The Bridges Breakdown: Baylor Film Review

Winning > losing. Winning against Baylor this year > all of the things. Daniel said it really well. This was a game Baylor had circled since they took that L last December. It got circled at least four more times (once for every “stolen” recruit) this summer when justice was served Texas framed Art Briles because it was tired of Baylor winning so much.

 

 

 

Let’s check the tape.

 

 

 

DEFENSE

 

 

 

It’s Zone Read, Not Magic

 

 

 

Our inability to defend zone read is bizarre, especially because it feels like it’s getting worse. If you don’t like watching #LesserAthletes hurdle former walk-ons, don’t click on the image below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Generally speaking, there are two ways Texas can play this: (1) the defensive end, Malcolm Roach, can stay square, shuffle inside and force the quarterback to hand off; or (2) Roach can crash inside and chase the running back, forcing the quarterback to keep the ball himself, while the Will linebacker, Anthony Wheeler, scrapes outside to tackle the QB. What can’t happen is a mixture of the two options. Texas has typically chosen Option #1, so we can say with some confidence that Roach screwed up.

 

 

 

As for Dylan Haines… When you break down too soon, you’re inviting crazy stuff like this. I don’t think this is the first time Haines has been hurdled but I’m not sure.

 

 

 

If you don’t like watching #LesserAthletes shake former walk-ons in the open field, don’t click on the image below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naashon Hughes is the end this time. You can even tell from the way he’s shuffling that he intended to force the “give” but came down too far. Having the back bend out and chip the end if he doesn’t get the ball is a nice wrinkle. Just lol at the rest and take comfort in the fact that Texas won.

 

 

 

Hanlon’s Razor

 

 

 

For the Xth straight week, officiating was terrible. I try not to be the type to claim refs cheated one team or the other (except when officials start bumping into coaches and then penalizing them for it), and there were so many bad calls in this game that hurt both teams, it’s clear this crew was just super incompetent. This is about as bad as offensive pass interference gets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice how Texas handled the trips set to the boundary (this will come up again). Earlier in the series, Texas had set the strength to the field/solo side and walked Wheeler out to help on the trips side. They were probably concerned about getting beat on the single-receiver side and wanted the nickel over there to help (this, too, will come up again, because Baylor also had to deal with it). Baylor changed Texas’ mind real quick by hitting the #3 receiver up the seam behind Wheeler. So now the defense puts the nickel, P.J. Locke, in press against the #2 receiver, spins DeShon Elliott down and keeps the linebackers in the box.

 

 

 

That leaves the solo-side corner, Holton Hill (he lives!) on an island. It looks like man coverage everywhere. Ishmael Zamora runs a curl route, and Hill is in good position until he’s shoved to the ground; people who are mostly standing still don’t fly several feet when they slip. This should have been 1st & 25 at the +35, which very likely changes the outcome of this drive.

 

 

 

How to Handle Boundary Trips

 

 

 

So as you can see from the previous play, the Longhorns were right to be concerned about the solo side. I mentioned that they started by putting the nickel to the field side. Here’s how that worked out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you watch #3 run the seam, you can see why the Bears came back to that on the first play of the ensuing series.

 

 

 

Kris Boyd plays it perfectly and KD Cannon gave up on the play without hesitation. Locke made a tremendous play. It sure seemed like he had a great game. Hopefully the film backs that up. Boyd bit on a double-move late in the game like I thought he would at some point, but he’s played so well otherwise that he has to stay on the field. I still think Hill is the best option at the other spot, but he needs to get his confidence back.

 

 

 

No Matter How You Spin It, This Was a Stupid Timeout

 

 

 

Even the Baylor sites are grateful to Charlie Strong for calling a timeout just before the half to give them time to set this play up. If you’re determined to sub, you’d better have the subs ready to go before the previous play even starts. That didn’t happen. And no, Texas was not going to have too many men on the field if they didn’t call the timeout — the defensive tackle appeared to be off the field well before the whistle (unless Chris Nelson can’t jog five yards in four seconds).

 

 

 

Baylor seemed content to take one hurried shot at the end zone and then kick a field goal. Instead, this happened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hill “opens the gate” and allows Cannon to run right past him. He has no effect on the timing of the play, and he doesn’t use the sideline to his advantage. He’s still not in horrible position, but he doesn’t react quickly enough to Cannon’s reaching for the ball. This was a good throw, but Hill’s lapses in technique made it way too easy for Cannon.

