The Hokies escaped Duke with a 24-21 win on Saturday; a victory that at best can be described as inconsistent. Duke's offensive attack kept the Hokies' defense off-balance. In addition, Virginia Tech's offense struggled when the Blue Devils took away the quick slants and deep fades that have been staples of Tech's offense when it's effective.
Analyzing the Hokies' Ground Attack
Justin Fuente's offensive staff tried to establish the run with mixed results to keep Duke's linebackers from dropping underneath quick slants. On the opening drive of the game, the Hokies kept it simple with repeated inside zones. As exemplified on this play, the simple equation of the Hokies superior mass up front, coupled with a strong turnout block by Chris Cunningham, and hard running by Steven Peoples produced solid gains again and again.
The wheels came off when the Hokies attempted to complement the inside zone game with outside zone and counter action. Duke used a variety of run stunts to create movement up front. Those stunts seemed to confuse the blocking scheme, and on too many running plays bust were evident. Outside of Peoples and Cunningham, the skill position blockers struggled mightily to execute their blocks on the edge.
This following play was emblematic of the Hokies' inconsistency blocking. They run a pin-and-pull outside zone to the right side. Peoples (aligned as the H-Back to the boundary) pancakes DE Marquies Price (No. 91). Wyatt Teller pulls and leads up to cut down all world Duke linebacker Ben Humphreys (No. 34).
Meanwhile, Bucky Hodges was assigned to seal LB Joe Giles-Harris (No. 44). Hodges doesn't drive into Giles-Harris, which allows Giles-Harris to slide off the block with ease and get to the edge. Augie Conte is the lead pulling guard on the play and he looks like a million bucks coming around the edge. When he reaches Giles-Harris, Conte bounces off of him ineffectively. On the inside, Eric Gallo has to block down on DT Mike Ramsey (No. 99). Gallo has what should be an easy block. Gallo is aligned between Ramsey and the football. Gallo should have his head across Ramsey's left side to interject himself into Ramsey's pursuit angle. Instead, Gallo puts his head on Ramsey's right side with a very passive (almost like a pass block) posture. Ramsey slides off Gallo's block and tracks down Sam Rogers from behind. Two great blocks, coupled with three bad ones produce a loss of yardage and a third-and-long.
Similar blocking errors even happened on positive plays. On Travon McMillian's touchdown run, Duke blitzed field-side strike safety Corbin McCarthy (No. 26) off the Hokies' left flank. Humphreys then blitzed around the edge to the same side, and Duke's d-line slanted hard to the boundary. The Hokies ran an inside zone.
Sam Rogers reads the blitz and cuts off McCarthy. The rest of the offensive line zones to the right, except for Teller. He sees Humphreys vacate the B-gap where normally he and Teller would collide. Instead of continuing inside to find the other inside linebacker, Teller turns and helps Nijman kick out DE Terrell Lucas (No. 90). Unfortunately, Giles-Harris is also stunting and slides right over into Humphreys' B-gap. McMillian hits the hole and Giles-Harris is right there ready to stick him. McMillian runs right through his tackle for a touchdown. This was the most assertive run of McMillian's season and I thought the announcers (and many fans) didn't play up his individual effort as much as it should have been.
This familiar pattern continued for most of the game. The Hokies would hit a couple of plays, and then get a loss due to a bust in the run game to get behind the sticks. Ultimately, they couldn't sustain enough drives. Most of the busts came on counters and outside runs. When the Hokies got the football back with 4:06 left on the clock, I expected offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen to stick with the inside zone series. Instead, he called a series counter-treys off the inside zone action and the Hokies' blockers delivered the holes needed to drain the clock.
On first down Virginia Tech lined up with Rogers to the left at H-Back and McMillian back and to the right of Jerod Evans. Based on alignment and tendency, this formation indicates an inside zone to the field-side. The right side of the offensive line sells the inside zone by taking a step at the snap to its left. Duke's defensive line slants the same direction.
