Justin Fuente brings a new mentality to Virginia Tech's offense that reflects old-style thinking with regards to design of the offensive run game. Starting with Southern Cal during the O.J. Simpson era, the use of the one back and I-formation offenses conditioned most fans (myself included) to believe that an effective running game is built on getting a superior athlete at the tailback spot, and winning battles at the point of attack. The early 80's was the golden era of this line of thought, as the era produced super-backs like Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson, Emmitt Smith, and Barry Sanders. Where they went, the ball went. There was very little misdirection outside of play-action, counters, and draws.
Prior to that era, running the football was equal parts winning physical battles and influencing a defense out of position. That deception was created by multiple potential ball carriers repeating similar backfield motions with different players getting the football on different plays. Those offensive concepts have returned with abandon in college football with elements of single wing, Wing T, veer, and zone systems present in modern offenses.
Fuente's running game philosophy at Memphis and TCU proves that he is an embodiment of "what is old, is new". He stretches the defense with formation, and then uses similar backfield motions and alignments to fool the opposition. His running plays don't vary greatly from Scot Loeffler's playbook. However, with Loeffler, there were certain formations where there was a high degree of likelihood that you knew where the ball was going when you saw the personnel and the formation. For example, against East Carolina, if you saw Travon McMillian in the in the slot, and Ryan Malleck lined up as an H-Back on the opposite side, there was reasonable certainty that the Hokies were running a jet sweep or a two man deep route off the jet sweep play-action. That predictability made a defense's job much easier.
You get no such predictability with Fuente. While he does have some tendencies, every base running play can and will be run from every formation in his playbook. Fuente doesn't use many different formations, and he employs similar motions, blocking, and route structure on most of the snaps. So, despite having the capability of running more plays, his offense is relatively easy for the players to execute without worrying about multiple checks and pre-snap motions.
I documented one particular formation and then watched 8 games stretched over Memphis' 2014 and 2015 seasons. The backfield alignment featured the quarterback in the shotgun, with a running back and an H-Back aligned almost in an I-formation to either his right or left side. I'll refer to it as the I-Gun. Opposite those backs, a slot receiver aligns several steps off the line of scrimmage. The other two receivers will change their alignments. Here is a look at the basic formation.
From this formation, I observed 22 unique run, run-pass option, play-action (not accounting for different routes off the same structure), and true pass pro plays. This is a conservative estimate, and with more time I could likely prove this number is higher. From this formation, I noticed only two variations pre-snap. Sometimes the slot receiver will motion to the quarterback. Sometimes he won't. That motion is the only tip. This variability forces defenses to account for all those possible plays every time the Tigers used the formation. This prevents them from effectively anticipating the play. If they try and guess wrong, they're exposed elsewhere on the field.
To go with this basic alignment, Fuente incorporates series where multiple players may get the football off of a particular run action. Let's break down some of the basic series and how they work to confuse a defense.
In his last season at Memphis, Fuente showed heavy preference to running the jet sweep and the inverted veer from the slot receiver alignment. In this look, a receiver/running back aligns deep in the slot away from the play side. After the defense calls their set, the slot receiver jet motions to a mesh point in front of the quarterback.
Now, things start to get tough for the defense. On the jet sweep, the two offset running backs both try to seal the edge. This allows the running back to fly around the corner. The offensive line essentially blocks straight ahead to keep their step from taking the linebackers to the football. The quarterback takes a jab step to freeze the linebackers inside.
The offensive line barely blocks a soul on this play, yet the motion seems to freeze the inside defenders. As long as the H-Back and the tailback get their block, the receiver is free and clear around the edge. The defensive pursuit is woeful because the defenders have to account for multiple runs from this formation.
Let's analyze two back-to-back plays from Memphis' game against Tom Herman's Houston Cougars. Paxton Lynch uses the same backfield motion, but instead of reaching the play-side defensive end, they option him. He has been conditioned to the sweep and runs hard up field. This time, the offensive line blocks down and the backside guard pulls and leads up. This leaves the defensive end unblocked. Lynch properly reads the outside linebacker flying up field, pulls the football from the jet sweep motion, and follows his guard inside for a nice run.
On the previous play, the Cougars saw the exact same formation and backfield motion. However, this time the right halfback delays instead of flying to the corner.
Lynch fakes the jet sweep handoff and instead of plunging up the middle, he hands off to the halfback. The offensive line runs an inside zone to the left and the halfback picks up a solid gain. The linebacker is in a really tough position. If he overplays to the motion, the defense becomes susceptible to the inside zone and the inverted veer dive. If he slow plays the motion, the offense has the numerical advantage on the outside.
