SB Nation - Markus White

The Preview: Maryland Terrapins @ Florida State Seminoles

FSUncensored — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:04:10 -0000

Time: Noon
TV: Raycom Sports - Tim Brant (pbp), Doc Walker (color) and Mike Hogewood (sidelines) will call the action. The game can also be seen on ESPN Gameplan or ESPN360.com.
Line: FSU -18.5
Forecast: Rain? No Rain? Looks like heavy rain in the afternoon but it should hold off for the first half.

The Maryland Terrapins are coming off a 36-9 home loss to Virginia Tech. They sit at 1-8 on the year against D1 teams. Their coach, Ralf Friedgen on that loss:

"I thought we improved in our offensive line play. Andrew Gonnella played probably his best game and I thought Terrell Skinner played a fantastic game. He had 13 tackles and really played well. We defended the run well, but what we didn't do was defend the big plays and the passing game. We have to make some more plays in our offense. There are some plays out there that we need to make and we didn't make them. On Monday night I showed about eight plays to the offense where we are very, very close to just sustaining the block, breaking the tackle or making the catch to make a difference."

Maryland Offense v. FSU Defense

As you can see (click to enlarge), Maryland's offense isn't very good. 83rd in the country and significantly worse than North Carolina (the next best offense FSU has played). But they are better than USF, and like USF, they are starting a young running quarterback for the first time.

And Florida State's defense...

As you can see (click to enlarge), FSU's defense is 90th in the country. Maryland put 31 points on NC State's 85th ranked defense on the road, and dropped 32 on Wake's 46th ranked unit, also on the road. But that was with their quarterback. Let's see what they are currently working with.

Here's Maryland's offensive depth chart:

WR-X 7 Adrian Cannon 6-2 204 Jr.-2V
LT 74 Bruce Campbell 6-7 310 Jr.-2V
LG 71 Paul Pinegar 6-4 290 Jr.-2V
C 72 Phil Costa 6-3 300 Sr.-2V
RG 77 Andrew Gonnella 6-6 305 So.-SQ or 78 Justin Lewis 6-4 320 Fr.-RS
RT 76 R.J. Dill 6-7 320 Fr.-RS
TE-Y 34 Devonte Campbell 6-2 250 Fr.-RS
QB 11 Jamarr Robinson 6-0 190 So.-SQ
TB 8 Davin Meggett 5-8 215 So.-1V & 23 Da'Rel Scott 5-11 200 Jr.-2V
FB 38 Cory Jackson 6-1 245 Sr.-3V
WR-Z 82 Torrey Smith 6-1 200 So.-1V
WR-F 24 Ronnie Tyler 5-11 190 So.-1V
TE-F 80 Lansford Watson 6-4 260 So.-1V

And FSU's Defensive Depth Chart:

LE 95 Kevin McNeil 6-2, 257, SR
DT 93 Everett Dawkins 6-2, 258, FR & 72 Budd Thacker 6-2, 276, SR
NT 90 Moses McCray 6-2, 298, SO & 99 Jacobbi McDaniel 6-0, 267, FR
RE 98 Markus White 6-4, 261, JR & 49 Brandon Jenkins 6-2, 240, FR
SLB 36 Dekoda Watson 6-2, 226, SR
MLB 29 Kendall Smith 6-1, 224, JR
WLB 13 Nigel Bradham 6-2, 235, SO
Backup LB 12 Nigel Carr 6-3, 230, SO
CB 15 Ochuko Jenije 5-10, 188, JR
FS 20 Jamie Robinson 6-2, 188, SR
RV 22 Korey Mangum 6-0, 202, SR & 10 Nick Moody 6-2, 228, FR
CB 21 Patrick Robinson 5-11, 194, SR
Nickel Corner: 5 Greg Reid 5-9, 175, FR

Phillip, a friend of Tomahawk Nation, will be helping us out with the Maryland team.

Jamarr Robinson is the new quarterback. He runs a 4.66 in the forty yard dash so he'll give your defense all types of problems scrambling but at this point he's just not a good passer. In six quarters he is 17-43 for 130 yards, no TD's and no pick, though he has thrown a couple balls that could have been picks and a couple that could have been TD's if the receiver makes a play. Robinson won't throw over 200 yards against FSU in all probability no matter what the circumstance. Robinson is mobile, but not so mobile he's a game changer. He can't read coverages and hes pretty inaccurate.

But in the rain with FSU's defense over-pursuing like crazy, this running back playing QB could give FSU some trouble. I'd actually rather face Turner. I talked to the Va Tech guys and they said Robinson is extremely erratic. FSU is facing a less talented B.J. Daniels. Maryland has always run some option and they rep the option in practice so I think FSU is in for a heavy does of option. It would fit this kid's skill-set well.

Tough to evaluate this running back group cause of the bad O-Line. Da'Rel Scott, a first team all ACC guy should return from injury after missing the last five games. Hes our best runner. Hes averaging over 5 yards a carry when nobody else is over 4. He was fumbling the ball before he got hurt, so that could be an issue. The backups who played the last couple weeks were banged up themselves. They are not bad players they just don't have big holes to run through. Also with Jamar Robinson playing you can crowd the box, thus the RB's only got 7 carries against VT, the QB did most of the running (25 carries for 127 yards). Without a healthy Scott this group is pretty average. If they played with a good line they would get decent yardage, but they don't and aren't good enough to make things happen on their own. Scott put up big numbers earlier in the season, but in fairness to the other rb's, Scott played against a couple weaker defenses, (James Madison and MTSU) when he put up his numbers. Our fullback, Cory Jackson, might be the best blocking fullback in the ACC, but without an O-Line that only gets you so far.

Remember Dave Megget of the Giants? That's his son. A similarly fashioned scat back. Scott is not a receiving threat but Megget has good hands. If Maryland wants to use a fullback, that's fine by me. FSU will play 8 men in the box like they did last year early on.

This wide receiver group is talented. Torrey Smith, Adrian Cannon, and Ronnie Tyler the top 3 guys are all good. If Turner is the QB this group could cause your secondary problems. This group is probably in the top third of the ACC. If we had a good O-Line or a run game to balance the pass, UMD could put up big passing numbers with these guys. Torrey Smith is a sophomore but probably has a future in the NFL. He broke the ACC KO return yards as a freshman and broke that record this year and has put up very solid receiving numbers. Smith has soft hands, good cutting ability, and low 4.4 speed. Adrian Cannon is a good possession WR. He runs around a 4.6 so not a deep threat that can stretch the field vertically, but hes got a thick body and very strong hands. Hes good after the catch, okay elusiveness and is strong and will break a lot of tackles by db's. Tyler is the slot, short at 5'9, hes an explosive athlete that is a good college receiver.

I agree with Phillip here. FSU CB Patrick Robinson, one of the best corners in the nation and a likely first round choice should be able to limit Smith. Jenijie should be okay against the other their #2. Maryland doesn't have a tight end who catches a lot of balls, so that is a plus.

I would say the worst O-Line in the ACC by quite a bit. We struggle to pass block and we struggle to run block. Its not clear which we are worst at. Occasionally they will have a good series or two, but this O-Line has yet to really put together an entire game, so FSU doesn't have much to worry about. The O-Line started out young and inexperienced and has been exacerbated by injuries. Bruce Campbell the best O-Lineman is playing pretty hurt. Due to injuries 9 different guys have gotten starts this year on the line and another has played significantly. Your D-Line will have its best game.

This is true. Maryland's offensive line is highly questionable. Campbell is actually a tremendous talent at left tackle, but as Phillip said, he's been injured. Last year Maryland was one of a few teams to not double team Everette Brown and Brown absolutely abused the Terps. They have struggled with quick rush ends so far this year and as Phillip said, FSU might have a good day. I don't think he understands just how poor FSU's defense is, however, so don't get too excited, 'Nole fans.

Maryland runs a pro-style offense. It's West coast based. They typically man block, not zone block (FSU zone blocks). If I was running Maryland's offense, I would probably use 3 wide receivers and two running backs, mixing in a lot of option looks for the young quarterback who is basically a running back under center. The rain probably plays to Maryland's advantage if they elect to run some of the zone-read plays we've come accustomed to seeing teams run against Florida State, often with great success. It's one thing to overrun a play. It's another to overrun a play in the rain and be unable to recover in time. I expect FSU to run more of the cover-2 stuff they ran against Wake Forest. This should help because it allows FSU to keep all 11 eyes on the "quarterback". It also will force the quarterback to work with his receivers. FSU did not do this well against USF, and pair dearly for it via two bombs and multiple scrambles. Playing an excess of man coverage in this game is a poor choice. Maryland has some good skill guys and if FSU lets them play street ball, this could be interesting. Against Zone, receivers must sit down in the voids, and the quarterback must recognize where these voids will be and throw the ball to the spot. I do not think Maryland's guy under center can do that consistently. FSU must make him do things at which he is not comfortable, and not allow him to hit the high-risk, high-reward stuff. A good cover-2 or cover-3 zone can help with this. In addition, FSU should refrain from excessive blitzing. If there is any offensive line that FSU's defensive line can get pressure against, it is this group. Maryland won't consistently beat a conservative FSU defense, but they could beat an aggressive FSU defense. They have a veteran center who can make the calls and FSU's schemes aren't fooling anyone. It's best to be very conservative, contain Robinson, and let him make mistakes. I worry about this because it is defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews' last game. Will the players be too hyped up to play good assignment football? I don't know.

Working off a 68 play projection (about average), I expect Maryland to put up about 5.5 yards per play. That's 375 yards. 24 points seems reasonable. I'll go with that. Can FSU top that? Continue reading to see.

Maryland Defense @ Florida State Offense

The Terps defense is not as bad as their offense.

From their media guide:

They've actually been sort of solid on defense for most of the conference season (Cal housed them 52-13), though they struggled aginst the Hokies last week. They are allowing an average of 113 rushing yards per game (second in league play). LBs Alex Wujciak and Adrian Moten have been the top playmakers on a defense which has just four starters back from last year. Wujciak, a second-team All-ACC selection last year, has a team-high 113 tackles, including 11 vs. Virginia Tech last week. Moten has 58 tackles (second on the team), including team highs in tackles-for-loss (8.5) and sacks (6.0). Freshman LB Demetrius Hartsfield, was the third-leading tackler until he broke his hand and missed two games. He was back in action last week. First-year defensive coordinator Don Brown has a veteran secondary, though there have been injuries at that position. Senior Nolan Carroll, the team’s No. 1 cornerback, was lost for the season vs. JMU with a broken tibia. Senior SS Jamari McCollough missed two games with a foot injury and played sparingly the following two weeks. Top safety reserve Kenny Tate sprained an ankle last week and will miss the rest of the season. CB Anthony Wiseman has a team-high eight PBUs and CB Cameron Chism has a team-best three interceptions. Seniors Travis Ivey, Jared Harrell and Deege Galt are veterans on the defensive line. The Terps are tied for second in the ACC in sacks (2.5 per game).

As you can see (click to enlarge), Maryland's defense is 69th. NC State is the worst defense FSU has faced this year. But Maryland is on par with BYU, and definitely worse than Wake Forest.

As for Florida State's offense? Click to go full-screen and you'll see FSU sits at 5th in the country. This is an elite unit.

Maryland has faced the #9 rated NC State attack. Without Ponder, I believe FSU's offense is probably top 25 but definitely not top 5. These ratings reflect performance to date. They can't account for the future impact of injuries. They also played Va Tech, who like NCST, also put 35+ on them. #27 rated Wake Forest put 30+ on these guys. But I don't remember any of those teams playing in a downpour.

Maryland Depth Chart

DE 57 Jared Harrell 6-5 265 Sr.-1V or 44 Derek Drummond 6-4 250 So.-1V
NT 96 A.J. Francis 6-5 315 Fr.-RS
DT 90 Travis Ivey 6-4 325 Sr.-2V
Anchor (DE) 56 Deege Galt 6-4 264 Sr.-SQ
SAM 54 Adrian Moten 6-2 230 Jr.-2V
MIKE 33 Alex Wujciak 6-3 255 Jr.-1V
WILL 42 Ben Pooler 6-3 235 So.-SQ or 59 Demetrius Hartsfield 6-2 230 Fr.-RS
CB 6 Anthony Wiseman 5-10 185 Sr.-3V (Starter lost for year)
FS 1 Terrell Skinner 6-3 214 Sr.-3V (Starter lost for year)
SS 4 Jamari McCollough 5-11 200 Sr.-1V
CB 22 Cameron Chism 6-0 185 So.-1V

FSU Depth Chart

WR 80 Jarmon Fortson 6-3, 223, SO & 9 Richard Goodman 6-0, 190, SR
LT 67 Andrew Datko 6-6, 283, SO
LG 57 Brandon Davis 6-2, 281, JR (Replacing AA Rodney Hudson)
C 60 Ryan McMahon 6-3, 282, JR
RG 79 David Spurlock 6-5, 285, SO
RT 77 Zebrie Sanders 6-5, 288, SO
TE 88 Beau Reliford 6-7, 241, SO (Starter Caz Piurowski lost for year)
QB 3 EJ Manuel 6-4, 223, FR (Starter Christian Ponder lost for year)
FB 24 Lonnie Pryor 6-1, 195, FR
TB 38 Jermaine Thomas 6-1, 190, SO & 23 Chris Thompson 5-8, 173, FR
WR 86 Rod Owens 6-0, 183, SR & 83 Bert Reed 5-11, 165, SO & Taiwan Easterling

And FSU's Injury Report:

Out
76 OT Garrett Faircloth (hip)
70 OT Antwane Greenlee (knee)
51 LB Aaron Gresham (knee) (For career)
44 LB Maurice Harris (neck; out for the season)
62 OG Rodney Hudson (knee)
97 DT Demonte McAllister (knee)
94 DT Justin Mincey (knee)
81 TE Caz Piurowski (knee; out for the season)
7 QB Christian Ponder (shoulder; out for the season)
74 OT John Prior (knee)
27 CB Xavier Rhodes (thumb)
11 LB Vince Williams (back)

Questionable
9 WR Richard Goodman (groin)
Mister Alexander is also banged up but FSU didn't list him.

Let's see what Phillip has to say about Maryland's defense.

Probably the worst in the ACC. The DT's are so-so, maybe the 7 or 8th best group in the ACC as far as DT's go. The DE's are awful. The rush end position (Harrell and Drummond) has yet to record a sack this season after 10 games. This group generates no initial pass rush. The strongside DE (Deege Galt) is a 100% effort type player and got a couple sacks by continuing to work and getting a sack after the play broke down, but this group is really awful. Our DE's are by far the worst in the ACC from what I have seen at generating pass rush. The DT's don't help with pass rush. They use a three man rotation of guys weighing 330, 325, 310 (Ivery, Kerr, Francis) so they are okay agianst the run, teams have not really gash us by running right at us, but they contribute nothing to a pass rush. Therefore you have four guys totally not capable of getting any pass rush. The D-Line is serviceable against the run, but you want to be more than serviceable when that is the strength of the unit.

I think he's pessimistic here. These guys actually do a decent job stopping the run. They are massive inside and have good but not great size on the outside. He is right though about their pass rush ability. Maryland's pass rush from the front-4 is just not there. In addition, FSU's offensive line is excellent in pass protection. I do have some concerns about Davis working together with the other guys picking up the blitz. Speaking of blitz...

LB: A solid, but not great unit. At MLB, 255 Alex Wujciak is big and strong and good in run defense. Hes not very agile or fast so you can pass on him, though he has improed his awareness there a little. Still, his pass coverage is the type thing that Jimbo will take advantage of. With Ponder you would have burned us like crazy passing over the middle with him cause Ponder is accurate. Wujciak is not fast or agile, buts aware and he took an inaccurate pass by Russell Wilson to the hosue on a 70 yard interception return the other week. Still hes probably one of the slowest MLB in the ACC if not the slowest. He leads the ACC in tackles and is fourth in the nation. Its hard to run against him cause he can off blocks well even if you get a O-Lineman to him cause of his size and strength. Running up the middle against us is maybe do-able, but with so many other weaknesses, teams don't even really bother to try. Adrian Moten one of the OLB's is very verstaile. Hes solid in pass coverage, blitzing, and against the run, but is not great at any of them. He leads the team with 6 sacks. I see him in the NFL eventually, not necessarily as a high pick, simply cause at the least he would make a good backup because hes no real weakness. Hes also a vocal leader of the D. The third LB is Demetrius Hartsfield a RS freshman. Hes got solid quickness and average straight line speed, and like a lot of freshman is inconsistent. At times he shows good instincts and an aggressive instinct that makes him effective. Other times he looks lost. As the season went on he got a little bit more consistent, his worst games as far as missed assignments were his first. FSU will be his second game back from injury after missing three games.

Moten is undersized and doesn't do a great job of getting off blocks. Otherwise, I agree with this. FSU has a very good run game that has been steadily improving since Rick Trickett took over the running back coaching duties. The backs now understand what hole to run through, an important part of being a running back.