Teller pulls to the right. DE Marquies Price (No. 91) is crashing hard to the inside, so Teller gets on his outside shoulder and then rides him to the inside. This takes tremendous athleticism and is a highlight reel block for guard play. Rogers pulls around and drives Giles-Harris out of the hole. McMillian plants his right foot and explodes past rover Alonzo Saxton II (No. 21) for a 21-yard gain. Note, Conte does a terrific job chipping the DT before heading to the second-level to smother Humphreys. Successful execution of the counter trey was crucial to the Hokies keeping Duke's defense off balance on the game's final series.
That Battle of Wits Between Bud Foster and David Cutcliffe
The cat and mouse game between David Cutcliffe and Bud Foster always makes for an interesting chess match. Perhaps more than any other staff in the ACC Coastal, Cutcliffe and co. seem to have a better grasp of the Hokie front-seven's defensive keys. From this knowledge base, the Duke staff designs blocking schemes that manipulates the Hokies' defensive front into slanting in ways that become advantageous for the offense.
In 2014, Foster adjusted mid-game by having his defensive line penetrate north-south rather than slanting. As result, the defense (which was gashed for 121 rushing yards in the first quarter) shut down Duke the rest of the way for a 17-16 upset.
Again on Saturday, the undermanned Blue Devils and their blocking scheme seemed to have the Hokies' front-seven running away from the football all game long. On this play, the Blue Devils run an inside zone read. Duke' offensive line zones to its right.
The defensive front and linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka key the first step of Duke's offensive line. When the offensive line steps to the right, Motuapuaka and the front move in the same direction. Ken Ekanem crashes hard to the inside to spill the play. Unfortunately, Motuapuaka is scraping the wrong direction and Chuck Clark is too deep to give immediate support.
After the mesh, RB Shaun Wilson (No. 29) immediately, subtly adjusts his path and QB Daniel Jones (No. 17) has the luxury of a lead blocker. This creates the same situation the Hokies struggled with against Duke last season — Tech is outnumbered at the point of attack and one defender has to account for a blocker and a runner.
Jones also had success keeping the ball on the inside zone read. On this play, Seth Dooley crashed on the dive, and both linebackers scraped away from the dive and the keeper.
The crash combined with the linebackers scraping away left Jones with an easy read to keep. Terrell Edmunds is all that remains to defend Jones in space. On this play, Edmunds' alignment near the line of scrimmage minimizes the damage. Unfortunately, most of the game Edmunds was aligned in a deep center field position while Duke featured trips regularly to Chuck Clark's side.
Virginia Tech's Defensive Ends Didn't Have a Good Day at the Office
It didn't help matters that collectively the Hokies' defensive ends played poorly. Foster expressed his frustration with their performance.
"Our ends were bending and working on the dive and we wanted them to take the quarterback," Foster said. "It's just fundamental football, it goes back to day one. We had a call one time, we were gonna blitz, they changed the call and shifted it back and the end didn't get the call. We went back to base defense. He should have been playing the quarterback and he bent for the dive. Those are things that, mistakes that we can't make. It didn't cost us (today). Those are communications that we've gotta do a better job as a group to make sure we've got 11 players on the same page."
Former Hokie defensive end Jeremy Haynes expressed his frustration and showcased one example of how the defensive ends were not executing the scheme properly.
To those of you at home that agree with the announcer..Simple 5man blitz. The DE needs to take the B gap and Woody does his job by taking A pic.twitter.com/zPH3oLsNEL— Jeremy Haynes (@JeremyHaynes23) November 5, 2016
On this play, both defensive tackles align in the B-gaps and the linebackers align even wider. This makes it look like a giant bubble is open between the guards. At the snap, Woody Baron crashes across the face of the guard into the A-gap. Tremaine Edmunds stunts bends out and shoots the C-gap. The problem is that defensive end Seth Dooley is supposed to crash through the B-gap and instead he maintains outside leverage in the C-gap. Instead of creating a wall that occupies all three gaps, a huge bubble opens up between Dooley and Baron. The announcer wrongly blames Baron. This is on Dooley for not executing the crash.
Seth Dooley was far from the only culprit. A banged up Vinny Mihota labored to keep contain on bootlegs. Trevon Hill was set up to make some plays against the dive by crashing hard, only to miss the tackle.
This time around, the Hokies have the quarterback well defended. Motuapuaka fills the gap outside of Hill. Anthony Shegog comes up to force the quarterback keep inside. Hill crashes on the dive. Jones gives the ball to Wilson on the dive, and he runs right through Hill's arm tackle for 15 yards.
Virginia Tech's most heralded defensive linemen, Ken Ekanem, also struggled against Duke's read option attack (a trend throughout his career). On Duke's first touchdown drive Ekanem lost contain twice, and on the final touchdown, it appears that Ekanem may have also busted an assignment.
Duke runs a basic inverted veer. The right tackle blocks down on Tremaine Edmunds and the right guard blocks down on Woody Baron. Ekanem isn't really kicked out as much as he maintains outside leverage against the pulling left guard like he expects someone to fit the hole inside. Essentially, both he and Motuapuaka cover the same gap, leaving the inside gap open.
There is room for improvement across the board here. On of either Ekanem or Motuapuaka missed their assignment when they fitted in the wrong gap. When Baron feels the down block, he goes up field instead of giving ground and crossing the face of the guard (a problem that Luther Maddy had last year fighting through down blocks). Also, Edmunds gets completely eaten up by the right tackle.
With the struggles against the read option, the last team the Hokies' defense would want to see on the schedule is Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets force defenses to play assignment football. The Bees put tremendous pressure on defensive ends to make tackles on dives or slow play the quarterback depending on the defensive calls. Busted assignments against an option offense like Georgia Tech is a recipe for disaster.
That being said, at critical moments Virginia Tech's defense was able to elevate their level of play. Early in the third quarter, the Blue Devils drove to the Hokies' 20-yard line and had a fresh set of downs. Ricky Walker and Woody Baron delivered sacks on two of the next three plays to drive Duke out of field goal range. After Terrell Edmunds was ejected for targeting on Duke's final possession, Tremaine Edmunds sacked Jones after Ricky Walker blew up Duke's center to disrupt the play. On third-and-seven from the same series, Mook Reynolds leveled Jones on a well-disguised nickel blitz to disrupt the rhythm on a fade route. Shegog from his bandit spot had beautiful coverage on the Duke receiver.
The Hokies will be without Terrell Edmunds for a half and corner Greg Stroman's status is unknown. Defensive linemen Nigel Williams, Vinny Mihota, and Trevon Hill are battling injuries. The Hokies will have to grow up in a hurry and play much sharper to shut down Georgia Tech.
Comments
Defensive line had a rough outing. Hopefully this will allow them to be extra focused and prepared to not make the same mistake this week against GT. I don't want to get into a shootout with GT, hopefully the offense recovers as well from their drive stalling plays and red zone issues. .
Yeah, no joke. It was repeated missed assignment after missed assignment. Sucks that it took Edmunds getting ejected for them to pin their ears back and start dominating. Thanks French. I expect them to do better since it's a home game REGARDLESS of the absences.
It doesn't help that half of them are playing with one arm.
For DL- yes.
You have noticed but it seems to be that the fact that two of our defensive ends can't use both arms is being overlooked by many articles citing our decline in defensive production. It was clear that even with Dadi's club last year he couldn't wrap up and bring down ECU's QB. This year against ECU no such problems. I'm assuming there is nearly no defensive technique where merely "getting in the way" is adequate with respect to the d-line. My guess is that with GT and their cut blocking having two arms is important. Even if you can push the offensive lineman down with one arm you are now left with what amounts to an open field situation when confronting the ball carrier.
Nice write up, I've been worried about the same thing against Georgia tech . I saw our ends loose contain a lot this last game. It's time for our guys to step up on defense this week . It seems like Fuente might have a little input this week on defense .
What's this about loose ends?
Cavanaugh's new recruiting strategy since turning tight ends into OL was hit-or-miss.
Fantastic write-up French! I always learn a little more reading your posts and I be like:
Not sure why but this person reminds me of one of those fish on Spongebob
This fish?
Hey French, or other smart people, what are we missing to make the run game work? Is it scheme, personnel, or just better execution?