Fuente exacerbates the problems for opposing linebackers reading keys by adding even more variety to the series. Ole Miss was very aggressive over pursuing to the motion side to take away the sweep and the inverted veer. Off the same motion, Fuente used that strategy against the Rebels by running a counter back against the grain. On the counter, the offensive line steps left and the motion man heads that direction too. The halfback takes a hard step to the left, and then takes a counter step back to the right to take the ball from Lynch after the jet sweep clears. The left guard pulls back to the right to lead up on a corner. Ole Miss has no defenders in place because they have over-pursued to the sweep action.
The same Ole Miss team that defeated Alabama didn't know whether to wind their head or scratch their watch against Fuente's Memphis squad. Fuente also thoroughly confused the BYU defense. The repeated sweeps conditioned the edge defenders to stay wide, which opened up the inside for Paxton Lynch.
On this play, Fuente changes up his veer release by the tight end on the inverted veer to get even more blockers inside, yet BYU continues to overplay the sweep.
Did you see the change up? Let's review. The receiver to the bottom of the screen motions to the top, and then crosses in front of Lynch for the fake sweep.
Here is the gag — this isn't a true inverted veer option. Fuente threw a curveball. Instead of leaving the edge player unblocked, the running back ties him up (or tries to). The tight end blocks down, and the H-Back loops isolates off his block and squares up on the linebacker. The back-side guard pulls and leads up. This is a quarterback keeper all the way designed to look like an inverted veer, and every other movement in the backfield follows the normal inverted veer pattern! The one player who can really mess up the play (the edge guy) is totally wrapped up in defending the sweep. Confusion allows Fuente to get a numbers advantage at the point of attack, and the players deliver a touchdown.
From this formation, Fuente also incorporates a series of base plays that he can run with or without motion including: and isolation lead draw, fake isolation quick screen, and play-action.
Fuente even uses a multitude of straight drop back pass routes from the same formation, so the defense can't just key on a run-play-action combination. The quarterback can drop back from this and any other formation and throw typical passing route combinations.
At different points over the last two seasons, Fuente even used the motion man and the two backs as lead blockers on a student body type of sweep, then ran run-pass options and reverses off that pre-snap movement! Throw in the occasional speed option if the outside linebacker starts to cheat, and it is easy to see why so much Memphis film features opposing defenders looking completely out of position so frequently.
To illustrate how difficult all these different potential options become to defend on gameday, I wanted to highlight one particular play-action pass that really grabbed my attention for both the design's simplicity and effectiveness.
Focus on the Ole Miss outside linebacker to the top of the screen (No. 4). Before the snap, the outside linebacker has to account for the jet sweep, the inverted veer, the quick toss, the quarterback sweep, and any play-action where he has man coverage responsibility to the secondary inside passing threat. After keying slot motion, at the snap the linebacker widens out a step to prevent the halfback from sealing him inside. The linebacker has to keep his weight forward and his outside shoulder free so he can take on the block effectively and force the sweep to the inside.
At the moment of contact, the halfback angles hard back to the inside. Suddenly, the linebacker realizes that the sweep is a fake. The H-Back runs off the linebacker's inside leverage help, and the halfback slides into the empty space. The linebacker has no chance. If he plays the run fake soft, the sweep itself will be effective. No matter what the linebacker guesses, he has a good chance of being wrong. This scheme repeatedly confused much more talented defenses and made them look very bad.
As with all offensive schemes, having players who buy-in and execute their assignments to make such a series work is critical. These plays don't work if the defense believes one of the players involved in the motion are not credible threats to do damage with the football. The H-Back and halfback must be effective blockers. The halfback must also be a credible running threat on the counter, the isolation/inside zone, quick pitch, and speed option along with being a good lead blocker. The slot receiver has to sell the jet sweep fake effectively even when he isn't getting the football. The other two receivers have to option stalk effectively when they are not running play-action or pass pro. If any of those elements go awry and the offense becomes one-dimensional, it is much less effective.
I believe the Hokies have the personnel to run this series very effectively. Memphis used wide receivers and backup tailback Sam Craft as the slot receiver. Craft had a similar running style to Travon McMillian, who was excellent early last season as a slot motion-sweep runner before the meat of the ACC schedule. McMillian is comfortable running to the edge and cutting sharply inside off the kickout block on the corner. As a feature back, McMillian would likely stay in the game and move into the halfback spot in other formations. DeShawn McClease seems to be a good fit in this role, and Fuente will use his wide receivers there as well. Isaiah Ford could even be featured with some limited touches off this action.
