SB Nation - Kyle Hix

Anatomy of Momentum: Replying Against A&M

GhostofBigRoy — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:19:06 -0000

by Dave Einsel - AP

If Aggies were smarter, they would know that horns go up. Of course, if they were smarter, they might not be Aggies.

Context

Momentum is a fickle mistress, willing to switch sides at the drop of a hat, to follow the most recent success, to abandon at the first sign of distress, cresting and surging along with a raucous home crowd and abandoning the poor road team in distress. However fickle, though, our lady is, perhaps more than anything, she is ready to abandon a mentally fragile team, whether they are playing at home or not, whether they are going against a meaningless non-conference patsy or playing in the most heated rivalry game. Yes, a fickle mistress indeed.

The Longhorns took a 35-21 lead midway through the third quarter and it looked like momentum was on the side of the road team, with the notoriously fragile psyche of the young Aggie team appearing ready to collapse at any moment. A methodical drive into Texas territory re-energized the crowd and gave the A&M offense confidence again, but an Earl Thomas interception in the end zone threatened once more to swing momentum firmly to the side of the visiting Longhorns, who had a chance to blow the game open. An incomplete pass by Colt McCoy, however, followed by a short run and a sack, killed the Texas drive and gave the ball back to the Aggies. No momentum swing after all.

This time, Jerrod Johnson gashed the defense with his feet on the first play for 38 yards before the Longhorns stiffened to hold the Aggies to a field goal. Three incomplete passes by McCoy on the next series gave the ball right back to the Aggies with great field position, while the home team caught a break by recovering Jordan Pugh's fumble on the return. With the Longhorns defense coming back onto the field after only a short break, momentum was firmly back on the Texas A&M sideline, no doubt ready to make out with a goofy member of the Corps with a bad haircut -- so yes, just about any one of those silly, homely, wanna-be members of the military.* Christine Michael took advantage of poor tackling by the Longhorns to finish the drive with an 18-yard touchdown run and Ryan Tannehill easily beat the coverage of Blake Gideon to convert the two-point play, bringing the Aggies to within 35-32 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. And that would be our fickle mistress getting tongue thrashed on national television by a redneck who was made to drink his own urine the night before as part of ritualistic hazing. And that would be people of taste all over the country vomiting up their turkey onto their living room floor.

After all that, Marquise Goodwin returned the kickoff 19 yards to the Texas 22 with 13:38 left in the game.

*Note: if you want to be like someone in the military, join the military -- dressing up is for little girls.

The Plays

1st and 10 Texas 22

Texas comes out in an empty set on first down with five wide receivers and the camera angle makes it difficult to see who is on the field. Regardless, A&M shows blitz at the line of scrimmage, with six defenders against the five Texas offensive linemen.

McCoy reads blitz prior to the snap and probably decides at that point to go to his hot read, Jordan Shipley on a quick out. Perhaps because the offensive line knows the hot read is to the right side, the protection slides in that direction, leaving the backside defender free, even though A&M drops two of the defenders who showed blitz into coverage in an attempt to take away any hot reads by McCoy in the middle of the field. The backside defending coming free forces a quick and inaccurate pass from McCoy, as the ball hits near Shipley's feet.

2nd and 10 Texas 22

It wasn't a great decision by Greg Davis to start the drive in an empty set that allowed A&M to show blitz and force the quick throw, so Davis takes out a receiver and puts Tre' Newton into the game at running back. Notice that the Aggie defense is still spread out and has only one safety deep in bracket coverage on Malcolm Wiliams at the top of the screen, with the defensive back over Shipley in the slot showing blitz, then retreating into coverage.

The weakside linebacker comes on a delayed blitz, while McCoy drops back showing pass.

McCoy sells the pass well, something he doesn't always do well on quarterback draws, then heads towards the line of scrimmage, while Chris Hall and Charlie Tanner release upfield to block. Michael Huey can't maintain his block and the defensive tackle appears to have a play on McCoy.

Huey ends up releasing his defender just long enough to avoid a holding penalty, then gets him to the ground as McCoy goes by. Chris Hall cut blocks a linebacker in the open field, leaving McCoy with only a defensive back to beat to make a big play.

MCoy takes a glancing blow from the defensive back as three other Aggies converge on him -- perhaps the most underrated part of McCoy's game right now is his combination of strength and balance. There aren't many ways in which comparisons between McCoy and Vince Young are valid, but McCoy's ability to pause and gather himself for a minute to use an opponent's momentum against him is positively Vince Young-esque and it makes McCoy extremely difficult to take down in the open field, as the Aggies learned on Thursday night. Notice as well the fine blocking of Malcolm Williams at the top of the screen.

As McCoy escapes the group of Aggie defenders, there is nothing but open field in front of him for 25-30 yards or more.

Unfortunately, Malcolm Williams works too hard blocking on the play, catching Justin McQueen in the back relatively unnecessarily. On the broadcast, Chris Fowler notes that Williams didn't need to block McQueen at all on the play because he wasn't going to catch McCoy, but that is questionable. In the end, it isn't a terrible block in the back by Williams, as he has one hand on the front of McQueen's shoulder and his other hand barely in McQueen's back -- a good call, but a close one. McCoy gets inside the 25 yardline on the play, which would have made it a 54-yard run by McCoy, but the penalty brings the ball back to the Aggie 45, reducing it to a 43-yard run by the Texas quarterback.

1st and 10 Texas A&M 45

The Longhorns bring EBS onto the field in their 11 personnel package to do what he does best -- provide that nice blocking surface. Of course, bringing him onto the field at this point also telegraphs a run.

The Aggies don't necessarily anticipate the run though, as one of the two deep safeties sells out down the field without even reading his keys. The Longhorns run what looks like the power play (though it isn't blocked like most power plays) they've begun using in recent weeks but that familiar, oft-bumbling duo of Hall and Charlie Tanner rear their ugly heads, as both miss badly on their blocks, leaving two free defenders in the backfield. Newton avoids Tanner's man, but gets forced outside where the pursuit of the Aggie defense stops him for a two-yard loss.

2nd and 12 Texas A&M 47

After the failed running play, the Longhorns bring Dan Buckner back onto the field in an obvious passing situation. Annoyingly, the bottom receiver is not on the screen once again because of the poor angle the cameras have at Kyle Field. Notice that the Aggies have only two down linemen, with Von Miller and another Aggie standing at the line of scrimmage. Notice as well that the linebackers are playing only three yards off of the line of scrimmage.

The reason for the linebackers' proximity to the line of scrimmage becomes immediately apparent -- they're both blitzing. The Longhorn offensive line does a good job of picking up the blitzers, as does Tre' Newton, but the two Texas tackles do a poor job with the speed rushers off the edge, particularly Adam Ultatoski matched against Von Miller, who gets by the big senior before Ulatoski can really even get his hands on him.

McCoy steps up in the pocket and attempts to deliver the pass to Shipley as he gets hit, but the pass comes out just as Shipley is coming out of his break -- too late on this play. Had McCoy read the depth of the linebackers at the snap as a blitz look, he might have made the adjustment with Shipley to run his route with less depth. Instead, it's third and long for the Longhorns.

3rd and 12 Texas A&M 47

The Longhorns stay in their 10 personnel look, with Dan Buckner remaining on the field for this crucial third down. Notice that A&M once again has their linebackers extremely close to the line of scrimmage, signaling another blitz.

This time, Ulatoski gets his hands on Miller and the rest of the line does an equally good job of picking up the blitz. Tre' Newton deserves special mention once again for his effort. McCoy has time in the pocket to scan the field.

The good protection allows McCoy to hit a relatively slow developing route -- a seven-yard in by Kirkendoll, who has one defender, known on this play as RAS #1 -- Random Aggie Scrub #1 -- to pick up the first down

Since McCoy hits Kirkendoll on time and in stride, he allows his receiver to make a spin move up the field and elude RAS #1, who apparently thinks he is playing flag football and tries to grab Kirkendoll's towel. Unfortunately for RAS #1 and all the military wanna be's out in the crowd, RAS #1 is not playing flag football, but rather football of the tackling variety. Oops!

Kirkendoll takes the edge against RAS #2, seen here trailing the play, while RAS #3 tries to cut off his angle as the Longhorn receiver heads inside of the Buckner "block." I'm using the term block here loosely.

RAS #3, seen here convingly playing the role of a slow white linebacker, flails about helplessly against the much faster player as RAS #4 tries to catch Kirkendoll flat-flooted. Hmm, doesn't look like he has the hips to be a cornerback. Oops!

Having left nearly half the Aggie defense, random scrubs all, in his tracks, Kirkendoll has an easy jaunt to the end zone to complete his 47-yard touchdown catch. One thing though, Kirk -- could you throw your horns up when you score a touchdown instead of just pointing at people/things?

Final Totals

Five plays, 78 yards, 1:34 expired. One of three passing for McCoy for 47 yards and a touchdown, with both incomplete passes intended for Jordan Shipley and neither one catchable. One catch for 47 yards and a touchdown for Kirkendoll, along with four Random Aggie Scrubs beat on the play. One carry for a loss of two yards by Tre' Newton, who also had two excellent blitz pick ups on the drive. One missed pass block each for Adam Ulatoski and Kyle Hix. Two good blitz pick ups by the interior line and good pass blocks from Ulatoski and Hix on the same play. One missed run block apiece by Chris Hall and Charlie Tanner. One good cut block in space by Chris Hall.

Final Verdict

As mentioned in the lengthy Context section, this was an extremely important drive for the Longhorns. Not only had the Aggies roared back from the earlier 35-21 deficit, but the Longhorn offense had struggled in the second half with the exception of the second drive on which Texas ran every play. On the other three drives, the Longhorns had been stopped on downs and had two three and outs. Not good enough.

The major point here is that Texas responded, giving themselves some breathing room and, though they didn't allow the defense much of a break with such a short drive in terms of time elapsed from the clock, it did give the defense more margin for error, which they quickly proved they neeed.

In terms of playcalling, the run on first down was obvious after bringing in Greg Smith and the empty set on the first play begged the Aggies to bring a blitz and force a quick pass -- the empty set doesn't seem to have any advantage over the 10 personnel package with Buckner in the flex tight end role, especially since Tre' Newton does so well picking up the blitz. Ditch it. The quarterback draw was an excellent playcall, however, and caught one linebacker bailing out in coverage and the other an a blitz.

The touchdown pass to Kirkendoll was certainly an effective call, but the offensive line and Newton deserve most of the credit on the play for picking up the blitz and giving McCoy a perfect pocket from which to throw. As expected given the time, McCoy delivered the pass perfectly and Kirkendoll showed yet again why the coaching staff did an excellent job challenging him after the Oklahoma game with his benching and forcing him to earn his playing time. Challenging him, along with switching him to his more natural position outside, has lit a fire under Kirkendoll and has led to the break-out performances over the last several games that everyone expected much earlier in the season. The junior from Round Rock is now a serious threat and McCoy's confidence in him seems to grow every week -- that's extremely encouraging for the offense moving forward.

Combine that with emergence of Malcolm Williams as a downfield threat and this offense is hitting on just about every cylinder right now, although the struggles early in the second half illustrate that there is still room to grow with more than a month of practice left to do so. If Alabama and Florida fans aren't a little bit scared by that thought, they should be.

Anatomy of Momentum: Drive Before the Half Against OSU

GhostofBigRoy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:41:21 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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The Context

Good offenses and good teams generally respond after the opponent scores a touchdown. That was the task Colt McCoy and the offense faced after Oklahoma State cut into the early Texas lead after Beau Johnson scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge to make it 17-7. Good offenses also operate well in the two-minute drill -- the Longhorns got the ball with 2:16 left on the clock. The game plan for Greg Davis was clearly to spread the field to take advantage of the Oklahoma State secondary, where Davis felt he had match ups favoring Texas -- that game plan meshed well with the two-minute drill Texas had to run with so little time left on the clock, though a switch to 11 personnel would ultimately help the drive find the end zone.

The other thing that good teams do is score before halftime. A score just before the half against Wyoming helped the Longhorns establish momentum heading into halftime and, when combined with Mack Brown's philosophy of deferring to the second half, scoring before halftime can give Texas two chances to score without the opponent being able to touch the football.

The Longhorns would not be able to start with a short field, however, as Oklahoma State kicker Quinn Sharp put the ball went into the end zone for a touchback. Texas would have to drive 80 yards for a momentum-swinging touchdown. Texas begins the drive with two timeouts.

The Plays

1st and 10 Texas 20

Texas, as they did throughout much of the first half, comes out in an empty set, with Dan Buckner in the flex, James Kirkendoll and Fozzy Whittaker split to the bottom of the screen, and Jordan Shipley and John Chiles split to the top:

OSU has three down linemen, with the Sam linebacker showing blitz and two deep safeties. Notice that James Kirkendoll is uncovered in the slot to the bottom of the screen.

Key Shot

Instead of blitzing the Sam backer, OSU brings the Mike and Will backers, causing a problem in the Texas protection scheme that leaves the strongside defensive end unblocked and headed for McCoy. The hot receiver on the play is Kirkendoll, but McCoy throws behind him incomplete -- probably just as well since a complete pass would have gained little yardage and kept the clock running, draining precious seconds.

2nd and 10 Texas 20

Texas stays with the same personnel group, while Oklahoma State stays with two safeties deep, but walks a defender up on Kirkendoll in the slot this time. Notice that Bill Young also dials up press coverage against Jordan Shipley.

Key Shot

Once again, McCoy looks short to Kirkendoll on a hitch and he breaks a tackle before being stood up by Andre Sexton. It's the most controversial play of the game and one that could have swung the momentum of the game considerably -- as Sexton drives Kirkendoll backwards, stopping his forward progress, he rips the ball out of his hands, seemingly giving Oklahoma State the ball inside the Texas 20 yardline.