I will be frank. I had concerns about Vance Vice as a coach based on fundamentals I saw repeatedly. It seems that the technique he teaches is a very passive, very vertical blocking technique where he wants the OL to stay square and block with the hands. Unfortunately, the scheme requires good scoop blocking on the backside of plays, and that technique does not work. Your OL, even zoning, has to get your head on the proper side and then extend and keep your feet moving. I see way too much inconsistency with following blocking rules, dead feet, and awful pad level to be pleased. Even Teller, who has by far the most knockdown blocks this season and has the best feet and leg drive of the group, is trying to scoop and then benchpress guys on down blocks and backside scoops and as result, he isn't getting nearly the movement that I saw from him two seasons ago.
The outside zone, or as it was called in my day, the power sweep, is a textbook example. Gallo has an angle to cut off 99. Even if he gets outpowered and outquicked, if his head is on the right side, he completely cuts off that angle. There is no reason he shouldn't... if the DT goes left LET HIM GO-he takes himself out of the play. Any time you pin and pull, it should be a rule block, not a man block. Those rules involve angles and leverage, and it is a very simple play to get your head outside on the sweep if the guy is lined up away from the path of the play. That just isn't very good.
The skill guys have got to get it together. Hodges blocked poorly for a large part of the game. Ford repeatedly failed to cut off the corners crashing in from the boundary to support the run. For all the good elements Rogers brings, blocking isn't one of them (until the 4th quarter, where he has delivered some key blocks two games in a row.)
Cunningham didn't get many snaps, but his blocking was better. And Steven Peoples was really really good. If he keeps that up, he needs more snaps.
This is exactly what I needed to know. Thank you French.
Unfortunately, my eye has been trained on Gallo. Now, every play that doesn't go well, I see him behind the LOS. I know we've had snapping problems...and it was a bit of a surprise that Chung was the guy to come in for Conte at OG in the 2nd half....but maybe Chung can give us more than Gallo at Center?
possibly, although I hedge my bets when it comes to him against a big 1 tech. Snapping though... gotta get the play started.
Conte had some good blocks at the end. Big Jon has struggled the last two weeks. There is a ton of work still to do up front, BUT, when the scheme zoned, they moved the ball on Duke.
Camera angles cause a big problem, but Duke was bailing on the run with their LBs quick, especially the OLB to the field side. They were bracketing the slot and taking away the quick slant off the run fake, and the corner on Ford did a great job against him. That really messed up Evans. As we have seen, when teams can stop the run and still play coverage, Evans isn't a guy who will go to a second read and beat them.
Evans mechanics were all out of whack this game. Some speculated he was having trouble setting his feet because of the injury, but he ran fine. He threw some balls, from the pocket, where his feet were perpendicular to the throw. WTH, bro.
And we're still lacking big play ability on offense, too dependent on 8+ play drives to score TD's. I only remember two deep balls Evans missed, one off Ford's helmet (nice play call and protection) and one to Rogers slipping behind the LB's on PA. I guess the called back TD to Ford was also a big play (good call on that penalty, bad call on the RPO lineman penalty earlier in the game (negated a nice catch by Phillips) that we almost missed due to bad ESPNU production). Maybe there were other big plays that Evans checked out of to run, it can be tough to determine which of his runs are scrambles and which are draws.
Interesting, I thought blocking was one of Sam's better abilities. His best is probably his catching.
His blocking has been below average compared to the average HBacks around the P5. I wish they could get Sam's skill and mix it with the blocking ability of a Jarrett Ferguson, Doug Easlick, or Cullen Hawkins.
Have you had any more time to assess the role of the tight splits of the offensive line in regards to blocking issues on the interior? I remember you referencing this as a possibility that Fuente doesn't place a great deal of importance, nor intend/rely on gaining chunk plays through the interior consistently. Paying attention to this the last few games, it seems we fall prey to a lot of self-disruption from our linemen on short yardage plays. Could just be getting beat off the ball, but was curious if you have refined that thought at all.
It has been a crazy couple of weeks. I think it has a role, but when teams overplays screens/sweeps/quick slants off PA, that inside stuff opens up. The problem this past week is you can't run IZR every play, especially when the QB never keeps off the IZR.
EDITORIAL COMMENT- if the Hokies ever run a inside zone read keying the backside DE and Evans decides to keep, he will still be running. It seemed like a handoff every time, regardless of what the announcers say. Note, the type of run where Evans has been going between the tackles is an inverted veer, not an inside zone read. The run where Evans has pulled and ran outside with the HBack leading him is a QB run all the way (no read, you can tell by Rogers avoiding blocking the DE) and I would call it an inside dive read option- QB and the RB are going to the same side, not opposite sides like on an IZR.