I wouldn't be shocked to see Steven Peoples as the halfback when McMillian moves to the slot. Peoples has the power and athletic ability to be a credible threat on inside runs and counters. In the film clips I watched last spring and August camp, Peoples has the ability to move bodies as a blocker. His athleticism and size seems pretty comparable to Doroland Dorceus, who was terrific as both a blocker and a tenacious runner for the Tigers.
Expect to see Sam Rogers playing in that H-Back role. His ability to block in space, tenacity (Memphis H-Back Alan Cross was also a walkon and was very difficult to play against), and ability to catch the football are a perfect fit for how Fuente uses the position. I have pointed out in the past that Rogers needs to be stronger at the point of attack, and as I will point out in future columns, Fuente loves to run with his H-Back at the point of attack. Chris Durkin also has a similar size to Cross and I believe has the athleticism to really be effective if he learns how to block effectively. Chris Cunningham also fits the body type that Fuente used at Memphis and is more polished as a receiver. Expect Bucky Hodges to be lined up as a play-side receiver away from this motion, and I would expect to see him highlighted on play-action skinny posts and fades once the jet sweep and inverted veer are established.
Comments
Well done, as usual. That was well worth waiting for. I agree with you that we seem to have the athletes to effectively run this system, once they all have learned their roles. Selling every play by all the players is the key, and it was exciting to see how well things worked out when they did. I'm looking forward to this season more than any in a long time.
Very well done. Lots of options from a single formation. Our QB has to have his act together with all the reads necessary to be successful. Is it football yet?
Any noticeable difference to the type of O Lineman in his past offenses relative to what we have now? Do you expect a change in the type of player for the future?
I too hope the o-line is learning fast, and able to execute.... unfortunately this concern had been built over the pay couple of years.
At Memphis, they zoned a ton except on Inverted Veer. In spring practice, we saw snapchats where Wyatt Teller and Augie Conte were on the move frequently. Frankly, the OL at Memphis wasn't very talented. I think the talent level at VT is much higher and that gives Fuente more flexibility to use man schemes when zone scheme will be difficult to execute. As I note, he can make subtle changes to blocking schemes in game to set up a defender who may be overplaying a certain tendency.
Thanks you the insight. This will be an exciting season.
Thanks for the response and great article! I don't know much about Vice's recruiting strategy for OL. It pains me to think we will need to go all athletic (newsome era with converted tight ends) instead of bringing in true OL with nasty attitudes that understand what it takes to get that yard when you need it. To me, the definition of athletic for an OL, is impose your will at all costs. I am not trying to over simplify it but don't need to overthink it either. Curious how you see it French.
One thing to note is that, as we've seen recovering from the Newsome era, it takes the longest of any position group to restock the offensive line. Considering they were starting from scratch, Vice likely never got a chance to really recruit and develop "his kind of guys", as he was only there for 3 years. He had to spend his entire Memphis tenure just getting enough people on the field. Hopefully with a more solid starting point in Blacksburg we can see his philosophy come together much quicker.
I agree. It has been painful to watch the rebuilding of our line with 4 different coaches in the last 5 years. Just not much history ( haven't searched rigorously, I admit) on Vice's developmental philosophy. I am excited to see how it plays out. I halfway hope that he just adapts to what the group does the best and the scheme is tweaked accordingly.
Great write up. It makes me more excited to see them play. I hope Mendenhall don't see this, ii's probably better analysis than he'll get from his staff!!
I doubt he'd be able to wrap his head around it anyway. Spending even a little time in Charlottesville tends to make coaches less than effective.
To be fair, one can be effective at simple things. Like winning...
Wait, never mind... you've been perfectly fair.
effective at calling timeouts?
Mendenhall is already familiar with Fuente when BYU played Memphis in the Miami Beach Bowl in December of 2014. Memphis won the game in two overtimes 55-48.
It will be interesting to see how Mendenhall fares when his team has a lower overall skill level.
I'm sure this is obvious to the more foosball trained people here but.....what about our current recruits lines up with Fuente's scheme?
Since we started the transition to a spread offense under Lefty, our current personell and the kids we were recruiting should line up a hell of a lot better then if we went from Stiney to Fuente.
Nice, informative read. Really gives a heads up on what to expect and I don't feel too bad about that since opposing defenses will not be taking parking tickets waiting for the jet sweep to come around.
Having played against the single-wing way back in wing T and veer systems, I always thought Tyrod would have been fun to watch in the single-wing. He would have been sort of a faster version of magnificient Leon King from Giles 80's championship team.
+1 for Leon King reference.
Leon King was the man but Allen Pinkett owned the field against us in the State game even though we won.
Yep, saw that game and Pinkett, as I recall, scored all 32 points for his team (Park Sterling maybe). The kid was a blur. King was a bloody gnat, quick but not fast, and with great vision and hard to get a handle on.