A touchdown cuts the Texas lead to 17-14 just before the half. Instead, the referees, correctly in my opinion, rule that Kirkendoll's forward progress was stopped and Texas keeps the ball. Oklahoma State calls a timeout, ostensibly to either challenge the play or force the booth to look at it, but the play cannot be reviewed.

3rd and 6 Texas 24

Same personnel for Texas, except the strong side of the field is now at the top of the screen. OSU has two safeties deep and is not in press coverage against Shipley this time. OSU rushes the linebacker in the middle of the field.

Key Shot

Flushed from the pocket by a twisting OSU linemen, McCoy throws on the run, finding Chiles wide open down the sideline -- Chiles either ran a stop route or broke off his route. Either way, it's the biggest catch of his Texas career for the former quarterback, who gains 16 yards and keeps the drive alive.

1st and 10 Texas 40

Texas keeps the same personnel on the field. Notice that OSU is once again pressing Shipley at the line of scrimmage, with two safeties deep and three down linemen.

Key Shot

Two seconds into the play, seeing no one open downfield, McCoy bails from the pocket and breaks a tackle to pick up two yards. Texas calls a timeout to stop the clock, leaving them with one remaining in the half.

2nd and 8 Texas 42

Texas changes their personnel grouping for the first time on the drive, bringing in EBS and keeping Whittaker in the backfield. Malcolm Williams comes in at split end, while Marquise Goodwin takes over the flanker position. Notice that OSU keeps two deep safeties, while walking the nickel back up close to the line of scrimmage over Shipley.

Key Shot

Since McCoy got a little antsy in the pocket on the last play, Davis calls for max protection, keeping both EBS and Whittaker in to block.

Kyle Hix gets beat on the right side of the line, but McCoy still has a perfect pocket to deliver the football downfield. Given that only three receivers are in the route, McCoy probably knows that Shipley will create enough separation on his out route to be able to deliver the football. Shipley gets the necessary separation and McCoy throws a strike for a 16-yard gain. The OSU safety on that side of the field got so much depth on the snap that he never even got close to Shipley on the play -- it's understandable that OSU didn't want to give up the big play, but the deep coverage should have been close enough to at least make it a smaller window for McCoy to throw into.

1st and 10 Oklahoma State 42

Texas stays with the same personnel, while OSU keeps two safeties deep and three down linemen -- the same look they have shown throughout the drive. Notice that the Mike and Will linebackers are showing blitz.

Key Shot

The linebackers both drop into coverage and EBS and Whittaker both release as a result.

However, none of the receivers gain enough separation for McCoy to deliver a pass, so he heads out of the pocket and towards the sideline, getting out of bounds after picking up two yards, preserving the final Texas timeout.

2nd and 8 Oklahoma State 40

Texas stays in 11 personnel, while Oklahoma State blitzes both the Mike and the Will backers.

Key Shot

With six men on the line of scrimmage to pick up five defenders, the Longhorns pick up the blitz and allow McCoy time to throw downfield to Shipley, who beats Perrish Cox in one-on-one coverage -- the safety deep on that side of the field comes up the first-down marker and stops.

Shipley is open, but McCoy overthrows the pass by several feet -- another replay shows that Shipley cut farther inside than McCoy anticipated, leaving the pass thrown too long. Had McCoy and Shipley been on the same page, the play would have gone for a touchdown.

3rd and 8 Oklahoma State 40

Texas substitutes for the 3rd and long play, taking out EBS and bringing in Dan Buckner to play the flex tight end position, while inserting Chiles at flanker. As usual, Oklahoma State has two deep safeties and three down linemen.

Key Shot

Oklahoma State drops back in man coverage and although no Texas receivers can gain separation, since the defensive backs arent facing McCoy, after he eludes a defensive lineman, he has open field once he leaves the pocket:

McCoy picks up 19 yards on the play and slides down at the 21, avoiding a hit -- McCoy has done much better at avoiding unnecessary hits this season.

1st and 10 Oklahoma State 21

The clock starts after placement of the ball and McCoy gets to the line of scrimmage quickly and spikes the ball to stop the clock.

2nd and 10 Oklahoma State 21

Texas lines up in 11 personnel, with Chiles at split end and Williams at flanker. OSU has three linebackers on the field and three down linemen, with the nickel back lined up well inside of Shipley and a safety over the top.

Key Shot

Oklahoma State blitzes the nickel back and the Sam backer. The line picks up the blitzers well, but Michael Huey and Chris Hall don't communicate well, as Hall picks up the Sam backer and Huey helps out Hix on the defensive end, leaving the defensive tackle free to come through, with only Whittaker standing between him and the quarterback. The tackle sheds Whittaker quickly and forces McCoy to throw the ball away, but picks up a personal foul pentalty for hitting McCoy in the helmet after he released the football:

1st and 10 Oklahoma State 11

Texas keeps the same personnel on the field, while Oklahoma State rushes four and drops back in man-to-man coverage.

Key Shot

The play is designed to go to Shipley on a double move -- a curl and go -- but Malcolm Williams breaks open running the back of the end zone and McCoy finds him as the pocket begins to collapse.

It's not an easy catch for Williams, who had to fully extend while making sure that he got his foot down, but McCoy helped by throwing an extremely catchable ball -- had the Texas quarterback really zipped it, the ball might have gone through the hands of the talented receiver.

Final Totals

Ten plays for 80 yards, 2:09 expired. Four of seven passing for 47 yards by McCoy, who also added 23 yards on three carries. One potential touchdown ovethrown on the slightly miscommunication by McCoy and Shipley. One catch for four yards by Kirkendoll. One catch for 16 yards by Chiles. One catch for 16 yards by Shipley. One catch for 11 yards and a touchdown by Williams. One 10-yard roughing the passer penalty on Oklahoma State. One miscommunication on the offensive line between Huey and Hall that allowed the defensive tackle to get in the backfield and hit McCoy.

The Verdict

Texas dodged a major bullet early in the drive when the officials ruled Kirkendoll's forward progressed stopped, negating the potential fumble and recovery by Oklahoma State. However, Kirkendoll must do a better job of protecting the football with both hands in traffic and have a better understanding of when he can no longer pick up yards on a play and is better off just going down.

The drive also featured a smart adjustment by Greg Davis. After getting little out of the empty set and having McCoy leave the pocket relatively quickly, he went back to 11 personnel to give McCoy more protection and allow him to stand in the pocket longer. It almost paid off with the pass to Shipley before eventually resulting in the touchdown pass to Williams.

The other key element of the drive was the scrambling of McCoy. Even though he did leave the pocket early on his two two-yard scrambles, he avoided potentially drive-killing sacks that would have also forced the Longhorns to use their last timeout, preserving it in the case of emergency. More importantly, though, it showed just how difficult it is to defend the Longhorns when McCoy leaves the pocket, especially in man coverage -- his 19-yard run was probably the biggest positive play of the drive before the touchdown pass to Williams.

Scoring before the half is also a major swing of momentum and it virtually put the game out of reach at that point, as the Longhorns went up 24-7 -- there was no way that defense was going to give up 17 points in the second half. By scoring the touchdown, Texas demoralized Oklahoma State going into halftime and completely took the biggest crowd in Oklahoma State history out of the game for the remainder of the contest. There's also something about Texas running the two-minute offense, as McCoy has seemingly found his rhythm several times this season just before halftime, notably against Wyoming to finally jumpstart the Longhorn offense.

Snap Shots: The Monroe Series

GhostofBigRoy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:11:11 -0000

More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

Get this man the ball. Now. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)

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The Big Picture

Pretty much everyone in Longhorn Nation lambasted the coaching staff for the running performance put on against Colorado. It was terrible. During the week leading up to the Oklahoma game, Mack Brown apparently had to bite his tongue to keep from informing the big mean media that he and Greg Davis did indeed have some new wrinkles saved for the Sooners.

Over at BC, LonghornScott correctly pointed out the flaws of having one package that isn't working and trying to fix it with another separate, completely different package -- it's a somewhat simplified summary of the post, but enough for the purposes here. It's a valid point, and certainly one that Davis would be well served to understand better, but there is something to be said for series-based football. For example, the three plays Dan Lee ran at Arkansas in the Wildcat formation qualify as a series of plays that generally look similar, but can catch the defense overpursuing in anticipation of one play, in this case the stealer, then take advantage of that overpursuit by running the play in the series that punishes the defense for that decision -- the power. Once the defense adjusts to that play and takes it away, then the third play comes in, in this case the counter. In other words, series-based football.

Instead of using that series-based approach with the WildHorn (it was not used against Missouri), which probably would have kept it from dying, Davis decided to use it for another set of complementary plays -- what I've chosen to call the Monroe Series. After Monroe played well enough to earn the inaugural, but yet-unnamed Flavor of the Week award for the Louisiana-Monroe game, one of the first things I wanted to see with him was the jet sweep, putting him in motion across the formation to take the hand off -- it doesn't exactly take a football genius to figure out that it's better to get him the ball at speed rather than standing still, even if he does have elite acceleration. Davis finally answered that call with the Monroe Series.

The Context

Before Davis completely abandoned the run in the first half of the Oklahoma game, he sought to gain some momentum for the Longhorns by breaking out several running plays Texas had not shown to that point in the season. For instance, the first play from scrimmage was a draw play to Fozzy Whittaker that picked up 16 yards. On the second series, after knocking out Sam Bradford and forcing a three and out by the Sooners, Davis unveiled another new play, but this one was different -- it had other complementary plays along with it, a series if you will.

Stealer

The play the Longhorns run is not exactly like the stealer run by Dan Lee because the original stealer had a pulling guard from the backside attempting to lay a block in front of the runner. In some ways, the design the Longhorns use is more effective, because judging from the plays included in the instructional video, it was extremely difficult for that pulling guard to ever get in front of the running back to actually throw a block -- think about, a guard is trying to catch up with a running back who already has a head start.

Instead, the Longhorns use Fozzy Whittaker, or Tre' Newton when the Longhorns ran the play with Garrett Gilbert at quarterback late in the MIssouri game, as the lead blocker on the play. The blocking scheme is the same as the speed option play -- the offensive line blocks down the line of scrimmage in the direction of the play, while the running back heads into the playside flat to block the first player he comes across, in this case the nickel back lined up over Malcolm Williams. Notice that both of the OU linebackers line up well inside the tackle box.

Kyle Hix has a tough task in this play -- Jeremy Beal lines up well outside the left shoulder of Hix, forcing him to cut Beal. Since Beal is a badass, he doesn't allow that to happen, forcing Monroe to take a wider angle to get around him. Fortunately, since Monroe is ridiculously fast, Beal never really has a chance to tackle him, but he does allow his teammates an extra step or two in pursuit of the Longhorn ballcarrier, far from insignificant with Monroe. If Hix can get a good block on Beal, Monroe turns the corner much more quickly and has a ton of open field in front of him. Notice also that Whittaker is about to take an the OU nickel back.

Whittaker also cuts the OU defender, with a slightly higher level of success, while Monroe, now seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, avoids Beal.

Now by Beal, Monroe can finally turn upfield with the football, while the nickel back has to regain his balance after hurdling Fozzy. Notice the other highlighted OU defender taking a terrible angle on Monroe. In fact, one of the foremost reasons for putting Monroe on the field is on obvious one -- his elite speed changes the geometry of the game. In other words, he can blow angles up.

Since Beal forced Monroe to take such a wide angle approaching the line of scrimmage, the pursuit catches up with him only a yard or two downfield. Had the timing of the play been more optimal, the excellent downfield blocking by Williams and Shipley might have led to a big play. Instead, they allow Monroe to gain a little bit of extra yardage.

After his speed, the most endearing aspect of Monroe is how hard he fights for extra yardage at his size. Instead of meekly going out of bounds after picking up only two or three yards, Monroe manages to pick up six yards on the play -- an excellent gain on first down that easily could have resulted in more yardage.

The Verdict

The good news is that this play provides some evidence that Davis is not a complete idiot. Putting Monroe in motion is an obvious move, but it's also a smart one and it pays dividends on the first play, even though Kyle Hix fails to execute his block. Keep running it, GD, it's hard to stop!

Running Back Counter

This is where Davis doesn't quite understand series-based football, even though it's pretty simple -- on the next play, instead of running stealer until the Oklahoma defense adjusts and takes the play away, difficult because of Monroe's pure speed, Davis dials up the counter to stealer, the running back counter:

The Longhorns stay with the same personnel in the same formation and the play starts out looking like stealer, with Monroe coming in motion across the formation. Notice that Oklahoma stands up the defense end on the opposite side of the field from Monroe to make it even more difficult for the left tackle, Adam Ulatoski, the cut the defensive end, Auston English. Perhaps Davis doesn't trust Ulatoski with that assignment running the stealer, so both Charlie Tanner and Chris Hall pull on this play. Notice that EBS has the assignment of blocking Jeremy Beal this time.

Here's another example of why Davis fails by calling the running back counter here. Perhaps the linebackers read their keys well -- the movement of the offensive lineman -- but the point here is that they don't flow to the play or take any bad steps in the direction of Monroe coming in motion, indicating that stealer should work again. Notice also that Kyle Hix is matched up with Gerald McCoy on the play -- so far so good, but there's a problem developing, as Hix allows McCoy to get into his body.

Once again, Hix allows penetration into the backfield, as McCoy quickly sheds the Longhorn offensive lineman, and, once again, the running back must take a wider angle, allowing more time for the pursuit and forcing the the blockers to hold their blocks for a difficult extra split second. Notice that EBS hasn't allowed Beal to get into his body and is holding the block well, except for the fact that he hasn't managed to seal him inside, a difficult task considering the opponent.

Whittaker avoids McCoy and finally has a chance to start heading upfield and into the boundary on the short side of the field. Notice that Beal is about to shed EBS, who can't hold his block for the extra split second needed as a result of Hix allowing such quick penetration by McCoy. However, the play still has a chance for success if Hall and Huey can make their blocks in space. Notice that Hall could have stopped to chip Beal, but instead heads for the pursuing defensive back. Or does he?

Beal has now completely disengaged from EBS, creating a fair amount of separation. Huey is still locked in on his target, while Hall inexplicably overruns the play, failing to put himself in a position to block either Beal or the defensive back.

In the realm of positives, Huey gets a good cut block on the defensive back. Back in the realm of Texas offensive line realities, Hall has now completely run himself out of the play without having even gotten in anyone's way. To be fair, it's difficult for a lot of offensive lineman to block in space, but this is just not good enough. Beal is now locked in on Fozzy.

Does the Mythical Fozzy Creature like contact or will he meekly head out of bounds, short of the first down?

Instead of laying out, which puts him in little danger because the defenders aren't close enough to pick a big hit on him anyway, Whittaker opts to go meekly out of bounds short of the first down.

The Verdict

But it's 3rd and 1, any good offense should be able to pick that up, right? Wrong, not when Greg Davis infamously calls for an empty set and has every receiver run a route of less than five yards, culminating in McCoy throwing an incomplete pass to Shipley after Brian Jackson grabbed his jersey. Fail. Thanks Fozzy.

As mentioned earlier, Davis clearly doesn't quite get series-based football, as he should have run stealer until Oklahoma stopped it -- that's how series-based football works. Sometimes an offensive coordinator has to sacrifice one play in order to hit a big play on the next. However, even though it wasn't the optimal time to call for the running back counter, it still would have picked up a first down if Hall could have thrown a block on someone, if Hix could have held his block on McCoy for a split second more, of if Fozzy had simply laid out for the first down. Monroe would have.

Quarterback Counter

As much as Davis failed in going to the first counter too soon, he makes an excellent play call in the second quarter after completely abandoning the run for much of the first half. It's the third play in the series, the quarterback counter:

It's the same personnel, the same formation as the previous two plays (with the exception of Kirkendoll in at wide receiver instead of Malcolm Williams), with Monroe coming in motion across the formation to the wide side of the field. It also has an extra misdirection built in -- McCoy will fake the running back counter to Whittaker before taking the ball himself behind the two pulling linemen, the left tackle Ulatoski and the left guard Tanner. Notice that OU now has greater separation between their linebackers, with one farther off the line of scrimmage on the short side and the other now almost outside the tackle box to deal with Monroe's speed to the outside.

The OU defenders get a little bit undsiciplined on this play -- both the nickel back and Ryan Reynolds key on Monroe, attempting to stop stealer. On the other side of the field, Travis Lewis isn't quite as undisciplined, as he only takes a little hop forward to deal with Whittaker, while the cornerback on that side of the field and English both also key on Whittaker. Instead of watching their keys -- the movement of the offensive linemen, they get caught up in both fakes.

EBS has the toughest job on this play. Though Chris Hall tries to cut Gerald McCoy, it's a long way for the center to go to block such a good defensive tackle -- he has little chance. After taking a step or two to his left, Smith must now block the dangerous McCoy for the play to succeed. Smith gets a good seal on McCoy and even helps out Michael Huey behind him by getting in the way of the other defensive tackle attempting to get into the backfield -- Huey has allowed the defender to get across his body. The play has set up extremely well to this point, as the nickel back takes himself out of the play by following Monroe, while Tanner and James Kirkendoll are both set up to make their blocks and Ulatoski heads into the open field with no one currently in the picture to block -- that's a good thing.

Ulatoski makes a good decision to help Tanner the linebacker, Reynolds, while Hix gets an excellent seal on English inside, allowing a big running lane for McCoy to head through.

Ulatoski's footwork could have been a bit better to seal Reynolds and keep the running lane open longer, but he still does a good enough job to allow McCoy to eventually pick up 12 yards on first down.

The Verdict

Had Davis called either stealer or the running back counter, OU probably had them well defended with several offensive possessions to talk about adjustments to the first two plays. Instead, Davs dailed up the counter to the first two plays and picked up 12 yards on first down, giving the Longhorns an excellent start to a drive on which they would eventually kick a field goal, an important three points in a game decided by that margin. It's also important to note that the Longhorn offensive line executed this play to near perfection, much better than some individually poor efforts that limited the first two plays. Yay, execution!

Stealer, Redux

Of course, these plays don't mean much if Davis isn't willing to call them again or if defenses make adjustments to take them away. Yet, that's the beauty of series-based football -- the defense should always be wrong. Here's another look at stealer, this time run with different personnel against Missouri:

It's the same play run against Oklahoma, except with Gilbert as the quarterback, Newton at running back, and Howard at tight end, with Williams and Kirkendoll as the blockers. However, the most important player here, Monroe, stays the same. Notice that the only real adjustment Missouri makes versus what Oklahoma did is to walk up a safety behind the outside linebacker covering slot, while keeping two linebackers well inside the tackle box and at the same depth, unlike OU defended the quarterback counter.

A Missouri defender slices through a gap against the second-team Longhorn offensive line, but, like the first stealer play, Monroe just takes a wider angle while using his speed to beat keep his opponent from having a chance to tackle him. Notice the unblocked Mike linebacker running down the line of scrimmage in pursuit. The question then, is that a good enough angle?

Newton throws a nice block on the outside linebacker, while the MIke backer heads right towards that pile -- that probably won't be good enough, son. Monroe sees the running lane to the outside.

The Mike backer did indeed take a poor angle on the play and has no chance at a tackle. Notice that both Kirkendoll and Williams are throwing good blocks downfield, allowing Monroe to still have a nice running lane to pick up more yardage after turning the corner.

Both defenders eventually get off the blocks of Kirkendoll and Williams, who both do a good job of not getting a holding call on the play, and have a chance to tackle Monroe, who can go down with a nice gain or do what he normally does -- keep fighting for as much yardage as possible.

Monroe does not go down easily, picking up another five yards in the process and turning a seven-yard gain into a nice 12-yard gain.

The Verdict

The beauty of the stealer play is that the offensive line doesn't really even have to block that well for it to work -- the important blocks are by the running back and the receivers outside. An offensive lineman allowed serious penetration on the play, but Monroe's speed kept that defender from being able to make the play. This play also illustrates, once again, just how often Monroe can blow up the angle of a defender and how well he does at his size making himself difficult to bring down -- there's some power in that small frame. The bottom line -- this play seems to be good for at least five yards a carry.

The Takeaway

The three main Wildcat plays made me a believer in series-based football and the early succes of this group of three plays -- the Monroe Series -- confirms that belief. Even though this package doesn't represent a serious leap forward for Davis in being able to put together a coherent offense that includes a more systemic approach, that really doesn't matter here.

What matters is that the Monroe series can significantly help the running game and gives the ball to one of the two most explosive offensive players on the team -- that's good, especially since Mack Brown talks all the time about how difficult it is to get carries for more than about two running backs. Even though it appears that those two backs are Fozzy Whittaker and Cody Johnson, this package still allows Monroe an opportunity to touch the ball. Davis should run these plays up to about 10 times per game -- once again, the beauty of series-based football is that as long as the offensive coordinator can correctly see how the defense is defending each play, the defense should always be wrong.

To make sure the defense is always wrong, Davis could make one important adjustment to increase the effectiveness of the plays. Instead of calling the play before the defense lines up, Texas could look back to the sideline after the defense shows their coverage to get the play. If a team overloads the wide side of the field or separates their linebackers in the box significantly, as Oklahoma did on the quarterback counter, Davis can get the offense into the proper play. A similar solution is to allow McCoy the ability to call the play at the line of scrimmage and it's possible that Davis already does give him that freedom, though it's impossible to tell.

It's worth noting that defenses continue to play this formation with two safeties deep, concerned about the pass. If defenses do begin adjusting, the Longhorns need to have two or three passing plays out of the formation, either keeping Monroe as the split end in the formation or having him run a route after coming in motion -- a wheel route would work well, a play the Longhorns have only tried to hit with Monroe once this season, against Oklahoma. Basically, the idea is to add another constraint play by passing the ball to keep that extra eight defender out of the box or close to the line of scrimmage on the wide side of the field. Texas has now had two full weeks to put in those passing plays, so they have had plenty of time for installation if they need those plays this weekend against Oklahoma State.

The other adjustment is less likely, but could allow the Longhorns more flexibility in the formation. By using Marquise Goodwin as the motion man in the formation, Texas could run all the same passing plays they normally do with Goodwin at split end, a position he played for several snaps against Missouri, while putting Monroe at running back, a player who can more quickly take the edge on the running back counter than Whittaker, critical since there is so little space on the short side of the field. The only downside is that Monroe would be responsible for blitz pick up on the throwing play and would also have to block on stealer. However, given his ability to pick up extra yardage, it's not inconceivable that he could cut a defender about as well as Whittaker and picking up the blitz isn't a problem until the Longhorns actually decide to throw out of the formation. Obviously, putting Goodwin and Monroe on the field at the same time for the Monroe Series is a long shot, but it does get the two fastest players on the team on the field in a formation other than the empty set.

In the Trenches - Anatomy of a Muschamp Adjustment

burnt in ny — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:59:28 -0000

So there were the Horns, having a 21-0 lead on the road, with the ball and all the momentum. Three plays later, Texas comes up a yard short and has to punt. Missouri then takes the ball down the field with a series of running plays, eventually scoring a touchdown when Missouri's offensive formation resulted in Chykie Brown having 1 on 1 coverage of Jared Perry. An excellent throw by Gabbert yielded 6 for the Tigers. OK, it's 21-7, and the offense had looked weak again on the previous series. In days gone by, the track meet would be on, with the opposing offense marching up and down the field and the Texas offense would have had to keep pace. Think Texas Tech 2007. But not in 2009. Not with Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator. First the offense did their part, overcoming a dropped pass by Malcolm Williams with a brilliantly executed screen to Fozzy Whittaker and then once again using Marquise Goodwin as a decoy to free Shipley for a TD pass. Then it was back to the defense, and, as we fans have become almost spoiled to experience this season, came the MUSCHAMP ADJUSTMENT.

Exactly as I planned, men, exactly as I planned!

As the offense, and ergo the offensive line, finally found itself in the first half, I decided to focus the majority of this week's column on the defense. And the epitome of the defensive effort in this game was a subtle but critical change in defensive strategy that largely shut down the MU running game. As an example of many such adjustments Muschamp has made over the past 19 games for Texas, I'll analyze it in detail along with a few comments about the offense after the jump.

In one drive, Missouri outrushes Texas' four previous opponents combined.

So what happened? Missouri got an extra "tight end" on the field in the form of starting left tackle Elvis Fisher (72). Fisher was replaced by backup center J.T. Beasley (67). This effectively put six offensive linemen on the field with three wide receivers still to spread the field. They lined up Denario Alexander in the slot to the opposite side of the two tackles, whilch pulled Earl Thomas to that side of the field. At the same time, Texas lined up Kheeston Randall and Lamarr Alexander in gaps 1 (between the center and guard) or 2 (over the guard) (see purple circles in diagram below). During the drive, Missouri shifted their strong side with Elvis Fisher as tight end. The coupling of these formations left Texas in an unbalanced defense with their arguably four best defensive players (circled in yellow) on one side of the field and allowed Missouri to exploit mismatches on the opposite (strong side)

On the drive, Missouri mostly ran away from Kindle and pulled either guard Kurtis Gregory (78) or tackles Dan Hoch or J.T. Beasley to provide extra blockers at the point of attack. No play epitomized Missouri's success, and the source of it, more than Derrick Washington's 13 yard run for a first down to the Texas 14 yard-line with about 8 minutes left in the first half. The formation allowed MU to double team Sam Acho (81), put a tackle on Rodderick Muckelroy (38), let center Tim Barnes (62) push Kheeston Randall out of the play and pull J.T. Beasley (67) to block Keenan Robinson (1). Sergio Kindle is never blocked on the play.

Note how the play looks defended because of Randall's penetration and Robinson flying in to fill the gap behind him. Instead (see below), because of the mismatches on Acho and Muckelroy, Washington cuts inside Randall into a huge hole created by Dan Hoch (77) doing a niceuncalled infant grip on Sam Acho (purple circle) and Kurtis Gregory getting off the initial block on Acho to double team Robinson. Blake Gideon, for some reason is late getting over and has to take a deep angle on Washington to avoid giving up a TD.

So the next series, Muschamp ADJUSTS by essentially shifting to a 3-4 alignment, with Randall at the nose (0 technique) and Kindle as an extra linebacker. Houston is now the strongside defensive end playing over the 4 or 5 gaps, with no one outside him. Perhaps anticipating Muschamp's adjustment, Pinkel changes to a 20 personnel, with an extra back, Matt Davis (35) in the backfield, and two WR to either side. The only (apparent) advantage MU has in this formation is the ability to double team Randall in the middle.

Note the more balanced distribution of Texas best players (although part of this is the placement of Denario Alexander in the slot opposte the tight end, which puts Earl Thomas behind Kindle).

The example play from this ultimately ill-fated drive is on second down, a sweep with MU's speed back De'Vion Moore (26). The idea is for Alexander to crack back on Kindle and for Davis (35) to block upfield on Earl Thomas, and for Dan Hoch (77) to seal Lamarr Houston. As you might suspect, all these matchups favor Texas, especially now that Kindle is not playing DE and can turn to face Alexander's block rather than being hit from the side.

