West Virginia Film Review (2015)

[Ryan Bridges]

I don't have a full replay yet but we can work with highlights.

Texas had a good bit of success with bunch formations, which I don't recall them using until this week. They're nice to have because they can punish teams that play undisciplined man coverage or that don't communicate well in zone. We've got examples of both in the highlights.

In West Virginia's coverage adjustment here, the corner takes the first man to the flat (Alex De La Torre), the spur (circled) takes the second man out (John Burt), and the safety takes the first in deep (Caleb Bluiett). I assume Jerrod Heard is just reading this like it's Cover 2. With the corner staying shallow to cover the flat route, Burt has outside leverage on the spur on an out-breaking route. What makes it even better is that, for whatever reason, the spur failed to pick up Burt. 

Two other things to point out. First, look at right guard Patrick Vahe come over to help out right tackle Kent Perkins. Perkins' struggles at tackle were a theme in the highlights, but it's nice to see Vahe finding work. Second, there's plenty of zip on this throw, but watch Heard pat the ball. He's mostly been broken of the habit — it was really bad in high school — but you'll still see him do it when he's trying to put something extra on his throws. I think release times are overrated for college prospects, but you will see them lead to trouble every once in a while (<-- foreshadowing).

So that was a zone coverage bust vs. bunch, and here's an example of man coverage backfiring. 

This is a Snag concept (corner, flat and the eponymous route). If the defense plays true man, it's very easy for the vertical stem of the corner route to pick either of the defenders trying to chase their man to the other side. In this case, the safety trying to cover Daje Johnson to the flat gets picked. Andrew Beck does a great job not letting the press defender redirect him.

I noticed a couple of weeks ago that Texas was only running the Snag concept with Tyrone Swoopes. It's a good sign that Heard is being entrusted with more.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

I admit I didn't get to watch West Virginia before this game, but I don't remember them running much Cover 3. That may be why they look so uncomfortable here.

Texas is running 4 Verticals, and the deep safety inexplicably jumps Beck's route. West Virginia is lucky the corner played it correctly and was in position to make the tackle.

Another note: I haven't seen Texas pull a lineman on play-action all season (that doesn't mean they haven't, just that I haven't seen it), so it's really interesting that they've got right guard Elijah Rodriguez pulling here. That muddles the run/pass read a little bit for the defense. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

We've seen three examples of good Heard. He started the game 9-of-11 for 136 yards and a touchdown. Here's bad Heard, who went 2-of-7 for 26 yards and two interceptions (but weren't there at least two drops? I stopped watching closely). 

There's a reason I don't like to question individual play calls. This was a play that, if executed, would have gone for a touchdown. 

That said, know the situation. You need six yards and it's 4th down. Against man coverage, the route concept to the trips side gives you a good chance at a pick (rub). Notice how the spur has to bubble around the safety to stay with Beck. Now, I don't want to trust Beck's hands on a 4th down, but then why is he out there? 

Besides, Texas checked to this play. There are several other concepts they could have gone with to the trips side that would have been higher-percentage throws than the fade to Armanti Foreman, who, by the way, made zero effort to catch this ball. At least try to break the pass up! He's been the biggest disappointment for me among the offensive players, but he still has two years after this one to turn things around.

 

[joeywa]

Thanks for doing this Ryan.  This is a great feature.  You do an excellent job. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

And here's more bad Heard. Remember the thing about slow releases? I slowed part of the replay down so you can see him reset his back foot and wind up. I would guess a slow release at the college level translates to something like a 1.5% drop in completion percentage and a 0.01% increase in interception percentage. It might be enough to swing a game or two in a four-year career. I'm making these numbers up, but I don't think it's a very big deal is my point.

This play might be an example of that 0.01%.

There was probably a window to throw into before the intended receiver (Marcus Johnson) passed behind the linebacker, but Heard missed it because his release was too slow. Not only that, but the linebacker who makes the interception gets more than a full yard back just because of Heard resetting his back foot. He may not have been able to react in time if the ball were out quicker.

Another point worth making is that this was a called pass, not a run/pass option. The coaches still don't really seem to trust Heard much with those. On the one hand, had the defense gotten a "run" read from the start, maybe this ball would have been completed. On the other hand, what have we seen from Heard that leads us to believe he can handle more? You can argue the coaches are being too protective of him, but they have more knowledge and information than we do — and the information we have doesn't instill confidence in his ability to make many reads. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Let's get to something more positive. 

