Offense
Army: Let’s start with Shane Buechele’s first touchdown pass.
http://i.imgur.com/2yh93e4.png
Texas runs three verticals with the outside receivers and the tight end and a curl/flat with the slot and the back. Notre Dame overplays the three-receiver side, bringing the safety to that side over to pick up #3 (the tight end) vertical, and plays man on the single-receiver side. Buechele recognizes it before the snap, glances to the trips side to hold the safety and tosses it up to Armanti Foreman. The protection was good, the throw was great, and the catch was phenomenal. Texas made a lot of these “my guy is better than your guy”-type gambles, and they were usually right.
The Drop: Brian Kelly remarked after the game that Texas’ speed outside caught them by surprise, and noted that his defense was beaten while in Cover 3. A corner in Cover 3 technique should never get beaten over the top — he starts with a cushion between himself and the receiver, starts shuffling backward shortly after the snap and is trying to stay deeper than the receiver. That wasn’t enough to help the Irish stop John Burt — though Burt stopped himself on this play.
http://i.imgur.com/UPLWxyv.png
This is actually a whacky version of a three-deep zone. Normally a safety would have the deep middle zone, but instead they both sit in the curl zones while #1, a linebacker, bails out from his position at the line of scrimmage to cover that area. Notre Dame showed blitz but rushes only three, and Caleb Bluiett ends up trying to block Isaac Rochell, who had a great game. Bluiett stones him. Without that block, this play doesn’t get off the ground.
Redemption: Similar situation here: three-deep zone coverage and Burt on the go route. Again you have Bluiett making a key block on Rochell.
http://i.imgur.com/hK26gc7.png
Notre Dame’s sophomore corner lines up in a press man look, actually trying to bait Buechele into this throw, but he clearly overestimated his own abilities. I’m not sure if Buechele is trying to affect the safeties or if he initially was looking at the twins side. Either way, he hardly steps into this throw but still gets it 47 yards downfield.
Interception: It wasn’t a flawless outing for Buechele — or for the offensive line.
http://i.imgur.com/QBTulfM.png
Sterlin Gilbert dialed up a sticks concept (run past the marker and turn around) on 3rd & 7. Notre Dame is again showing blitz but dropping into Cover 3. Texas was expecting more rushers than it got. I highlighted the protection lapse by Patrick Vahe, the left guard, because his man is the one who hit Buechele, but it’s probably the other defensive tackle who affects the throw more. In his attempt to get the ball over the rushers, Buechele sails it and it’s picked off. I was worried about the offensive line communication and pass protection coming in, and though it was better than I expected, there’s some room for improvement.
D’Onta: D’Onta Foreman has somehow flown under the radar for a while now, and he’ll probably still be overshadowed by the performances of Buechele and Tyrone Swoopes. But it was clear to me that he was the best back on the team last season, and I’d be shocked if that changed this year.
http://i.imgur.com/ZhQfnIM.png
This was a tricky play to draw up, especially because I don’t think the blocking went as intended. My impression is that Buechele is reading the unblocked 3-technique, and the H-back is trying to get up to one of the backside linebackers. I’m also assuming center Zach Shackelford and right guard Alex Anderson were supposed to combo block up to a linebacker, but neither does. It may be that Shackelford was trying not to get too far upfield because the play is a run-pass option. Regardless, this play shouldn’t have worked; credit Vahe for turning his man out and Foreman for bursting through the hole and keeping his balance for the crucial touchdown.
18 Wheeler: And we’ve got a similar situation with the game winner.
http://i.imgur.com/AxgHaHu.png
My best guess is this was supposed to be QB power, but the right guard and tackle leave the defensive tackle unblocked. I would expect right tackle Brandon Hodges to block down on that guy while RG Anderson moves up to the backside linebacker. Instead, those are the two defenders Swoopes has to evade behind the line of scrimmage. The pulling guard, Vahe, is knocked off his track by penetration in the middle of the line. This play was really a mess, and it succeeded mostly because of the outstanding effort of Swoopes. (Tight end Bluiett, Hodges and H-back Andrew Beck at least made themselves useful on the frontside of the play.)
Defense
These plays are all from the Notre Dame highlights, so they’re going to make the Irish look good. Sorry, the Texas Sports media side was slacking.
Missed Tackles: This is a simple zone read play against Texas’ Cover 1 with a safety blitz.
http://i.imgur.com/DcBWGPg.png
Dylan Haines has the quarterback and Naashon Hughes should have the back but he missed the tackle. Sheroid Evans comes in for what would have been a tackle after about a 5-yard gain, but the wide receiver CLEARLY BLOCKS HIM IN THE BACK. (Why do refs only call these on special teams?) Then Jason Hall, expecting Evans to funnel the ballcarrier back inside, runs into and goes underneath the umpire. And then Malik Jefferson runs down the back. Insane.