The DB's are average to below average which is a surprise as many fans expected them to be good. We lost our top corner, Nolan Carroll, in the second game of the season. That hurt a lot. Sophomore Cameron Chism may have NFL talent but hes still learning the ropes. He's very good when the ball is in the air, has three picks, and is excellent in run help. That said he gives up some big plays and is susceptible to double moves and the like at this stage in his career (hes a true soph. who only played special teams last year). Wiseman the other corner is one of the worst starting cb's in the ACC. A three year starter who never has gotten an interception, hes a bad tackler, who is really bad when the ball is in the air. Hes is very suspectible to the long ball. Against the short ball, like slants, hes okay and will get some pass breakups, but hes such a bad tackler thats hes still not great there becaue those missed tackles turn into 40 yard players. The third and fourth corners, Richad Taylor and Trenton Hughes are about what you expect from backup corners. I think they are both slightly better than Wiseman, but there is inertia with returning starters and they are not that much better anyways. At S, we just lost Kenny Tate for the season at SS. With McCollough, who will be the strong safety agianst FSU, you got a saavy player capable in pass coverage, but not great in run help. At free safety you have Terrell Skinner, who had had a better junior year than senior year so far, except for the fact hes had his best two games of the season the past couple weeks so he may be coming on.

I have nothing to add to that. A huge thanks to Phillip for his help!

I watched a bit of Maryland this week. They blitz a lot. I feel bad for this defense. They get no pass rush, so they are forced to blitz. But their secondary has really struggled due to losing two starters and just generally not having a ton of talent. They are hurting either way.

So, how to attack Maryland's defense? We know that their front can't rush the passer but is very big. And we know that their best linebacker is a liability in coverage. They love to blitz. And we also know that they are incredibly thin on the secondary. So, how would you attack this?

I would spread them out and pass on early downs. This puts pressure on already thin secondary. It will tire out their big defensive tackles who certainly don't want to rush the passer. It will stress their excellent linebacker who is sort of a stiff. There is no reason to run right at Maryland, especially not without Rodney Hudson. FSU needs to run at the edges and attack the undersized outside linebackers or defensive backs. By throwing on 1st down, FSU can keep Maryland off balance. The bubble-screen game could play big in this contest. Anything to simplify the reads for freshman QB E.J. Manuel. Most teams don't blitz much on 1st down, making it an ideal down to throw on because of the added time in the pocket. Also, many teams are reluctant to blitz the spread because the blitz comes from a greater distance than against a traditional formation, thus taking longer to get there, being more readily identifiable, and affording the offense more time to react.

But undoubtedly Maryland will have some success with the blitz. I doubt Manuel stays clean in this game. But I do think he can hit a big play or two, interspersed with some less than desirable plays. I don't think FSU can run quite like they did against Wake Forest. FSU must pick up the blitz. And if Maryland goes a little more conservative, then Manuel needs to be in sync with the receivers.

Assuming FSU gets 68 plays, I think they can average about 6.75 per snap. That comes out to 460 yards. I like FSU to score 40 points. And to be clear, I definitely think rain is a disadvantage for the 'Noles here.

FSU 40, Maryland 24 Maryland is the worst team FSU has faced to date, and though I expect Manuel to look rough at times, I will still project the big win.

Chance of Victory: 88% (the exact percentage I predicted before the season).

Processing the Result: USF's Offense v. Florida State's Defense

FSUncensored — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:03:03 -0000

More photos » by Phil Coale - AP

Florida State's Defense didn't hold down USF, the Bulls stopped themselves, and that doesn't bode well for the Seminoles' defense in future games. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

Browse more photos »

I'll start this with a few caveats. FSU's defensive coaching staff is a mess. Legendary defensive Mickey Andrews wanted to retire after 2007 (after his son Ronnie died unexpectedly), but was begged back by the old guard. He wanted to retire after 2008, but was begged back by Jimbo Fisher so that Bobby Bowden wouldn't make the disastrous move of promoting Chuck Amato to defensive coordinator. I won't speak ill of Mickey often, because he's been a great Nole, never selfish, and even in this his worst season ever (to date), he is doing FSU a greater service than most know by blocking Chuck Amato from taking the defensive coordinator position. It's thought that Bowden would have been allowed to name Amato as DC if Mickey had retired after last season, but not if he stayed on for this season and then retired. The ability to hire the defensive staff seems to rest on Jimbo. it would be silly to allow Bowden, a man who will be here for only one more season, to bring in the defensive staff he wants for only 12 games, and then make Fisher put the team through another coaching change (their third defensive coordinator in three years). For the administration to do anything but allow Fisher to select the defensive staff after Mickey retires this off-season (and he is retiring), would be to send a message that they simply do not care about the football program. If that happened, I would expect a string of bad seasons and a half-decade long rebuilding job following 2010. But I am told that will not happen. Fisher will be allowed to select the defensive staff and leave Bowden with no friends on staff. So Mickey doesn't want to be here. Amato is doing everything short of outright sabotage to hurt Fisher and tarnish his image. Amato is the evil on this team, while Bowden is the one enabling him and worse yet, trusting him. He also isn't coaching within the confines of Mickey's defense, and is telling kids things which run counter to what Andrews wants. Defensive Ends coach Jody Allen is one of the worst football coaches anywhere, and his continued employment is a joke. He's also rumored to have lost or chipped two teeth recently after an offensive coach, finally fed up with his inappropriate practice antics, hauled off and punched him in practice. Oh, and under Bowden's watch in 2006 and 2007, the defensive recruiting was completely horrible and without any rhyme or reason, so there are serious depth issues with the defense. Take zero defensive depth plus horrible coaching from coaches who are either has beens or never was', some of whom are more consumed with goading other members of the coaching staff than coaching their own position group and some who just don't want to be there, and you have a recipe for the worst Florida State defense in over a quarter century.

I am calling this series "Processing the Results" because results are only repeatable if the process justifies them.

	Good Process	Poor Process
Good Result	Result Justified, good indicator of future performance.	Team was lucky , future poor process unlikely to yield similar good results.
Bad Result	Team was unlucky, future good process unlikely to yield similar bad results.	Result Justified, good indicator of future performance.

So my goal in these will be to determine whether FSU's result justified their "process" (aka how they played). Anyone can just say "14 points, great defense", or "7 points, bad offense." They might be right, but I would like to make sure they are correct.

In this case, this was bad process, good result. Simply put, USF should have scored a lot more points, and it wasn't FSU that kept them from doing so. I'll explain why. I am quite concerned about this result, because it gives a false sense of self confidence. USF should have scored 35 points. In the preview I wrote:

Because they are pretty raw, USF tries to throw little short routes to get the ball in the hands of their playmakers in space. They throw deep jump balls (again, big tall fast athletes). They throw crossing routes. Their approach is to try and limit the number of routes they run which require precision.

As much as I fawned over Daniels' above, there are some obvious difficulties for him. Besides having no game experience, Wilson almost assuredly doesn't have a good relationship with his wideouts. He didn't get as many snaps as Grothe in practice because he was the 2nd team guy. His timing with them can't be great. FSU must force USF to complete precise routes, particularly in the intermediate level. Those require touch, timing, and familiarity between QB & WR.

How will FSU do this? They need to play some zone defense. I would suggest cover-3. I like the cover-3 look because it takes away the deep ball, you can account for at least one flat, and still have 6 defenders in the box against the run. Hopefully by running a lot of cover-3, FSU will force USF to run passable routes and make their correct sight adjustments. USF will need to sit down in the voids in the zone and from watching them, they really don't do that well. FSU must force Daniels to be accurate and drive, not allow the big play. I am not sure defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews will do this, however, because he is very stubborn and has been badly outschemed for the better part of this decade. Next year, FSU will have a decent defensive staff. For now though, we wait and hope.

And FSU allowed 14 points, but their play was much worse. USF missed two crucial field goals. They had guys running wide open all through the secondary, and Daniels just didn't see them, or overthrew them, or USF dropped the balls (like the wide open 45 yarder). After watching the tape, I was amazed at just how poorly Daniels read the defense. This does not bode well for future games. I can't honestly say that FSU's defense played any better in this game than they did against Miami or BYU. Sure, the points allowed was better, but USF's offense is not very good.

Time for a Youth Movement in the Secondary

As for the secondary players, let's start with Korey Mangum. We sure see # 22 running after wideouts who are on their way for 70+ yard TD's, but this is again process v. results v. prudent moves for the future of the program. Mangum didn't blow the coverages on those two long touchdowns, and he didn't blow the coverage on the long dropped pass either. So don't blame him for those plays. But there were other plays in which he busted coverages and Daniels just didn't hit the open receiver. I've seen enough of Mangum. He's not a good player. He might be better right now than some of the young players FSU has, but Florida State needs to go with a full youth movement on defense, much like UF did in 2007, before winning it all last season. The rule needs to be "Seniors who aren't significantly better than the underclassmen behind them need to sit the bench. That means Mangum sits the bench, and freshmen JaJuan Harley and Nick Moody play the strong safety/ rover position. Patrick Robinson will continue to play corner, and he is the best corner I have seen this year in college football. So should Ochuko Jenijie, because he is a lot better than most of you think, and will be a starter next year. Still, young guys like Dionte Allen (who blew the coverage on the long bomb along the sideline) should rorate with Jenijie. Ditto guys like Terrance Parks, who should rotate some with Jamie Robinson.

As for Greg Reid, I really think this is getting out of control. Greg is good when he can free-lance, but right now he is not ready to play on the base defense. Mickey Andrews was right in his press conference. Reid doesn't play his responsibility and tries to do too much. Until he proves that he can play man-coverage without trying to pay attention to the running game, he can't play on the base defense. That is not a coaching issue, or an experience issue, it's just simply a Greg Reid personal discipline issue. He can continue to be good in the underneath Nickel coverage, but even there, Reid gambles a lot and committed at least two pass interference penalties.

Yet I worry about a conflict of interest. Mickey Andrews is a prideful man, and with this being his last season, I can see, for personal reasons, why he would not want to go with a youth movement. But the real problem there, is of course, Bobby Bowden, who is again making decisions which are solely to benefit himself but counter to the interests of the program.

Run Defense is the Root of the Problem as Front-7 Size Rears its Ugly Head

I think a lot of the problems on defense, outside of the coaching and the lack of depth, is the complete inability to stop the run. The problem is still there, even if the results in the first two games didn't show it. We just didn't see it as often in the first two D1 games. Against Miami, FSU loaded up against the run and Miami, anticipating this, threw the ball on first down all over the defense. BYU wasn't much of a run team. But Jax State did a great job with the 11-man run game considering their personnel, and USF had a field day with it. I preached about this all summer, but if you weren't here, or need a refresher, here is part one and part two. Simply put, FSU's defensive scheme is outdated, depending only on speed, completely lacking in size, too dependent on their defensive backs to assist with the run game, which against a modern defense isn't realistic, and is now exploited by those modern offenses, even in their simplest forms. FSU's defensive backs aren't as bad as you think they are. The pressure on them is enormous, and their focus is divided on the run game, when they should be focusing on the pass because of the man coverage FSU asks them to play demands their undivided attention. So what do you do, allow the defense to be run on? It's just an impossible situation.

Let's take a look at the traditional box score against what really happened:

	Traditional Box Score	Smart Box Score
Rushing Plays	42	37
Rush Yards	153 (3.6)	187 (5.05)
Pass Plays	21	23
Pass Results	215 (10.2)	189 (8.2)

The change here is that the two sacks are counted as the failed result of a passing play in the Smart Box Score, as it should be. I also removed the QB Kneeldowns to end the game. Those are not contested plays.

187 rushing yards on 37 plays for USF is scary. It's over 5 yards per carry. USF's Offensive Line is Garbage. These guys did not impress me, but they dominated FSU's defensive line and linebackers outside of Nigel Bradham (I'll discuss him later). FSU's defensive line got worked by a bad offensive line, and that does not bode well for the future. FSU's defense was exposed by the 11-man rushing attack last season, by some very average offensive coaches, and it is continuing this season. I'll venture to say that FSU will face better offensive lines against Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Florida. The others will be about the same.

And the problem started on 1st down, where USF rushed 19 times, The result: -4, -2 (bad snap), 0, 1, 1, 2 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 44 On first down, when everyone knew USF wanted to run, they ran with success.

And in 2nd and long, FSU routinely let USF set up 3rd and shot, or just convert the play into a 1st down. 2nd down & Long Runs

Distance	Result
7	4
10	29
7	7
7	2
7	8
14	0
12	1
13	14
7	5

So on nine 2nd and long runs, USF gained a first down 4 times, and set up 3rd and short twice. FSU's rush defense failed 6 of 9 times to stop the run on 2nd and long.

As a whole, FSU's front-7 is very poorly coached and the lack of depth is really beginning to show. Again, we shouted about this for the entire off-season, much to the annoyance of many doubters. They fail to play inside out, with solid leverage. They overrun plays. Chuck Amato's freedom system is really hurting this linebacker corps. Amato brought the freedom system back with him after Kevin Steele left, and it basically entails just preaching intensity and making plays over technique, play recognition, and discipline. It was a complete abortion of an idea. FSU's linebackers already made tons of plays, but anyone with half a clue knows that big plays are mostly based on situational factors, not just trying to make them. Amato grew up coaching when FSU had a huge talent advantage over almost every opponent, and when it wasn't popular to expose over-aggressive defensive players via misdirection and the like. He has no idea how to teach linebackers right now, not that he even wants to, but he doesn't teach the players play recognition. The big plays aren't happening for the defense because the guys are out of position. It's complete guesswork on their part. Kevin Steele was a details freak. FSU's linebackers took much better pursuit angles under him. They shed blocks, while now, Amato has them just trying to run around blocks, which doesn't work against the modern offense. They have to play with good inside-out leverage, and it is clear that taking on blocks and playing with that leverage is not being taught in practice.

FSU's defense did the exact opposite of what I called for:

To attack the passing game FSU needs to play coverage, and not rush Daniels aggressively. The ends must not lose contain or attempt dumb spin moves. Just a light, straight rush, like Bama did to Tyrod Taylor. It's not about getting around the blocker and to Daniels, it is about collapsing the pocket and then reacting once he scrambles. Make this kid sit in the pocket and read a defense, finding his wideouts in traffic. He can't have that good of a relationship with them yet.

And that did not happen. FSU routinely lost contain and did not play with intelligence.

As for individual performances, I'll run through them quickly. Markus White is average at best, has no rush moves, and is really a guy who is hurt by Jody Allen's lack of coaching (he never played defensive end or even defense, yet was promoted by Bobby to the position because of familiarity). He also tries to jump around blocks instead of taking them on, stoning them, and shedding them. Kevin McNeil is extremely lazy, and it's sad because he had a chance to play in the league. If FSU had any sort of depth in the defensive front seven (short about 8 players), McNiel would have to work harder or risk losing his starting spot. His late hit penalty was inexcusable, and it was a direct result of him being lazy in the first few seconds of the play. You can tell that McDaniel is more injured than the reports indicated, and FSU is having to use Everette Dawkins at DT. Give Dawkins credit, he played really hard and even made a few plays. I expect him to be a good player eventually, hopefully at defensive end. He should be at end, in a perfect world, but with FSU's lack of depth at defensive tackle last week, they needed him to play. Jamar Jackson isn't any good and I don't expect much out of him. Toshmon seems to have some potential, but he is way too small right now.

I am really disappointed in some of the linebacker play. It's really Nigel Bradham and then everyone else. Bradham plays out of his mind. He takes on blocks and it must just be an innate ability, because it's clearly not being taught to the other backers. His series towards the end of the game, He is the only decent player in the front seven. Dekoda Watson is playing really, really soft. Kendal Smith is terrible and should probably sit the bench in favor of Nigel Carr. Maurice Harriss doesn't impress me much.

The bottom line is that FSU couldn't stop USF's running game, when the Noles had 3 linebackers in the game and USF had 4 wide receivers in.

And if you want more proof as to FSU's run defense being the real problem, I have that for you. Now, remember that USF went way conservative. FSU'd DB's are just too concerned with the run, but they have to be because the run defense is so bad.

In 2nd and 3rd and long situations, FSU's pass defense was excellent, because they didn't have to worry about the run as much. The DB's really are not that bad. It's the front-7.

2nd and Long Pass Defense

Distance	Result
23	Sack
10	Incomplete
7	Incomplete
9	Incomplete
10	Incomplete
10	INTerception
7	Incomplete
9	Incomplete

3rd and Long Pass Defense

Distance	Result
7	Sack
10	Incomplete
5	Incomplete
6	INTerception
15	Sack
7	8 yards

That's dominance. This defense is made to play the pass. They just can't stop the run at all.

Strategy Concerns, etc.

