I've written a couple analyses on here of what happened in App. State, and people seemed to like them so I figured I would offer my thoughts on what Tennessee should do on its first possession vs.VT this Saturday. There are additional general comments/thoughts as well. (This is long; no apologies.)
The keys to the game are fairly obvious: (1) control the line of scrimmage, especially in the interior and the backside and protect Dobbs; (2) get the ball out of Dobbs hands in the quick game on high percentage throws to build a rhythm; (3) take smart shots downfield; (4) get the ball in AK hands early and often; (5) use smart misdirection and run options to take the focus off Hurd; and (6) let Dobbs be Dobbs.
In our first offensive possession, I would start from the gun in 21 personnel, tight end to the field, Josh Malone at X, P. Williams at Z, Kamara in the slot at H, Dobbs and Hurd in the backfield.
--(1) AK motions across speed sweep, read option fake.
--(2) Fake read option slant
--(3) If first down, fake speed sweep/read, shot to the receiver on the boundary if man coverage, check down to 8 yard in/sit to Wolf if not; if not first down and 2 yards or less, read option. Once first down, the above shot play.
--(4) If connect on the shot, gravy. If not and cover zero, double slants with Kamara and Williams (looking for Williams)
--(5) Read option, Dobbs looking to keep it first (if against Bear front, I would design the blocking scheme with Kendrick or Richmond pulling around the guard as described in this article: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-...-how-to-attack-the-virginia-tech-bear-defense
I'll stop there because everything depends on yardage and field position, but I would also throw flare routes against their Bear front until they widen, as well as quick slants and hitches. On shot plays, I would target their backup corner who replaced the Adonis kid. If we can win overtop of him they may substitute, but since they will likely rotate, we can mess with their secondary's confidence in addition to beating them on the field.
Specifically, I would gameplan for the corner blitz when they are in nickel or a 3-4. The safety will have to roll over to take our receiver. In this case, the receiver would be taught to identify the blitz, call and alert to Dobbs who would need to signal to the receiver what route the receiver should run. Any play that was on would be called off and Dobbs is to immediately catch the snap and deliver a ball to the outside and high, both to avoid the blitzing corner and to make it so the receiver can turn to the outside from the safety's pursuit.
I'm a big fan of drag routes, 8 yard in routes, and seam routes, so I would work Ethan Wolf over the center of the field to death to make their linebackers slow to creep forward. After a decent dose of this medicine, I would pound Jalen using the same looks with Jalen also behind Dobbs in the pistol.
In addition, out of 21 personnel, I would have Jalen and Alvin in the backfield ad nauseam, with a plethora of Alvin coming out of the backfield to catch passes, both flares, flat routes, wheels, slants and hitches. AK will be a consistent mismatch if VT wants to play man defense, which I suspect they will audible out of once we gash them.
My philosophy is predicated on using the same 21 personnel with different formations, constant motion/misdirection, and a fast tempo. We do not substitute until we are forced to, but we will slow down to receive checks from the sideline and Dobbs would be told to look for an "alert" coach on the sideline to let him know when those sideline checks are coming (we would fake these as well).
Anyways, that's my thought experiment. I'm very optimistic for this Saturday and think we have a chance to destroy them if we execute.
The keys to the game are fairly obvious: (1) control the line of scrimmage, especially in the interior and the backside and protect Dobbs; (2) get the ball out of Dobbs hands in the quick game on high percentage throws to build a rhythm; (3) take smart shots downfield; (4) get the ball in AK hands early and often; (5) use smart misdirection and run options to take the focus off Hurd; and (6) let Dobbs be Dobbs.
In our first offensive possession, I would start from the gun in 21 personnel, tight end to the field, Josh Malone at X, P. Williams at Z, Kamara in the slot at H, Dobbs and Hurd in the backfield.
--(1) AK motions across speed sweep, read option fake.
--(2) Fake read option slant
--(3) If first down, fake speed sweep/read, shot to the receiver on the boundary if man coverage, check down to 8 yard in/sit to Wolf if not; if not first down and 2 yards or less, read option. Once first down, the above shot play.
--(4) If connect on the shot, gravy. If not and cover zero, double slants with Kamara and Williams (looking for Williams)
--(5) Read option, Dobbs looking to keep it first (if against Bear front, I would design the blocking scheme with Kendrick or Richmond pulling around the guard as described in this article: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-...-how-to-attack-the-virginia-tech-bear-defense
I'll stop there because everything depends on yardage and field position, but I would also throw flare routes against their Bear front until they widen, as well as quick slants and hitches. On shot plays, I would target their backup corner who replaced the Adonis kid. If we can win overtop of him they may substitute, but since they will likely rotate, we can mess with their secondary's confidence in addition to beating them on the field.
Specifically, I would gameplan for the corner blitz when they are in nickel or a 3-4. The safety will have to roll over to take our receiver. In this case, the receiver would be taught to identify the blitz, call and alert to Dobbs who would need to signal to the receiver what route the receiver should run. Any play that was on would be called off and Dobbs is to immediately catch the snap and deliver a ball to the outside and high, both to avoid the blitzing corner and to make it so the receiver can turn to the outside from the safety's pursuit.
I'm a big fan of drag routes, 8 yard in routes, and seam routes, so I would work Ethan Wolf over the center of the field to death to make their linebackers slow to creep forward. After a decent dose of this medicine, I would pound Jalen using the same looks with Jalen also behind Dobbs in the pistol.
In addition, out of 21 personnel, I would have Jalen and Alvin in the backfield ad nauseam, with a plethora of Alvin coming out of the backfield to catch passes, both flares, flat routes, wheels, slants and hitches. AK will be a consistent mismatch if VT wants to play man defense, which I suspect they will audible out of once we gash them.
My philosophy is predicated on using the same 21 personnel with different formations, constant motion/misdirection, and a fast tempo. We do not substitute until we are forced to, but we will slow down to receive checks from the sideline and Dobbs would be told to look for an "alert" coach on the sideline to let him know when those sideline checks are coming (we would fake these as well).
Anyways, that's my thought experiment. I'm very optimistic for this Saturday and think we have a chance to destroy them if we execute.
Last edited:
