks as though Heard should be able to walk into the end zone. If left guard Sedrick Flowers and left tackle Connor Williams had been able to pick up the "Ex" stunt, maybe he could have, but that's the genius of this play call by defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer — there was no way Texas' offensive line was going to pick up these stunts.

Aside from the failed pick-up, what OSU ends up with is a slower pass rush but players moving horizontally instead of vertically. In your basic, straight-ahead pass rush, the ends would likely have wound up behind Heard and the tackles would have been mostly stonewalled inside, leaving several large creases for Heard to run through. Instead, the "ends" (actually the tackles because of the twists) are still in front of Heard and the "tackles" are flashing past more than one gap on the inside. 

And also, Flowers. 

It's hard to analyze the rest of the play without knowing what routes were being run on the bottom, but there is an 80% chance Daje Johnson came open briefly when he crossed the safety's face on his post route. Heard would have taken a big hit, but he could have thrown that ball.

Honestly Ryan, that is just a Tango stunt. It should be nothing that Texas shouldn't be able to handle. As you have noted, the left guard is who blows it up. The guards and Tackles have to be able to sift that and pass each of the DL twisting off to each other. That said, it is a high level of play to perfect this. It is not easy, but TEXAS OL should be able to handle this.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

This is a new play for Texas. I know it as Dart but people call it a lot of different things.

Both guards and the center block down to the left, the right tackle seals the end to the outside and the left tackle pulls for the linebacker. It's a bit of an unusual look — the first run you'd expect from this set would be inside zone to the right. Instead everyone's moving the other direction (except for the left tackle), but the offense is still running to the right.

Texas can also read the defensive end on the left — they probably would if there were a second linebacker in the box.

Anyway, the blocks aren't easy on the back side — the left guard has to get to the man outside the left tackle, and the center has to get to the man outside the guard — but if they can get it done they can create a big cutback lane just like this. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Let's take a look at the sacks. Here's the first one. It's a similar stunt to the one we saw earlier with the twisting ends and tackles. 

Texas is running a Drive concept to the boundary and a Snag concept to the field. I'm cynical from seeing different iterations of Drive run last season, but it's really been a terrible concept for Texas. I assume it's got a lot to do with the lack of a dangerous pass-catching tight end; Andrew Beck isn't scaring anyone.

Nevertheless, that looks to be where Heard wants to go with the ball. In theory, if the linebacker stays shallow to cover the crossing route, the dig will be open behind it. Maybe it works if you have a really athletic tight end who can threaten deep and push the safety back, but ... yeah. 

This play is frustrating because I can almost guarantee Daje, the slot receiver to the field, was open when he broke on his corner route. The concept amounts to a high/low read on the corner, and because he stays low to cover John Burt, the safety is left solo with inside leverage on an outside-breaking route. 

But even if Heard had seen it, he wouldn't have been able to get the throw off because of the pressure. We saw earlier how excellently Connor Williams peeled off a block to pick up the defender who had twisted around to the outside. Now we can see Kent Perkins do the opposite.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Second sack, this one self-inflicted.

To be fair, there isn't really a play for 3rd & 15, but Texas nearly got what it wanted here from Oklahoma State. They play man coverage with a safety over the top and a spy on Heard. I have no idea what Texas is running but honestly, it was probably just four vertical routes because you can do that sort of thing when you have speed for days on the outside and speed for days at quarterback. 

The man coverage means that if Heard can break the pocket he'll be looking at the backs of a lot of OSU defenders. The spy complicates things, obviously, but I'll take Heard 10 times out of 10 in a one-on-one with a linebacker.

There's one other very important thing to note before we get into what needs fixing (IMO). We'll see this exact same pressure from OSU in the next sack — man coverage, spy, overloading the right side of Texas' line.

Now, as for what goes wrong: Clearly Heard could have just thrown the ball away and saved the four yards. But what bothers me more is that he's still trying to find someone downfield and — where are they? We can't see because TV broadcasts are garbage, but more than six seconds elapsed before Heard gave up on throwing the ball. Someone should have come open — at least open enough to take a shot — in that amount of time. Maybe they did and Heard just didn't throw it, or maybe they didn't and Heard was hung out to dry.