I don't want to give away stuff that would hurt the team, though I suspect every other team already knows what i would say. FSU really struggles against any kind of trips alignment. I've seen it for about three years now. The adjustments are much too slow. The coverage checks are obvious and predictable. Georgia Tech is going to kill them on that just as they did last year.

Oh, and the interceptions weren't forced, they were just really dumb throws.

USF basically gave up towards the end of the game, running the same 3-4 plays over and over again. It was depressing. They didn't even try anything risky in the 2nd half.

In closing, the play of the Seminoles defense doesn't suggest this result is not likely to be repeated. FSU's coaches don't have the ability to remedy this now, and they definitely can't make up for two years of poor recruiting in 2006 and 2007.

Can the Noles defense make any adjustments for the Boston College game? I'll tackle that tomorrow.

Florida State's Undercover Youth Movement

FSUncensored — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:23:00 -0000

When Jimbo Fisher arrived at Florida State in 2007 to be Florida State's offensive coordinator and head coach in waiting, he noted that FSU had few, if any, players who could play at Fisher's old school, LSU. It wasn't that Florida State hadn't been bringing in quality talent. Their 2005, 2006, and 2007 classes were decently rated, but the coaches Fisher would replace were beyond lazy in their player evaluations and the practical effect was that FSU continually managed to pick the overrated of the most highly rated, or the attitude problem children that other programs shied away from. So Fisher and his newly hired offensive assistants hit the recruiting trail. Hard. Their work ethic put pressure on some of the coaches who were still around from the pre-Fisher days. They didn't want to get shown up, so they worked a bit harder. Florida State reeled in a top 10 class. Last season after the Noles had the top offense in the ACC, the ACC's offensive coordinator of the year reeled in another top 10 class. The key though, was to make sure those players qualified (avoiding the bad apples), and to get players that fit a specific vision instead of just grabbing highly ranked players without regard to fit.

The plan seems to be working, but you wouldn't know it from watching television. While everyone in the media seems to want to talk about the youth movement happening at Miami, Florida State has just as many starters from their rebuilding classes of 2008 and 2009. The Canes have 8 starters who are either freshmen or sophomores, and the Noles have 8 as well. Both teams have a number of freshmen or sophomores who contribute as well. And not just when the outcome of the game is no longer in doubt. The Noles are counting on young players on offense, defense, and special teams to make big plays in clutch moments.

The most obvious of these on defense is Sophomore linebacker Nigel Bradham (shown above). A physical freak, Bradham was the #1 rated outside linebacker in the 2008 recruiting class. After shining on special teams as a freshman, Bradham has exploded this year. Outside of Senior cornerback Patrick Robinson, Bradham is the Seminole's best defensive player. Not only is he FSU's biggest and strongest linebacker, but Bradham has been exceptional in coverage as well. Against Miami Bradham was the Nole's most consistent run stopper, but he also covered the Cane's kick returner and running back Greg Cooper, staying with him step for step on many plays. In Florida State's 54-28 obliteration of #7 ranked BYU, Bradham did a great job of covering the underneath pick routes BYU was running. Despite the ref's reluctance to call some of BYU's more blatant pick routes, Bradham was able to re-route his man several times, forcing him just slightly off his intended path. Nigel had the Nole's only QB hurry against BYU, and at the end of the game he also tallied an interception to erase any doubts of of a comeback in even the most hopeful of Cougar fans.

While Bradham was impressive, the Nole's defense is getting big plays from it's smallest player. 5'9" 165lb freshman cornerback Greg Reid is fast becoming a household name, not only for Seminoles fans, but for college football fans across the country. Against Miami, Reid came on a corner blitz and hit Miami quarterback Jacory Harris as he threw, forcing the ball to pop up into the air and into the arms of Junior Markus White (a JUCO transfer from the 2008 class), who returned it for a touchdown. He also stepped in front of another Harris pass for an interception along the sideline in the second quarter. Reid's electric kickoff returns made Miami change their kickoff strategy. When the Canes began kicking the ball short, Reid took it upon himself to change spots with another player right before the kickoff. Without realizing, Miami kicked short and right into the arms of the freshman they were trying to avoid and Reid had another electric return. But it was Reid's play against BYU that launched him into the national spotlight. Late in the second quarter, BYU began to find their tight ends. Concerned about this, to open the 3rd quarter FSU's coaches put the 5'9" 165lb Reid on the 6'6" 260lb Andrew George, figuring that he was quick enough to pester and stick with him underneath. They would deal witht he size disadvantage if BYU adjusted. On BYU's opening drive of the 2nd half, the Cougars opened up by running the ball at the Nole's undersized front. They targed Pitta and the pass was incomplete as FSU was flagged for pass interference. Then Reid took George who had split out in the slot.. On 2nd and 11, it happened:

Reid jammed the much larger Groege, who then threw a forearm to try to get away. Reid grabbed to stay with the tight end and just undercut the route. There was offensive pass interference on the push and defensive pass interference on the pull and the refs let them play. A few seconds later the Noles were up 37-14 and the Cougars quit. FSU forced 5 turnovers against BYU. 4 by underclassmen, and 3 of those were from freshmen.

But it's not just the Nole's youth on defense that has people excited.

The Noles start 5 sophomores on offense. In fact, the Seminole offense is younger than the defense. There are only two senior starters touching the ball in Tallahassee. FSU had the best offense in the ACC last year, and this year they are even better. Against two ranked opponents (Miami and BYU), the Noiles are averaging over 450 yards and 44 points per game. The Nole's dismantling of BYU was one of the best in Seminole history. 2 Seniors, 5 Juniors, and 5 Sophomore starters.

It starts up front. Last season, the FSU offensive line was the youngest in the country, starting 3 true freshmen and two sophomores. Fisher had to gameplan around them, and that he still had the top offense in the ACC with the youngest offensive line in the country may be Fisher's finest coaching job (including the National Championship with LSU). This year, the FSU offensive line is the strength of the team. They are talented and cohesive. In their two games against 1A competition, they have allowed Ponder to be sacked only twice in sixty seven pass plays. That's a sack rate of less than 3% and rates as one of the best in the country. FSU rushed for more than 100 yards against Miami and the Seminoles considered that a "down" game. But Miami was loading up against the run and FSU carved them up with the pass. Against BYU, the cougars were scared to put too many players up against the run, for fear of FSU's athletes beating their defensive backs, and the Seminole offensive line had a field day. They did not allow a tackle for loss. They did not allow a sack. The Noles rushed for 313 yards. It was a truly dominant effort. How dominant? BYU's two leading tacklers were their cornerbacks. FSU's young offensive line would not allow the Cougar linebacker to make tackles. The announcers referred to them as "Velcro", because their blocks just stuck.

It's not just the young big uglies who are carrying the team, however. FSU's youngsters are contributing at the skill positions as well. Florida State scored 7 touchdowns Saturday. 5 came from underclassmen (2 from sophomores and 3 from freshmen). Sophomore running back Carlton Ty Jones leads the team in rushing. Jones consistently hits the right hole and does it with power. Sophomore Jermaine Thomas, and freshmen Lonnie Pryor and Chris Thompson also get in on the act. Against BYU, they accounted for 186 yards on 26 rushes. The Noles receiving corps is also littered with underclassmen. Sophomores Jarmon Fortson, Bert Reid, and Taiwan Easterling are all leaned on heavily. Fortson is the most talented of the group at 6'3" 228' with good speed and amazing athleticism. Fortson has 11 grabs for 148 yards this season. Of the Nole's 271 yards passing per game, 130 go to underclassmen.

But the most impressive play of the day in my eyes probably went unnoticed by most. Leading 20-14 and having just given up a touchdown drive to BYU, FSU faced 3rd and goal at the Cougar 5. The Noles got in the shotgun, with 3 wide receivers, a tight end, and a running back. That back was true freshman Lonnie Pryor, who would score two touchdowns on the day. When I saw the formation, I figured that FSU was running a draw. Surely they would ask a true freshman running back to pick up the blitz from a 3-4 defense. Right? BYU brought the blitz, an overload to Pryor's side. The play was a pass. If FSU was to score, Pryor would need to block the blitzing outside linebacker, who outweighed him by 30lbs. The blitzer never got within three yards of quarterback Christian Ponder, as Pryor set, drove his hips, and stoned the 'backer, then drove him past the pocket. Ponder made his reads and then, with excellent protection, found tight end Caz Piurowski for the 27-14 lead, right before half. Fisher trusted a freshman running back to pick up arguably the most important block of the game. Credit FSU running backs coach Dexter Carter for schooling Pryor and having him ready to play. When you play freshmen in important roles and give them the skills to succeed, their confidence skyrockets.

Florida State has just 12 scholarship seniors (15 if you count walk-ons who earned their scholarship at the completion of fall camp). There are only 11 scholarship Juniors. Where FSU failed to bring in the right players in 2006 and 2007, those who stuck around are a nice compliment to the excellence that is Fisher's first two recruiting classes (2008 and 2009). The Noles have 27 sophomores and 25 sophomores. 70% of the scholarship players are underclassmen.

The Noles will return 16 starters in 2009, and lose few important reserves. While they may encounter some growing pains this year, that experience could help the Noles reach special heights next season.

Florida State Film Review: A look into Florida State's First Down Pass Defense Against Miami

FSUncensored — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:49:40 -0000

After seeing that Freshman Safety Nick Moody will start over Senior Korey Mangum, who has his arm in a sling (mysteriously), this post should really help to explain why.

People often preach about establishing the run on first down, but the simple fact of the matter is that yards are yards. If a defense is putting all of its resources into stopping the run on first down, why not throw the ball? That is exactly what Miami did. Miami quarterback Jacory Harris torched the FSU defense on first downs, going an incredible 14-18 for 285 yards and two touchdowns, good for an unheard of 247 quarterback rating (yes, a few points from perfect). Florida State allowed almost 16 yards per passing play and over 20 yards per completion! Miami passed far more often than they ran on 1st down and yet FSU made very few adjustments.

And it wasn't just one or two long completions. Harris connected on passes of 40, 39, 31, 29, 27, 24, 20, 19, 18, 11, 8, 7, 6, and 5 yards. It continued throughout the game as FSU made no adjustments.

There are many reasons why a team might be able to have that kind of success on 1st down. Let's have a look at a few of the plays.

First up is a screen Miami ran. To open the game, they came out in an I-Formation. FSU countered with a 4-3 defense, in what looks to be some sort of cover-2 shell look. But UM was sneaky. They didn't use a fullback. Instead, they used two tailbacks, one of whom was the cousin of Edgerrin James. At the snap, Miami QB Jacory Harris drops back. The deep-set tailback runs a flair to the right, while the receivers run deep routes to make FSU's corners follow them. The tight end runs a short route to put himself in position to block. But most importantly, a very talented running back is playing the fullback position and is hiding behind a very big offensive line. As the snap, FSU DE Markus White and DT Kendrick Stewart rush upfield very quickly, as FSU defensive linemen are known to do. But the rush is dumb because they don't keep their heads up. They are rushing upfield without football smarts. Credit Miami's OC for knowing this. So Miami's offensive linemen block for two seconds, and then release. Here's the photo. A half second after this was taken, Miami's offensive linemen will let their men go, and Jacory Harris will flip the ball over the head of the defensive linemen and into the waiting arms of James (#5).

So Miami has two offensive linemen to block a single linebacker (Bradham, #13), and they have angles. Even though Bradham is an impressive player, he's doomed here. The result? 1/15 at Um29 Harris, J. screen pass complete to James, J. for 20 yards to the UM49, 1ST DOWN UM (Mangum, K), clock 14:46. To be honest, FSU didn't play this that poorly. It's just a very nice call.

But what of the other 18 passing plays on 1st down? Let's find out. Also, how did each member of the secondary play?

1st Down Pass Play #2: Play Action to Hankerson, Incomplete

After that screen pass, UM had 1st and 10 from the 48. Remember that FSU's run defense was really weak last year, and they were very concerned with stopping the run in this game. So Miami's Mark Whipple was smart and broke his tendencies. He went play-action. Miami again aligned in a standard I-Formation. They motioned a receiver in close to the tight end, then faked a handoff to the tailback. Look at this picture carefully (click to enlarge):

Pay attention to the blue line. That is the line of scrimmage. FSU has 7 players on the line of scrimmage or on Miami's side. That means that they only have 4 players in coverage. Miami has 7 blockers. This is a maximum protection, as only 3 players are running routes. You can see that Miami's right tackle has driven walk-on defensive end Craig Yarborough into the ground. The other rushers are being handles very easily. The key here is the linebackers. What will they do? Continue to rush the passer even though they are in a terrible position to continue, or drop back into coverage and hope to possibly alter a pass?

The answer is that Dekoda Watson and Kendal Smith continue to rush the passer, while Nigel Bradham drops back into coverage. He can't get to the RB (#30, top of picture), but he does sprint backwards quickly. And he does it quickly enough that Harris' pass is just a bit high for his intended receiever, who is running wide open, probebly because he wanted to loft it over his head. And why were they wide open?

Because Harris snapped this ball at 14:26 and didn't throw it until 14:21 You simply cannot play man to man defense for 5 seconds. A zone maybe, but not man-to-man without help. FSU's linebacker coach Chuck Amato is a bad coach and he simply must school his guys better. This is terrible play recognition and it falls on Amato. it is his job to teach his guys to do a better job. It is embarassing to root for a team whose linebackers play so stupidly. 8 yards to go to get to a QB who is already setup behind an 7-man protection? Don't rush, drop back.

So far, we've seen FSU play a pass pretty well and get burned, and FSU play a pass very poorly, and get lucky. On the next play, FSU would not get a great result out of poor play.

If you follow FSU football, you know that Mickey Andrews loves to play cover-1 on 1st down. That means P-Rob (bottom of screen, #21), is on a wideout. Our deep safety (off-screen) plays deep, Korey Mangum (#22) takes the slot receiver, Dekoda Watson takes one of the tight ends, and Jenijie takes another. Bradham takes the running back), and Kendal Smith looks to be mirroring the QB. I wish I could offer better analysis, but Mangum plays this soooo poorly that there just isn't much time to see the play. In any case, here's the look at the snap:

Mangum has the slot receiver, Travis Benjamin.

Mangum is still not in the picture, which is disappointing. Benjamin is extremely fast. Where is Mangum?

Ok, I had to rewind the tape ablout 10 times, but this is the first step Mangum took. Literally, he stood there flat-footed until Benjamin's 6th step. Seriously, I counted, Mangum's first step occurs on Benjamin's 6th step. Benjamin has all the momentum, and he is faster than Mangum. Mangum might think he can just turn Benjamin too the deep safety, but at this point, his technique is so bad that the safety will be of little help. And that is exactly what happened:

Yeah, that's Benjamin looking up for the ball, 4 yards past Manum even after slowing up. Mangum showed possibly the worse technique ever displayed by a DB. There is a chance that Mangum thought he was playing another coverage, but to be honest, I can't figure out what that would be. And neither couls his teammates. Bradham and the other defenders ripped into Mangum, he tried to explain himself, they told him he was wrong, and I captured this image as Mangum says "my bad", while slapping his head.

So yeah, TD Miami and it was way too easy. But there is also a Mickey Andrews problem here. FSU simply cannot let a rover man-up on a receiver. That's a mismatch.

1st Down Pass #4:

1/10 at Um24 Harris, J. screen pass complete to James, J. for 8 yards to the UM32 (Smith, K), clock 00:48. This is a screen just like the first of the game, only Bradham is not double teamed and handles Miami's tackle better. But the DL plays it poorly, as does Kendal Smith (again), and Miami gets 8 yards.

1st Down Pass Play # 5

1/10 at Um38 Harris, J. sacked for loss of 3 yards to the UM35 (Robinson, J), PENALTY UM holding (Pipho, M.) 10 yards to the UM28, NO PLAY, clock 14:16. This was Play-action, with excellent coverage, a 3-man route. Jenijie, Bradham, and P-Robinson all with excellent coverage. FSU read-blitzed (waited to see if man went into route, and if not, blitzed). The protection broke down and FSU got the sack, but they accepted the hold.

1st Down Pass Play #6

1/10 at Um22 Harris, J. deep pass complete to Hankerson, L. for 40 yards to the FS38, 1ST DOWN UM (Moody, N), clock 09:00.

This was a bad play. Miami is in the I-Formation, and FSU is too small to stop the run without using the extra man, so FSU plays 8 guys in the box, and plays their corners way off. See:

Once again, this is first down, and FSU is in cover-1 (one deep safety, everyone else in man coverage). Miami again goes to the play-action, and FSU bites hard, as most undisciplined defenses do. Luckily, Miami is using an 8-man protection (only 2 guys running a route). The problem here is that the corner is peeking into the backfield when he doesn't need to. When a corner is on an island, he must play his receiver and completely disregard the run. Freshman A.J. Alexander is defending the receiver on the play and he gets beat. Alexander does do a nice job to recover, however, so give him credit for that. The wideout makes a great catch too. Also, #10 Nick Moody, Freshman Strong Safety gets over too late. Moody should not be playing solo deep coverage. He's a hitter/ run stopper and not a deep cover guy. Jamie Robinson should do that:

Also, Mickey Andrews needs to play his starters and stop substituting so much. The problem of depth is one entirely of his own creation due to poor recruiting, and he can't continue to trust his backups like this is a defense of the 90's. it is not. This defense lacks talent and experience, and the defensive backs need to play almost every snap and not come out.