I've seen a couple of game recaps that described this as though it were a new play, but it's the same split zone look Texas has been running from 20 personnel all season. Maybe it looked different because Chris Warren was lined up wrong. If I'm not mistaken, they normally cheat the blocker up a couple of feet so that the mesh point isn't muddled like this and so the kickout block doesn't take place so deep in the backfield. 

Daje's motion takes two West Virginia defenders out of the play. That's a hell of a lot of influence for one player. There's an exciting opportunity for Roderick Bernard, Ryan Newsome or maybe Tristian Houston to step up and fill this role in the future. 

Also, is there any doubt that D'Onta Foreman would have been Texas' first 1,000-yard rusher since 2007 if he were the feature back? Give him as many carries as Johnathan Gray and he'd have 950 yards rushing right now instead of 681. He's averaging 7.2 yards per carry, which trails only Shock Linwood (7.4) in the Big 12 among players with at least 50 carries. The last Texas back who had that kind of average with as many carries as Foreman's had was Jamaal Charles in 2005.

Mike Perrin should look into suing whichever coach has been making the decision to play Gray over Foreman; surely there's something in those contracts about sabotage. (Just kidding, but really... and also, it's Tommie Robinson.)

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Speaking of Warren, I really hope he proves me wrong but ...

This is a touchdown if Foreman were the ballcarrier. Instead, I'm not sure one of the linebackers wouldn't have been able to run Warren down if the safety hadn't. This doesn't look like a 4.62 40. I'm hoping Warren can develop into a Joe Bergeron clone, but at this point I think a position change is imminent. This was my position in summer 2014 and I haven't yet seen anything that makes me reconsider. 

That's the bad news. The good news is Texas is still pretty good at running Counter; they torched Oklahoma with it. I meant to post it last week, but it's interesting to me that Texas goes to gap blocking schemes when they're near either end zone, almost like they know these are their best runs (they are). But those runs are called less often between the 20s. I'd love to ask Norvell why that is. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Lost in the fumble is that this play was set up to be a nice gain. Get Vahe blocking the corner and De La Torre blocking the defender coming across the formation with Daje and there's no one left but a deep safety. 

I did also want to point out that Perkins (still at right tackle) got tossed like a rag doll here. Like I said, he had kind of a rough showing in these highlights. All three (there's one more coming) of his bad plays here came against Noble Nwachukwu, the redshirt junior from Wylie.

And maybe D'Onta shouldn't be handling the ball on trick plays. Remember it was D'Onta who fumbled on a similar play against Kansas State in 2014.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

There's more trouble for Perkins on this play — he's at right tackle still, but don't worry if you can't find him, he's circled at the key moment.

I sort of tried to draw it up but it was pretty impossible given the zoom, so I'll just tell you the play was QB Power, the most common play in the 18 Wheeler package. It's pretty well blocked, and two West Virginia defenders are again run out of the play by motion (this time it's Gray). Swoopes might have scored here if he'd been able to hit the intended gap. 

But Nwachukwu, after being driven a couple of yards back, casually tossed Perkins aside. 

After he narrowly avoids tripping over the mess left by Beck's pancake block, Swoopes switches the ball from his right to his left hand. I wonder if he hadn't fully secured it yet when contact was made. Either way, the defense is closing in on him at this point, and you'd like to see him get both hands on the ball and just try to fall forward. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

This was West Virginia's only passing play of 20+ yards (Texas had four).

West Virginia is running a sluggo concept; Texas is in a fire zone blitz. Davante Davis has no business jumping the slant first and foremost. It's hard to analyze much more of what happened in the secondary without a better view, but I'll say this. I'm not sure athleticism is the problem for Davis  â€” it is for Hall, because this ball is caught at the top of the numbers. Forget sprinting, he should be able to skip from centerfield to the top of the numbers (a distance of only about 14 yards) in time to make a play on this ball. 

The reason both Hall and Davis are struggling to catch up is that they're looking for the ball. Hall needs to be worried about cutting off the receiver, and Davis needs to be worried about getting back in phase and hopefully raking down on the receiver's arms when the ball arrives. Have someone time you running a 40 with your head pointed up at the sun, then do it again running normally and see which one's faster. I'm not worried about Davis' athleticism yet. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

This is the last play I have to work with. West Virginia is running the same concept to the trips side that Texas was running on Heard's first interception (against the same coverage too). 

I can't tell who the defensive end at the top is — probably Bryce Cottrell — but damn is he slow off the ball here. Maybe he could have disrupted the throw a little.

This is the toughest route for the safety to defend in this situation, and we know Hall's limitations, so I can't really blame him too much for this play. He is who he is. The corner (Holton Hill) could have helped him out but he misjudged the ball. These young DBs are so busy watching the ball that they aren't aware of what's going on around them. They'll learn.

 

[echeese]

We've seen three examples of good Heard. He started the game 9-of-11 for 136 yards and a touchdown. Here's bad Heard, who went 2-of-7 for 26 yards and two interceptions (but weren't there at least two drops? I stopped watching closely). 

There's a reason I don't like to question individual play calls. This was a play that, if executed, would have gone for a touchdown. 

That said, know the situation. You need six yards and it's 4th down. Against man coverage, the route concept to the trips side gives you a good chance at a pick (rub). Notice how the spur has to bubble around the safety to stay with Beck. Now, I don't want to trust Beck's hands on a 4th down, but then why is he out there? 

Besides, Texas checked to this play. There are several other concepts they could have gone with to the trips side that would have been higher-percentage throws than the fade to Armanti Foreman, who, by the way, made zero effort to catch this ball. At least try to break the pass up! He's been the biggest disappointment for me among the offensive players, but he still has two years after this one to turn things around.

Overall I enjoy these but while the 4th and 6th was underthrown . . . .had the DB simply knocked it down. . . WVU gains 30+ yards of field position.

OTOH, with basically nothing to lose, Heard puts a ball up and gives Foreman a chance to make a play or draw a PI foul. . . 

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Overall I enjoy these but while the 4th and 6th was underthrown . . . .had the DB simply knocked it down. . . WVU gains 30+ yards of field position.

OTOH, with basically nothing to lose, Heard puts a ball up and gives Foreman a chance to make a play or draw a PI foul. . . 

13 yards of field position

That ball is coming back out to the 20 yard line. Touchback

 

[echeese]

13 yards of field position

That ball is coming back out to the 20 yard line. Touchback

Pretty sure the ball was spotted at the 3 since the WVU DB ran into the endzone on his own. . .

Wasn't that the series we forced a 3 and out?   Even if I'm wrong. . . 4th and 6, you toss up a prayer and gain 13 yards of field position is actually a win.

A small nit pick but it was the one pick I was OK with. . . .still, if he gets the ball out in front of the WR . . .he has a chance to make a play. . . 

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Pretty sure the ball was spotted at the 3 since the WVU DB ran into the endzone on his own. . .

Wasn't that the series we forced a 3 and out?   Even if I'm wrong. . . 4th and 6, you toss up a prayer and gain 13 yards of field position is actually a win.

A small nit pick but it was the one pick I was OK with. . . .still, if he gets the ball out in front of the WR . . .he has a chance to make a play. . . 

I honestly don't remember where the officials spotted the ball next - probably took a restroom break or ducked my friend's thrown remote control. 

But, you're right based on the "momentum exception" NCAA rule

Momentum Exception ( 8-5-1 )
When a Team B player intercepts a forward pass, fumble, or backward pass or catches a scrimmage or free kick between his five yard line and the goal line and the runner’s original momentum carries him into the end zone where the ball is declared dead in his team’s possession, the ball belongs to Team B at the spot where the pass or fumble was intercepted or the kick was caught.

 

[Rotty22]

Pretty sure the ball was spotted at the 3 since the WVU DB ran into the endzone on his own. . .

Wasn't that the series we forced a 3 and out?   Even if I'm wrong. . . 4th and 6, you toss up a prayer and gain 13 yards of field position is actually a win.

A small nit pick but it was the one pick I was OK with. . . .still, if he gets the ball out in front of the WR . . .he has a chance to make a play. . . 

i was not ok with that pick.  that ball was severely under-thrown; a RS freshman mistake.

 

[echeese]

i was not ok with that pick.  that ball was severely under-thrown; a RS freshman mistake.

It's like Orwell said. . .not all pigs/picks are created equal

When I can gain 30+ yards on field position on 4th down . .. . it's a "good" pic.

That it was underthrown, I mentioned that, he cost himself a shot at 6 . . . .but a massive improvement in field position since we held them to 3 and out and got the ball at mid field.