Is there any reading besides the RPO's?
SPECULATION ALERT- On occasion, but there are a ton more plays that LOOK like their is a read to freeze backside pursuit than there are true reads. One of the challenges now is the backside DE is crashing hard on all runs. Almost all of Evans runs come going the same direction as the RB, not away from the RB like on an IZR. If the DE won't freeze on the fake, then you either need to start blocking him or you need to make them respect the possibility of a run busting outside of them.
Not trying to be negative about the tons of knowledge you throw down each week, but it seems like 2 of the 3 G-C-G combo aren't as aggressive as they need to be, and one is pulling back, maybe not to get a penalty. I saw too much getting pushed back, no feet moving and blocking air which annoys the heck out of me. I know the other team has athletes and has a say in whether a play works or not. Seeing the same guys running around and not hitting anyone or getting run over is an issue that has happened for a while. I won't blame it all on Vice, since they are learning yet another scheme, but can they at least hit someone legally?
Honestly, I think with the exception of the pulling guards, this is a taught technique. Outside of the guards pulling more often, Memphis OL used the same techniques (and was probably even worse in pass protection.)
Excellent French. Assignments and contain will be key this weekend. I have no doubt in my mind that Foster and Co will have them prepared, the players however need to go out and execute.
Generally, Foster's strategy has been to crash the DL (everyone slants to inside gap) and then keep the mike clean to be the sideline to sideline support. Then they will mix it up by slow playing with the end instead of crashing, with the hope to mess up the timing of the option and force a fumble.
Just once, I would love to see us 'pick off' the pitch and return for a touchdown, because our assignments were executed flawlessly. I've always envisioned us doing that to GT - Lane would go nuts.
My guess (not being a football guru at all) is that the QB is specifically taught not pitch the ball if there is a chance of the D intercepting the pitch. Better to keep the ball and take the loss/no gain than pitch the other team a TD. So it would have to be a BIG mistake on the QB's end to allow for that to happen. (Again though, just my guess as to why we've never really seen that, at least in my recent memory.)
If I remember correctly, Cornell Brown "intercepted" a pitch in the late 90s at Lane, I think against WVU.
Unmatched writeup as usual
Hey French,
Have we seen everything the offense can offer? Or are we still in that year-one learning process? I remember awhile ago, there was a lot of talk about "opening up the playbook" and was wondering if we are seeing the full product already.
No. There is still a bunch of "feeling out" happening. I think the backs are just starting to grasp where the bubbles are forming up front. We saw how Duke's experienced backs looked much more fluid bending to the holes. We haven't seen the quick curl ups and nearly as many screens as I expected this season. While the trio of receivers are a huge match up nightmare for offenses, Ford is really the only true fit for this system and his blocking hasn't been great. Phillips has ran the ball hard, but to me is more of a split end who is really good on slower developing dig routes (I do miss those 15 yard square in's.) I think the lack of depth shows itself in the lack of blocking. That is why guys like Carroll and this week Murphy get a little run.
Do you think Evans will grow into being able to get to a second read later this year or next, or is that just not a part of this offense? Also, I thought Duke was his worst game when it came to feeling the pocket - missing holes when pulling it down, and moving too late or into a sack when pressured. Was that the case, or was it something Duke or our line did differently?
I figured everyone else had noticed this, he looked very non-committal and tentative on some of his scramble attempts. Was a stark contrast to how effortlessly guys like Vick and Tyrod make escaping pressure look, however, those are also elite tier examples of escaping pressure and scrambling.
The tackling by our D was offensive. Lots and lots of arm tacking to no effect. And then BOOM - targeting.
the only benefit of the doubt I will give the officials is Edmunds didn't even try to wrap his arms. That was happening a bunch, and it cost VT 15 there, and lots more on broken tackles. Tackling was bad, and given that Duke was spreading guys out and making it hard to see any gang tackling, it put even more pressure on one on one good form tackling. It didn't happen often enough.
Like I said, thank goodness for those two sacks in the 3rd Q and the first down sack on the last Duke drive (cough Ricky Walker cough) or we would be much more somber today.
As frustrating as the targeting calls on bang bang plays like that in traffic are, this is why I knew for sure it would be targeting. He shot in like a body missile instead attempting to break down and tackle. I think more incidental h2h contact is allowed when the tackler is attempting to make a proper tackle. The other issue would have been keeping his head up, which is not only proper tackling form and better for him to avoid injury, but also if the facemask contact his helmet, no call.
The Duke running back was using his 5'6" frame and quickness to get under tackles and carry the tacklers, usually Edmunds, for an extra 3-4 yards on every tackle. He shot in about 3 feet off the ground, where typically you do not have to worry about someone's helmet being. Should he have wrapped up - yes, was it a penalty by the rules - yes, but try to get your head under a 3 foot tall fence at full speed with your head up. There should be an exception to the rule for hitting running backs in space who lower their heads and lead with the crown expecting contact. The Duke back appeared to me upon re-watching to try to duck under Edmunds contact by lowering his head and shoulders, as had been working for him all game, but in this case it was into the contact.
They only credited Ricky with 2 tackles, 1 sack seems like he was more active than that.
Paul Johnson has this defense right where he wants it right now.
However, we do have a Tremaine Edmunds and a Mook Reynolds. That pitch ain't gonna work this Saturday. Moto and Woody are going to have to have monster days though. Also, hopefully Nigel Williams was just resting during the Duke game.
I think Mook has been suffering a bit of a slump after a great start to the year.
Seems to be the classic "head tying up his feet", and we aren't seeing him be quite as disruptive as earlier.
There was one play that I broke down that didn't make the cut where Mook came on a nickel blitz (3rd and very short) and instead of coming flat down the line, he took an angle right to the QB/RB mesh point. He was unblocked, but a bit too far up field to hit the back squarely from the side. He got an arm on him, but that little stout back just rumbled ahead and got by the marker. His coverage was better this week.
It doesn't seem to matter who Duke puts at tailback, they will get forward yardage, press the holes correctly and you won't even remember their names. They all seem to wear forgettable numbers too, a #38 and a #23, killing you. It's the evil genius of Coach Cut, killing you ambiguously.
Agreed about Mook but folks must consider the D has faced it top 3 opponents of the year the last few games. BC, Liberty, NC in a storm doesn't match Pitt, Miami, Duke.
It does seem he's lost some of the swagger/confidence he had. It looks to have started in the TN game where he was burned (on occasion), then started playing deep to CYA.
If the D-line gets penetration, it allows the DB's to be more agressive. Only time will tell our effectiveness against GT.
Seem like we are seeing less and less of Mr. Tim Settle. This simply due to that injury he accrued?
Not sure. He played back to back series in the second Q and was a destroyer of worlds. I would have liked to see both him and Sobczak get more reps- not because Walker and Baron didn't play well, but because you want to keep them fresh and Settle-Sobczak is a good pairing.
Must be not trusing assignments.Bud uses a lot of stunts etc.gap assignment very important vs read option and triple option next week..Good rotation definitely needed GT
Well, in regards to the rotation, I know now that Bud's not the one deciding it in-game. During the post-game presser, someone asked about it and he didn't know who was in, just what call he was going to run in that situation.
I know protecting him from inguries is a must, but it would be sweet to see him on some short yardage goal line offensive plays (like Pitt did on us). Settle has good hands to catch the ball, too. If he ran it, what DB would want to get in his way. from Just dreamin' !!
I don't believe Big Tim has been injured at least he has never been on a report or mentioned to hae been.I know he hyper extended his knee in a game but didn't miss any time.
French, what did you think of Peoples two brief chances running the ball? Looks a lot more downhill than Sam
I don't think it is a big enough sample size, and the style of plays are different. Sam got the ball on a sweep in the film clip and later on some counter-treys. Peoples got the ball on an inside zone where he was plowing into the LOS. That is more a product of play design than ability of the ball carrier.
That said, Peoples looked good, and the folks in SWVA know what kind of runner he can be if he gets the ball in his hands. His blocking, which is the best apples to apples comparison, was far better than Rogers.
I usually keep an eye on Bucky when I can. It is a shame he does not just drive through the defender when needed. The dude is a beast. I have noticed that he quits early on plays also. I doubt this would be missed on vid by the scouts.
I hesitate to say "quits on plays" because it is hard to tell. If you make a mistake, your body has a tendency to freeze and it doesn't look great on film.
Is he aggressive enough and does he use his big frame to his advantage? I think that is clearly "No." But, quitting on a play is a bit much. He needs to fire off the ball with a good angle and drive the guy. NOBODY with the exception of Teller and Peoples were driving much of anyone on Saturday.
Driving- weight on your toes, quick feet, leg drive.
Hokies- passive, weight back, almost like pass blocking even on run plays WAY TOO OFTEN
Great point... I feel the same frustration.
It would be good to see them drive through opponents regularlty, even when not a main focus area of the play. If they stick driving blocks all the time, the D will be beatened down for other plays in their area. Play hard 100% of the time (or close to it), rest after the game.
In your opinion, when is the last time you would say our O-Line coach had his group consistently blocking well? IIRC, Searels O-Lines got Brewer killed. I remember everyone being excited about Grimes, but don't remember if his O-Line was great. We can skip Newsome. Was it when Stiney was working on the O-Line?
I thought the line group was the most fundamentally sound under Grimes. Talent has improved since. I don't think technique has, although I qualify that by saying in general the OL techniques taught in college football now don't sit too well with me. As Navy is demonstrating, old school low man wins and proper blocking angles will still beat damn good athletes. You don't have to run a wishbone to have good fundamentals.
I have recently spoken with an NFL offensive lineman who was at a college program that has put some quality OL into the league (and he was an All-American in college) and he said that he felt like he didn't know ANYTHING when camp started his first year.
He said that the curve to learning how to block in the NFL was steeper than his step from any level to the next. He was disappointed in how little he actually learned about blocking while in college... also said this was the thought process of most of his colleagues who play OL.
Isn't that always the case, in every sport? Every other level you're getting better coaching and spending a little more time than the previous level, but the step from student-athlete-with-limits-on-practice-time to full-time professional is a quantum leap.
Fun fact you can brag to your friends about- Duke used the exact same blitz on both the McMillian and Evans TD runs.
This doesn't exactly instill confidence when getting ready to face GT's O.
Raise your hand if you, as an OL, had to go through "chutes." If we had done that drill with the pad level I see daily in current P5 football, the concussion problem would be exponentially worse.
#HItYourHeadGoBackAgain
You could always tell who didn't get low enough via the rust colored racin stripe left on the front of their helmet
Only problem I see with that is the DT play isn't real. They aren't allowed to try and pressure the OL backwards.
Chutes were the reason why I was 150 lbs TE/SE in high school and able sustain a block on a 220lb+ defensive end - staying low and putting the shoulder into the DE's thigh/low hip. No rust stripe for me.
My high school coach bought some my junior year and, playing TE, I definitely noticed a big difference in our blocking that year. Knock your head against the post a few times and you'll learn to stay low on your blocks.
Triggered. Recalls me to the dreadful years I was pegged as a TE because I was too slow to play receiver, so instead I was consistently getting blown up by people 30-40 pounds heavier. A defensive back like me had no business being in there, but it sure did help to teach leverage.
The board drill also solved for high pads. For those non-oline, picture two guys standing over a piece of plywood trying to push each other to the opposite end. Better get lower than other guy quick.
And yes if you're confused by my screen name, I swan varsity at VT but swam and played football in HS. Oline and LB, nonetheless.
No freakin way! I thought I was the only one on this site that swan varsity!
Did anyone else watch the Raiders using the 6OL look, with a OL instead of a TE as the motion HBack. That got me a little fired up.
Great article. I never played so I definitely have a disadvantage in analyzing film. Have you noticed that some of the skill players are not getting enough leverage or even the right leverage (outside vs inside) on a lot of their blocks? It seems far too often when they should be pushing someone to the outside they end up pushing on the opposite shoulder and rotating the defender inside and directly into the runner's path.
Today's game is too fast for the play design to just expect the blocker to move a defender to a spot every play. Most of those blocking concepts are called "option stalks" and much like zone blocking, the skill blocker takes the defender where they want to go and the back cuts off of it. There are exceptions (for example, a crack block HAS to seal a defender inside, so most often it is a blindside block that the defender isn't anticipating.)