1st Down Pass Play #7

1/10 at Fs38 Harris, J. crossing pass complete to Hankerson, L. for 11 yards to the FS27, 1ST DOWN UM (Robinson, P), clock 08:32. Again, Cover-1, play action, no blitz, coverage is decent but in cover-1, crossing routes will hit and Harris puts this on the money.

1st Down Pass Play #8

1/10 at Fs27 Harris, J. sideline pass incomplete to James, J., PENALTY UM illegal block (Byrd, L.) 15 yards to the FS42, NO PLAY, clock 08:08. There's an important change here. FSU does not cover the slot receiver with their safety, but instead use a cornerback (imagine that). FSU blitzes one guy and Harris has to unload quickly. Bradham has superb coverage on the speedy Greg Cooper. Playing cover-1 without blitzing is really dumb. You have to force quick pressure. FSU didn't do that ofetn, but did here.

1st Down Pass Play #9

1/10 at Um25 Harris, J. crossing pass complete to Epps, D. for 19 yards to the UM44, 1ST DOWN UM (Robinson, J), clock 02:32.

I wish I could tell you who was covering the tight end who catches the ball, but the angle is terrible. Instead, let's see another example of Harris with NO pressure after a weak Play-action fake and a half-roll:

FSU's defensive line is garbage. Seriously, I am embarrassed to root for this group. There isnb't a player within 8 yards of Harris. He stands there and holds the ball forever befor e aguy finally comes open.

1st Down Pass Play # 10

1/10 at Um44 Harris, J. deep in pass complete to Collier, T. for 18 yards to the FS38, 1ST DOWN UM (Reid, G), clock 02:10.

Watch closely here, all of you who think Greg Reid should start in the base defense because of things he did that don't translate to the base defense...

I circled Reid and the player he is covering. Greg has inside leverage here, and his goal is to not let that man cross his care. But Greg uses poor technique and gets beat 18 yards down the field, across his face. BUT, we must also excuse Greg like we do the others because Harris once again had tons of time to throw the ball and you can't cover man-to-man for 5 seconds.

1st Down Pass Play # 11

1/10 at Fs23 Harris, J. middle pass complete to Johnson, A. for 6 yards to the FS17 (Jenije, O), clock 01:11.

FSU actually runs the prowler 1-5-5 defense here, and blitzes 5 men, but not very well. The pressure doesn't get to Harris, and Jenijie is playing so far off Johnson that even if the pressure did get there, Harris would have an easy throw. Blitzing with man coverage is designed to force a quick throw, and the corner must play close to his man. Poor job by Jenijie here:

He's 5 yards away from Johnson at the time of the catch.

1st Down Pass Play #12

Um 1/10 at Um20 Harris, J. post pass complete to Johnson, A. for 31 yards to the FS49, 1ST DOWN UM, clock 11:51.

This play is all on Jamie Robinson. Jenijie has outside leverage, sticks with Johnson for the most part, and Robinson is blowing the play by biting on the play-fake. Jenijie really plays this perfectly, but Robinson is so far out of position. I circled Robinson in Red and Jenijie in Yellow.

Robinson should be where the Seminole head is, and instead he is 12 yards out of position. Notice that Jenijie (someone who is taking way too much heat) is running even with the reciever and expects Robinson to be there.

1st Down Pass # 13

1/10 at Fs29 Harris, J. flag pass complete to Epps, D. for 27 yards to the FS2, 1ST DOWN UM, out-of-bounds (Robinson, J;Mangum, K), clock 04:36.

No video of this one. Just know that Mangum got burnt, but the QB had 5 full seconds to throw the ball and nobody came close to touching him. Want to get mad at a DB? Unload on Mangum, not Jenijie.

1st Down Pass # 14

This is a play-action pass the Miami's guy falls down an FSU brings a lot of pressure, on FSU's goal line.

1st Down pass # 15

29-yard post to Benjamin, Jenijie has coverage, but Mangum is no help over the middle (where he should be), and the linebackers bite hard on play-action, giving Harris a huge window to throw into. Blame Jenijie if you want the easy way out, but blame Mangum if you understand the play.

1st Down Pass # 16

This was a screen pass that Nigel Bradham recognized and blew up immediately. Great play.

1st Down Pass Play # 17

Miami splits their tailback/kick returner out wide. FSU responds by focering him with their MIDDLE LINEBACKER, with zero safety help over the top. That is a huge, huge, inexcuseable mismatch. This is one of the dumbest things Mickey Andrews has ever done in a game.

Seriously, Cooper beat him by 12 yards for the touchdown. Mickey has to give these guys a check to a zone coverage if they see this look. His failure to prepare these players is a joke.

1st Down Pass Play # 18

1/10 at Um41 Harris, J. middle pass complete to James, J. for 7 yards to the UM48 (Carr, N), clock 03:50. A simple Texas/Angle route from the runner. Miami ran this earlier in hte game and missed the throw, but against FSU's coverage schemes, thgis play will be open all of the time.

1st Down Pass Play # 19

1/10 at Fs48 Harris, J. middle pass complete to Hankerson, L. for 5 yards to the FS43, out-of-bounds (Reid, G), clock 02:32. This is a crossing route and I am not sure who was supposed to cover him. No pressure on the QB again, but it was a very quick pass. Greg Reid nice tackle after sucessfully covering his man.

So Why?

Why did FSU’s defense play so poorly? First, FSU’s run defense was awful in 2008:

Coming into this game, the ‘Noles were very concerned with stopping Miami’s running game. Their alignment showed their concern, and Miami did a nice job to recognize FSU’s plan. When FSU geared up to stop the run, Miami threw the ball.

But the bigger problem than FSU selling out to stop the run was their complete lack of a pass rush. In the Tomahawk Nation Preview, we discussed how FSU’s recruiting problems in 2006 and 2007 might hurt the ‘Noles as the defensive coaches did a poor job of recruiting in those years and as a result, FSU would be forced to rely on freshmen and sophomores along the defensive line. Florida State was only able to pressure Harris when they brought big blitzes, which exposed their secondary. You saw evidence of that on 3^rd down where FSU had two interceptions and their lone sack. But on first down, FSU did not blitz. Miami’s offensive line easily held their own against Florida State’s defensive line and Harris had all the time in the world to sit in the pocket, go through all of his reads and deliver an accurate ball– usually to a wide open receiver. While FSU’s secondary will receive a lot of the blame, that analysis is shortsighted. The ‘Nole defensive backs didn’t play well, but there isn’t a secondary in college football that can cover for six or seven seconds, and unfortunately for ‘Nole fans, that is exactly what they were forced to do. Give Miami a lot of credit for going into Tallahassee and grabbing the win, but Florida State’s defensive coaches set this current defense up for failure through their actions in 2006 and 2007, and exacerbated those problems by failing to make adjustments throughout the game.

What now? A few conclusions:

Bench Korey Mangum. He is truly terrible, not likely to get better, and as a Senior, will not be around next year. Luckily for the Noles, Mangum's arm is in a sling and Nick Moody will be the starter tomorrow against Jacksonville State (preview coming tomorrow). Moody is far from perfect and it will be interesting to see how the freshman plays. FSU needs to use him in a specific way.
Don't bench Jenijie yet. Everyone wants Greg Reid, and Reid made some great plays, but he made them free-lancing. Thay works in a Nickel package with help over the top, but to be the #2 corner his primary responsibility is just to stick with his man, something Jenijie already did pretty well, and something Greg has not shown he can do yet. Andrews is right when he says "Reid is trying to do too much. There's a difference between playing inside with help and outside on the island." Reid will be a phenomenal corner in time, but seeing that our next 3 opponents all play the spread, and 3+ corners will be needed, leaving Greg in the Nickel slot makes the most sense. Allow him to free-lance without subjecting the team to disaster.
None of our DB's will look good without a pass rush.
Patrick Robinson had great coverage on almost every one of Miami's pass plays. His tackling, however, was poor.
Jamie Robinson showed good range, but did blow two crucial assignments.
It's clear how much the defense heard about their troubles with the run. They bit on play-action harder than I've ever seen them bite.

Florida State Prepares for Miami and Releases Depth Chart -Fixed and Updated!

FSUncensored — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:55:50 -0000

First up, I did Bud Elliott Tomahawk Nation Fox Sports Radio the other day. [That's an audio link, and it is safe for work]. It went pretty well, though I meant to say Christian Ponder averaged 4 first downs per game, not 4 total first downs gained on the year, obviously.

The good news coming out of Saturday's scrimmage is that there are no new injuries. DT's Budd Thacker (toe) and Kendrick Stewart (knee) were held out for precautionary reasons, as was freshman DE/DT DeMonte McAlllister. I expect Stewart to play against Miami and Thacker should be back in time, but that is not a definite.

Mickey Andrews indicated that backup Free Safety Terrance Parks will be out for at least two more weeks with a lingering hamstring injury. Jamey Robinson really needs to stay healthy.

Oh, and the big news was that the coaches finally released a depth chart (practices are closed, so nobody could officially know what was going on, though there are obviously leaks). Inside, we discuss the depth chart

This is not final and will almost certainly change.

First up, is the Seminoles top rated ACC offense of a year ago:

Z WR – Richard Goodman, Sr., 6-0/215
Jarmon Fortson, Soph., 6-3/228

LT – Andrew Datko, Soph., 6-6/291
Rhonne Sanderson, Fr., 6-4/288

LG – Rodney Hudson, Jr., 6-2/292
Blake Snider, Fr., 6-4/282

C – Ryan McMahon, Jr., 6-3/286
A.J. Ganguzza, Soph., 6-3/268

RG – David Spurlock, Soph., 6-5/288
Brandon Davis, Jr., 6-2/281

RT – Zebrie Sanders, Soph., 6-5/290
Garrett Faircloth, Fr., 6-6/288

TE – Caz Piurowski, Sr., 6-7/262
Beau Reliford, Soph., 6-7/241

QB – Christian Ponder, Jr., 6-3/222
E.J. Manuel, Fr., 6-4/223

FB – Ja’Baris Little, Soph., 6-4/226
Daniel Gard, Jr., 5-10/212

TB – Jermaine Thomas, Soph., 6-1/195
Ty Jones, Soph., 5-11/208
or Chris Thompson, Fr., 5-8/173

X WR – Rod Owens, Sr., 6-0/183
Bert Reed, Soph., 5-11/165

Incorrect player weights. For instance, we know Ponder is 222 and Caz is 260, and Fortson is probably closer to 230 than 223. Datko is 290, not 283. So yeah, these are the weights from the Spring. Nice of FSU to update them for us (sarcasm). I updated them were applicable.
You'll note that FSU lists a fullback. I find that curious and continue to believe that they will use that "fullback" as an H-back.
Seniors at wideout. Goodman and Owens have set the tone witht he most consistent camp, running the correct routes, catching balls, etc, so they will start. This coaching staff (unlike the defense) will start the best player regardless of senority, so I trust them.
Tavares Pressley isn't healthy, and as we told you time and again, don't expect performance out of a runner coming off that type of injury in his first season back.
Chris Thompson was so electric in his performance during camp before busting his ankle that he is tied for 2nd on the DC. Pryor should redshirt but will likely get some garbage minutes. All of the backs need to fix their pass protection issues.
The loser of the Spurlock/ Davis battle will be the backup at both guard positions.
Sanderson is the real backup at both tackle positions.

Jimbo Fisher notes that his offense only has three scholarship seniors, starting or otherwise. (and all three are easily replaced after this season). If the offense was the conference's best last year, what can we expect this year and in 2010? We've been pointing out thr youth of this team for month, but when Fisher says it, it resonates with you so we link it.

What might we do with our H-Back? Michigan is doing this:

To counter that "scrape" technique (see article below defense depth chart)

The Wolverines have practiced with a tight end (typically Kevin Koger or Martell Webb) lined up in the backfield as an H-back to the playside. When the team runs the zone-read play, the H-back pulls across, but doesn't block the crashing defensive end. He'll take the linebacker scraping over the top, or if there isn't a defender assigned to the QB keep, he'll work upfield to the next defender.

I imagine this scheme only works really well when the defense is trying to run this scrape technique, and will primarily be used only when the offensive coaching staff expects it from the defense. H/t- Tim

Ponder says he is getting better protection this year, and that's allowed him to post a perfect QB rating:

Ponder appears to be displaying that ability in preseason practice. In FSU's first two full scrimmages, working against the second-team defense, he passed for a combined 520 yards on 27-of-36 passing. He threw seven touchdown passes with no interceptions.

``Obviously, it all starts with them,'' Ponder said of the offensive linemen. ``If they didn't give me time, those deep balls wouldn't be completed. They're doing a good job.''When he drops back from center, the junior quarterback said he no longer feels the need to peek over his shoulder to see if he is the target of an approaching pass-rusher. He simply makes his reads, plants his feet, steps forward in the pocket and delivers his throws.

``That blind side is hard to deal with,'' Ponder said. ``When you have a left tackle and a left guard like Rodney and Datko, it makes things a lot better. It gives me more comfort in setting my feet, and that's something I struggled with last year. Now I can sit in the pocket and stay comfortable. I'm not running a lot like I did last year. I'm staying in there.''

Ponder Speaks:

-not looking to run as much as he did last year. He’d like to protect his body. But, he said, if he has to run he will run. He is looking to stay in the pocket longer.

-Ponder isn’t a yeller – "I don’t feel like I have to raise my voice," he says – but says he has gotten on some of his teammates this preseason. That’s a sign of him developing as a leader.

He's very confident against Miami.

Carter on Fisher on FSU

-though Ponder is likely to spend more time in the pocket, Fisher says he doesn’t want to eliminate Ponder’s ability to run.

-the pass blocking has come a good ways, Fisher said, but it also helps that receivers are doing a better job running the correct routes.

-It’s "wait and see" to see if E.J. Manuel will be used in some sort of creative way, or if he’ll be a more traditional back-up. They have a package in place for Manuel, but Fisher said he’s going to wait and see how things go in practice this week.

-going back to the Miami game last year, Fisher said that game helped show him that Ponder is a winner. Remember that fourth-quarter scramble for a first down? Ponder can process information and he’s conscientious, Fisher said. He cares.

DEFENSE

If you're in the "the defense will be fine crowd", I suggest you take another look.

LE – Craig Yarborough, Sr., 6-2/236
Toshmon Stevens, Fr., 6-5/228

DT – Moses McCray, Soph., 6-2/291
Everett Dawkins, So, 6-2/262

NT – Kendrick Stewart, Sr., 6-2/278
Jacobbi McDaniel, Fr., 6-0/288

RE – Markus White, Jr., 6-4/261
Brandon Jenkins, Fr., 6-2/240

SLB – Dekoda Watson, Sr., 6-2/228
Nigel Carr, Soph., 6-3/230

MLB – Kendall Smith, Jr., 6-1/224
Nigel Carr, Soph., 6-3/230*

WLB – Nigel Bradham, Soph., 6-2/235
Maurice Harris, Soph., 6-0/212

CB – Ochuko Jenije, Jr., 5-10/188
Dionte Allen, Soph., 5-11/172

CB – Patrick Robinson, Sr., 5-11/194
A.J. Alexander, Fr., 5-11/180

FS – Jamie Robinson, Sr., 6-2/188
Justin Bright, Fr., 6-0/180
or Chad Colley, Soph., 5-11/166

RV – Korey Mangum, Sr., 6-0/202
Nick Moody, Fr., 6-2/228

The starters are okay for the most part, but the backups are terrible, and this defense could easily be crippled by a single injury to a defensive lineman or a linebacker. There are many problems with this defense, including hiring cronies instead of the best possible coaches, lack of recruiting and a recruiting plan in 2006 and 2007, an outdated scheme, stressing aggression over discipline, blaming the players instead of the coaches, and the battle between Andrews in the program (should be in youth movement but he's trying to win now, because it is his last season before he goes to raise his son's kids, etc).
Jodey Allen is a horrible defensive ends coach. He can't hold Jim Gladden's jock. For him to be giving snaps to Yarborough, even for motivational purposes, is inexcuseable. Allen never played or coached defensive ends before being gifted the job by Bowden. It has not worked out well as they continue to be incredibly undersized and undisciplined.
The Yarborough pick is annoying. I was asked about starting a walk-on defensive end a few days ago, this was my response:
Senior walkon. This Senority above all other stuff at the expense of talent angers me. Jody Allen is a terrible coach who will not be around much longer. Seriously the worst coach, but not the lightning rod Amato is. Oh and he coordinates our putrid coverage units as well. Prepare for a year of bad defense. I won’t sugarcoat it. Bad coaching from coaches who no longer have or never had the ability or the drive. I expect to be a bottom half defense in the ACC and outside the top 40 for the first time in my lifetime. Prepare for the worst Mickey Andrews Defense ever. It could happen. They will blame it on injury but their poor player evaluation and recruiting have created a situation where any injury is crippling. The key to a great defense is quality depth, and FSU doesn't have any depth, much less quality depth. I'm not hoping for good, I am hoping to skirt disaster.
Yes, I understand that this could be motivational in order to light a fire under Senior Kevin McNiel, who showed up to camp out of shape. I buy it to an extent, but not fully, because Yarborough has been getting significant reps in practice. If he plays, FSU is in trouble, because they will once against get run over as teams realize the 'Noles are entirely too small.
The depth along the defensive line is inexcuseable. This is a result of injuries, but moreso, poor recruiting by the lame duck defensive staff. They slacked in 2006 and 2007 and as a result, they have crippled this team's depth. FSU is now depending on a freshman and sophomore defensive tackle tandem to start and play well. While talented, it's likely they will get worked in some games.
I replaced Recardo Wright with Nigel Carr. No way would Recardo Wright get into the game over him as the backup middle linebacker.
Don't worry about Jenijie. He played well last year. Greg Reid will start at Nickel corner (effectively, is FSU's 3rd corner). If Jenijie or Robinson go down, Reid slides in.
I do worry about Mangum at rover, a lot. The problem here, however, is that nobody even came close to outplaying him. You can't start a freshman over a senior when the freshman hasn't given you any readon to do so, right? Mostly because of injuries and inexperience, guys like Harley and Moody never put it all together this fall camp. Mangum isn't big, but he has good tackling technique and could be serviceable, though he will not be Myron Rolle.
The entire secondary will receive a lot of blame for things that aren't their fault this year as Andrews' silly outdated scheme continues to put way too much pressure on them.