The result? Houston blows by Hoch like Hurricane Katrina, Randall ties up three (!) MU blockers in the middle (purple circle). Kindle abuses Alexander, and Thomas just runs by Matt Davis for a joint collision and a loss of a yard. All three plays on the drive were disrupted by Houston, who could no longer be double-teamed. On every play, Randall stood up Missouri's double teams, freeing Acho and Houston and Robinson to fill gaps or harass Gabbert. In retrospect, one wonders what Pinkel was thinking in his playcalling and why he got away from the 3-tackle offensive line formation that produced the success on the previous drive. Perhaps, because of the poor field position and only 1:45 left in the half, he thought he needed a more pass-friendly formation but regardless, Muschamp's adjustments shifted the advantage from Missouri to Texas, with immediate results.

Missouri is pinned inside their 10, decides to rugby kick, and Curtis Brown blocks the punt, Malcolm Williams recovers, and it's Texas 35-7. Game. Set. Match.

The Screen Game

Now that Fozzy Whittaker is the #1 RB and is playing well on all 3 downs, including pass blocking, Texas has added the screen to their arsenal in a big way. This puts new expectations for the offensive line, and over the past three games, we've learned a bit about how successful these screens are likely to be. Against Missouri, the Horns ran two screens. One went for 17 yards, following excellent downfield blocks by Michael Huey and Chris Hall, and a solid block against a defender chasing from the rear by Charlie Tanner. The other screen went for one yard even though it was equally well set up and timed because Charlie "Tunnel Vision" Tanner didn't see the nearest and most threatening defender, who sliced in behind the blocking to stop Whittaker. Against Oklahoma, the screen was moderately successful (7 yards), but again, defenders sliced in behind Tanner to make the tackle. Texas also ran a screen against Colorado out of the flex TE formation, but Dan Buckner's missed block caused the play to be stopped for a minimal gain.

Prognosis: The screen pass to Whittaker could become an excellent component of the newly diversified Texas offense, but perhaps it needs to be run to the right behind Michael Huey instead of to the left behind Tanner.

Offensive Line Report

After six games, the "sick child" of the 2009 Longhorns is officially the offensive line. It is the leading cause of sleepless nights for fans and lost thumbnails for Colt McCoy. Against Missouri, they earned these grades.

Adam Ulatoski A- An absolute rock in the run game, number 74 is still showing vulnerability to bull rushes followed by quick inside moves from defensive ends in the passing game.

Charlie Tanner B+ Tanner seems to have gotten over the hurdle of picking up blitzes but still struggles at times with picking out the right defender to block on downfield runs and screens (see above).

Chris Hall B- Struggled with his snapping all night - Colt made him look good with a couple of athletic grabs, but one bad snap led to a sack. Chris still struggles with the cut blocking needed for effective double teams in the Horns' zone blocking schemes. Nevertheless, his blocking calls are usually on and the whole line plays better when Hall, as opposed to David Snow, is in at center.

Michael Huey A- Slowed by a high ankle sprain since the ULM game, Huey was replaced by David Snow after a miserable Colorado game, but came back in to start and play well in the second half against Oklahoma. Huey blocked magnificently on several running plays and was solid in pass protection except for one play where Terrell Rosonno (I believe it was) blew him 5 yards backward. Huey should become stronger as his ankle continues to heal.

Kyle Hix C Texas' largest lineman seems to get physically dominated early in every game, and it's not clear why. Perhaps being matched up against future NFLers Gerald McCoy and Jeremy Beal of OU is too much for Hix, but redshirt freshman Aldon Smith of Missouri? His early failures can make Colt have a short clock in his head before he feels like he has to throw, which can lead to an inefficient passing offense and an over-reliance on short looks to Jordan Shipley. The domino effect of Hix being dominated early in the game may even affect the playcalling, although Greg Davis' eclectic portfolio prevents any real analysis. But early game failures, which fortunately had no impact on the outcome in this game, start sending the message about what you can't do rather than what you can.

Greg Smith Saga

The player who easily leads the team in fan groans over the past two seasons is Greg Smith, an offensive lineman converted from a high school TE to a guard and then back to a TE. Known misaffectionately on the site as the "Extra Blocking Surface" or EBS, Smith is now the favorite son of Greg Davis, who lauded what having Smith enabled the Horns to do once again on his "From the Film Room" report (now up on page 2 videos on the main page of MB-TF). Greg had a typical game against Missouri: decent but somewhat inconsistent run-blocking, and a presence that allowed Texas to block well on zone read and counter plays in the first series. He also caught the only ball thrown to him, and seems to have improved speed in escaping the desultory linebacker usually assigned to him. In some big game in the future, Smith will make a couple of key first down catches.

On the other hand, Smith is still a liability in pass protection. Against the Tigers, he was manhandled by Aldon Smith, on one play that led to one of Colt's two sacks on the day. In some big game in the future, Smith will get overwhelmed again leading to pressure or a sack on McCoy and a turnover.

That's a risk the Horns are just going to have to take, because Smith's presence on the field shifts the blocking schemes to allow the offensive line to have two initial double teams up front, a greater likelihood of the backdoor cut for Whittaker, and greater opportunities in the zone read. It is clear that the Horns want to be able to run the ball up to 5-6 plays in a row, and that's just not possible without a true TE on the field.

The Man in the Middle

Kheestion Randall and Ben Alexander have been incredibly pleasant surprises this year at defensive tackle (see the section above on the benefits of putting Kheeston Randall at the nose. Kheeston has emerged as the clear starter over Alexander in the last two weeks, largely because he has become the first DT since perhaps Frank Okam who is big and strong enough to take on two gaps. That is he lines up in the nose or directly in front of the center and stands him up, and then shifts to the right or left if a running back tries to come through either hole. Randall has shown outstanding quickness on slants, and has gotten close enough to the opposing QB enough times to draw 3 personal foul roughing the QB penalties. Randall is just a sophomore, and if he keeps developing, he could remove worry about the center of the Texas defence and free playmakers like Eddie Jones, Alex Okafor, and Reggie Wilson for the next two years.

Anatomy of Success: First Drive Against Missouri

GhostofBigRoy — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:00:33 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Missouri made this way too easy. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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The Context

Throughout the entire season, the Texas offense has struggled to get off to quick, early starts. Against Missouri, in a nationally-televised homecoming game in front of the biggest crowd at Faurot Field in 25 years, getting off to a quick start was even more important than usual. In addition, the Longhorns are in the process of re-tooling the offense, or at the least, re-adjusting priorities and personnel.

After losing the coin toss, Missouri elected to defer to the second half and kicked off the ball to Texas to start the game. DJ Monroe returned the kick 30 yards to the Texas 39, putting his head down and picking up difficult yardage at the end of the game -- Monroe is far from the biggest guy on the field, but he's willing to do the dirty work for extra yards. Love that toughness and effort from him.

Big Roy's breakdown is after the jump. Interestingly, the outstanding Mizzou blog Rock M Nation posted a similar breakdown earlier today. View their take on the same drive here. --PB--

1st and 10 Texas 39

As expected, Texas opens up in 11 personnel with EBS on the right side of the line to provide help for Kyle Hix, though Jordan Shipley and Marquise Goodwin are reversed from their positions on the depth chart -- Shipley is in the slot and Goodwin is the flanker. Malcolm Williams starts at split end:

Notice that defensively, Missouri is giving the Longhorns big cushions on wide side of the field and Shipley draws coverage from a linebacker.

Key Shot

The Longhorns start out the game with a play-action fake to the short side of the field. All three linebackers bite on the play action, with Shipley's man caught taking a bad step towards the line of scrimmage, leaving McCoy's roommate plenty of room to catch the short pass. McCoy delivers the ball and Shipley turns upfield, breaking a tackle and finding the open field before tripping on the turf for a 31-yard gain on the first Texas play from scrimmage.

1st and 10 Missouri 30

Texas stays in 11 personnel, with Smith once again on the right side of the line. Notice that Missouri remains in soft coverage with the cornerbacks providing huge cushions for the Longhorn receivers:

Key Shot

Texas runs the zone play to the right, but Fozzy Whittaker, always aware of the cut-back lane, finds it and manages to get past the backside defender on the play:

The defender brings him down from behind, but the combination of vision by Whittaker and his understanding of the scheme allows him to pick up six yards without the offensive line having to execute at a high level.

2nd and 4 Missouri 24

The status quo established on the first two plays remains -- Texas is in 11 personnel with EBS on the right side and Missouri has two safeties deep and the cornerbacks well off the Longhorn receivers:

Key Shot

Ah yes, this looks like the Texas offensive line -- notice that EBS misses his block, Hix attempts to cut his defender, missing, Huey attempts to cut Weatherspoon, missing, and, just for good measure, Charlie Tanner whiffs in space, as usual. Somehow, despite four blocks that fail in varying degrees, Whittaker picks up two yards on the play, setting up third and short.

3rd and 2 Missouri 22

Greg Davis dials up the Jumbo package on third and short, bringing in Lamarr Houston, Ahmard Howard, Antwan Cobb, and, of course, the blunt object, Cody Johnson:

Key Shot

Given the overwhelming tendencies of the Texas offense, which runs behind the right side of the line with the Jumbo package nearly every time, Missouri probably expects the ball to go right, which it does. Houston gets a nice block and Hix and Huey get some drive, but this play is mostly made by Johnson, who is rarely stopped in these situations. Guess who wins this little battle shown above? That's right, the irresistible force, the bludgeon known as Cody Johnson, wins over the quite-movable Missouri defender and picks up the necessary two yards with an extra foot or two thrown in for good measure.

1st and 10 Missouri 20

Johnson stays in the game, but otherwise the same 11 personnel package from earlier returns, with the only adjustment being Malcolm Williams at flanker instead of Goodwin, who moves to the split end position. Notice how far off the Missouri cornerback is playing Malcolm Williams -- around eight yards:

Key Shot

McCoy runs a play-action fake to Johnson as two linebackers come on a blitz, leaving Shipley free to make the block on the cornerback for Williams, who catches the short pass and picks up an easy seven yards before fumbling the ball out of bounds on the hit.

2nd and 3 Missouri 13

Same personnel as the previous play, with Johnson lined up to the left of McCoy. Once again Missouri is in soft coverage, but appears to have brought a nickel back on the field:

Key Shot

It's a simple zone play right, but the offensive line does an excellent job of making their blocks, particularly EBS, who sets the edge for Johnson by getting to the second level and sealing the safety. Johnson has a huge expanse of open field to the outside and uses his speed to take the edge before using his power to punish Missouri defenders and pick up yards after contact. All told, Johnson breaks four tackles on his way to a seven-yard gain.

1st and Goal Missouri 6

Texas brings in DJ Monroe to run the Monroe series in 11 personnel with Fozzy at running back, Williams and Shipley to the top of the formation, and Greg Smith on the right side of the line once again:

Key Shot

Monroe comes into motion, drawing the attention of the safety coming on the run blitz, who attacks up the field and takes himself out of the play. It's not the jet sweep, but rather the quarterback counter:

The play sets up well, as pulling tackle Hix only has to block the playside linebacker. That's Hix there on the left of the line of scrimmage, looking at the aforementioned linebacker he just whiffed on. Instead of a successful play and a possible touchdown, McCoy loses two yards.

2nd and Goal Missouri 8

Texas goes back to their base 11 personnel grouping, with EBS on the right side of the line of scrimmage and Fozzy in the backfield with McCoy. Notice that Missouri now has all three linebackers in the box, with Shipley matched up against a safety lined up seven yards deep:

Key Shot

In looking at the picture above, it's not hard to imagine that this play will be a success -- Missouri seems to have no desire to adequately defend Shipley on this play. The roommate heads out into the flat as the Missouri defender takes several steps back in coverage, leaving Shipley wide open:

As a result, Goodwin is able to block both his own man and the safety "assigned" to Shipley, leading to an easy walk into the end zone and the first score of the game.

Final Totals

Eight plays for 61 yards, 3:35 expired. Three of three passing for 46 yards and a touchdown for McCoy, as well as one carry for a loss of two yards. Two catches for 38 yards and one of the easiest touchdowns Shipley has ever scored. One catch for seven yards and a fumble by Malcolm Williams. Two carries for eight yards by Fozzy Whittaker and two carries for nine yards by Cody Johnson. Two missed blocks by Kyle Hix, as well virtually the entire line on the second running play. Several other good efforts by the offensive line, though, particularly on the run of seven yards by Johnson, which included a strong effort by EBS

Final Verdict

In terms of establishing momentum, taking the crowd out of the game, and punching Missouri in the mouth early, this drive was a complete and total success. In fact, given the circumstances and the previous slow starts by the offense, this drive was exactly what the Longhorns needed.

Honestly though, Missouri provided extremely little resistance defensively, particularly with the decision of Dave Steckel to play such soft coverage and give Shipley so much room to operate one week after Oklahoma shut him down by man-handling him at the line of scrimmage. No idea what the Tiger defensive coordinator was thinking.

The running looked solid, with Smith providing a big help to Hix and Huey on the right side of the line. Despite Scipio Tex deriding the running back personality cult that exists among Texas fans, Whittaker does provide more than Vondrell McGee, particularly with his ability to see and anticipate the cut-back lane opening up, something McGee struggles with mightily. Johnson, for his part, now looks as quick as he ever has at Texas and is running with pure, unbridled anger -- it's a vicous, but beautiful thing to behold.

Even without having run the football yet, the first play demonstrated that the emphasis and talk about the running game the last week or so caught the attention of Missouri players, as the play-action fake made sure the outside was wide open for Shipley to catch and run. Malcolm Williams looked fast and strong on his catch, though he needs to work hard on ball security this week -- that could have been a reason, along with the obvious problem with dropping the football, that has kept him off the field. Goodwin did not have a catch on the drive, but did an excellent job blocking downfield, as he did the entire evening. More, please.

All in all, an excellent start to the game and a indication of things to come, as the Longhorns reeled off 21 points before the Tigers really knew what hit them and by that point, with the strong play of the Texas defense, the game was effectively over before it had really even begun. On a night that featured huge struggles by Florida and Alabama, particularly offensively, the Longhorns showed conclusively that they absolutely deserve mention with those two teams as the best in the country.

Anatomy of Stagnation: Settling For Field Goals, Again

GhostofBigRoy — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:12:59 -0000

More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

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The Big Picture

Two weeks ago, it seemed like over analysis to focus on two stalled drives hidden within the trashing of UTEP. The Longhorns led the nation by converting each of their opportunities inside the red zone. Problem was, and is, that the Texas coaching staff has no idea how to run the football in the red zone, leading to using the WildHorn there against UTEP, with poor results even though Mack Brown admitted that the plays were set up for failure. In fact, the whole offense inside the red zone is still searching for an identity. Which running back should play? Should it be Cody Johnson, who has the strength to pick up some yardage after contact? Should EBS play? Can the Longhorns throw the ball effectively with EBS in the game?

Against Colorado, the Longhorns experienced the same problems, as the first two drives of the game stalled deep on Colorado territory and the Buffaloes blocked the kick on the second drive, destroying red zone perfection for Texas on the season. What's going on here?

First Drive -- The Context

Shockingly and unbelievably, Colorado marched down the field on their first drive, going 66 yards and converting 3rd and 21 with a 25-yard touchdown pass from rag-armed Cody Hawkins to tight end Patrick Devenny. Ask Hawkins to throw the ball any further and his arm might fall off. In fact, judging by the velocity, or complete lack thereof, on the throw that Earl Thomas took to the house and that lofted throw to Devenny might have sapped lil Hawk's arm strength for the night. Note the sarcasm.

Attempting to respond, the Longhorns moved the ball methodically down the field as McCoy targeted Shipley three times for 47 yards. The drive even included Vondrell McGee's longest run of the night -- five yards on his first carry. The jumbo package took two plays to pick up two yards, but eventually got the job done and the beautiful 3rd and 12 throw by McCoy down the sideline to Shipley moved the Longhorns to the Colorado 19 yardline.

1st and 10 CU 19

The Longhorns line up in the WildHorn formation for the first time on the evening, but using Vondrell McGee as the running back for the first time:

Notice that the linebackers are all shaded over to the short side of the field. Even though the Longhorns haven't shown this specific variation of the WildHorn, the defenders seem to suspect something or flat out aren't concerned about McGee's speed to the outside.

Nor should they be, as the play will show. Texas runs a variation of the power play that is a staple of the Wildcat series, but instead of even faking the handoff with McGee, Davis uses him as the lead blocker on the play. In other words, instead of forcing the linebackers to move, they simply have to play downhill. Guess what? It doesn't work as well that way, as the outside linebacker on the wide side of the field, who would be responsible for McGee if he comes in motion, slices into the play and hits Chiles at the line of scrimmage. The play picks up three yards, which ties it for the most successful WildHorn play run in the last two games. At least Hall manages to snap the ball well.

2nd and 7 CU

Texas keeps the same 11 personnel grouping on the field, with EBS moving to the strong side of the field:

At the snap of the ball, Colorado run blitzes all three linebackers and the nickel corner lined up over James Kirkendoll in the slot:

The Colorado defensive coordinator guesses correctly, so the Longhorns don't have the numbers to pick up all the blitzers. It might be a zone read play, as McCoy pulls the ball back from McGee, but it's hard to say because it gets blown up so quickly. McCoy loses three yards on the play and takes a nice pop for his efforts, as well.

3rd and 10 CU 19

On third down, Greg Davis sends Dan Buckner onto the field, replacing EBS. He also calls for the relatively-new bunch formation that Texas debuted several weeks ago:

Will he break tendency and not throw a screen pass out of it?

It turns out that he will, but Colorado drops seven into coverage, including the middle linebacker showing blitz at the line of scrimmage in the above shot. Since the camera angle is terrible, it's impossible to know the routes Texas was running on the play except that John Chiles is the outlet receiver standing at the line of scrimmage. McCoy has solid protection, but can't find any of this three primary receivers on the play, though McGee is open in the right flat just as McCoy tucks the ball to run, picking up three yards. Given the quick reaction of Colorado defenders to McCoy's run, they were probably in zone coverage.

Texas settles for a 32-yard field goal from Hunter Lawrence.

Final Totals

Fourteen plays for 64 yards, 5:58 expired. Five of six passing for 50 yards by McCoy, as well as two carries for zero yards. Two rushes for eight yards for McGee, as well as one catch for negative two yards. Two rushes for three yards for Cody Johnson. One rush for three yards by Chiles, as well as one catch for five yards. Three catches for 47 yards for Shipley. One dropped pass by James Kirkendoll. One missed block for Dan Buckner on the failed shovel pass to McGee.

The Verdict

For the most part, the Texas offense responded well to the Colorado touchdown, converting the 3rd and 12 and the fourth down with Cody Johnson running, but stalled inside the red zone once again.

The new WildHorn power play with McGee blocking did not exactly fail, but it did demonstrate that Davis and Mack Brown fail to understand a key concept of the Wildcat series -- the plays must compliment each other. They must be run more than once or twice a game to take advantage of whatever the defense is giving. If the defense goes with the man in motion every time, the power play or the counter is open. If the defense sells out to stop the power play, the stealer is open to the outside. So simple a caveman can do it. But apparently not Greg Davis.

On the play, the outside was open, but McGee doesn't have the speed to exploit it, a fact the Colorado defense took advantage of to shade all three linebacker towards the short side of the field. In the true Wildcat series, the next play would be the stealer and it would probably work, even with McGee.

If the Longhorns insist on keeping McCoy and two other receivers on the field in the WildHorn, there is no ability to use an h-back in the formation as a lead blocker. Instead of accepting that fact or taking a wide receiver off the field, Davis instead chose to use the running back as a lead blocker. Once again, the problem there is that the defense doesn't have to worry at all about anything going outside to the wide side of the field. Misdirection is quite possibly the key to the Wildcat series and this power play has absolutely none.

The other issue is that Chiles himself said last week that because the defense is keying on him the offense needs to utilize DJ Monroe more to the outside. Instead, Davis put McGee in the game as a lead blocker. Great. The WildHorn could work for the Longhorns but the coaching staff is going about it completely the wrong way.

On the second play featured above, it looked like the Colorado defensive coordinator had read Davis' offensive script before the game, run blitzing into a running play. However, responsbility for the failed play rests on McCoy, who did not check out of it when he saw the blitz. With the nickel corner blitzing, the safety is seven yards off of Kirkendoll, giving McCoy an easy hot read if he checks the play at the line of scrimmage. Even if Colorado then switches out of their blitz, at least the play has a chance.

The third play illustrates several things. First of all, the Longhorns have struggled this season against zone defenses, possibly because the receivers didn't get a lot of game reps last season finding holes in the zone. Secondly, McCoy has not done as good of a job this season of finding his running backs out of the backfield, perhaps as a result of having less trust for McGee and Newton than McCoy had with Chris Ogbonnaya. Finally, the zone defenses help limit McCoy's scrambling ability because the defenders don't have their backs turned to the quarterback. Whatever the case, the Longhorns need to figure it out because defenses are going to continue playing zone defense until McCoy and company make them pay.

Second Drive -- The Context

After the poor start to the game, the Texas defense responded by forcing a three and out on Colorado's second possession. Offensively, the Longhorns dinked and dunked their way down the field to once again get inside the red zone against a statistically-poor Colorado defense. Following his eight yards on two carries on the first drive, McGee struggled to find any room behind the Texas offensive line, picking up three yards on three carries. A second offsides penalty on the drive against Colorado on 3rd and 2 puts Texas inside the CU 10 yardline.

1st and Goal CU 8

Greg Davis calls in for 11 personnel on first down, with Cody Johnson staying in the game after entering the play before to run the ball on third down. Notice EBS on the short side of the field, indicating to me pre snap that the Longhorns are going to run the sorta counter to the left, about the only running play that the coaching staff uses with Johnson:

Unbelievably, it is indeed a counter play behind the left side of the line, which gets good blocks on the play. On the other side, Kyle Hix decides to take out the knees of defensive end Nick Kasa given the problems the Longhorns have had during the game of unblocked players on the backside of plays making tackles. Michael Huey comes through the hole and seemingly has trouble deciding which of the two linebackers to block and barely gets a piece of the playside linebacker as they combine to make the stop, limiting Johnson to a three-yard gain.

2nd and Goal CU 5

Desperately seeking solutions, Davis calls for an empty set with Fozzy Whittacker entering the game at the bottom of the screen with Dan Buckner and James Kirkendoll on the wide side of the field and John Chiles and Jordan Shipley on the short side:

Notice that Colorado is in man-to-man press coverage against all the receivers except for Whittacker, who is played to take away the inside release. The Buffaloes have only one linebacker and one safety in the middle of the field.

The man coverage takes away any quick throws for McCoy and a stunt by the strongside defensive end Marquez Herrod beats the right tackle Hix and eventually results in a sack and a loss of eight yards. It looked like there was some miscommunication between Hix and Huey because Huey left his man to try to slow down Herrod, allowing his original assignment, defensive tackle Curtis Cunningham, to get to McCoy at roughly the same time as Herrod.

3rd and Goal CU 13

The Longhorns stay with the same personnel grouping, but put Whittaker in the backfield and once again use the bunch formation to the bottom of the screen.

Judging by the pass, Kirkendoll was supposed to run an option route, going inside if the defender shades him outside and going outside if the defender shades him inside. Kirkendoll goes inside, while McCoy throws the ball outside, leading to an incompletion.

4th and Goal CU 13

The punt team comes onto the field to attempt the field goal. Notice that the kick is from the left hash, meaning that Lawrence has to angle the kick to the right, making Ahmard Howard's protection on the right side of the line more important than if the ball were in the middle of the field or on the right hash.

Howard has a decision to make. Should he help Alex Okafor with the man coming across his right shoulder or should he block the man coming to the outside? Given the position of ball, Howard needs to block the outside man because the placement of the ball means the kick will be directed into the edge rusher:

Howard makes the wrong decision and the edge rusher blocks the kick, costing the Longhorns three points.

Final Totals

Thirteen plays for 46 yards, 5:09 expired. Five of six passing for 28 yards and two carries for one yard by McCoy. Two catches for 13 yards by Shipley. Two catches for 11 yards by Chiles. One catch for five yards by Dan Buckner. Three carries for one yard by McGee. One carry for three yards by Johnson. Two offsides penalties for 10 yards by Colorado. One miscommunication between Kirkendoll and McCoy. One poor decision in field goal protection by Ahmard Howard.

The Verdict

Once again, the Longhorns move the ball well before stalling close to the goalline. Once again, the drive stalls following a similar pattern -- a run for three yards, a terrible play resulting in a loss, and then McCoy unable to connect with a receiver.

The counter play to Johnson works reasonably well, but the problem is that Hix had to stay home blocking the defensive end because of the problems with backside players making tackles. The point of the counter play is that it uses misdirection to get the defense flowing in the wrong direction because of the counter step. Well, as well documented in these parts, there is no counter step. Hix staying at home left a linebacker unblocked and Huey did a poor job of blocking the other linebacker, giving Johnson little to no chance of picking up any more yards than he did.

On the second play, the right side of the Texas line failed to pick up the stunt by the defensive end, a tactic they will see often this season if it continues to work for opponents. Given the state of the running game, the Longhorns will have to throw the ball upwards of 35 times to beat Oklahoma and correctly this problem will be necessary to sustain drives, because even one sack will almost certainly derail a drive.

The third play illustrates the trust issues that McCoy seems to have with his receivers other than Buckner and Shipley. Mccoy must throw the ball on the option route before the receiver makes the break, so he has to trust that the receiver will make the same read. Kirkendoll did not and the play should have resulted in a touchdown. Throughout the season, McCoy and Kirkendoll have struggled to connect close to the goalline. Until a third receiver steps up and earns the trust of McCoy, the Texas offense will continue to struggle scoring touchdowns. On top of that, Kirkendoll's poor read was representative of a bad game that saw him drop a pass, get called for holding, and generally fail completely in the blocking game. What happened to the step forward he was supposed to take after making that critical catch against Ohio State?

Final Thoughts

The offense is clearly casting about relatively aimlessly trying to find solutions for the problems punching the ball into the end zone. In the last two games, nothing has worked well, not the WildHorn, not Cody Johnson running, not spreading the field. Eventually, settling for field goals instead of scoring touchdowns will prove to be a major issue and the main hope is that Davis finds something that works. The bad news is that the Longhorns are now entering the toughest part of their schedule and don't have any more time to experiment against overmatched teams. They will have to figure it out on fly.

In the Trenches - Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Zone Blocking Horns

burnt in ny — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:34:47 -0000

As the Longhorn fanbase wakes up from a sleepy off-week and prepares for Colorado, I thought I'd use this week's version of "In the Trenches" to address some questions about the Longhorn offensive line and that mysterious thing we've all heard about, called zone blocking. For experts like ScipioTex of Barking Carnival or our very own GhostofBigRoy, much of this may be old hat, but comments from many suggest that it's new hat for many BONers.