What a great way to start the day,French! Yep, all these formations are going to make offense very hard to defend.
I hate to be "that guy" (actually, not really) but the point of this article was that one formation can contain a multitude of different options. The idea that the defense can't key on the offenses formation or personnel to get an idea of what play might be coming is what we're going for here. Not lots of formations. Lots of plays from a single formation. That's the ticket!
There are actually a few formations used in the clips above. The one thing consistent in the formations was the "I-Gun" (i.e. the RB directly behind the H-back). There are clips above with 3 wide, 2 wide and a TE (TE open), 2 wide and a TE (TE covered).
Sure, there are a few formations on display. But they're all in the same series, or family. They are essentially the same formations with a few minor tweaks. The point, though, is that each formation can execute several different plays. So the point I was highlighting is that there aren't lots and lots of formations. There are lots and lots of plays from a single formation (or series of formations) which prevents the defense from keying on formations/personnel to take them to the football.
It's very similar to how the Patriots run their offense. It is very hard to key in on certain formations for tells or even certain players lined in certain spots in formations for tells on the play. They can line whatever player they want in whatever's position they want and any play from the ones we saw above can be ran. It's going to make it very tough on opposing defenses.
Soooooooo I'll be that guy.....
Does this mean we'll start deflating footballs now?
If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'
Compared to our offenses from recent years past...I HOPE this year feels like we're cheating.
Great write up French!
I have confidence that the ability to run so many plays from the same formation with the same personnel is what will get us back to being the successful offense that we saw in the naughts.
After reading this, I think new commit Pimpleton is going to be very fun to watch in the slot.
WAs thinking the exact same thing
Great write up French. It sounds like it might be little harder for the entire stadium to know what the next play is going to be. I love a challenge. Not to wish the summer away but I can't wait for some Hokie football.
In some ways Fuente is the anti-Lefty. Minimal amount of formations but tons of different plays and looks out of them.
This makes me extremely happy
Tons of players, but for large part, the players are repeating the same action time and again even on different plays. That equals muscle memory, which results in better execution, ESPECIALLY when playing at a fast tempo.
Reminds me of a Paul Johnson's offense in that way.
Even though it looks different, there are a ton of similarities. If the Hokies can add physical dominance to the equation, they will be tough to stop.
So long as they remember to catch the ball when it does come their way.
Easily the best line I've seen in a long time. Great work French! I'm so happy to finally have some film reviews!!! This is awesome stuff. Thanks for all you do. And Happy Birthday! (belated)
Thank you. I celebrated 38 by
A) eating butter chicken and cherry pie
B) telling a federal fisheries management representative that I wouldn't trust him if his tongue was notarized.
C) My dad had major shoulder surgery and got through it ok. I am glad that he is ok, and I may need the same surgery (rotator cuff/labrum tear and bone spurs) so this is a barometer for me.
Happy birthday! I'm glad your father is doing well. As someone who only had to deal with surgery for a torn labrum, it's not a fun process. Good luck on your surgery and recovery.
I tore my labrum (close to half of it all the way off the bone) this past fall and had surgery in December. Can vouch for how much it sucks but 'm already back to golf and non-contact sports.
Exactly, that's the nice thing about labral tears. You generally recover after 6 months. Keep up the PT and don't push it too much and you'll be fine.
French,
I believe you said you've moved to Richmond. I had both rotators done within 3 weeks of each other by an orthopedic friend, Vince Dalton, who did a fantastic job on both of mine. I was back at my job flying in 2.5 months. It's been over 10 years now and everything is great.
I can't recommend Vince enough. Also brought my mom up from NC and had him replace he 79 yo knees.
Great writeup French. Outside of QB, what position are you most anxious to see who wins the starting role? As in, what position will the success of our offense hinge on? I'd assume h-back with the needed versatility of blocking and receiving
HBack- if Memphis was an indicator, that HBack position really dictates how the offense is run. At Memphis, Alan Cross was their best lead blocker and possession receiver. If you found him, you had a pretty good idea that he would be involved in the play in some form or fashion.
Right now, Steven Peoples is in that spot. I still think we could see Peoples or Rogers getting work as the tailback in this formation, with McMillian or McClease in that slot back role for this personnel grouping.
Does Peoples have the hands to be a reliable receiver? I know he sure as hell can be a great lead blocker. I'd also love to see him get goal line tailback reps with a bigger body like Durkin in front blocking
I can't recall if I saw him make a catch. I have to assume, since he was getting most of the #1 reps, that is is proficient enough that Fuente trusts him in an every down role, and that involves being able to run quick stick routes against linebackers. It would tip the hand of the offense if he is rotating in a receiving Hback (Durkin or Cunningham) on passing plays.
Would that be covered in the drills we always saw on snapchat of the backs doing 1v1 against the LBs in the fall? Because he looked damn quick doing those
one thing that stood out to me was how accurate Paxton was on some of those throws. Yeah the screens look easy but he put it in the perfect place so the WR can continue to move and gain yards.
The go route (clip 22) shows massive arm strength and placement. Poor Liberty they're going to get shmacked
....not to be that guy, but assuming our QB's can be up to Paxton's ability then yes. Else we might be one dimensional :(.
alot of "not to be that guy" phrases around here.
Just say it we can take it, we put our big boy underroos on today!! Now have a good day!
via GIPHY
Actually, I am hoping Liberty is smacked without our offense showing too many of the formations. The less Tenn sees, the better.
I mean, theoretically, we could probably play the entire game against Liberty out of just one formation. That's what French is kinda saying here. I think.
Ok, let me say it a different way. I hope we are able to use the least number of plays out of that formation. No trickery, just simplify it.
STRAIGHT T FOR THE WIN. THAT'LL CONFUSE THEM VOLS!
Ha! You got my drift, french!
Let's literally do every single play from Lefty's playbook last year on Liberty. That'll totally fuck with UT.
I don't think we would allowed to run that many plays.
Small sample size, but one thing I really liked was seeing every player giving maximum effort. We desperately need to get back to this mentality.
It didn't warrant a full column, but that was the first thing that stands out. You can't execute this type of offense unless every skill position guy blocks and sells fakes with 100% effort. His guys at Memphis bought in. Creating buy-in to your philosophy and concepts is the most important job that produces wins on the football field.
I think the downfall of our offense over these past few lackluster years was due to lack of effort on plays when a guy wasn't directly involved and selling fakes. Between personnel groupings and formations telegraphing plays, and defenses not being fooled by poor acting, it's easy to see why our offense struggled.
See: Davis, Marcus*
*Not to single out one-guy, but man...he really epitomized our lackadaisical effort that lead to our fall to mediocrity.
He did, but it was a widespread thing. Maybe even part of the "culture." LT3 was awful at selling play action. Tailback after tailback didn't fool anyone on fakes. Too many wide receivers ran lazy routes when they knew the ball wasn't coming their way. It just wasn't good fundamental football. I hate to make such a wide generalization, but it's one of those things that have to be done 100% of the time with 100% effort. Fuente knows this. The players have to buy-in the put forth the effort.
Exactly. In retrospect, this may be my biggest peeve with having Lefty take over for Stiney as OC. Our "culture" offensively was not putting in the effort or paying the attention to detail needed, and I don't think Lefty was a great fix at all for those problems. Schematically, he tried to reinvent the wheel with formations, shifts, passing routes, etc. But it was the little things that still didn't get addressed - effort, blocking, selling play action, handoffs, fakes, lazy route running, etc. I don't care what offense you want to run; if you can't take care of those little things, your odds of being terribly successful are doomed from the get go. I'm excited to see a better focus on effort, detail, and player buy-in under the new staff.
We talk about how robotic and/or idiotic Saban, Urban, Les, Harbaugh can be, but besides having 3rd stringers that could start, this is what championship teams do well that win all of their games.
Maybe everyone thought Buds Defense would bail out the offense all the time. Then came the running quarterback.
That has a lot to do with the change in base defense and a lack of discipline by the defensive line. Virginia Tech used to shut down running quarterbacks, look at how Denard Robinson faired.
We usually do very well against an offense designed to have QB running plays but tended to fail to contain mobile quarterbacks when plays broke down
This is an unfair way to attack the defense. ANY defense (see Alabama last year) can only do so much after a play breaks down and a QB has bought extra time. Scheme has never been able to account for a Tyrod Taylor/Deshaun Watson scrambling. You can harp on the d line getting too far upfield, and that's more of an individual player issue sometimes, but also staying at home to defend the escape lanes doesn't always work (see crazy miracle scrambles) and it is more conservative and leads to less sacks.
Additionally, we have actually struggled with designed runs the last two years with QB counters in particular. Poor tackling and getting out of position have been the bane of these runs.
And now, with Fuente/Cornlesen, we will have an offense which can hurt you with a running game from the QB position. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Yeah you can't really attribute all the woes to broken plays. You're right that any talented QB can burn great defenses on broken plays.
The best way for the defense to limit the effectiveness of QB runs is better tackling and improved lane discipline. The strain on the defense is more than it has been in years past because of how much we run 4-2-5 now, removing a linebacker from the field.
I think we agree with each other more than it might seem. I agree our lane discipline as been frustrating the last few years, plus lots of man coverage makes the defense more susceptible to scrambles. It has been a function of several things, and as stated, I am more concerned with us fixing our troubles with QB counters/sweeps, which often effectively outnumber the defense at the point of attack, because those are staples of an offense. I would love to see us give up fewer scrambles for first downs/big gains, and that can be achieved with more zone and much better lane discipline/tackling. But overall, if we have a mildly effective offense, a team relying on QB scrambles isn't likely to beat us, our offense the last few years has just been so bad/unreliable that it has greatly increased the impact that running QB's can have on our team where we HAVE to stop the offense almost every drive to have any chance to win.
I hope our offense can put up some points and take some pressure off the defense. I think we could see significant improvement if they just go out there and play loose without having to worry about giving up a single point.
I could not agree with this more. Very few teams have a defense that has to carry the weight of winning or losing for the team every. single. defensive play. Our defense coming under scrutiny as much as it does is particularly frustrating to me, not because it is warranted, but because I can't think of any team in the country that relies on its defense to completely shut a team down as much as we do, week in and week out. They are held to an impossible standard by the fanbase. Other teams get to be aggressive and take chances that the last few years we just couldn't afford to take.
As a counter point to this, I also wonder if part of the defensive struggles have come from still being too aggressive when we knew our offense couldn't move the ball at all in some games. Many examples, but take the ECU game from 2014. Our corners were getting torched out there on islands with the jump balls because they had no safety help and Bud was sending the house to get to the QB. Our entire OL was getting eaten alive by that huge NT for ECU, and Brewer was getting crushed, so the offense did nothing until virtually a miraculous comeback towards the end. Shouldn't we have been a little more conservative on defense and went to a zone look on D, maybe make Carden have to go through a few more reads instead of quick passes to wide open guys?
The problem is, and we all know this: Bud Foster is at his absolute best when he can be aggressive and take chances, I don't think he subscribes to more conservative "bend but don't break" philosophies. Our D may shut down teams 90% of the time playing this way, but it opens up a TON more risk for big plays if not everyone is playing perfectly. Making issues worse has been some of our depth at critical spots in recent years, and the fact that the offense couldn't be counted on for even a first down some games.
If Fuente can get this offense going, I have no doubt it will bring out the best in Bud.
I have been wondering a bit over the last few seasons if Bud's natural tendencies were a bit amplified due to the bad offense. We know how he likes to call his defense and we all love the aggressive nature of it. With a struggling offense, I wonder if he was more willing to gamble on getting a sack or turnover to try to spark the offense/give good field position. An incomplete pass in zone coverage is nice, but a sack (or sack/fumble) would give the offense a short field and get some momentum going.
Very good point. It's just a shame that we almost had to depend on the defense creating sacks/fumbles or interceptions to give us good field position and spark the offense. As you said, gambling on getting turnovers or sacks is very high risk/high reward. Maybe with a more competent offense, Bud's calls wouldn't be so overly-aggressive in order to prevent big plays from the opposing team. As interested as I am in seeing Fuente's offense, I'm just as interested in seeing how that and the new tempo will affect the defense.
We do some very aggressive things and overall are an aggressive defense, but we were unable to play aggressively in zone coverage. That was specifically what I meant, I should have clarified.
They scored 7 points after the first quarter and it was at the end of the game after a kickoff out of bounds. The defense crushed ECUs short routes, ECU adjusted to the deep slants andgo routes, defense adjusted to stop it.
Damn, wish I'd said that.
Nice! Really enjoyed that for this AM. Thanks!
Loved that word wrinkle, well done!
Joe and I are thinking about taking these columns as a kick off to a more interactive Key Players Club Q and A. Thoughts?
I like that idea, do you guys have an idea of how that may be structured/what that will look like?
I could definitely get behind something like this!
Also, next column will talk more about specific ways Fuente makes gameplan adjustments that allowed Memphis to be successful despite often having less talent than opponents like Ole Miss and Wisconsin (vs TCU.)
can't wait!!!
....about that next column...any idea when we'll once again be graced with your genius?
dude. Pace yourself. The off season is a marathon, not a sprint.
close your eyes and imagine this.
jerrod evans/ brendan motley at qb
marshawn williams at tailback
trevon mcmillian in the slot
bucky hodges out wide
Isaiah ford on the wing.
now open your eyes, and rejoice.
Now, close them one more time and add Sam Rogers as the H-back. Open them to watch the dancing in the end zone!
Doesn't look like it'll be Williams, but I can definitely see McKenzie.
I believe this is the piece you spoke of at the spring game. Great article man.
so if I am reading this correctly, the irony here is that after 2 decades of complaining about screens and jet sweeps being the doldrums of VT offensive ineptitude, they are precisely what are going to deliver us the
crystal ballgolden vajayjaythanks French. excellent explanations here
hell, we could whip out the flying V from Mighty Ducks, and I'd be excited if it got us at least 10 yards every three downs.
The coaches in the stands are going to be fun this season.
Loeffler is a genius after all! As we suspected, setting the defenses up by repeating the same play was a multi-year plan.
Fuente knows the cracks in his offensive system and I would hope he would share the keys to doing so with Bud, to make us that much better to defend against the Clemsons and UNCs of the world.
Me after finally getting to see French's breakdowns:
Somewhat NSFW
Followed shortly by:
Thanks French!
Hope your Dad recuperates quickly! Happy birthday! Thanks for several usable phrases (scratch watch or wind head, not trusting someone even if their tongue was notarized) that are up there with some my grandfather would spout.
Geez, there is so much here I have to read it in segments.
Thanks, French.
Great write up as always!
Not trying to be picky here, but... The one thing I'd like to see more of in the film reviews is Fuente's offense owning the BYU coaching staff (if there is more of that).
Thanks for the good work French!
oh you mean how Bronco's boys sucker punched em and still lost?
It felt like Memphis ran 853 plays in that game. The low baseball field angle wasn't so hot though.
Great Write-Up French.
I noticed in the clips above, the TE was covered up in multiple plays. Was this common in Fuente's scheme while at Memphis? Did the TE have much of a role besides block?
Follow up question: If the TE was not a primary pass-catcher, do you think Fuente will alter that here at VT, or move the athletic TEs to the outside/H-back positions?
via GIPHY
I don't know why, but I loved that last play where the h-back faked the sweep and then cut inside for a nice catch with the LB in tow. I'd love to see some of that this year. You could easily see one of those going the distance, but i'll of course take that solid 10yds too. Awesome writeup!
So we're finally gonna have competent play calling that regularly keeps defenses reeling?!!?!
Hmmm. A football feast. Great article. Can't wait to dig into it more!
One thing I noticed, even with the defenses confused, the halfback still had to work for his yards (contact was made near the line), but they were all positive.
So if I'm hearing you correctly:
Well be running multiple plays from a single formation.
Each play has multiple reads.
Plus well be running a single player from multiple formations?
Good luck defense.
So what I am getting is that our ball carriers will be near top speed by the time the ball is handed off rather then the qb run back 5 yards to a waiting rb then see them take off.
Mind blown at the possibility of a ball carrier actually already moving when the ball is snapped!
/s
Thanks as always for the great write up. Cannot wait to attempt to regurgitate it to others in the stands while pouring myself a Beam and Coke
Excellent analysis - super helpful read during the offseason to get a sense of what we can expect to see. Excited to keep counting down the days to kickoff.
French - Was this formation the most commonly-used in the games you reviewed, or just one you randomly chose as an example of how many variations Fuente runs out of a single formation?
I wouldn't say it was the most used. It was the most used that was uniquely eye catching.
Something I'm curious about: in a lot of these clips, the TE is lined up tight on the line on the same side as the WR. You have to have 7 men on the line, and only the two on the end are eligible receivers. The offensive tackle on the other end wouldn't be eligible because of his number (50-79), and I saw the TE go out for a pass after initially faking a block (Clip 4). So how can he be eligible since he's not on the end of the line? And since the other tackle is ineligible, do you just sacrifice an eligible receiver in this formation? Eligible receiver rules are weird, and was wondering if this could open up some trick plays like the Patriots have done.
the only clips I saw that you might be referring to with the TE lined up on the same side as the X WR are Clip 7 and Clip 5. To me, in Clip 5, it looks like the TE is not covered up because he is far enough off the line of scrimmage (lined up almost as an H-Back) and in Clip 7 he is clearly run blocking so he doesn't need to be eligible. What am I missing?
Edit: It also looks like the TE is covered up in clips 13 and 14 but he blocks down in both and is clearly not part of the passing game.
Sorry, I was referring to the clips as listed in sequence not their actual title. I am actually referring to clip 7. It looks like he holds a block for a second or so and then runs downfield looking back for a pass. I was just curious because the two players on the end of the line of scrimmage are always eligible, except the player on the right side here is an ineligible tackle. So is the TE eligible or do you just lose an eligible receiver in this formation?
I see what you're seeing. I think this play is a run all the way and I don't think the TE is looking for a pass. I think he knows the run is to the right and after his initial responsibility is fulfilled he flows to the right to maybe pick up a block to help his RB get more yardage.
Yeah I agree after watching again. Was just curious since the right tackle was ineligible in this play. If the TE moved over beside the RT he would be eligible, or if that RT changed his jersey to an eligible number, we could get into all sorts of tomfoolery with trick plays. But yeah, I think this play was designed as a run all the way.
you may have a point about the TE being on one side vs the other though. I think it is possible they put him over there intentionally as a decoy in combination with the jet sweep action. It could get the defense flowing to the wrong side of the field and open up some space for the RB to take it around the right side. Especially since it's a counter play. They have extra blockers and the motion man all on the play side so Fuente uses both formation and motion to influence the defense one way. The RB even takes a counter step before cutting back to the right. I think they wanted the defense to recognize it was a run and they fooled them into believing it was going to the play side. The play worked out well for the Tigers in the end!
French: Did you watch any of the USF game? I saw a play in that game run out of the I-Gun where the slot motion guy looped behind the QB and took a pitch and turned the corner up field for a nice gain. There was a hold on the play that wasn't called but otherwise looked pretty spiffy. I'd post it here but i'm not internet savvy enough.
They do run a quick pitch and a student body to the strength QB run/pass option.
the real litmus test of this offense will be how well they can execute the annexation of puerto rico.
This was definitely an interesting article. Enjoyed learning some about the new offense.
French, can you clarify something for me?
this line kind of confused me. I always thought the play side was the side that had more players offensively. So, if the H-Back and RB are aligned in an I to the Quarterback's right, then the play side would be to the right. If the motion is coming from the slot, who is opposite the RBs, then wouldn't the play side WR be on the same side that the motion is headed, and not away from it? Please help me understand where I went wrong.
Thank you!
X**************LT LG C RG RT Y
*********Z******************H
*******************************************
**********************QB
****************************RB
So I was envisioning something like this, where the slot can motion towards the strength of the formation, and Bucky is lined up as the X receiver.
See, based on that, I would consider the right side of the formation to be the play side since it has the TE (Y), the H-back and the RB all right of center whereas the left side of the formation only has the X and Z receivers. So, in my mind, the X would NOT be the play side receiver (although, admittedly, I'm not sure how I would classify him in that lexicon. Weak side receiver?)
so I'm still confused. I get the concept of Hodges being aligned as the X and the Slot going away from him but I'm confused why that is considered the play side.
Strong side vs play side
Play side us where the ball is going
Strength is determined by formation i.e. Number of bodies
that makes sense to me, I guess. In that case, any WR who catches the ball is on the play side? Thanks for breaking it down to terms I can understand...haha
No problem. Depends on where the WR catches the ball relative to where they line up.
so if it's a drag route then the WR catching the ball may not be considered the 'play side' WR if he catches the ball after crossing in front of the center? (am I doing this right?)
Do most of the plays feature some sort of formation where multiple
people can get the ball?
Are there old fashioned, straightforward formations?
Does this mean we no longer get to use the Prairie Dog Offense?
We can run every play in Loeffler and Stinespring's playbook as long as we don't do THIS!
Which I'm pretty sure Fuente's approach is the opposite of this. As in, this will never happen again. We don't adjust to the defense, the defense adjusts to US!
We do adjust to the defense, but we don't change the formation or the play in most cases. That's the key difference.
I believe from this in depth analysis that Fuente can change the play without moving a bunch of other players around, which Loeffler had the whole team move around.
yep
Yeah, that last part is my interpretation of a new offensive attitude and philosophy and was meant to be more tongue in cheek or boastful rather than literal. But text doesn't convey tone, so what I was trying to communicate didn't come across.
Didn't see a better place to put this, but SI.com's Zac Ellis thinks Fuente is one of a handful of first-year coaches who are in a position to win immediately:
so...just curious...any idea when our next film review comes out? I'm really looking forward to "Keybreaking the Defense"
VPIhokieME as a kid:
haha..funny.
in fairness to me, though, "Keybreaking the Defense" was promised to us after the spring game....we still haven't been graced with it. I would much rather spend the off-season discussing French's breakdown of Fuente's offense than morality......but we just don't have much to go off of right now. So...MORALITY it is!!
1st clip. Can't help but see the defense over pursuing the jet sweep action, and the quick slant on the back side to the X with one high safety who can't help. My favorite wrinkle when teams are flying up to stop run and jet sweep motion.
another advantage to our new offensive system is that we won't have time to go into the kitchen to get a beverage while the offense comes up to the line, looks to the sidelines, goes through a variety of pre-snap motions, finally gets set, then gets 2-3 yards on a vanilla run( I guess we'll get to see that kind of offense when we play BC, though)
I'm all for the uptempo offense, keep the defense on its heels