Mickey Andrews says his defense is young: In this article, Andrews tells Steve Ellis that 13 of the top 22 will be freshmen or sophomores. However, when you count it up, it looks like 12. In any case, his defense was very veteran last season and didn't live up to expectations. Andrews is no longer a good teacher and seeing as this will be his last year, it will be very interesting to see if he can field a competent defense with this group. The blame for the youthful nature of the defense falls on Andrews' 2006 and 2007 recruiting failures, because he is the defensive coordinator.

Here is a good article on defending the zone read- something Mickey Andrews and his staff have not been able to deal with at all (7 yards per play allowed).

Mickey's press-conference wrap up

-Team is super young and fast but not strong or disciplined. Fastest ever. Super fast.

-Andrews said the problems in covering the tight ends in recent years – Miami took advantage of this last season – was a lack of discipline.

-Greg Reid will start in the Seminoles’ nickel package. FSU has four freshmen, Reid included, who could see time in the secondary. Reid is probably the furthest along, Andrews said. Andrews: "Greg knows how to finish plays."

I am impressed by the progress of the young guys, but they have to progress because there are no upperclassmen.

SPECIALISTS
PK – Dustin Hopkins, Fr., 6-2/174
James Esco, Soph., 6-3/207

KO – Dustin Hopkins, Fr., 6-2/174

P – Shaun Powell, Soph., 6-5/217
Kevin Campbell, Jr., 6-0/190

DS – Zack Aronson, Sr., 6-2/218
Chris Revell, Fr., 6-0/207

HO – Shaun Powell, Soph., 6-5/217

PR – Bert Reed, Soph., 5-11/165
or Greg Reid, Fr., 5-9/175

KR – Patrick Robinson, Sr., 5-11/194
Taiwan Easterling, Soph., 5-11/187

It's absolutely ridiculous for Patrick Robinson, the top cornerback in the nation, the best football player on the team, and the most important player on defense, to be risking injury by returning kicks. Again, Jodey Allen should not have a job in major college football, and definitely not with the 'Noles.
The punt return unit could be particularly nasty.
The total lack of depth at linebacker will hur the 'Noles coverage units, which were alreay awful last year (68th nationally!). Thanks again, defensive coaches.

Odds and Ends

Another article on why going for 4th down makes so much more sense than punting.

Florida State ended last year with the 2nd-most offensive momentum in the country. That's a good sign, and really, really shows you how good BC and UF were on defense. Everyone played terribly against those two.

Florida State's Offense Soars in the First Fall Scrimmage

FSUncensored — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:29:59 -0000

More photos » by Steve Cannon - AP

Quarterback Christian Ponder completed 15 of 20 passes for 287 yards and 4 touchdowns- no picks, finishing with a near perfect QB rating in the first FSU scrimmage of the fall. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon)

Browse more photos »

It's still quite early, but it appears the ACC's top offense from a year ago is taking the next step to becoming a nationally elite attack. The 'Noles held their first scrimmage of the Fall this morning, and while it was closed to the public (and media), some news is trickling out.

The 'Noles offense is still very much run oriented, but it's stifled in the practice setting because the 'Noles run threat in quarterback Christian Ponder is negated by the green no-contact jersey (if the QB is touched, he is down). Anyone who saw Ponder run in a game knows that he is not easily arm tackled.

Throughout the Spring (10 yards per carry) and the early fall, the run game dominated. In today's scrimmage, the defense decided to stop the run. They brought their safeties down close to the line of scrimmage ("the box"), and dared the 'Nole offense to throw. The defense succeeded in slowing the run game, as Jermaine Thomas had only 36 yards on 8 carries.

You'll remember that Bert Reed told us about the responsibility the wide receivers to make big plays when teams over-commit to stopping the run. He was excited about the opportunities. And he should be. Teams will absolutely respect and key on the 'Nole's run game this year, where last year they did not. So today the defense gave the offense a preview of what other teams will likely run against FSU, and the offense responded. Big.

Christian Ponder was 15-20 for 287 yards and 4 TD's- NO Interceptions. The offense opened the scrimmage with three straight TD drives. Plays of 30+ yards were the norm. The pass protection appeared to be everything it was not last year, thanks to an average weight gain of 11lbs per man (and of course, another year in the system for what was the youngest offensive line in the game). Jarmon Fortson caught 3 balls for 108 yards. Fortson has really responded since Jimbo Fisher tore into him Tuesday morning, showing a more consistent focus, thinking about what he has to do each play- before the play, and looking the ball in.

Remember that the 1st team offense faced the 2nd team defense, and the 2nd team offense faced the 1st team defense. Keep it in perspective. It's still early.

For more on the scrimmage, see Andrew Carter's Bhopping Block Report and Steve Ellis' Democrat Report. The 1st team defense did a decent job against the 2nd team offense- including Jamie Robinson picking off ultra-talented but still raw quarterback EJ Manuel (remember he removed the periods from his name).

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Picking up where he left off following spring practice, junior quarterback Christian Ponder displayed poise in the pocket and accuracy through the air, highlighting the play in Florida State's first preseason scrimmage Saturday inside Doak Campbell Stadium.

While the Seminoles successfully balanced the run and the pass in the situational scrimmage, Ponder excelled, completing 15 of 20 attempts for 287 yards and four touchdowns. FSU quarterbacks Ponder, EJ Manuel, Will Secord and Ryan Becker spread the wealth, as 14 different players collected receptions, though no one player had more than three.

"I think the best thing about it was we came out with the right attitude," Ponder said of the scrimmage. "We're willing to work and compete, and I thought that was good. Obviously, we had some big plays. A lot of guys, when their number was called, came up with the big play which is something we need."

Best of all, the success of the passing game came in the face of an active pass rush.

"The defense put a little more pressure on (the quarterbacks) than they had in the past," said FSU coach Bobby Bowden, who liked what he saw from the passing game. "The pass rush was better."

FSU's defense made its share of plays as well. Free safety Jamie Robinson added another interception to his stout preseason performance. Robinson had a second interception erased by a defensive penalty.

"I did have some high expectations for myself (last season), wanting to make some big plays," said Robinson, who finished with four tackles. "It didn't really pan out like I thought last year, but it's really starting out pretty good this year."

Cornerback A.J. Alexander also collected an interception, but his touchdown return of the theft was wiped out by a defensive penalty. Defensive end Markus White had a 30-yard return after scooping up an errant pitch. Defensive end Toshmon Stevens had two sacks among his three tackles for loss, while linebacker Mister Alexander was in on two tackles for loss and also forced a fumble.

It was the kind of performance - with big plays on both sides - that flashed the teams' potential but also made them realize there is a lot of room to grown before the Sept. 7 opener against Miami.

"(We are) a young team that has ability, that will make plays at times and be very inconsistent at times," offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher said. "We competed hard in the game. Even when bad things happened to us, we put it away and got on to the next play.

"I never saw guys dwelling on mistakes; never saw guys dwelling on big plays."

What Fisher did see was solid running from tailbacks Jermaine Thomas and Lonnie Pryor. Pryor, a freshman pressed into significant action due to injury, led the Seminoles with 51 yards on nine carries.

"I was proud of (Pryor)," Fisher said. "He's a tough 'ol nut. He'll stick his nose in there."

Thomas added 36 yards on eight carries.

Wide receiver Jarmon Fortson collected three receptions for 106 yards, while Rod Owens added three for 84, including a touchdown. Bowden singled out those two and tight end Caz Piurowski for standout performances.

White led the defense with six tackles, while linebacker Nigel Carr and safety Korey Mangum added five each.

"We could have done a little better," White said. "You can always get better. ... We just need to think better sometimes and play better mentally and from there, just keeping going up."

Chop talk

Freshman kicker Dustin Hopkins converted two field goals, including a long of 47 yards. ... James Esco was perfect on three PAT conversions, while Hopkins split the uprights on his two attempts. ... QB EJ Manuel overcame early-scrimmage jitters to lead the offense to a touchdown in a Red Zone series. Manuel completed both of his pass attempts, including an 11-yard scoring strike to freshman Josh Gehres. ... Freshman quarterback Will Secord connected with classmate Willie Haulstead on a 42-yard TD pass. ... The Seminoles closed out the morning scrimmage with four goal line plays. The defense managed two stops from the one, but both Thomas and Pryor scored on 3-yard runs. ... FSU planned to cap the day with a 90-minute, evening workout, focusing on the kicking game.

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Progression, Stagnation, or Regression? Noles Defensive Line

FrankDNole — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:55:46 -0000

Every day while catching up on my daily Nole must reads, I very often wonder to myself, "Are my 2009 Noles going to be better than last year’s team?"

Recently I came across a similar series that I thought I could apply to our 2009 Seminoles, which might make for entertaining reading to some of our TN members. While this series may not actually answer my question, it might at least give us something to discuss and debate until more information starts rolling in once the practices actually start.

What I will attempt to do, is to project how our 7 basic units (defensive line, linebackers, secondary, backfield, offensive line, receivers and tight ends, and special teams) of the 2009 Noles will perform as compared to last season team.

The way we will try to come up with a possible answer is to address each of the 7 units above individually, by using the projected 2 deeps as of today, in comparison with last years starters. We will look at who was there last season, analyze the roster changes, if any, and then we will all decide if these changes will result in progression, regression, or if we can expect little or no change.

We must remember that with the kickoff still over a month away, and the start of practices still over one week away, it will be impossible to reach definite conclusions at this time. There could very well be injuries, promotions, demotions, and incoming freshmen who might surprise us all. I will ask you the TN members to project via poll, (your favorite way and the easiest and most accurate measure available to us) how well you expect the 7 individual units will perform this season. At the end of the series, I will report back to you, the TN readers, what your expectations of this team are at this point in time.

Recently NoleThruandThru gave us his projected two-deep lineup and asked you for your thoughts on the 2-deeps. While there were some very good comments and opinions posted as to what may happen before and during the upcoming season, for the purpose of this series I will be using only the official Seminole 2-deep lineups posted along with some projections and input I received from FSUncensored.

Please remember that while we lost some very good individual talent, we want to look at the each unit as a whole when we finally vote on whether that particular unit has progressed, stayed stagnant, or regressed, in comparison to last years unit.

Today we will start with the DEFENSIVE LINE.

2008 DE=Benjamin Lampkin (really a LB) started the first 3 games, then was replaced by Neffy Moffett who started the rest of the season. In 10 games played, Moffett had 19 Total Tackles of which 11 were for loss, 5.5 sacks, 1 int, 2 QBH, and forced two fumbles and recovered one. Both players are now gone.

2009 PROJECTED DE=Kevin McNeil and Jamar Jackson

2008 NG=Moses McCray started the first 2 games then was replaced by Budd Thacker who started every remaining game until the Champs Bowl when Paul Griffin started his last game as a Nole. Griffin is the only one gone and only had 11 Total Tackles, 1 for loss, 1 QBH, and 1 FR.

2009 PROJECTED NG=Moses McCray and Budd Thacker

2008 DT=Kendrick Stewart started 8 games and Justin Mincey started 4 games, 3 of which were the last 3 games.

2009 PROJECTED DT=Justin Mincey and Kendrick Stewart

2008 DE=Everette Brownhas left and taken his 36 total tackles of which 21.5 were for losses, 13.5 sacks, 2 pass BU, 3 QBH, 4 FF, and 1 FR.

2009 PROJECTED DE=Markus White and Toshmon Stevens.

OTHERS EXPECTED TO CONTRIBUTE: Everett Dawkins (SDE), Brandon Jenkins(WDE), Jacobbi McDaniel (DT), Demonte McAllister (DT/SDE)

Well there you have it. I guess the real question is not if Brown and Moffett can be replaced, but whether their replacements will be able to keep up the kind of pressure on the QB we saw last year, to prevent the rest of the defense from being shredded.

MY PROJECTION: REGRESSION.

What is yours? Please vote now.

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Poll

2009 FSU DEFENSIVE LINE-PROGRESSION, STAGNATION, OR REGRESSION? Please read the whole article before voting. Poll closes Friday July 31 at 7:00 PM

PROGRESSION

180 votes

STAGNATION

117 votes

REGRESSION

58 votes

355 votes | Poll has closed

Monday Morning Tomahawks- Monday, 07.13.09 Edition

FSUncensored — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:00:16 -0000

Inside, you'll find:

Mickey Andrew's Q&A session with the Greater Orlando Seminole Club as provided by Bill kid (Crowlnole)
Another free photo gallery of Thursday's practice session and some notes on that session.
A summary of the "Bridge Program"
Notes from some observers of the Bobby Bowden Camp (including some major prospects)

Pictured: Darious Cummings and Lamarcus Joyner, as captured by an e-mailer. Cummings is a 6'2.5" 255lb defensive end/ tackle prospect, ESPNU 150 Watch List, Rivals 250 member, and of course, a 'Nole commit. Everyone knows about Lamarcus. Look how long LJ's arms are! He might only be 5'9", but with those wings and that vert, who cares.

NEW @ 11 EST: Andrew Carter on the SEC Contract
NEW @ 11 EST: Gobbler Country- Do Offensive Lines still matter?

Mickey Andrews at the Greater Orlando Seminole Club

First of all, apologies for taking so long to get this posted. Busy day and evening on Friday.

We had quite the contingent of celebrities joining us on Friday. Aside from Mickey, Corey Sawyer, Tom Block and Paul Kennedy all joined us for the evening. Corey is getting involved with the SCGO and will be putting together a program to have former players get involved with the Seminole community in the Orlando area. You all know my stance on former players, and if certain offices in Tallahassee aren't going to give the former players the respect and love they deserve and have earned, Orlando damn sure will.

Now onto Mickey. Corey laid back as a bit of a surprise and Tom brought him up as a surprise. They shared a couple old stories and one was especially interesting:

Corey was named an All American in 1992. He tied a school record in the NC State game with 3 picks, but got beat for a long TD late in the 4th quarter of that game. As we was taught to never walk off the field, he jogged off but Mickey was glaring at him the whole time. Corey went to the other end of the sideline but Mickey stalked him down, and let loose with "I don't know how you were named an All-American after a play like that" It was a great example of the excellence Mickey demanded from his players.

Gotta love mickey. I don't think anyone in the college game has a better scowl.

Georgia Tech was brought up by Mickey before we even got to the questions. He immediately owned the loss, and stated that he has been asked a lot about the fumble by Sims costing FSU the game. He simply said that the defense was to blame. Marcus never would have been put in the situation if Ga Tech didn't score so much.

He went on to talk a bit more about the game. He acknowledged that the defensive tackles were lined up too tight on the center, and it is something that was realized and will be corrected. He did want to make note of something though. While FSU gave up 288 yards rushing, he wanted to look at the comparison of some other strong defenses to put it in perspective. Ga Tech's performance against a few others:

Georgia: 409 rushing yards

Miami: 472 rushing yards

Virginia Tech: 278 rushing yards

North Carolina: 328 rushing yards

That not an excuse by Mickey to our poor performance, which he admitted, but wanted to show that other strong defenses got shredded by Ga Tech as well.