Let's see, where to begin... I recall overhearing a conversation on a London train that went something like this...

via xtrvaluedvds.com

"By jove, Holmes, that Newton's a right quick little roger!"

Two gentlemen, decked out in tweed and hats, sat cross-legged on the bench.

The one with the cap exclaimed, "Dear God, Holmes, what on earth are you reading!"

Nonchalantly sucking on a pipe (since there's no smoking on the trains nowadays), the porkpie-hatted one rustled his newspaper and replied, "My dear Watson, this is a snappy little rag known as the Austin American-Statesman. I never had much use for those newfangled internet sites, however fiendishly cleverly they're linked to the great library of the world. I much prefer the feel and rustle of newsprint beneath my fingers."

"Well, what's so fascinating about that provincial outpost," pressed Watson.

"It's quite fascinating, really. Seems there's quite the mystery about this raucous game called American football. Some team in a rather heat-blasted colony called Texas has a football team with all the ingredients for a smashing ability to hand the ball to a quick bloke and let him run with it. Yet somehow the populace is quite fervent in their disbelief about its efficacy and extremely dispossessed in their lack of understanding of it."

"Well, it must be quite the story to be wresting your attention away from all the nefarious crime here in our fine city of London," said Watson doubtfully.

"Indeed, Watson, indeed... Seems there's this bizarre phenomenon called 'zone blocking' that's got everyone titillatingly frightened and frustrated. A mystery worth solving by any standards, I'll warrant."

"Tell me more, good sir. Anything to crush the boredom of this train ride. I wish we could just cut back through the alleys," snuffled Watson. "Like in the old days!"

"My dear Watson, you are right as always, and as always without knowing why!" exclaimed Holmes, sitting more erectly. "For it is indeed in the so-called 'back cut" that the secret to the mystery presents itself. Elementary! Why didn't I see it sooner!"

Watson gaped at his companion."Back cut! I'm afraid you've lost me Holmes."

"Well, I suppose, Watson, that a rather clearer picture of the whole affair would emerge from a bit of background. Along about 2004, the instructors, er coaches, of this football team began to be fascinated with a peculiar series of plays called the 'zone read,' in which the quarterback would receive the ball from the center and decide whether to hand the ball to another runner going in one direction or keep it himself and go in another direction. Devilishly simple, and it was eventually run to perfection by a rather phantasmic character known as Vince Young. A regular Tower of London with the feet of a dancer and the speed of a locomotive. As always, Watson, the general populace is singularly unprepared to accept the obvious and prefers instead to focus on the fantastic. You of course remember that harrowing case of the overgrown dogs, don't you Watson?"

"You mean the hound of the Baskervilles?"

via www.srpublications.com

"My dear Watson, the public's view of Vince Young can never be trusted!"

"Precisely," smirked Holmes. "Illustrates my point perfectly. All that blather about ghosts and demons, and in the end it was nothing but an overstimulated dog. At any rate, all the jolly good folk of Austin thought the rampant success of their team was due to this Young fellow, when in fact a just as important change was in how these incredibly massive young blokes, called the offensive line, were attacking the rather plightful defensive players that tried to tackle their heroes. In short, it was the advent of 'zone blocking.'"

"Sounds altogether quite boring, Holmes," sighed Watson.

"Quite right, my good man. The most brilliant of deductions are virtually always boring to the uninformed eye, based as they are upon the most fundamental, and least fantastic, aspects of any enterprise."

"Bloody hell, Holmes, then get on with it, what's this, er, 'zone blocking,'" grumped Watson.

"Elementary in concept and adept in form. Each of the five blokes, and sometimes a tight end, is responsible for blocking the men in a defined area around them. This was a novel concept in the late 20th Century, and became unmatched in its execution at the universities in the early part of this decade. It was unremittingly new because, prior to its advent, each offensive lineman would pick a defensive man and push on him for the entirety of a play. In zone blocking however, linemen often switch from one defender to another, with defenders passed among linemen like so many water buckets in a fire line. I recall an excellent source on the basics of this fine idea from the latest delivery from the library. And, yes, it's always good to seek the advice of professionals, and a former NFL (You do recall the London Monarchs don't you Watson?) coach has an excellent video tutorial on the subject."

"By jove, Holmes, I am yet to be distracted by this tome. If this scheme is all so effective as you say, then why isn't everyone doing it, and why is there such a mystery?"

"Patience, my good man. The successful tale is always good in the telling, if only for the discerning listener. There are in fact many teams using this scheme. The mystery, you see, is in why it works or not. When those scatbacks are being pummeled at the line of scrimmage, the average fan looks at how the offensive line appears while it's blocking. Imagine gorilla behemoths dancing with and engaging, rather than pulverizing, their opponents. Think of the exquisite timing of trading defensive partners from one lineman to another. A sort of primary school mantra comes to mind, 'First we double, then I share, and off to the linebacker I go, go, go,' repeated over and over. It's enough for the respectable conservative fans, with blood on their mind, to decry as 'soft' or 'sideways'," replied Holmes.

via www.lifeinthefastlane.ca "...these zone blocking behemoths can create a powerful running game, though they may be perceived as ballerinas. A rather unpleasant and unwarranted image I say." said Holmes.

"'Whatever happened to smashmouth football?' they scream," he continued. "Why is the running back always going sideways?' they moan. The coaches have turned real men into ballerinas. Quite frankly, Watson, it's enough to spark the appetite of any sleuth. How indeed, can this zone blocking scheme be the foundation of a powerful running game?"

"I'll take the liberty of sketching it out for you on the back of this newspaper," continued Holmes. "I suppose I could use actual video or video stills in the manner of that most insightful analyst GhostofBigRoy, but it's rather hard to distinguish the movements of offensive linemen from a horizontal perspective. First let's draw how they start. The team of interest, of course, is the Longhorns, and a brilliant choice of mascot it is, I might add."

"This is one of the basic formations for the team (in orange) with three wideouts, 2 to the wide side of the field, and a tight end, apparently a fine young fellow known as Greg Smith, the Extra Blocking Surface. The running back is lined up to the weak or short side of the field from the quarterback."

"The play starts with the running back moving to the right, which draws the linebackers in the direction that the running back is moving (yellow arrows). Note that the TE and right tackle double team the end and attempt to seal him inside. The center Chris Hall (71) and right guard Michael Huey (63) double-team the defensive tackle on the strong side to prevent him from penetrating and destroying the play. The two offensive linemen on the left side (outlined in blue circles) each block a single defender, but they are about to change who they block."

As the play develops, the left tackle Adam Ulatoski (74) (left-hand blue circle) leaves the defensive end (E) and reaches out to block the outside linebacker (OLB) on the weakside, who has now entered his area. Charlie Tanner (52) (center blue circle) passes his man off to Chris Hall and now blocks the end that has entered his area. Note that all the defenders are pushing to the strong (or righthand) side of the field. The Extra Blocking Surface (83) has left the end he originally blocked to muscle up the linebacker (right hand blue circle). At this point, the good fellow running back Tre' Newton has a choice of potential holes, depending on the movement and blocking by the offensive line. In the case studied here, Newton took the cutback lane (white) instead of completing the sweep to the right because of the penetration by the strongside end and outside linebacker. Newton gained 12 yards on exactly this play against Texas Tech.

"Surely they don't always run this play," suggested Watson.

"Indeed not," affirmed Holmes. "The team often runs plays out of this so-called 'shotgun spread,' but occasionally they change it up to something called the 'I-formation' with the running back lined up 7 yards behind the quarterback. Witness this play, which scored a touchdown from 15 yards out, and frankly would have scored from anywhere on the field."

"Watson, do note that there is no fullback and no tight end but instead a 'flex' TE, Dan Buckner (4). As the play begins, note the clever bit where the defensive end comes unblocked into the backfield while our man Huey and Hix double-team the defensive tackle and the center Chris Hall pushes the other tackle to the left, keeping him on his left shoulder. It is readily observed that this allows the Longhorns to concentrate more blockers on fewer defenders."

"But then," said Holmes, raising a finger in exhilaration, "Huey leaves the tackle to the outside shoulder of Hix and charges after the middle linebacker (blue circle), leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the line for our man Newton. Thanks to an additional fine block on the safety by Jordan Shipley, Newton sprints straight for a touchdown! Meanwhile, there's been no smashing of defenders, merely a bit of pushing and shoving along the line."

"Fascinating!" exclaimed Watson, now beginning to see the point.

"Moreover, this rather utterly destroys another popular myth," continued Holmes, "namely, that one requires a fullback and a tight end to run the I-formation. Zone blocking allows the defender normally blocked by the fullback to be blocked by an offensive lineman and the defender blocked by the tight end is rendered irrelevant by splitting the tight end out in the flex position, thus pulling the linebacker covering Buckner too far away from the play. Brilliant, I say!"

"If I might have the temerity to offer an opinion, what happens if the outside linebacker ignores Buckner and attacks the gap in the middle?" queried Watson.

"Astounding deduction as to the defense's response, my dear Watson. In that case, the team might very well go back to a spread formation and run their very best running play," gloats Holmes, "It is called a 'counter,' which has nothing to do with numbers, but everything to do with a rather dramatic sleight of feet, so you might say. It's a right jolly symphony of beefy movement.

"As the play begins, the entire left side of the offensive line 'pulls,' as they say, from left to right, as the center Chris Hall pushes the defensive tackle to the left and Michael Huey engages the tackle to the right, setting the poor bloke up for a future block by the pulling linemen."

"The pulling linemen enter the gap between Chris Hall and Michael Huey, looking to attack the tackle and end, which have been left behind by Michael Huey and Kyle Hix to attack the inside and outside linebackers. A jolly classic demonstration of the finest zone blocking techniques."

"The pulling linemen (Ulatoski and Tanner) take the right defensive tackle and end from a new angle, keeping the defensive players on their right shoulder. Smith helps seal the other defensive tackle to the left, along with Chris Hall. Huey and Hix each execute their downfield blocks on the linebackers and Newton right into the hole and straight up the middle. Extraordinary!"

Watson sat speechless (for once).

"So," intoned Holmes, "You see that, when properly executed, these zone blocking behemoths can create a powerful running game, though they may be perceived as ballerinas. A rather unpleasant and unwarranted image I say."

"You don't say, Holmes," exclaimed Watson.

"And so there you have it, Watson. A complete de-bunking of the popular moronity, that you can't have a good running game with measly-appearing zone blocking. It should be mentioned that the scheme requires exquisite timing and supreme intelligence and experience of its practitioners. Having an intrepid back with sufficient vision to spy those cutback lanes is also a requisite. Without those, the plan might as well be rubbish."

"And once again, my good man," lauded Watson, "you've reduced hysteria to cold hard analysis. It might be one of your best cases ever!"

"I wonder if my not so humble opinion would be of value to the press," speculated Holmes. "Ah, a useless muse, no doubt. The press... mystery, not facts, sells newspapers, not to mention space on that polyglot of public opinion, the internet. One must present the appearance of dire consequences and grievous incompetence to intrigue the public. Things have changed little sincce 1876."

WildHorn Part 2: Snap Shots Versus UTEP

GhostofBigRoy — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:12:46 -0000

More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

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Part 1

After an impressive debut against Texas Tech, the Longhorns only used the WildHorn in the red zone and ran two plays: the counter read that accounted for 39 yards against Tech and what might be a power play pulling the playside guard into the hole. Concern about being able to run the ball in the red zone was the most likely reason for the coaching staff to only use the formation inside the 10 yardline, but the results were not particularly encouraging in that respect.

Play 1: Power Read

The Context

Early in the second quarter, leading 23-7, the Longhorns were already well on their way to blowing UTEP out and had sustained one long drive. However, Texas did fail to score a touchdown after getting possession inside the 10 yardline after the botched punt attempt by the Miners. On another sustained drive, the Longhorns found themselves inside the 10 yardline once again with a first down to start the second quarter.

The Play

In the now-familiar WildHorn formation, the Longhorns set up for a new play, though it looks like a counter read before the snap -- it has the same alignment. The first thing to notice is that since the Miners play in a 3-3-5 defense, the read man is now a linebacker on the strong side of the field. The second thing to notice is that instead of pulling the backside guard and tackle, only the playside guard pulls, this time into the hole between the backside guard and tackle -- the reason for calling it a power play, though the Longhorns might call it something else. The playside tackle stays to double team the strongside defensive end along with the center, Chris Hall. Notice also how close the safety is to the line of scrimmage because Texas is inside the 10 yardline.

The strongside linebacker heads upfield to take away Monroe, so Chiles makes the read of keeping the ball. Notice that Charlie Tanner has two options as he pulls through the hole -- the safety, highlighted, or the linebacker. I have the linebacker marked as Chris Hall's man, but it could be Ulatoski's responsibility. Either way, one of the players should get off the double-team block to take the linebacker -- that's one possibility. It's also possible that Tanner is supposed to block the closest player to the line of scrimmage when he pulls through the hole.

Tanner is locked in on the safety, while the linebacker steps up to meet Chiles in the hole.

Tanner throws a great block against the safety, eventually driving him into the end zone. The problem is that the player he decided not to block, the linebacker, is about ready to tackle Chiles. Notice also that Kyle Hix struggled to hold his block long enough to allow Chiles to make any type of move to avoid the tackler in the hole.

Despite the poor choice by Tanner, Chiles might have been able to make it to the end zone or close to it had Hix held his block longer, as the WildHorn triggerman mostly runs through the arm tackle by the linebacker but gets stood up by the end.

The Verdict

The adjustment in the blocking scheme is a good one because it doesn't try to pull a player to block someone already optioned off and gives the Longhorns a much better chance of breaking off a successful play by pulling the guard into the hole instead of to the outside, but the combination of the poor decision by Tanner, the inability to get off the double-team block and get to the second level by the playside combination, and the inability of Hix to hold his block resulted in a short gain for Chiles. It's all about execution, people.

