On Barnett's first QB hit that forced the Kelly INT, he was given a two-way-go on a guard... he's going to win that battle more times than not. It looked like a traditional edge pressure and the guard expected him in the B gap, but Barnett crossed his face into the A for a great play.
Bad eyes from Vereen and McDowell on T. Williams' first big run of the day. It looked like a simple cross-zone read, both our defenders had their eyes across the formation when the ball was coming right at them. Perhaps A&M ran a "tendency-breaker"... Teams have now played enough ball to self-scout. They see that about of formation 'x' they are running play 'y' an overwhelming percentage of the time. Tendency-breakers can be really productive the last half of the season.
Jumper tackled well. Made a couple really nice open field, 1-on-1 stops vs Knight and Williams. I see no way you take 53 off the field when Kirkland gets back. They need to play together.
Our 1st fumble was the strip sack... I put a lot of this on Dobbs. He held the ball for 4-5 seconds and didn't move in the pocket at all.
Lewis was the 3rd DE in the Game, Phillips 4th, Kongbo 5th. Kongbo got his first action at DT in passing situations. Kongbo played more DE than Phillips in the first half by a wide margin.
Kongbo is much more comfortable at DE. He's playing a little slow in general, but plays better at DE.
Ethan Wolfe and Jason Croom blocked extremely well. Best game they have had in this department.
Kahlil McKenzie was active, rangy, and disruptive. He ran to the ball well also. His improvements are happening at a rapid pace.
We are surprisingly good out of empty (5 wideouts). I think Dobbs' legs slow down the pass rush enough and his improved accuracy allows us to hit some easy throws in this personnel grouping.
Foreman had a pretty decent 1st half. Had a nice PBU on a 3rd down vs Speedy Noil. Also made a nice tackle on the screen for a 3rd down stop.
Kelly is a monster at RB. Captain obvious statement of the day.
On T. Williams' second big run, again was due to bad eyes from McDowell. In the cross-zone read the defense has to play what comes to them. The RB goes one way, the QB keeps he goes opposite... McDowell is looking away from the action coming at him for the second time.
A&M'a first deep ball was to Reynolds vs Buchanan. Buchanan wasn't in terrible position, a step away from being in a perfect spot. There was no safety help from Kelly. Not sure what Kelly is looking at or what he's dropping on... It's hard to say because I don't know the call, but he was covering grass and not any WR's.
We obviously struggle to defend the deep ball. Doug Mathews calls it a 'technique issue'.
Warrior's targeting call was essentially a 47 yard penalty. I love the hit, just lower the strike zone a foot or so. Warrior got that dog in him.
When we go fast after a big 1st down, it is typically a bad play. It usually puts us in 2nd and long and is a drive staller for sure. The Volquest staff has pointed this out before, it happened several times Saturday.
Not to complain about officiating, but A&M was allowed to be awfully handsy in pass coverage.
Our pressures were much cleaner Saturday, which is certainly good to see.
Excuse my low-tech nature. Thought I would draw up a few of our pressures from the 1st half, so here you go...
Play 1:
This is a bear look. I love bear fronts. It creates a 1-on-1 environment up front and is a great defense for option offenses.
Play 2:
We typically align our DT's with one in a shade (typically the strong side DT) and the weakside in a 3. On this play they are both in 3's. Well executed pressure, forced a quick throw to the check-down that was off target and incomplete.
Play 3:
I believe Danielson called this a bear look, but it isn't. The ends are in 5's, the tackles in 3's, and the Mike and Will are walked up in the A gaps. This makes the OL and QB make a decision before the snap. The 5 OL clearly can't block all 6 guys... The Mike popped out on the snap to take away any quick hitters over the ball and/or cover the RB if he released into a route.
IIRC, Barnett beat his man on this play. Kirk had gotten behind Forman but the hurried throw was off target.