I'm glad Mickey is taking responsibility for this game, because his defense played awful. He neglected to mention that before GT's QB rolled his own ankle, they were rolling at almost eight yards per play!

For comparison purposes,

Opponent Yards/Play
@ 15 Virginia Tech 6.6
21 Florida St. 6.7 (7.8 before QB left game)
@ North Carolina 5.5
Miami (Fla.) 8.3
@ 13 Georgia 6.9

To be sure, Georgia Tech has an amazing offensive scheme led by one of the best coaches in the nation, but I think it's a little silly to rely on total yards there, when yards per play tells a much clearer story.

Onto a few questions. The first of which is that pink elephant of a spread offense:

What needs to be done to slow down the effectiveness of spread offenses?

Where could this question have come from? Maybe these two articles?

Size Matters on Defense, part 1

Size Matters on Defense, part 2

I would like to make note this was touched on by me in 2008 with Mickey, but this was a MUCH more thorough explanation than a year ago

We need to account for the QB. Too much the focus was on the running game and the receivers. From the threat of the option to QB's like tebow being a lead blocker for his running backs. He's realized the fear of the option needs to limit the blitz. The safeties need to be more involved with the running game and the action happening closer to the line of scrimmage. The drawback to this is that it puts a lot of pressure on the corners to lock up with the outside receivers.

Its a very crowd pleasing answer, and I don't want him to say anything else.

What can we change or do to beat an option offense much like the one Georgia Tech runs?

Mickey has had some people very familiar with this offense come in and talk with him about how to slow it down. The defensive staff has already reviewed the Yellow Jacket films and have set a new defensive game plan. The defense will be dedicating 10 minutes of practice time every day from day 1 to learn how to defend this defense, and practicing this game plan. It will give the the equivelent of three weeks of full prep and practice time for it by the time the game comes.

What are the challenges of coaching some of the young players today as opposed to 20 years ago?

Players today are more worried about making it to the NFL. They don't have as much of an understanding of what it takes to get there, and what they need to do to win at the college level. As they were stars and much more recognized in high school now, they haven't had to work as hard as they need to do to take that next step.

Why haven't we been harder on players that have gotten in trouble, and why do we seem to have more problem players?

The kids haven't gotten any worse. The parenting isn't the same that is was a couple decades ago. They're still the same kids they've always been. Coach Bowden realizes a lot of these kids will have nothing if he kicks them out, and believes many of them would end up in jail or worse. He wants to see them turn the corner and blossom into good men, and will go to the ends of the earth to help them do so.

There definitely could be something to the parenting thing, but Coach Bowden doesn't know the names of most of the players.

Who are the early candidates at rover, and why was Korey Mangum moved there?

The two early players are Mangum and Nick Moody. Mangum was moved by Mickey because he was having some trouble in space and he wanted to get some of the young corners reps at CB. Mangum wasn't happy with the move early on, but looked to settle in a bit better late in the spring.

He initially thought Moody was too big to stay at safety. Once they saw his body composition, and that he retained all of his speed and quickness, he stayed. He feels Moody can be an outstanding player at FSU.

Please, for the love of God, do not allow Korey Mangum to play meaningful minutes for this team. Moody better step up.

Who are some of the freshmen standing out early?

He cannot observe the new players yet, and had no answer.

This is a bit silly. Andrews absolutely knows which players are looking good out there. He talks with the coaches who are allowed to observe workouts.

Who do you feel will step up into Everette Brown's shoes at defensive end?

Markus White. Markus has really looked to turn the corner from his first season. With some strong words, Mickey feels Markus can be as good a defensive end as FSU has had in several years.

Markus looks better and better very day.

What was you best defense ever?

It's a hard answer, but the 1993 defense was just nasty. But, there have been so many outstanding players over the years.

What are your thoughts on this years defense?

"Talented but inexperienced." There are 25 players on defense that will be freshmen or sophomores. The talent level has increased, but young players will make mistakes early, but they'll be playing.

Can you comment a little bit on the offense?

We have guys on the offense to win. He can say that now. He feels the offensive line has a work ethic and a mean streak to them, and thinks they'll be the best in the conference and one of the best in all of college football. He really feels Christian Ponder is the most improved player on the team.

The only major question we didn't get addressed was the issue of covering the tight end. I was out of the room for about 10 minutes to talk about our Booster program, and the Q&A was a bit shorter than normal. I do hope this is plenty to address most of the questions though.

Summer Workouts

Video and Pictures from Seminoles.com! For the video, press play, then "right click, zoom, full screen". Of note in the pictures: Pic #25 is C.J. Mizell in the background.

FSU's freshmen make impression | tallahassee.com | Tallahassee Democrat
From early indications, and this is indeed very, very early, the true freshmen on the Florida State football team are making a truly good impression.

FSU Football Practice Photos| tallahassee.com (good free gallery)

via cmsimg.tallahassee.com

Orlando Sentinel - Football workout tidbits by
Some observations, thoughts and bits of information from football conditioning workouts earlier today:

Speaking of Thacker, I spoke with him for a bit. He is recovering nicely from off-season shoulder surgery and said he's about 90 percent. He has lost about 15 pounds and weighs a little less than 270, which is where he hopes to be during the season. He's still rehabbing that shoulder and the rehab mostly involves stretching. He sometimes spends more than an hour per day stretching.

Thacker is about 264lbs and from every report I have received, looks tiny. He will likely be a non-factor this season and FSU will depend heavily on sophomore nose guard Moses McCray. Thacker is just too small and untalented to be a player in major college football.

The Bridge Program.

You probably know that C.J> Mizell is training with the team. He's current;y involved in something called the bridge program. What is the Bridge Program?

First:

For students who are the first in their family to go to college or who are disadvantaged by economic, cultural or educational circumstances, the culture shock can be particularly traumatic, hindering their chances for success.

To help smooth the way for such students, Florida State University's Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement (CARE) offers a "Summer Bridge Program" that gives them an opportunity to acclimate to college life at a more comfortable pace while providing them with the information and advice they need. This week, more than 310 incoming freshman students from all over Florida are on the FSU campus as part of the Summer Bridge Program. They are staying on campus at two residence facilities, Bryan and Reynolds halls, and will receive a week of orientation and transition activities prior to their first day of classes on June 26.

"Over its six years of existence, FSU's Summer Bridge Program has admitted a highly diverse population of students, both in terms of ethnicity and of academic talents," said Karen Laughlin, FSU's dean of Undergraduate Studies. "The CARE program has continued to mentor and support these students throughout their years at FSU. In the absence of this program, many of these students likely would not have the opportunity to attend a major research institution such as Florida State University - and certainly would not have been as successful here."

Twenty-one residential counselors, including upper-division and graduate students and recent FSU alumni, will serve as live-in guides and mentors through the summer session that ends Aug. 4.

Here's a lot more:

FSU Summer Football Camps & Recruiting

Youngsters get a full dose of coaching at Bobby Bowden Football Camp | tallahassee.com | Tallahassee Democrat
DeLong, a 1991 FSU grad, knew the coaches would be on hand, but he didn't know how involved they would actually be in the drills. He — and the campers — found out that answer real quick. "They're running them. And hollering at them," DeLong said with a laugh. "I saw (offensive line coach Rick) Trickett making a kid do push-ups because he didn't line up right after he told him. So it's been good. They've really been coaching them."

There were a bunch of prospects in town this weekend, including (just kids you might know):

2010 DB LaMarcus Joyner, who had a great time by all accounts and will stay in town until Wednesday, before heading home for a day or two, and then returning for Seminole Showtime! He also attended Ernie Sims' VIP Party at Chubby's nightclub, which is awesome.
Blake Bortles, a QB from Oviedo. Keep him on your radar in case he blows up. Very raw.
Christian Green (but he didn't workout)
DT Damien Jacobs (Louisnana, will be here this week)
DT Elliott Porter (Louisiana, stayed for the weekend)
2011 DE Ray Drew, who our coaches absolutely love. 6'5", 235, huge feet, quick as a cat, likely 5*, and he preaches for his church. Very quality kid.

I'll have a big list of Showtime Visitors (Saturday, the 18th!!! Be There!!) later in this week, but I had a long talk with DE Corey Miller last night. Seems like a really good kid and a leader type. He'll be at Showtime and will be in Town Friday Night!

Andrew Carter

Here it is. Excellent piece by our friend Andrew. That SEC contract is a BIG deal. Here's John Taylor's response.

Do Offensive Lines Still Matter?

Gobbler Country goes to town on a weak piece by an Oklahoma Writer.

Go Noles!!

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Florida State Wednesday Open Recruiting Thread 06.24.09

FSUSOM — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:45:24 -0000

Welcome back.

As always, our recruiting coverage here at Tomahawk Nation is based on the:

2010 Big Board

*If you have a simple recruiting question (i.e. Where is Jeff Luc leaning?), please do not waste a fanpost. If you have questions such as these, I direct you to the BIG BOARD when there is not a recruiting post open.

Tomahawk Nation's Florida State Seminoles Recruiting Map.

View Tomahawk Nation.com Florida State Seminoles 2010 Recruiting Map in a larger map

Again, if you haven't yet given us your zip code, please do so. We will add you and you can see what players Florida State is targeting in your area. More info on the map and the project here. Help us band together and provide the best free Florida State athletics coverage on the net.

Let's get to it! Today is a big update!

We told you not to worry unless FSU started accepting commitments from scrubs. This week the 'Noles grabbed three big comitments from the Sunshine State.

COMMITTED:

ADDED:

Corey Lemonier, DE.
Zach Allen, LB

REMOVED:

Cory Phillips, DB, no interest. Impact: Minimal.
Derek Owens, DB, commit to UGA. We did not show interest. Impact: Owens is a good player out of Jacksonville, but we weren't going to offer his teammate just to get him as the Dogs did. He was at best the 'Nole's 7th rated corner prospect.
Morgan Bailey, OL, the lifelong Georgia Tech fan committed to the Yellow Jackets. Impact: Minimal. FSU only plans on taking 2 offensive linemen this year and they already have ESPNU150 Watch List OT Ed Christian from Lowndes. Bailey is a good player but not someone who will make or break a class.
Reid Webster, OL, committed to Clemson. Impact: Again, Minimal. We're not losing any prospects we really need.
Mark Wilson, LB, Tallahassee Lincoln. Committed to Illinois. He's a marginal prospect, but we do need linebackers. Impact: undetermined. We'll know more when other LB prospects emerge.
Nate Askew, TE, San Antonio. Committed to Texas A&M. Impact: FSU needs a tight end, but this kid was a long shot from Texas.
Brent Benedict, OT, Jacksonville. Committed to UGA. Impact: HUGE, because it keeps him away from UF. FSU had little shot with him from the get-go.
Ralph Williams, LB, Miami. Committed to Tennessee. Impact: Minimal.
Richard Leonard, CB, Miami. No interest. Impact: Minimal.

MOVED:

Greg Dent, from WR to CB. Why? Dent isn't a wideout at a major D1 college but has shown considerable coverage ability in recent camps. I posted a fanshot about Dent about a week ago. Hopefully we start showing interest.

NOTES:

Florida State commit Ed Christian will take visits to other schools, but I am told not to worry. He's a Nole and just wants to get wined and dined during his four other visits. I bet that he keeps recruiting for FSU. Can he pull Telvin Smith?
Corey Lemonier might seriously consider the 'Noles. I'd be shocked if he went anywhere other than Miami, but I heard that he will give everyone a look.
Do not worry about Christian Green and UF. He recently named UF his leader, FSU will be too strong in the end. Longtime 'Nole recruitniks remember that Nigel Bradham and Jacobbi McDaniel also named UF their leader at one point in the process. In fact, Tharinger.com confirmed that he has no leader, but rather that he likes FSU, UF, AND UGA in some order.
Brandon Gainer: it's us against Tennessee. He'll be an early entry so expect a decision before September.
Eduardo Clements is playing games. That being said, I do not expect him to end up here..
Preliminary list of prospects attending Florida's Friday Night Lights camp courtesy of Tharinger (6/23). He's getting us an FSU list soon.
The next commitment? I think either Haggins or Joyner.
Byrnes DL Brandon Willis attended a UNC camp. Those there still feel he and Corey Miller are 'Noles.
CB Keion Payne is looking hard at Miami. We might have waited too long with the offer.
Speaking of Merrill Noel, he shut down highly coveted Georgia commit Da'rick Rogers at the huge 7 on 7 back in March.
Another note on Noel: Who is he going up against in practice? De'Joshua Johnson, Chris Dunkley, and Fred Pickett.
I am starting to think we take Jeffrey Godfrey if he wants to come. However, USF has promised him the starting job next year, and he is listening. If we do not take Godrey, we will not take a QB this cycle.
We show Brandon Gainer enough interest, he is a Seminole. We can only hope.
Does anyone have any film on Pahokee LB Zach Allen (6'2' 200 4.6)? ESPN is very high on the kid. Portions from ESPN Scouts, Inc: Coveted disruptive presence on defense and is a guy who can get after the quarterback and make a lot of plays near the line of scrimmage. Tall, Long and rangy. A good vertical attacking and projects best in heavy pressure defense. Quick, long and disruptive off the edge even in a two-point stance. Covers a lot of ground quickly in the short-range and can redirect sharply mirroring the ball carrier. Chases and pursues very well from the backside with his long wing spin and good closing burst. An effective reach and grab type of tackler who pursues with a high motor. A sideline to sideline guy with good range and speed. Very effective pass rusher; displays good first-step quickness, knows how to work the edge/half the blocker's body and bend flat down the line of scrimmage. Simply can get after the quarterback and collapse the pocket with speed and high energy. Shows fluid hips for a taller, vertical guy. Very active with his hands at the point of attack separating and stringing out the run to the sideline; difficult to seal on the perimeter run. His ability to sift through the fast moving traffic laterally is a question mark as well. He flashes good ball skills and athleticism at tight end making us think he can develop that facet of his game. Overall, Allen has a sought-after blend of potential size and fast-twitched athleticism and can simply rush the passer and make plays off the edge. Will need some polish and work in a fulltime weight training program but his upside on becoming a disruptive perimeter presence at the major college level is very promising. ESPN has him rated as a better prospect than teammate Richard Ash who many seem to be cooling on.
Strong DO NOT WANT DOG for Demar Dorsey. Kid is a headcase with bad grades and character issues.
Ohio H-back Dan Schnieder has legit interest. gahnki has the in here, and is high on the kid. It will probably be him or Basford for that spot.
Florida will most likely not offer CB Terrence Brooks (Dunnellon HS, FL). Good news. Charles Fishbein reports that the kid is built like a tree trunk (not unlike Janoris Jenkins, on the field).

FILM:

Cliff Coleman (Boyd Anderson HS), 5'11 170, 4.4. Runs the 100m in 10.5 seconds:

Coleman is starting to grow on me. Rumors have us the team to beat, but that was before Miami coach Randy Shannon personally offered him. Certainly a long strider, with long arms, Coleman has enormous potential at the position. However, we want to see more out of him. Right now, I would take him over his headcase teammate Demar Dorsey. I can't wait until senior film comes.

Pernell Williams (Coffee HS, GA), 6'1 170 4.5

UF likes this kid. He tried to commit to them back in April (ala Tavaris Barnes) but was stonewalled by Meyer and the UF coaching staff. He has nice size, and good enough quicks. I want to see better film; however, this will be another senior season evaluation by our coaching staff. Another South Georgia stud?

New Prospect for 2011: Tony Jackson (RB)

One of our newer writers, TarponsandNoles caught up with Taylor County HS (Perry, FL) head coach Shane Boggs to discuss Jackson:

Tony Jackson (Taylor County HS, Perry FL)
2011

POS: RB
HT: 5'9''
WT: 180 Lbs
40: 4.4
G.P.A: 2.8

The state of Florida has a number of 2011 recruits that have been talked about lately. The RB position has especially been thrown around. However there is 2011 RB that is somewhat unknown outside the North FL area, and hasn't been hyped by the "big" scouting sites. Tomahawk Nation has the exclusive on him right now.

Tony Jackson plays RB for Taylor County HS, in Perry FL. A team that doesn't have heavy talent each year; he may just be something special. Tony runs tall, never really dropping his center of gravity even on cuts, much in the same manner as Adrian Peterson. He has a quick stride and makes the first defender miss, but keeps his legs going once someone has a hold of him, often times gaining the extra 2-3 yards. He has no problem running between the tackles, cutting back into the lane when he sees something positive. Tony possesses excellent lateral movement as well. Because of his athleticism he can dance a little bit too much behind the line of scrimmage and never gets to the hole, but when he does he explodes through it and gets North-South quickly. Although that may have been because of the penetration the defense was getting time and again in the footage I saw.