Play 2: Counter Read

The Context

The drive featuring the first play out of the WildHorn formation stalled and ended in a field goal. The following possession for UTEP, the Miners actually managed to pick up a rare first down on a Donald Buckram run, but the Texas defense stiffened and forced a punt. Marching down the field, the Longhorns once again moved inside the UTEP 10 yardline.

The Play

Since Monroe is on the right of Chiles -- the weakside of the field, this play will be the counter read again. The major difference, however, is that Monroe is now lined up slightly in front of Chiles and maybe two steps to his right, a slight adjustment from all the previous iterations of the play. Returning to the version of the counter-read play shown against Tech, the backside guard and tackle will both pull. Instead of double teaming either the nose guard or the strongside defensive end, the left guard, Tray Allen, heads to the second level to block the linebacker.

For the second time in six WildHorn plays, Chris Hall makes another poor snap, hiking it above the head of Chiles and throwing off the timing of the play.

The read linebacker on the play breaks down at the line of scrimmage, giving Chiles the head of handoff. Of course, he can't make the handoff because he's attempting to secure the football. If the snap is good and Kirkendoll and Shipley make their blocks, Monroe has an easy trip into the end zone unless the safety in the middle of the field can make the play.

So, of course, the poor snap has disastrous results for this play, as the backside linebacker, unblocked in the scheme because he's on the backside of the play, is now in the backfield, as well as the defensive end good ol' EBS was supposed to block but had to chop because he had so far to go to block him.

Things are breaking down quite chaotically, as Chris Hall loses his block and Kyle Hix whiffs on a linebacker heading to the party. About the only two things that are going well for the Longhorns right now are the fact that Chiles has mostly avoided the oncoming linebacker who was supposed to be on the backside of this play to minimize the loss by at least a little bit and David Snow's nice block in the back of the supposedly optioned linebacker on the other side. I give Sam Acho more style points for his leg whip sack though.

Just for fun, here's if-then statement for most football plays -- if snap = FAIL, then play = FAIL. Chris Hall has a reasonably complex job as the center, but the issue here is that he's having trouble in the WildHorn with the simplest part of it.

Play 3: Counter Read

The Context

Up 47-7 coming out of halftime, Texas received the ball to start the second half. Eddie Jones and Marquise Goodwin had some communication problems on the short kick, leaving the Longhorns with the ball at the inside their own 10 yardline. Texas had to convert two third downs before Vondrell McGee broke off the big play of the drive -- his 51-yard run. On the play directly following, Greg Davis calls for the WildHorn for the final time on the day with the Longhorns at the UTEP 9 yardline.

The Play

For the first time, UTEP shifts their defensive front prior to the snap. Instead of leaving the weakside defensive end on the left shoulder of the Texas left tackle, he shifts inside a gap. Perhaps UTEP figured out that every time DJ Monroe is lined up on the weakside of the field with his "counter read" positioning several steps away and one step ahead of Chiles, that the Longhorns will run the counter read. That means that EBS must block that weakside end as the guard and tackle pull. As we will see later, that presents a problem.

It is indeed the good ol' counter read play, as Chiles will key on the strongside linebacker and Ulatoski and Tanner will pull. Besides the shift of the defensive line, it's pretty much the same defense UTEP used for the two previous WildHorn plays.

The weakside defensive end comes off the ball upfield with little resistance as EBS tries to block him without success. Meanwhile, Chiles reads the strongside backer crashing on Monroe -- it's a keeper. Hix and Huey both get good initial movement on their opponents.

Just as Chiles decides to keep the ball, he's faced with the defensive end almost right in his face. Ulatoski, the pulling tackle, picks up the block on the charging end, while Tanner throws himself in the general direction of the strongside backer, the player supposedly optioned off on this play.

Ulatoski gets a nice block, but the end disrupts the running lane for Chiles, who now has the avoid the backside baker pursuing the play.

Chiles uses his speed to beat the weakside defender to the hole, leaving two defenders for Chiles to make miss to pick up some yardage, one of whom, on the right, took several bad steps following Monroe.

The defender, probably accounted for in the blocking scheme by Ulatoski, who had to block the defensive end slicing into the backfield, makes contact with Chiles about two yards downfield. Chiles picks up another after contact, making this play by far the most successful WildHorn play against UTEP. Three whole yards. Yippee!

The Verdict

In the sunshine pumping world, the play a huge success, as Chiles picked up one-third of the yards possible on the play. It was also three times more successful than the second-best WildHorn play of the day.

In the real world, UTEP made a defensive adjustment to disrupt the play by virtually guaranteeing that they could get a guy almost unblocked into the backfield. There should be a line call by the center before the play to adjust the blocking, most likely by only pulling the guard and leaving the tackle to block.

The other aspect of this is that it seems like a waste of resources to have Tanner attempt to block the player supposedly optioned off on the play -- that's the point of option football, to option at least one defender off so you don't have to block him.

Stay Tuned

Part 3 will feature final thoughts on both games and some plays the Longhorns should have installed during the bye week.

WildHorn Part 1: Snap Shots Versus Texas Tech

GhostofBigRoy — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:51:17 -0000

More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

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It's probably safe to say that opinions are currently mixed about the WildHorn formation after a successful debut against Texas Tech turned relatively sour against UTEP -- three plays, all inside the 10 yardline, netted a total of -3 yards. However, the formation did pick up 45 yards on four plays against Texas Tech. Ahead, analysis and diagrams of each play from the Texas Tech game.

Play 1: Counter read

The Context

Leading 7-3, the Longhorns look to gain some momentum after two unsuccessful possessions, including a three and out on the last offensive possession. However, the Jordan Shipley punt return gave the Longhorns the lead and the Texas defense just forced a punt after Texas Tech lost field position with the fumble by Taylor Potts that Alex Okafor should have recovered. A holding penalty on the punt return by Shipley moves Texas back to the 41 yardline.

The Play

The Longhorns debut the WildHorn with Chiles as the triggerman and Monroe in the backfield alongside him. Notice that the strongside linebacker (Sam) is lined up in coverage over James Kirkendoll and that both of the safeties are deep. The offensive line will block just as they do in a normal counter play with Ulatoski, the left tackle, and Charlie Tanner, the left guard, pulling. However, this is not a typical counter play, as Chiles will read the unblocked strongside defensive end, highlighted in gray, just like the zone read play that Vince Young made famous at Texas. If the end gets upfield to take Monroe, then Chiles will keep the ball. If he stays at home, then Chiles will give the ball to the speedy running back.

It's also worth pointing out that this may be a play that Texas designed just for the WildHorn, as I can't find any evidence that anyone else in college football runs a counter play with a read designed into it. It's possible that the coaching staff created this play to take advantage of the ability to use a read with it and the fact that it's been the most consistent running play so far this season.

Chiles reads the defensive end as Charlie Tanner pulls to block that end, eventually, while Ulatoski pulls behind him, heading for the Mike backer. Notice that the Mike backer appears to bite hard on the play fake, locked in on DJ Monroe. Kyle Hix is leaving his double-team block to lay some wood on the Will backer.

The defensive end gets far upfield, giving Chiles an easy read on the play -- keep the football. Both the Sam and the Will backers continue to bite hard on the fake to Monroe and the offensive line is executing well at the point of attack.

The two linebackers take themselves out of the play and the strong safety also appears to still be keying on Monroe. The free safety is about to take a bad angle on the apparently faster-than-expected Chiles, who has a beautifully-clean running lane through the middle of the Tech defense.

Realizing his mistake, the strong safety tries to adjust his course, to no avail, as does the free safety. Back behind the line of scrimmage, Monroe senses a big play.

As a result of his bad angle, the free safety can't make the tackle and Chiles is off to the races with open field in front of him:

The Verdict

The Tech defense clearly wasn't ready for the play, as there was no way they could have prepared for it. The Longhorns will probably not get a chance to run the play again without facing all three linebackers in the box, but the offensive line did execute the play well and Chiles made the correct read. Undoubtedly a fantastic start for the formation, which caught the Red Raiders completely by surprise.

Play 2: Zone Read

The Context

Leading 10-3 midway through the second quarter, the Longhorns defense had just forced a three and out by the Tech offense and the Texas offense had just picked up a first down, but had generally stalled throughout the first half with the exception of the long run by Chiles on the first WildHorn play.

The Play

For the second WildHorn play, the Longhorns return to a familiar staple of the offense -- the zone read. Notice that Monroe's placement on the right side of Chiles and on the strong side of the field indicates that the Longhorns will not run the counter read play. Also, Tech has made their first defensive adjustment, bringing the strong safety up into coverage on Shipley in the slot, with the Sam backer moving into the box and the free safety deep in the middle of the field. Once again, Chiles will read the strongside defensive end, handing the ball off if he stays at home. The offensive line will double team at the point of attack, then attempt to get to the second level. Colby Whitlock, certified Longhorn killer, is lined up over the left shoulder of center Chris Hall.

The play never has a chance, as Hall, apparently worried about Whitlock, hikes the ball to the right of Chiles, who has to fall on it to keep possession.

The Verdict

Whitlock may blow the play up anyway, as he uses Hall's step to the left against him, slicing across his right shoulder and into the backfield. However, the rest of the play is set up well and if the defensive end comes hard up field, then Monroe may be able to find a crease behind the block of Charlie Tanner, the left guard heading to the second level to block the Will backer.

In the middle of the field, the zone read play should be a staple of the WildHorn offense. Many defenses have begun to take away the zone read by sending the defensive end after the running back every time, with the Sam backer performing a "scrape exchange" to take the quarterback. The adjustment that the Longhorns appear to have made here is that instead of blocking the Mike backer, left tackle Kyle Hix is going to block that Sam linebacker assigned to the quarterback, leaving the Mike backer to possibly be caught up in the wash if Monroe can hit the whole hard and quickly. The strange aspect of the play is that the left guard, Charlie Tanner, heads downfield to block the Will backer instead of the Mike backer, who would seem to be his assignment, as one of Adam Ulatoski and EBS should be able to get off their double team to take the Will backer. It's possible that Davis adjusted the play to make sure that EBS or Ulatoski had some help on his block.

Play 3: Counter Read

The Context

A 33-yard return coming out of halftime gave the Longhorns good field position for the first drive of the second half, leading 10-3. A McCoy pass to Chiles converted a 3rd and 7, giving the Longhorns a first down at midfield.

The Play

The play clearly sets up as the counter read, as evidenced by Monroe's positioning to the left of Chiles on the weak side of the field. As per their earlier defensive adjustment, Tech now has all three backers in the box, with the strong safety moving up into coverage on Kirkendoll in the slot and the free safety moving back deep into the middle of the field.

Tech is also making the same adjustment that they would probably normally make against the zone read, except reversed -- instead of taking the running back, the defensive end stays at home, taking the quarterback, while the Sam backer "scrape exchanges," taking the running back heading to the edge. Chiles makes the correct read of handing off the ball to Monroe, who only has to beat the Sam backer to the edge and receive a good block from Kirkendoll on the strong safety to break a big play.

Monroe sees the corner, wants the corner, knows he can beat the linebacker to the corner. However, whether he will be able to make it depends on the block of James Kirkendoll on the strong safety. If Kirkendoll can keep his feet moving and seal the defender to the inside, Monroe can take the corner and then it just depends on Shipley's block on the cornerback and if the free safety can come over and make a play.

I'm not positive, but I imagine that Kirkendoll is simply trying to block his defender and the coaches don't care which way he turns him, just as long as he gives Monroe a chance to make a cut. ideally, though, Kirkendoll seals his defender to the inside, but he probably doesn't know that because he can't see the pursuing Sam backer. Either way, Kirkendoll needs to move the safety quickly in one direction or the other so that Monroe can cut off of him.

However, the Tech strong safety does his job by keeping his outside shoulder free and forcing Monroe to cut back inside of him, where the pursuit of the linebacker will bring him down.

The Verdict

The play ends up netting five yards, which certainly makes it successful. Chiles made the correct read and Kirkendoll did make his block on the edge and the Tech adjustment to the long run by Chiles doesn't help them a whole lot -- the play still has a strong chance of success. In fact, teams might be better off keeping the Sam backer somewhere in between his positioning on the first and third plays so he can take away the running back. It's possible that defensive coordinators won't want to take the linebacker out of the box and, therefore, out of the play if the quarterback keeps it, but they can essentially dictate whether the quarterback does or not by the play of the strongside end.

There are some possible adjustments to this play that would help the Longhorns. The first adjustment is using Malcolm Williams in the slot position in the WildHorn formation -- it wouldn't tip off opposing offenses about using the WildHorn when he comes into the game and even if Kirkendoll has to come out, the Longhorns still generally have to substitute to get Monroe into the game and can go five wide with that personnel group, so any personnel grouping designed by the defense to stop the run first and foremost has to face that possibility. The reason for putting Williams into the game is his blocking ability -- instead of having a 5-11, 180 pounder blocking a larger strong safety, the physical mismatch in favor of the opposing team would turn into a physical mismatch favoring the 6-3, 220-pound Williams.

The second adjustment involves the blocking scheme for the play. The idea behind the zone read play is that the offense leaves a defensive end (or, in the case of the midline option, a defensive tackle) unblocked, then reads him so that the player can never make the right decision. Option football, pure and simple. As mentioned earlier, scraping a linebacker helps defend the play. The strange thing about the counter read play is that the defensive end is optioned off early, then blocked by the pulling guard later, while the tackle follows and tries to pick up a linebacker, which has little chance of actually happening.

