I still have about 11 minutes to go in the 4th, but not sure when I'll get to it so wanted to go ahead and post.
I loved Richmond's body language. He looked like a guy ready to play and he played well. He was always picking up our ball carriers and just seemed to have a little extra pep in his step.
Croom blocked his tail off. He was abusing U.K. DBs.
Kudos to Lewis and Phillips. Both played pretty well and were active all day long. Sliding down to DT is selfless and their solid play is just a bonus.
In fact, kudos to the entire DL. We get pushed around inside some, but given who we have I thought they played well. They weren't the most significant issue with our run game, that's a fact.
I also think Bynum deserves some credit. He's limited in what he can do as an SEC LB, we all know that. But he's a grown ass man when he can play on the end of the LOS vs the run. He did a pretty darn good job Saturday.
So, where did the run game issues comes from? IMO, eye discipline at LB and S were the biggest issues. We are too often getting caught looking across the formation... a great example is the 1st play of the game. Announcers and message board posters see our nickel screaming off the edge and tackle the dive, they say he should have defended the QB because he kept the ball... WRONG. Gaulden is a dive defender when he is on an edge pressure vs a zone read. The QB defender should have been Kirkland but he got caught looking across the formation at the RB. This should be really simple, be "slow to go" and play what comes... we have bad eyes and don't trust our teammates.
Culprit number two would be tackling. My example here is Kemp's 70 yard gallop. Griffin had a great run fit and should have made the stop for a short gain, but he dove and barely slowed Kemp down... you know the rest. Sutton also missed a TFL that resulted in a huge run.
Culprit number 3 would be our scrapes from the LB's. Whether too tight and getting beat to the edge, or too wide and giving a cut back lane, we didn't scrape well.
I do think Abernathy played much better than he has been. It was also good to see Foreman make a nice play vs the ball in the air.
Certainly good to see our OL own some guys. UK's defense doesn't have a difference maker on it at any level, but 10.2 yards per play is impressive no matter who you play. DeBord called a great game as well.
Jumping back to defense real quick... I don't think we have any major scheme issues. Our busts are typically execution items but there aren't a ton consistencies in what is going wrong in relation to scheme. I would like to see more zone, but with the prevalence of the RPO, that makes you play a lot more man. Shoop is a good D.C. And if he sticks around I hope to see him run more of "his stuff" as opposed to running what we have been for continuities' sake.
Edit: Brent pointed out my take on Gaulden's edge pressure vs the zone-read is wrong. Gaulden should have put on the breaks and defended the QB. This is interesting and much different than the rest of the defensive world typically does it. Not to question Coach Shoop becauses he knows much more than I ever will, but perhaps why we are having such a hard time defending such a routine offensive play. (This could be something we are just now starting to do differently in effort to get better also.)
If I'm not mistaken UK had 22 points with 7 minutes to go... find a way to finish the game in stronger fashion and the narrative would be much different.
I loved Richmond's body language. He looked like a guy ready to play and he played well. He was always picking up our ball carriers and just seemed to have a little extra pep in his step.
Croom blocked his tail off. He was abusing U.K. DBs.
Kudos to Lewis and Phillips. Both played pretty well and were active all day long. Sliding down to DT is selfless and their solid play is just a bonus.
In fact, kudos to the entire DL. We get pushed around inside some, but given who we have I thought they played well. They weren't the most significant issue with our run game, that's a fact.
I also think Bynum deserves some credit. He's limited in what he can do as an SEC LB, we all know that. But he's a grown ass man when he can play on the end of the LOS vs the run. He did a pretty darn good job Saturday.
So, where did the run game issues comes from? IMO, eye discipline at LB and S were the biggest issues. We are too often getting caught looking across the formation... a great example is the 1st play of the game. Announcers and message board posters see our nickel screaming off the edge and tackle the dive, they say he should have defended the QB because he kept the ball... WRONG. Gaulden is a dive defender when he is on an edge pressure vs a zone read. The QB defender should have been Kirkland but he got caught looking across the formation at the RB. This should be really simple, be "slow to go" and play what comes... we have bad eyes and don't trust our teammates.
Culprit number two would be tackling. My example here is Kemp's 70 yard gallop. Griffin had a great run fit and should have made the stop for a short gain, but he dove and barely slowed Kemp down... you know the rest. Sutton also missed a TFL that resulted in a huge run.
Culprit number 3 would be our scrapes from the LB's. Whether too tight and getting beat to the edge, or too wide and giving a cut back lane, we didn't scrape well.
I do think Abernathy played much better than he has been. It was also good to see Foreman make a nice play vs the ball in the air.
Certainly good to see our OL own some guys. UK's defense doesn't have a difference maker on it at any level, but 10.2 yards per play is impressive no matter who you play. DeBord called a great game as well.
Jumping back to defense real quick... I don't think we have any major scheme issues. Our busts are typically execution items but there aren't a ton consistencies in what is going wrong in relation to scheme. I would like to see more zone, but with the prevalence of the RPO, that makes you play a lot more man. Shoop is a good D.C. And if he sticks around I hope to see him run more of "his stuff" as opposed to running what we have been for continuities' sake.
Edit: Brent pointed out my take on Gaulden's edge pressure vs the zone-read is wrong. Gaulden should have put on the breaks and defended the QB. This is interesting and much different than the rest of the defensive world typically does it. Not to question Coach Shoop becauses he knows much more than I ever will, but perhaps why we are having such a hard time defending such a routine offensive play. (This could be something we are just now starting to do differently in effort to get better also.)
If I'm not mistaken UK had 22 points with 7 minutes to go... find a way to finish the game in stronger fashion and the narrative would be much different.
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