Find the Ball: Later in the drive, DeShone Kizer recognizes that Texas is in Cover 0 (man coverage, no deep safety) and takes his own shot.
http://i.imgur.com/A75Dcgg.png
Davante Davis really had a disappointing game, as you’ll see. It seems like he lost track of the ball on this one. To be fair, it was a great throw and catch. It’s way too soon to worry. I was surprised by the decision to start him and Sheroid Evans over Holton Hill, however.
Coverage Bust: Here was (probably) Davis’ second mistake, this time because of a mental lapse.
http://i.imgur.com/e4yTOBw.png
Notre Dame’s two receivers on top switch release and run vertical routes. I drew it up as man coverage because that’s how it will play out, but this is a pattern match Cover 3. Jason Hall is likely responsible for the wheel route, while Davis should have stuck with the first vertical threat. That’s how I usually see it run, at least.
Leverage: Here’s another read play, with another missed tackle by Texas.
http://i.imgur.com/LfsZ7Mi.png
Safety Kevin Vaccaro just has to keep outside leverage so that, if he can’t make the tackle, he forces the ballcarrier back inside, where Anthony Wheeler, Hall and potentially Jefferson were in position to clean it up.
Scramble Drill: This was Davis’ third mistake, and it allowed Notre Dame to pull within three points. The second and third of the mistakes were mental.
http://i.imgur.com/G0BBgTt.png
Texas is in man coverage, and you can see how good the coverage is once Kizer starts scrambling. Watching it live, I thought Kizer was going to waltz in as we’ve seen quarterbacks do to Texas so many times in recent years, but you can see a tackle (Paul Boyette?) in pursuit, Antwuan Davis peel off coverage and Jefferson picked up his guy. It’s likely going to be 4th & Goal if Davante sticks with his man.
You Lose Some: I can live with mistakes like the one Davante made on the first series, where he seemingly just couldn’t find the ball. And I can live with plays like this.
http://i.imgur.com/8mijH5M.png
First, this is a nice adjustment at the line by Notre Dame. Texas possibly could have done a better job disguising the coverage, but there’s only 4 seconds left on the play clock, and the defense has to show its hand eventually. Then there’s the coverage, which is actually pretty good. You’d like to see Wheeler close the distance and get on the receiver’s hip, but he’s in a foot race he shouldn’t have a chance to win. The throw has to be perfect, and even then, Wheeler just missed getting a hand in the pocket and breaking the pass up. If the Texas defense can always force an offense to have this many things go right to score, this team will win a lot of games.
(Early) Final Thoughts
Notre Dame was the better team, but Texas clearly wanted this game more. The effort put forth by Swoopes, Foreman and Jake Oliver were unforgettable, and I’m sure more examples will stand out in film review.
I never noticed Connor Williams and Zach Shackelford (besides the bad snaps), which is always a good sign for an offensive lineman, and even Alex Anderson seemed to have a decent night. I was also concerned about the loss of Alex De La Torre, but Andrew Beck played well, potentially his best game as a Longhorn. Matt Mattox deserves a ton of credit for all of that.
Buechele wasn’t asked to do a ton, but I didn’t see anything in his performance that concerned me. The arm looked fine, he looked small but not like he was going to break in half, and his poise is elite. And who would have thought after his timid running in 2014 — now seemingly explained by Shawn Watson’s coaching — that Swoopes would turn into the behemoth he is now? The 18 Wheeler has everyone’s attention, and wait until we see him hitting Beck or Bluiett in the flats or finding Collin Johnson on a fade.
Chris Warren is significantly slower than Foreman to hit the line of scrimmage. That will matter less in games where Texas is dominating the line. But it’s something to watch, because Foreman has a history of injuries, so Kyle Porter or Kirk Johnson will probably need to step in and provide that burst at some point.
Besides Burt’s drops, the receivers were solid. No one did anything I didn’t expect save for Oliver. Warrick catches with his body and will drop some passes at some point, but he’s lightning with the ball. It’s incredible that Texas put up 50 points and we didn’t really even see Devin Duvernay or Collin Johnson.
I’m going to spend a lot of time rewatching the defensive line. They were getting bullied early in the game, but something seemed to change, and I don’t think the personnel really did. The linebackers, especially Jefferson, were outstanding. I thought the preseason accolades for him were a little much, but he’s well on his way to earning every single one of them. And the secondary had a pretty good game except for Davis. It will be interesting to see what the status of Dylain Haines is for the Cal game — most of which he missed last season after a targeting penalty — and if we’ll see more Brandon Jones going forward. Sheroid Evans impressed, but I was surprised by the decision to start him or Davis over Holton Hill. I saw Hill more later, so I think the coaches realized that was a mistake.
Now let’s see if this young team can keep the big win from going to its head and dominate UTEP like it should.