 

 

 

Goal Line Sit

 

 

 

Texas had 11 players on the field here, and about five of them could have made this stop but didn’t.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t know why both Breckyn Hager and Charles Omenihu are trying to come off the edge on the backside. Either of them coming through the B gap could have stopped this play in the backfield. Then, Roach’s penetration at playside end disrupts both the H-back and the pulling guard, leaving three — THREE — second-level defenders unblocked. Nelson and Jason Hall both get arms on the back, but neither can bring him down. Anyway, it was a great individual effort by Terence Williams.

 

 

 

OFFENSE

 

 

 

We’ll get the interception out of the way first. That makes sense because there’s an obvious relationship between most of the other plays.

 

 

 

Help Your Quarterback

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like Shane Buechele wanted to go to Kyle Porter first on what’s almost a screen look, but Baylor dropped eight into coverage and it wasn’t there. He came back to the comeback route. It maybe wasn’t the best decision to try to slip out the back of the pocket, especially when there was so much space in front of him. That’s just asking your tackle to hold the pass rusher, which Tristan Nickelson did. Buechele can get away with forcing a throw since it’s 4th down. The frustrating part, though, is that this ball wasn’t really forced — it may have been a 1st down had John Burt come back to it.

 

 

 

Finally, a Good Playcall

 

 

 

Sterlin Gilbert did some really bizarre stuff, but this was a good one to narrow the deficit to two points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why haven’t we seen something similar to this from the 18 Wheeler package? Maybe Sterlin doesn’t know Tyrone Swoopes had 490 pass attempts before he showed up.

 

 

 

Baylor was wholly unprepared for this play. They’ve got a 260-pound defensive end trying to cover Andrew Beck, but he doesn’t seem to really believe his assignment exists. Armanti Foreman crack blocks one defender, but in reality he takes out two because the man covering him evidently can’t recognize when a receiver is blocking. Beck did a great job finishing the play. He’s caught three passes this year, two of them for touchdowns.

 

 

 

D’Onta Heisman Hype Train Rolls On

 

 

 

Both of D’Onta Foreman’s touchdowns came on the same play: split zone. Note the pistol set. That probably would have benefited Chris Warren because the back gets going and then takes the handoff. It also prevents the defense from running some games to take away certain plays based on the back’s alignment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

People will do it, but labeling Foreman a “big back,” as though he is a plodder, is doing him a disservice. There’s an unblocked safety with a great chance to bring him down when he bounces this play outside. He couldn’t make this stop even if they were playing touch football. Collin Johnson puts in work as a blocker on the outside. Actually, it wasn’t a difficult assignment at all. For the No. 8 team in a “rivalry” game, there were a lot of Baylor players giving up on plays.

 

 

 

Here’s split zone (and touchdown) again. I guess this would be a good time to mention that the very stupid fourth-quarter handoff to Swoopes on 3rd & 5 was on this play, so at least that aspect made some sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baylor’s defensive line is slanting all over the place, which really muddles up the diagram. The offensive line deserves a lot of credit for executing its zone blocking assignments masterfully. Once he hits the hole, Foreman is so fast that no one has a chance, even with both safeties coming downhill.

 

 

 

The really important part to highlight, though, is what the threat of Foreman running does to the boundary safety. The offensive line was so physical, and Foreman was so good, that he had to be very involved against the run. That meant D’Onta’s brother kept finding himself in one-on-one matchups with various corners.

 

 

 

Army Slant

 

 

 

What Baylor basically did, at least in these highlights (I haven’t gotten to rewatch the full nine-hour game), was play Cover 2 to the field and man to the boundary. On pass plays, the boundary safety would try to help bracket Armanti. It didn’t work. Here’s the slant pass attached to a run play that we started seeing take off in recent weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the boundary safety comes up to attack the run, space opens behind him to throw the slant. Watch Buechele’s baseball-inspired footwork. If the corner can’t hold up against the X receiver, this is so hard to defend (unless the offense helps out by fumbling).

 

 

 

Army Bombs

 

 

 

We’d all better be hoping Armanti isn’t set on leaving with his brother, because no one else has shown the ability to consistently make these tough catches along the sideline. I guess it’s not too much of a concern, however, because Armanti didn’t have great field awareness until this season. It can be learned, apparently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember after Notre Dame when critics were saying, “Yeah, but they got lucky hitting all those deep balls”? They were wrong. It should be clear by now that Buechele is extremely skilled throwing deep. It’s been a long time since Texas has had that at quarterback.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I mean, this is ridiculous. Is Johnson going to be ready to make these plays next year? Please come back, Armanti. (I personally think he needs to return anyway so that there’s more tape of him. He only has 48 career receptions. His brother, on the other hand … go make some money, young man.)

 

 

 

So that’s what I saw. What did you guys see?