I spoke with his head coach Shane Boggs about him, and he had nothing but good things to say. He assured me that Tony was a good student who has a 2.8 GPA and won't have a problem qualifying. He told me that Tony can power clean an impressive 285 lbs, and that when he coached Ernie Sims at NFC, Ernie was power cleaning 295 his senior year. Tony just completed his sophomore year. Finally he told me that he has coached 25 D1 athletes and that Tony fits in well with all of them.

To recap:
Biggest Strengths: Excellent lateral movement, explosive burst, good vision.
Biggest Weakness: May need to improve ball skills to become a legitimate passing threat out of the backfield on the next level.

Tony Jackson is a legitimate RB prospect in the state of FL for 2011. He has the size and speed to play D1 in the future. On top of that he has good enough vision and explosiveness to make impressive cut backs; given our need for that and our offensive line scheme I think we should recruit him. Tony is close to the Tallahassee area, and a lot of coaches will get a chance to see him in the next two years.

A big thanks to TarponsandNoles for the update and the film should come this week. If any members have any info, on any 2011 prospects, tell us!

A shift in recruiting philosophy: Jimbo Fisher's increased influence- building an Saban-style defense.

This comes to us from TomahawkNation writer (and famed wordsmith) CaStauch.

It has been rumored that Florida State defensive ends coach Jody Allen stressed to keep both of his defensive ends under 250 pounds for some inane reason. Recruiting a 6'5 260 pound junior in high school that can be easily seen as a 6'5 275 pound player by his sophomore year is an incredible step forward and a very clear indicator that Jimbo Fisher is asserting his influence and desires on the defensive side of the ball - at least via recruiting - and that our defense under his stewardship will be much more modern, much bigger, much stronger, and most importantly much more coherently structured. Not only will we be playing with great pieces, but we will have great pieces that fit together.

Returning from our roster for 2010 (remove the Seniors from link), and I'll risk a guess based on what they've managed thus far and how I perceive their frames / work ethics:

*All Weights are 2010 projections

Weakside Defensive End (WDE)
Markus White, RSSr 6'4 265
Brandon Jenkins, So 6'3 250
Jamar Jackson RSJr 6'4 240

Strongside Defensive End (SDE)
Everett Dawkins RSSo 6'2 265
Toshmon Stevens RSSo 6'6 240
Dan Hicks 6'4 So/RSFr 6'4 260

Defensive Tackle (DT)
Demonte McAllister So 6'4 280

Nose Tackle or Nose Guard (NT/g)
Moses McCray Jr 6'2 300
Jacobbi McDaniel So 6'1 290

While most of us typically look at depth charts strictly in terms of numbers returning, I prefer instead to look at it in terms of effective depth returning. Sometimes, you need to be realistic and hazard an assumption that a player won't be the player you thought he was in high school. Effectively, with White being a junior (according to FSU, though there is some question as to his Senority), we really only have one returning weakside defensive end. Now, Jackson could still prove me wrong, but up to this point he's been nothing but a dart board for the verbal lashings of our coaches - even when healthy. And in only one spring practice, Brandon Jenkins has wowed people with his talent and work ethic.

Additionally, there are circumstances during the game where it'd be beneficial to play 2 hybrid WDEs, or 2 SDEs, or an orthodox alignment, etc. For these, flexibility is key. In these situations, Markus White at 265lbs (2010 growth projection) will undoubtedly line up at the SDE position in pass rush situations, especially if Jenkins can prove effective in spite of his youth.

So, should we be so lucky, bringing in Corey Miller and Corey Lemonier serves all purposes. It gives us an immediate injection of considerable talent at weakside defensive end as well as two players that could conceivably harbor the flexibility aspect with ease. Miller is already 6'4 and 250, and has like size 22 feet or something. I'm usually not one to dig too deeply into bone prospectus, but that's a good sign. Additionally, Miller has a legendary worth ethic and is one of those guys the coaches have to kick out of the gym (he never leaves).

Moving down the line, our numerical and talent-considered depth at SDE looks to be rapidly improving. Hopefully, Everett Dawkins is moved outside to stay. He was lucky to pick one of those mercurial "injuries" and was awarded a medical redshirt year for 2008 despite playing in a few games. I hope a kinder fate chooses Darious Cummings. Anyone and everyone has said that they doubt he'll be able to hold much more weight beyond 270, and most services list him as a defensive end. His "jump out at you" characteristic is his quickness. Toshmon Stevens, though a recipient of praise from Stroud, cannot be considered to be anything more than a project at this point. Granted, he may emerge from his initially 205 pound cocoon an Andre Wadsworth (from walk-on to 3rd pick in the NFL draft), but recall how rare players like Andre come around, and also recall that Wadsworth put on something stupid like 45+ pounds in 7 months and had a Deion-like work ethic and dedication.

In a 43 under scheme, the two outside positions are just as important as the two inside alignments. It was fashionable to cuss and sling mud at our interior DL for their inability to stop the run last season; but our lack of an SDE certainly didn't do them any favors, nor did our one-trick pony at WDE (even if his one trick was good enough to land him in the NFL - keep in mind that most NFL scouts recognized Everette Brown's limitation and prefer him as "only rush the passer LB" in a 34).

With the recruits coming in and if we properly orient and develop the ones we currently have, we'd obtain the flexibility and necessary talent to relieve pressure from the 3 tech (DT) and 1 tech positions (NT). We'd have enough size, speed, and size-speed to match up against whatever the opponent threw our way. And we'd have competition.

Moving to 3 tech DT. This position is isolated for one on one matchups in the 43 under (see TrueCubbie's piece linked below). It would follow, then, that burst off the ball, the ability to initially engage and rid oneself of a blocker, and technique would be preferable to a lumbering size. This is, of course, contingent upon the 3 tech having the luxury of lining up next to a true 1 tech that can sustain the blocks from two OL. While there are doubts beginning to rumble from sub-par camp performances, I love Brandon Willis' talents at the 3 tech at least from his film. For me, these highlights are immeasurably more telling than camps - mainly because camps do very well to mitigate the detrimental weaknesses that some linemen have while emphasizing skills that won't come through in a game. Richard Ash is a prime example. Those who have seen him in games remark mainly about his disappearing act. But then he goes to a camp 30 pounds lighter than everyone else and in shorts, and runs circles around them. ZOMG! Sorry, but the spacing found in camps is rarely available in the trenches. And, it's much easier to use your speed when you're in shorts.

Shawn Green is another possibility here, so too is Calvin Smith. Amp McCloud I would prefer to slide over to the 1 tech, but he's a player that could give you flexibility in the interior and play situationally at either. (McCloud is rumored to be 275lbs right now and had had blood pressure concerns). Regardless, I think we need to bring in 3 players here to promote competition and depth behind the player Pete Carroll (2nd greatest mind in 43 under history) said was, "The Best 3 Tech DT I've ever seen in High School" - Demonte McAllister.

We haven't had a true 1-tech NT in some time. I believe, especially given his SEC upbringing under Saban, Fisher wants this to be changed rather quickly into his era. Nobody knows a defense better than the offense that faces it every day, and Fisher's offense destroyed the FSU defense this spring. He understands the desperate need for a 1-tech NT. Moses McCray is a talent. He has the wrestling pedigree that denotes hand strength, speed, and coordination (heavyweight champion wrestler). These skills are essential for the engaged technique 1 tech Nose Tackles need. They need to be able to sustain contact with 2 players and hold their position while doing so. Leverage and technique, besides size and lower body strength, allow the 1 tech to achieve this goal. McCray has the size, strength, and the technique. Jacobbi McDaniel also, for me, has these abilities. If one is to believe him, he's anywhere from 280-290 currently. Amazing technique, dominating leverage, and dedication. After going through like a 6 year famine at the position, FSU could very well find themselves fat and happy here.

[Uncensored interjects: I think McDaniel is a 3-tech DT at FSU. To me, he's a penetrator, excelling at getting penetration by getting small and using his quickness through defenders. He'll never have the bulk to absorb double teams. I think FSU takes another 1-TECH NT, or one more then CaStauch thinks we take. Time will tell.]

Still, I think we need to bring in 1 more true NT for competition and to ward off stagnation from the aforementioned. Damien Jacobs or Elliot Porter, from the fertile (and especially so re: NTs) Louisiana muddy waters, would both come in with something to prove against the highly rated above them.

So that's my take. I would honestly like 8 DL in this class.

2 WDE
2 SDE (that can cross train over)
3 DT
1 NT

in 2004, Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban signed 7 defensive linemen at LSU. This DL class won them the 2006 Sugar Bowl and 2007 national championship. They were returning 2 more interior DL than we are in 2010. All of the players they brought in were heralded and most were drafted. I think this class and its successes is certainly something Jimbo can sell to any DL recruits that may worry about the numbers we plan to bring in. Depth and competition didn't sap Marlon Favorite, Glenn Dorsey, Tyson Jackson, or Charles Alexander of their pro prospects: it stimulated it.

For more on defensive line play, make sure to also check out TrueCubbie's piece on defensive line techniques and fits.

For more on what FSU has been doing wrong on defense, see : Size Matters, Part I & Part II

A shift in philosophy: How two of the most fertile recruiting state's top programs squandered talent for a half decade.

This is a Miami article, but the premise is enitrley relevant here. It was sent to me by FrankDNole. UM: Burned by Web hype, recruiters go with gut -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

"I used to go in the coaches' offices and sometimes they would literally have Rivals.com up on their screen," said Matt Shodell, who covers UM and its recruiting for CaneSport.com. "I won't name the coaches, but they would be writing names down on pieces of paper. I don't know how much film they were looking at." The Hurricanes have since turned to their eyes as the best evaluators of talent. Recruits now commonly say they have yet to receive a UM scholarship offer because coaches haven't seen film. Hurtt said the staff also avoids highlight tapes that often appear on recruiting sites. Even those can provide false hope. "The big difference is we're evaluating game film now," Hurtt said. "A lot of times it was highlight tapes, highlight tapes, highlight tapes. That could be just a big teaser for you. You watch it and all of a sudden people are geeked up. Then you find the actual game tape, and he doesn't know where he's going on the field and things like that. You find out things in the game film."

You really need to read the article to get the full meaning, but these things absolutely happened at FSU. I've heard that Fisher was appalled when he got to FSU over our lazy recruiting practices. Things have really changed now. I've spoken at length about how FSU is still recovering from Bobby Bowden's recruiting failures in 2006 and 2007, borne from a lack of scouting and due diligence. Just use the search feature for "failed 2006 or 2007 class". Needless to say, they were disastrous. Those two classes comprise our upperclassmen, and of those, there are only 10 starters (7 from 2006 and 3 from 2007, the class compiled mostly by the lame duck Jeff Bowden staff). Two recruiting classes producing only 10 upperclassmen starters is a failure by any measure. Thanks Jeff.

Remember that recruiting rankings are overwhelmingly accurate on average, but as FSU and Miami showed over the last half decade, each player must be individually evaluated. See Here, and Here. Failing to look at game film and conduct proper due diligence on a kid's character is completely unacceptable. Luckily, Jimbo and company (Coley, LaCavita) have brought the world-class Nick Saban model of organization. Simply put, FSU is putting in more man hours now and they have better talent evaluators doing the work. They are setting FSU up for the future and once we have an ounce of leadership at the top, the 'Noles will roll.

The Current Class

*= optional slot

Position	Name	Hometown (High School)	Ht/ Wt/ 40yd	Rating
QB*
RB
RB
RB*
H-B
WR	De'Joshua Johnson	Pahokee, FL (Pahokee)	5' 10"/ 150/ 4.36	ESPNU 150 Watch List/ Rivals 4* (5.8) #27 WR, Rivals 250 member.
WR
WR
WR
TE
OL	Ed Christian	Valdosta, GA (Lowndes)	6' 5"/ 290/ 5.27	ESPNU 150 Watch List/ Rivals 4* (5.8) #24 OT
OL
WDE
SDE	Tavaris Barnes	Jacksonville, FL (First Coast)	6' 5"/ 250/ 4.69	Not Rated/ Not rated
DE
DT
NT
NT/ NG
DL	Darius Cummings	Titusville, FL (Astronaut)	6' 2/ 256/ 4.8	ESPNU 150 Watch List/ Rivals 4* (5.8) #24 DE
LB
LB
LB
CB
CB
CB	Merril Noel	Pahokee, FL (Pahokee)	5' 8"/ 170/ 4.37	ESPN 78/ Rivals 3* (5.6), #38 corner
S	Chad Abrams	Lakeland, FL (Kathleen)	6' 0"/ 190/ 4.6	ESPNU 150 Watch List/ Rivals 3* (5.7) #21 safety
DB
ATH*

Great Member Generated Content:

NoleThruandThru put together an excellent predicted class.
FrankDNole profiled Chuck Amato's former success and current struggles in South Florida.
TarponsandNoles discussed the issue of "pipelines" (recruiting heavily from one area or school.

We're really growing and just recently hit 700 active members. We'll have a nice "new member guide" up soon (still looking for help on this).

Get to Seminole Showtime! July 18th! At the Doak! Tallahasseee! be There!

That's right. Seminole Showtime is the 18th. Come out to see the past, present, and future Seminole greats. Show out in force and encourage these kids to commit. Show them the love. Let them know that they are the final piece to the puzzle.

Question of the Day: How would you grade Florida State's 2010 recruiting at this point in time?

GO NOLES!!

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Back to Basics: A Detailed Look at Defensive Line Play

TrueCubbie — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:07:58 -0000

Like offensive lineman, defensive lineman typically don't attract much attention from the casual fan, seen as the brutes up front that simply run into each other over and over. As FSUn demonstrated so nicely in his recent piece, offensive line play is a coordinated series of movements based on real time interpretation of the defensive front. Without an understanding or appreciation the subtleties required to play on the offensive and defensive line, it's understandable why many overlook these players during the game, except when they make a significant error.

In this piece, we take a closer look at the subtleties of defensive line play, providing an understanding of what really goes on down in the trenches and some important things to look for when evaluating recruits.

Image from here.

Continue reading this thread to learn more about what is some of the most exciting play on the football field.

If you can't control the line of scrimmage your chances of winning a football game significantly decrease. A dominating defensive line, or even lineman, will impact the outcome of a game. If a quarterback has no time to throw the ball, if the running back can't turn the corner, if the offensive line can't control the line of scrimmage, it's over. In this article, we will take a look at some of the basics about defensive line play followed by a discussion about effective line play.

In general, most teams will use 3 or 4 defensive linemen in their base defensive fronts. When announcers and coaches talk about a 3-4 front or 4-3 front, the first number refers to the number of true defensive lineman. The second number refers to the number of linebackers. Occasionally, teams will go to a five man defensive lineman front, but I would say this is exceedingly rare as most teams will walk line backers up to the line of scrimmage to load the line. A four man front typically includes two defensive tackles and two defensive ends. The three man front is a little more flexible, but will generally include a pure nose tackle, a defensive end and a defensive tackle. In a 3-4 scheme, a line backer typically walks up as the fourth defensive lineman. Again, this is a very basic discussion about basic alignment and the schemes and personnel will vary from team to team.

The Basics: Techniques and Gaps

Before getting into the details of defensive line play one must have an understanding of alignment. The image below illustrates the typical numbering system that is used to identify the position of the defensive lineman:

It's not the clearest image but it is probably the most comprehensive one that I could find. The circles represent offensive linemen, with the center being the filled in circle. The letters define the "gaps" between the offensive linemen. The numbers, also referred to as the "technique," identify the locations at which the defensive players line up. For example, a "0" technique is lined up directly on the center, the "1" technique is on the inside shoulder, meaning the side closest to the center, of the guard. You will frequently hear commentators say that a player lined up in the 3 technique or 1 technique; the above image illustrates to what they are referring. Many teams will use the numbering schems in play calling. For example, when I played, the initial part of the play call referred to the base front. If the coach called "431," it meant we were using a 4 man front with the strong side tackle in the 3 technique and the weak side tackle in the 1 technique. Strength refers to the balance of the offense and generally identifies which side of the offense has more players or the tight end or the best player or however the defense identifies strength for their particular scheme.

You will also hear that specific players are responsible for a specific "gap." The gaps are identified by the letters between the offensive players: A gap is between the guard and center, the B gap is between the guard and tackle and so on. Depending on the scheme, a player may be responsible for collapsing a specific gap, blitzing through a gap or occupying a gap. Most defensive line schemes will have the defensive tackles lined up in the 3 and 1 technique. Again, this varies depending on the type of personnel a team has. For example, with a BJ Raj like player, you may have that individual line up in the 0-technique, shaded to the strong side of the play with the intention of occupying the A-gap requiring a block from both the center and guard. I can't tell you how hard it is to play center with a guy right on top of the ball.