Play 4:
This was certainly not the cleanest stunt we have ever ran, but it was creative and fun to draw up so I wanted to share. The biggest take away here is that Marquil Osborne had pretty solid coverage on a go route. Certainly good to see.
Bad eyes from Vereen and McDowell on T. Williams' first big run of the day. It looked like a simple cross-zone read, both our defenders had their eyes across the formation when the ball was coming right at them. Perhaps A&M ran a "tendency-breaker"... Teams have now played enough ball to self-scout. They see that about of formation 'x' they are running play 'y' an overwhelming percentage of the time. Tendency-breakers can be really productive the last half of the season.
Jumper tackled well. Made a couple really nice open field, 1-on-1 stops vs Knight and Williams. I see no way you take 53 off the field when Kirkland gets back. They need to play together.
Our 1st fumble was the strip sack... I put a lot of this on Dobbs. He held the ball for 4-5 seconds and didn't move in the pocket at all.
Lewis was the 3rd DE in the Game, Phillips 4th, Kongbo 5th. Kongbo got his first action at DT in passing situations. Kongbo played more DE than Phillips in the first half by a wide margin.
Kongbo is much more comfortable at DE. He's playing a little slow in general, but plays better at DE.
Ethan Wolfe and Jason Croom blocked extremely well. Best game they have had in this department.
Kahlil McKenzie was active, rangy, and disruptive. He ran to the ball well also. His improvements are happening at a rapid pace.
We are surprisingly good out of empty (5 wideouts). I think Dobbs' legs slow down the pass rush enough and his improved accuracy allows us to hit some easy throws in this personnel grouping.
Foreman had a pretty decent 1st half. Had a nice PBU on a 3rd down vs Speedy Noil. Also made a nice tackle on the screen for a 3rd down stop.
Kelly is a monster at RB. Captain obvious statement of the day.
On T. Williams' second big run, again was due to bad eyes from McDowell. In the cross-zone read the defense has to play what comes to them. The RB goes one way, the QB keeps he goes opposite... McDowell is looking away from the action coming at him for the second time.
A&M'a first deep ball was to Reynolds vs Buchanan. Buchanan wasn't in terrible position, a step away from being in a perfect spot. There was no safety help from Kelly. Not sure what Kelly is looking at or what he's dropping on... It's hard to say because I don't know the call, but he was covering grass and not any WR's.
We obviously struggle to defend the deep ball. Doug Mathews calls it a 'technique issue'.
Warrior's targeting call was essentially a 47 yard penalty. I love the hit, just lower the strike zone a foot or so. Warrior got that dog in him.
When we go fast after a big 1st down, it is typically a bad play. It usually puts us in 2nd and long and is a drive staller for sure. The Volquest staff has pointed this out before, it happened several times Saturday.
Not to complain about officiating, but A&M was allowed to be awfully handsy in pass coverage.
Our pressures were much cleaner Saturday, which is certainly good to see.
Excuse my low-tech nature. Thought I would draw up a few of our pressures from the 1st half, so here you go...
Play 1:
This is a bear look. I love bear fronts. It creates a 1-on-1 environment up front and is a great defense for option offenses.
Play 2:
We typically align our DT's with one in a shade (typically the strong side DT) and the weakside in a 3. On this play they are both in 3's. Well executed pressure, forced a quick throw to the check-down that was off target and incomplete.
Play 3:
I believe Danielson called this a bear look, but it isn't. The ends are in 5's, the tackles in 3's, and the Mike and Will are walked up in the A gaps. This makes the OL and QB make a decision before the snap. The 5 OL clearly can't block all 6 guys... The Mike popped out on the snap to take away any quick hitters over the ball and/or cover the RB if he released into a route.
IIRC, Barnett beat his man on this play. Kirk had gotten behind Forman but the hurried throw was off target.
Play 4:
This was certainly not the cleanest stunt we have ever ran, but it was creative and fun to draw up so I wanted to share. The biggest take away here is that Marquil Osborne had pretty solid coverage on a go route. Certainly good to see.
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