The problem is that the scraping linebacker can, in the case of the this play, get outside and defend the running back without really worrying about being blocked, as the pulling tackle has essentially no chance and neither does the pulling guard. Instead, the Longhorns could shift their blocking up front by having the playside tackle block the scraping backer instead of blocking the Mike backer. Then, instead of pulling outside, the other tackle could head inside to block the Mike backer, since the current timing of the play makes the tackle almost useless.

Another option is to move EBS to the strongside of the field, where he would be responsible for the Sam backer and then just keep the pulling tackle at home blocking the weakside end.

The combined speed of Monroe and Chiles will continue to make the counter read play dangerous for opponents and it should remain successful as long as the offensive line can block up front, but the key to the play is whether the Sam backer can get to Monroe in time to essentially take him out of the play consistently -- he is essentially on an island.

Play 4: Reverse Pass

The Context

In the back and forth second half, the Longhorns struck first after halftime, but the Red Raiders replied with a touchdown of their own. Leach, ever the risk taker, tried for an onside kick after the Tech touchdown, but the Longhorns recovered with good field position at the Tech 47 after an offsides penalty, leading 17-10 and hoping to regain the momentum.

The Play

Texas lines up with Monroe to the right of Chiles on the strong side of the formation, meaning that the play is likely the same zone read play Texas tried to run early in the game when the poor snap from Hall caused a fumble. Just like the first play the Longhorns ran in the formation, the two safeties are deep, with the Sam backer lined up in coverage on Kirkendoll in the slot.

However, the Red Raider defense shifts just before the snap, moving the Sam backer into the box and bringing the strong safety up into coverage on Kirkendoll, with the free safety moving into the deep middle of the field. At the start, the play looks just like the zone read -- the right tackle leaves the strongside end unblocked, while Monroe takes the hand off.

As McCoy heads into motion on the reverse, all three Tech linebackers bite on the run, pursuing Monroe down the line of scrimmage. Notice that the strong safety has his eyes in the backfield as well, while Kirkendoll heads inside faking the block or a slant.

The defensive end bites on Monroe's run to the edge, while Chiles gets in position to block him when he eventually reads the play. Monroe tosses the ball to McCoy, who already sees Kirkendoll, the primary receiver on the play, plant his foot to accelerate to the outside.

Before taking more than a step or two with the ball, McCoy looks downfield for Kirkendoll ready to pass the ball, but the strong safety has come up in run support, while the defensive end still hasn't reacted to McCoy having the ball. Kirkendoll heads into the flat wide open while Shipley clears out the cornerback on that side of the field.

McCoy completes the pass on the run to the wide-open Kirkendoll, who has plenty of open field in front of him if McCoy puts the ball on target. Kirkendoll has only the cornerback to beat.

Unfortunately, McCoy's issue overthrowing his receivers manifests itself on this play, so even though Kirkendoll catches the ball for an 11-yard gain, had McCoy delivered the pass accurately, Kirkendoll would have gained more yardage and broken a big play as long he can make the first man msis and if Shipley can block the free safety.

The Verdict

This is an excellent, well-designed play that fooled the entire Texas Tech defense. Concerned about the speed of Monroe, all three linebackers bit on the play, as well as the unblocked strongside defensive end. The strong safety, concerned about McCoy on the reverse, bit on the run and left Kirkendoll wide open. The play may even work as a reverse, as McCoy probably could have picked up yards on the run if Chiles can get a solid block on the strong safety. Even if most of the defense hadn't been fooled, Kirkendoll's double move should get him open the great percentage of the time on the play.

Clearly, the Longhorns will have to at least threaten other teams with the prospect of the pass or they will find eight players in the box. Having Chiles or McCoy throw the football operates as a perfect constraint play to keep the defense honest. With the resources defenses will have to commit to stopping the running game, a difficult proposition with the speed of the two playres in the backfield, defending any passes Texas wants to run is not going to be easy.

Anatomy of Stagnation: Settling For Field Goals Against UTEP

GhostofBigRoy — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:36:29 -0000

More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

John Chiles continues to excel in the screen game (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)

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The Big Picture

It probably seems rather picky to focus in on the two possessions that ended in field goals for the Longhorns on a day when the offense scored seven touchdowns and absolutely blew UTEP out of the water. However, the fact is that the home team probably should have scored 80 and could have had even more than that had Mack Brown not completely shut down the offense for the last 20 minutes or so of the game. The reason for the tough-love focus in this post is exactly the same reason that Texas won so easily -- UTEP provided so little resistance, there's really no excuse for the first-team offense not to have scored a touchdown every time they got the ball. High standards, for sure, but nothing unattainable for this offense as it gains momentum with every passing game.

Situation #1 -- Context

With Texas up 13-7 roughly halfway through the first quarter, UTEP's third possession actually included a completed pass after a fumble and three-and-out on their first two drives, but an illegal formation penalty, a run for a loss of a yard, and an incomplete pass halted the drive for the Miners and led to a punt. Unfortunately for Mike Price's team, the long snapper sent the ball over the head of the punter and into the UTEP end zone, where Malcolm Williams absolutely flattened the punter as he attempted to pick the ball up and kick it away:

Word to the wise, Greg Hiett -- what you're about to try to do is not a good idea.

So yeah, that didn't work out too well. To Hiett's credit, he did get the ball out of the end zone...

Another angle, just for fun.

The ball eventually made its way to the six yardlilne, where the Longhorns took over after UTEP recovered the ball.

1st and Goal UTEP 6

Texas comes out in 11 personnel with EBS on the line of scrimmage and Tre' Newton in the backfield on Colt McCoy's left, with John Chiles at the flanker position and James Kirkendoll as the sub-B receiver:

The Longhorns run a zone play right behind Michael Huey and Kyle Hix, the more productive side of the line early in the season, but Huey misses his block and Newton gets taken down in the backfield for a three-yard loss, another example of how one player not executing on the offensive line brings down a whole play, even if all the other players execute well. It's not even clear what Huey was doing on the play -- he has a lineman right in front of him, but starts turning right at the start of the play, even though the opposing player is coming across his left shoulder and because he is facing the wrong direction, the defender gets by him easily. Huey's footwork should have been reversed -- he should have turned his body left to pin the defender inside. It's also worth pointing out that the Longhorns faked the screen pass on this play to freeze the defenders on the back side of the play.

2nd and Goal UTEP 9

Texas stays in 11 personnel, but this time with Newton on McCoy's right side:

McCoy tries to fit the ball into Chiles, who is running a slant on the play, but a defender at the line of scrimmage tips the ball and the coverage is good by the UTEP defender -- the pass falls incomplete. Had McCoy waited another split second -- and he could have because the protection, he would have had Tre' Newton in the flat on his right and Newton might have scored a touchdown because there were not any defenders within 10 yards of him and Jordan Shipley took the cornerback (and possibly the safety) into the end zone in man coverage, meaning the UTEP player had his back turned to the play:

3rd and Goal UTEP 9

Greg Davis sends Dan Buckner into the game, replacing EBS, leaving the Longhorns in their best version of 11 personnel, with Buckner at the flex position and Tre' Newton lined up on McCoy's right:

James Kirkendoll runs a slant and McCoy hits him short of the goalline, forcing the Longhorns to attempt a field goal. Just like the last play, Tre' Newton was open coming out of the backfield, but the best play was to a wide open Dan Buckner running a post behind the defender who eventually came up to tackle Kirkendoll short of the goalline:

Final Totals

Three plays for three yards, 1:25 expired. One of two passing for McCoy for six yards. One catch for six yards for James Kirkendoll. One carry for negative three yards for Tre' Newton. One missed block by Michael Huey.

The Verdict

Against a completely overmatched UTEP team, not being able to score from the six yardline is unacceptable. The missed block by Michael Huey epitomizes the work of the offensive line through four games -- mental and physical breakdowns happen by individual players way too often. Comparing the second and third plays shows just how big of a difference there is between EBS and Dan Buckner -- EBS can't create separation on his route, but Dan Buckner easily gets open in the back of the end zone. If the Longhorns are going to throw the football -- and there was little doubt they would do so with second and goal from the nine yardline -- Buckner must be in the football game.

This drive also demonstrates that Newton should be catching a few more balls out of the backfield because he was open on his relase on the second and third plays. It could be that McCoy doesn't totally trust him catching the ball because of his drop against Wyoming and a busted play on a hand off last week against Texas Tech. As well as McCoy played on Saturday, and he played extremely well, there is still some room for improvement in going through his reads, particularly in looking for Buckner up the seam because teams are really have a difficult time defending him on those plays.

Situation #2 -- Context

Up 23-7 with the clock under three minutes in the first quarter, the Longhorn defense gave up a rare first down, but then defended a screen well for a two-yard loss, forced an incomplete pass, and stopped another completed pass short of the first-down marker to force a punt. A 35-yard punt by Greg Hiett gives the Longhorns the ball at their own 23 yardline after a one-yard return by Jordan Shipley.

1st and 10 Texas 23

The Longhorns start the drive in 11 personnel, with EBS on the line of scrimmage and Tre' Newton in the backfield on the right of Colt McCoy:

McCoy drops back to pass and receives good protection, but can't find anyone open down field. Stepping up in the pocket, he does an excellent job of keeping his eyes downfield looking for a big play, but finally pulls the ball down and runs left and picks up nine yards before making a smart decision and sliding just short of the first down.

2nd and 1 Texas 32

The Longhorns go into their jet tempo and under center (I believe) after the run by McCoy, but the cameras don't catch the start of the play. Jordan Shipley, Adam Ulatoski, and Charlie Tanner all get excellent blocks on the play, as Tre' Newton picks up seven yards running behind the left side of the line.

1st and 10 Texas 39

Going no huddle, Greg Davis sends Dan Buckner, Marquise Goodwin, and DJ Monroe onto the field in an 11 personnel, empty set:

McCoy fakes the screen right to Goodwin to freeze the backside pursuit, then throws the screen left to John Chiles. Jordan Shipley blocks the cornerback defending Chiles and Charlie Tanner and David Snow get out in front of Chiles to lead him downfield for a 27-yard gain:

Excellent play design and excellent execution by the Longhorns.

1st and 10 UTEP 34

Hustling downfield and going under center in the jet tempo, the Longhorns hike the ball quickly out of their 11 personnel set with Tre' Newton back on the field, who picks up six yards running behind the left side of the Texas line and excellent blocks from Adam Ulatoski, Charlie Tanner, and Jordan Shipley. Tanner did a nice job of holding the defender long enough to let Newton get by, but released the defender quickly enough that no flags were thrown on the play, while Ulatoski showed good feet by getting to the second level and allowing Newton to pick up yardage unmolested.

2nd and 4 UTEP 28

With the Longhorns in the WildHorn formation, a UTEP defender gets a little too excited and jumps across the line of scrimmage, contacting Kyle Hix. Five-yard penalty, first down.

1st and 10 UTEP 23

Texas comes back with their best personnel package -- 11, with Buckner in the flex position and Tre' Newton on McCoy's left:

McCoy sees Shipley with one-on-one coverage with only one safety back in the middle of the field and probably makes up his mind to throw the pass to his roommate before the snap. The throw does indeed go to Shipley at the pylon and falls incomplete, but the UTEP cornerback gets flagged for pass interference -- 15 yards for Texas, first down.

1st and Goal UTEP 7

In a somewhat unusual move, Texas stays with Dan Buckner in the flex instead of bringing in EBS inside the 10 yardline, as they often do:

With McCoy rolling right at the snap, John Chiles runs a slant in an attempt to pick off the defender trying to chase Dan Buckner into the flat, where McCoy finds him for a three-yard gain. A good thought on the play call, but Buckner couldn't outrun the defensive back to the corner of the end zone and Chiles didn't quite get in that defender's way well enough.

2nd and Goal UTEP 4

Starting the second quarter, the Longhorns go WildHorn with John Chiles behind center:

Chiles runs the quarterback counter play that picked up big yardage last week and might have scored a touchdown, except Charlie Tanner blocks the safety farther away from the ball, instead of the linebacker closer to the play and that player eventually tackles Chiles for a one-yard gain:

3rd and Goal UTEP 3

Texas goes back to 11 personnel with Buckner in the flex and Newton on McCoy's right:

Kirkendoll runs a nice route, taking several steps out into the flat, then pivoting and running a slant across the goalline, creating enough separation for McCoy to throw him the ball, but Kirkendoll drops it after having it hit his hands. Once again, Buckner is open in the back of the end zone, but McCoy made the easy throw to Kirkendoll, who should have caught the ball.

Final Totals

Seven plays, 74 yards, 3:01 expired. Two of three passing for McCoy for 30 yards. One rush for nine yards by McCoy. One rush for one yard by Chiles. Two carries for 13 yards by Newton. Two penalties for 20 yards on UTEP. Three good blocks by Jordan Shipley and two good blocks by Adam Ulatoski and Charlie Tanner, who made a poor decision on the WildHorn play and picked the wrong defender to block. One dropped pass by James Kirkendoll that should have resulted in a touchdown.

The Verdict

For the most part, this was an excellent drive by the Longhorns, who marched right down the field until stalling inside the 10 yardline before the missed block by Tanner and the dropped pass derailed the drive. The good news is that the Longhorns conintued to run the football well in their jet tempo offense and the left side of the Texas ilne blocked much better on this drive than they did in the first two games of the season. No longer is there a sharp difference between running right and running left, due in large part to more consistent play by Charlie Tanner and much, much better run blocking by Adam Ulatoski. The screen passing game to Chiles continues to work well and the fake screen to the other side of hte field probably helped Chiles pick up an extra 5-10 yards by slowing down the backside pursuit, a nice wrinkle.