Stunts

Stunts refer to predefined movements of the defensive line. Defensive linemen do not simply go straight ahead on every play. Sometimes they will play straight up and try to maintain their responsibility. On many occasions, a defensive coordinator will call for a specific stunt, making it more difficult for the offensive line to block. These stunts can be done as an entire defensive line with every player crashing to he weak or strong side, or it could be limited to the tackles or individual players. Stunts will change the specific gap responsibilities of the lineman as well as the backers behind them. Often a stunt will be used in combination with a blitz, using the stunt to pull a lineman away or distract the lineman from the linebacker that is now blitzing.

For example, here is a play in which all of the lineman pinch towards the center. This may be used in short yardage situations.

Here is another one in which only the tackles pinch:

And here is an example of a "loop" or "twist" play:

Here is an example of a play that demonstrates a stunt with the linemen combined with a linebacker blitz:

This play demonstrates some sophisticated line play. Look how far the Right defensive end (the one on the left side of the page) is expected to crash down the line. The purpose of this is to pull the offensive tackle toward the center, with the hopes of him turning his shoulders toward the crashing lineman, making it almost impossible for him to pick up either linebacker blitzing from the outside. The whole purpose of this play, if you look at the lineman alone, is to pull the offensive line to their right with the hope of leaving the left tackle alone to block two blitzing linebackers. Defensive lineman do a lot of dirty work to allow the linebackers to play free behind them. A good defensive lineman should be very difficult to block one on one. If a defensive lineman is able to occupy more than one offensive lineman, you are decreasing the number of players available to block the linebackers.

Stance

A lineman's stance is exceedingly important in football. Offensive lineman need to be well balanced and not tip off which direction they are likely to step first; they have to be able to move in all directions from a set position. Defensive lineman take a more aggressive stance as they are trying to accelerate off the ball. Here is an example of a typical defensive end stance. This is also referred to as a three point stance. Notice how the player has his head up, has most of his weight on his down hand and has his free hand up.

Photo from here.

Having the free hand is important for getting the hand forward on the initial movement. The player above, Mark Anderson of the Chicago Bears, is in a bit of an exaggerated stance. He is primarily a pass rush specialist and his weight is a little more forward than you would want, but he demonstrates a lot of the principles of a good three point stance. Here is an excellent picture of Jason Taylor demonstrating a more balanced stance.

Photo from here.

A good lineman will not tip off the direction of his initial movement from his stance. Clearly, in a pass rush situation a player will take a more aggressive sprinting stance to get up the field. As I mentioned previously, it is important for a defensive lineman to keep his hands forward or in a good position to fire forward. By getting the hands firing forward on the initial move it prevents the offensive lineman from engaging. You will see a lot of offensive and defensive lineman working on what is called "hand play". Here is a video of Julius Pepper's training session. Notice how much of the work out includes hand strength and that explosion out of the stance, getting the hands forward and the body extended. Here is a video that highlights our own Everette Brown. Take a minute to not only watch Everette's athletic ability, but look at the different stances of our entire defensive line, watch the way they move, watch their hands, watch how the explode out of their stances. Look at the different stances that Everette takes, it changes depending on the situation. This may be getting into the minutia, but I think this is where some of the most exciting plays in football happen.

For comparison sake, here is an example of a good offensive lineman's stance:

Photo from here.

Balanced and head up. Notice how his weight isn't placed on his front hand. If you were to swipe that down hand out from underneath the player, his stance shouldn't budge. It may seem that too much time is being spent on a lineman's stance, but it is key to their success. If you give anything away or are out of control because you don't have a good stance, you will not be successful.

Reading Blocks

Typically, you can tell what kind of play the offense is going to run based on the initial step/movement of the offensive line. Part of being a successful defensive lineman is having the ability to react to that initial step, reading the play before it fully develops. Here is a video of USC's defensive line drills. Watch the explosion the players have with the hands, engaging the pads. At the end of the video they show some basic rip/swim moves that players use to shed blocks. Listen carefully to the coach as he gets on his players about keeping the offensive players away from them.

As the offensive and defensive player engage, the defensive player should get some sense of how the offensive lineman is trying to block him, meaning is he trying to hook him, is he trying to drive straight up field, is he settling into pass protection, is he pulling? The defensive lineman has to counter those moves. Imagine yourself as the defensive lineman. Now imagine that the offensive player is trying to pin/hook your left shoulder and drive you to your right. As a defensive lineman, your objective is to extend your left arm and drive the offensive player back into the hole he is trying to create. As a defensive end, if the offense is trying to seal the outside and get around you, you have to fight the offensive lineman and cause the play to move lateral, forcing it further outside while maintaining good leverage to get back inside if needed. I have tried to find good videos on this but I haven't as of yet. But I hope this demonstrates the importance of extending the arms and taking control of the offensive lineman. You will also note that a lot of defensive lineman are wearing smaller and smaller jerseys, having a large part of their arms exposed. This is to give the offensive lineman the least amount of jersey to hold; it's not to show off their biceps. Yes, offensive linemen hold on every single play.

A key block to read is that of the pulling offensive lineman. Defensive lineman are taught to get in the "hip pocket" of the pulling offensive lineman. If you are lined up in the three technique and the guard pulls, follow him as he will take you to the play. Easier said than done as the tackle or center is crashing down on your legs to cut you and prevent you from doing so. Keeping your legs is also a key part of reading blocks. Getting cut makes you useless. Recognizing that a player is trying to cut block you before he gets into your legs is a difficult skill as it happens so fast.

Pass Rush Moves

Watching the battle that develops between defensive ends and offensive tackles through a game is one of the most exciting parts of a football game. One could equate it to a pitcher trying to set up a batter to chase a pitch out of the zone. There are a variety of moves that are utilized by defensive linemen to get past their offensive opponent: swim move, rip move and bull rush. Here is a nice video from Mac Brown illustrating a couple of these moves. There are multiple variations on all of these moves.

There is the pure speed rush in which a defensive end basically tries to run past the tackle. You will see an end use this a few times in a row, getting the tackle to be extremely nervous about being beat to the outside. The tackle will try to set deeper and deeper and start to turn his shoulders outside. As soon as that happens and if the end recognizes that anxiety, he will use a spin move or rip move to come underneath the tackle. Defensive tackles will typically use more of bull rush technique as they have limited space with which to work. A really important part of a pass rush is recognizing if you're not going to get to the quarterback. If you're not, then you have to get your hands up, particularly on quick drops.

Here is a nice video of Simeon Rice demonstrating the spin move back to the inside. Here is a series of clips of Julius Peppers. Another outstanding video of our own Everette Brown. Here is one of BJ Raji's highlight tapes. The first two highlights demonstrate the classic bull rush move. One of the greatest pass rushers ever: Reggie White.

This is a video from Elite Football Academy showing multiple players using a variety of pass rush moves. It's a nice demonstration of the various moves players will use. Here is Jared Allen explaining a good pass rush stance and initial movement and here he is explaining the speed rush.

And last but not least this is an excellent video of the NFL's elite pass rushers explaining how they get it done. It illustrates the hand play and importance of the initial move off the ball. (By the way, I typed my baseball analogy before watching this video)

Positions

Classically, there are two defensive line positions: tackle and end. Unfortunately, the readers at TNation are way to sophisticated and well read to recognize that is an over simplification. One could argue that the following positions are represented on the defensive line: strong side end, weak side end, defensive tackle and nose guard. Within those positions, one could break it down even further into run and pass specialists. It is no longer surprising to watch groups of linemen run on and off the field depending on the down and distance. Some teams will flip flop there defensive line from play to play depending on the strength of the play or line up their best defensive end on the weakest tackle or line up their best defensive end on the right side of the defense. The last option typically results in the end rushing from the blindside of the quarterback as most quarterbacks are right handed. This is the reason that left tackles in the NFL get paid so much. A bad left tackle will get a quarterback seriously injured.

In general, a strong side defensive end is the leverage point of the defense. He cannot allow his outside shoulder to get pinned and allow an offense to turn the corner. In general, defensive ends are responsible for containing an offense and stretching plays laterally. Typically, again depending on the scheme, the strong side end is your larger/stronger end as he is playing at the point of attack. The strong side end will typically line up on the inside shoulder of the tight end, again this depends on scheme. He must be able to handle double teams and disrupt the outside of the line, allowing the strong side and middle linebackers to run free behind him. On passing plays, he must disrupt the tight end's release of the line.

Your weak side end is typically where you see your speed and where you will see your one on one match ups. Again, the weak side end must maintain leverage at the point of attack and contain the quarterback. It takes a lot of discipline to play on the weakside of the ball as it is easy to start chasing plays down to early or getting caught inside (see the Boston College game) and allowing teams to reverse the field to the outside. It is imperative that the weak side end stay at home until he is absolutely sure that the play is not a reverse.

Your nose tackle or nose guard is a special breed of player. They need to clog up space, occupy blockers and be disruptive: think BJ Raji. The nose guard will be your largest player on the line. A successful nose guard will allow the middle line backer to roam free behind the line of scrimmage. If you get to the point that your interior lineman are successfully blocked one on one, a team will run all over you and your line backers will be miserable. This position is about power, aggressive behavior and being down right nasty.

Defensive tackles are becoming more and more specialized, meaning they are pass or run specialists. Again, the key to being a successful defensive tackle is being disruptive.

For a more detailed discussion, I would like to share our own CaStauch's take on our defense from a few months ago:

The 43 under- one gap scheme denotes particular responsibilities to each player. Concurrently, each of these responsibilities are themselves the foundation their teammates responsibilities: each position reflexively impacts and allows each other position to function. Starting from strongside and going to weakside, with respect to the defense's point of view of the offense (in that the strongside of the defense lines up opposite the strongside of the offense, usually the one with a Tight End), the first position to analyze is the Strongside Defensive end. The SDE lines up on the outside shoulder of offensive tackle to his side. His position is important because it cuts off the angle from which the offensive tackle can move without resistance. This is the form of protection that he bestows upon the LB behind him: because of the angle of his lineup, the OT cannot easily block down on the second level LB without either going through the SDE or amidst the congested middle of the line. In order to make the former as difficult as possible, the SDE must possess some method of holding his ground. Most naturally, this would imply weight. Usually SDE's range from 270-285 pounds. E.J. Wilson, of UNC (Coached by John Blake, one of the foremost DL minds in the collegiate game) weighs in at 280 lbs. Tyson Jackson at LSU clocks in at 285. Southern Cal's SDE, on the other hand, weighed in this past season at 6'6" 275 lbs.

In addition to weight, the SDE needs some form of body composition that utilizes this girth. There are two options. The first, is two evenly distribute the weight in a lankier frame, like USC's Moore. A longer body implies longer limbs. This, in combination with the greater amount of space that a longer body eats up, allows the SDE to control the line of scrimmage by dictating the movement of the OL with his longer arms. Another model for this method is Carlos Dunlap from UF. If you were with us earlier in the season, you may remember my piece on spatial and temporal playmakers (http://www.tomahawknation.com/2008/11/23/668913/strategy-session-did-the-d). A lankier SDE is an example of such a spatial constriction: his control of his opponent and longer frame shortens the negative space between him, his opposite OL, and the next D-Lineman, thus constricting the space in which the offense has to exploit.

The second option for an SDE to utilize his size is a stockier frame to produce leverage. This requires a slightly heavier player, like UNC's to exasperate the adequate leverage over what is no doubt a much taller OL.

The moral of the story for the SDE is that his job is to be a clogger. He prevents the Linebackers behind him from being blocked by the OL and TE opposite him. His angle of deployment, that on the outside shoulder of the OT and inside shoulder of the TE, along with his girth and size, allow him to do this. FSU has suffered the lack of an SDE for much of this decade. Our SDE this past season? Neefy Moffett. As admirable he performed at times, his size (256 lbs) preventing him from consistently manning the clogger role needed. Behind him, we have Kevin McNeil and Everette Dawkins, both of whom may be able to weigh in at the necessary weight (at least 275). We're also recruiting a bevy of diversity at this position, including David Perry (6"6 240) and Darious Cummings (6'2 260) both in their junior years.

Next in line is maybe the most integral man in the 43 under front, the Nose Tackle. He lines up in the gap between the center and guard on the SDE's side. More than any other, his role is singularly that as a clogger. It is imperative that his physical presence prevents either the Center and Guard to a) defend him 1 on 1, freeing up one of the blockers, and b) bypassing the NT to the Mike or Will LBs behind him. To meet this responsibility, the NT, like the SDE, has choices. Either actually clog the middle of the line with his immense girth (this is the popular approach within the NFL and was clearly illustrated by B.J. Raji and Boston College), or prove to be strong enough and have enough of a competent knowledge of technique and leverage that the same goal is accomplished. The latter is more likely for FSU: not only is it easier to teach technique and develop strength on top of necessary bulk, but we've one of the better technical NT coaches in the country. Coming in at a mere 262 lbs, Coach Haggins turned Brod Bunkley into a chiseled 290 lb NT worthy of first round draft pick and pro bowl consideration. Southern Cal's analog was Averall Spicer, 6'2" and 295. Last year, we played with Budd Thacker, who weighed in at 275, and Paul Griffin, at 280 (doubtful). This was the most direct reason for our porous run defense.

The future, however, looks bright if not tenuous. Moses McCray is expected to play at ~305, and will add that impressive bulk with the mechanical muscle memory imbued from wrestling in high school that will make learning the technical skills much easier. Behind him, Jaccobi McDaniel should start at 280 but gain weight steadily from there, and every coach that has witnessed his domination at the last two All Star games has come away incredibly impressed with his technical ability already.

The Strongside Defensive End and Nose Tackle serve as the foundation upon which the 43 under front is built. They are the necessary brick and mortar that enables the next two pieces, the Defensive Tackle and
Weakside Defensive End, to perform as disrupters that cut the spatial and temporal advantages inherent in the Offense.

The Defensive Tackle lines up on the outside shoulder of the Guard on the weak side. His position, labeled a Three Technique affords him the luxury of a one on one matchup with the Guard. Shielded both by the
body of the Guard with whom he’s matched up, and his Nose Tackle’s clogging responsibility tying up the center, it is the Coach’s responsibility to recruit and develop a player that accentuates this disruptive potential. Here, Florida State has traditionally excelled. Darnell Dockett, arguably the MVP of the Cardinals late season surge,
exemplifies this most clearly, as does Travis Johnson. Southern Cal’s Fili Moala weighs in at 6’2" 290, and possesses the necessary fast-twitch acceleration and understanding of technique and leverage to consistently beat the OG he’s opposite and disrupt the play

Florida State’s answer to this need is Justin Mincey. So as long as he develops mentally (stays eligible) and physically (fills out), Justin is potentially the next in a long line of first round picks produced by Coach Haggins. His width and length, at 6’5", allows him to control and dictate the contact with the likely shorter and slower OG. His speed isn’t gone to waste; shielded by his angle and the NT, he is provided an ample two gaps worth of protection with which to work.

Alongside him, the Weakside Defensive End also serves as a disruptor. He deploys on the outside shoulder of the left tackle, and the inherent disruptive qualities and unrivaled spatial isolation are the reasons Left Tackles
are paid more than any position in Football. While the DT is also matched up against a single blocker, he is not awarded the space with which to work like the WDE. As such, he is the principle source of pass rush in this scheme. His size and physique must illustrate this principle goal: normally between 250 and 260 lbs, allowing him not to sacrifice speed and agility with which he can attack an environment (one blocker and nearly ~30 yards of space) that is unrivaled by any other frontal configuration. While Souther Cal has Everson Griffin, FSU counters with Everette Brown and now Markus White. For all of our struggles these past seasons in fielding satisfactory SDEs and NTs, the WDE position has not been a source of angst, at least personnel wise (schematically however, has caused some frustration, but that is the seed of another article for another day).

Final Thoughts

If you have made it this far, congratulations and thanks for reading. Defensive line play is one of the most exciting parts of football. Hopefully this article provides you with a basic frame work with which to watch the line play and to think about the recruiting process. It takes time to develop into an outstanding defensive lineman, but there are basic skills required. Acceleration, explosiveness and body type are key. When watching recruiting videos, watch for the way a kid comes off the ball, what does he do with his hands, how does he shed blocks, does he stay low, what is his first movement off the ball, does his head pop up or does he move across the line. I would argue that shuttle times and agility are more important for defensive lineman than 40 yard times. Strength is key and a kid has to have the right frame to develop his body to endure the punishment of playing on the line. There has been an evolution in the style of play at each position on the line. As CaStauch nicely stated, "Each position has a specific responsibility and players must be recruited that can fill these roles as best as they can. There cannot be any square peg in round hole recruiting here."

I look forward to hearing your thoughts about our defensive line and defensive line play in general. Clearly, a lot of this article is a gross simplification of defensive line technique, but a summary of some points that I find important.

And don't forget that Florida State has a history of developing some of the best defensive linemen in the country, many of whom go on to play in the NFL:

Photo from here.

Go NOLES!