Either way, I hope the Texas offense is working on the scramble drill. They'll be SO much more dangerous when they can not only make defenses chase them everywhere but also convert these plays into positive yardage. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

I didn't draw up the defense because it's the same as in the previous play except the DBs are playing off man this time.

I was wrong when I watched this happen live. I'd been blaming only Marcus Hutchins, the right tackle, but Patrick Vahe screwed up as well. In the previous example, Doyle was sliding to the left and the back was cleaning up to the right, so Vahe and Perkins could take the two innermost rushers and leave the last one to the back.

This time, Doyle is sliding right and the back is going the other way, so Texas has three linemen for three rushers. But look at the gap that's already been created as soon as the play starts because Vahe is slow out of his stance (a third of a second elapses between when the first lineman not named Taylor Doyle starts moving and when Vahe lifts his hand off the turf) and then shows no urgency to widen with the rush. 

Hutchins screws up, too, of course. He sees the third rusher too late and can hardly get a hand on him. But I'd been blaming Hutchins for allowing the second rusher (#52) to come free through the B gap, thinking Texas just couldn't account for the third rusher, and that wasn't the case. 

As for the rest of the play, there's the post-wheel combination from the Rice game. Unfortunately, Heard is having to run for his life before the receivers are even looking for the ball. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

I'm not sure Armanti Foreman wasn't open on Heard's fourth sack. 

You can see Heard glance that direction first so maybe there was nothing there, but I think he gave up on it before it was obvious the safety was coming downhill to cover Johnathan Gray. 

That aside, Hutchins was beaten from the first step. Ogbah is past him before his third step.

 

[Shannon Kelley]

Let's take a look at the sacks. Here's the first one. It's a similar stunt to the one we saw earlier with the twisting ends and tackles. 

Texas is running a Drive concept to the boundary and a Snag concept to the field. I'm cynical from seeing different iterations of Drive run last season, but it's really been a terrible concept for Texas. I assume it's got a lot to do with the lack of a dangerous pass-catching tight end; Andrew Beck isn't scaring anyone.

Nevertheless, that looks to be where Heard wants to go with the ball. In theory, if the linebacker stays shallow to cover the crossing route, the dig will be open behind it. Maybe it works if you have a really athletic tight end who can threaten deep and push the safety back, but ... yeah. 

This play is frustrating because I can almost guarantee Daje, the slot receiver to the field, was open when he broke on his corner route. The concept amounts to a high/low read on the corner, and because he stays low to cover John Burt, the safety is left solo with inside leverage on an outside-breaking route. 

But even if Heard had seen it, he wouldn't have been able to get the throw off because of the pressure. We saw earlier how excellently Connor Williams peeled off a block to pick up the defender who had twisted around to the outside. Now we can see Kent Perkins do the opposite.

I think this got called wrong. Either that, or Burt is wrong..Can't imagine you would call a drive concept from the boundary and have something that would bring burt back across the field where he and the "X" would end up in the same place. I think it was supposed to be a boundary Drive concept matched with a Smash concept to the field. The back tells you it is a Snag concept as he is the 3rd receiver to the field, however, Drive should trump the Smash with the back, which should pull him to the boundary running a flare. 

Your analysis is spot on, but the hook that Burt is running is a bust.. Not to mention, as you have noted, the play never had a chance as the Rt tackle takes the cheese and gets caught in the twist trap.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

I think this got called wrong. Either that, or Burt is wrong..Can't imagine you would call a drive concept from the boundary and have something that would bring burt back across the field where he and the "X" would end up in the same place. I think it was supposed to be a boundary Drive concept matched with a Smash concept to the field. The back tells you it is a Snag concept as he is the 3rd receiver to the field, however, Drive should trump the Smash with the back, which should pull him to the boundary running a flare.

I wondered about that. I'd like Armanti's chances if the linebacker were having to chase him the width of the field, but not so much when Armanti only has about 10 yards of space to work with before he's running into the coverage on the other end.