I think our guys are just a bit too passive. It doesn't sell a passing threat (which allows the defender to commit early. If you are standing still, and the other guy has five yards to run, it is much easier for the defender to take an angle and have momentum that you as the blocker can't stop when you are static. Close the distance and put them on their heels. That comes with experience, timing, confidence, and fresh legs. I don't think our WRs have fresh legs playing at the tempo they used often early in the year without other guys stepping up and getting them a wind.
I know as an OL, it was MUCH easier to win in pass pro when A) the defender wasn't 100% sure it was a pass 2) when my hands touched his pads before his touched mine 3) when I didn't overset and give him two or three steps of momentum before making contact. Pop them quick, take away their burst, and then be athletic enough to retreat. My problem is that I wasn't a good enough athlete to retreat and reengage well.
This is why I paid $84 to be the Pi(e) member of TKP Club. I never got to play the game but reading your posts French makes me feel like a genius around other friends and family who enjoy the game. I learn a ton every time and I just wanted to say thank you.
Everybody, pony up the dough to keep these guys around.
What do you mean by this exactly? Watching it, I thought he made a fantastic play and nearly got the tackle. Are you saying he should have stayed engaged and plugged the hole even if it meant getting pushed into the second level?
It is all about angles. Going up field and around the blocker is the high risk play and often doesn't work. Once you fit, Wiles and Foster always talk about "then go play football." That means, once Baron hits that gap and feels pressure on his left/outside shoulder, he needs to plant his right foot and wash back to his left. The bust isn't his fault- he executed his assignment. But, by getting up field it made the hole wider and removed one more player as a potential tackler.
Got it, that makes a lot of sense. And of course, thanks for all the great analysis and q&a.
Definition time "Cross Key."
DL keys the OL first step and slants that way.
LB keys the backs and slant that way.
When you cross key, the DL draws blockers and the linebackers fill in the hole. When you just key the OL at both levels, the backers and the DL all can be slanted by influence blocks away from the run. That happened often.
The downside to cross-keying- if you load up and run lead plays where the OL zones and the backs to an inside zone read (QB goes away from the blocking) you have one less LB to help on the running back.
Heard about a thread on another site talking about why "Bud is so bad at defending QB on read option."
1) Bud himself said the DEs busted a few calls where they took dive instead of QB.
2) Bud could be BS'ing. He may have wanted the D to overload on the dive and then let Jones run, with Terrell Edmunds accounting for him. That has been Bud's MO against a bunch of the GT teams- they account for the QB on the triple option with a deep safety and the QB ends up with a ton of yards. The QB gets beat up. Then, Bud will switch it up and slow play the QB, mess up the timing of the mesh, and cause a turnover.
3) When the read option started to hurt the Hokies, Edmunds stopped aligning in centerfield and started lining up on the boundary hash at about 7 yards. That in essence stopped the keeper. Duke did a good job of adjusted with the inverted veer- which if you watch the Jones TD run, Terrell is aligned on the hash= one less defender in the middle.
French:
Have noticed for a bit now that offensively, our skill guys are going through the motions often in terms of blocking. Specifically, I've noticed Bucky and Travon just look awful. I almost posted this a couple of weeks ago, then Travon had that huge block at Pitt to essentially win the game, and I bit my tongue.
Now that it's out, do you see this poor technique as a manifestation of not being coached up (read: not enough depth to hold players accountable) or have they just not "bought in" to the offensive system? I know winning cures a lot of ills, but the execution of plays seems to be suffering and I'm just wondering if some of those guys are going through the motions. I agree, I would love for Bucky and Ford and a few others to take a page from Teller and smack the piss out of someone. I mean, it IS football, right?
Keep up the great work!
Leg for the phrase "smack the piss out of someone", one of my all-time favorites.
Tired legs is probably the most likely answer. Guys saving energy for their pass routes. Fuente said all season he needed more guys to step up for specifically that reason. The chickens may be coming home to roost.
And, we have to understand, this is a new offense and new techniques. Confidence comes from executing without thinking. These guys look like they are thinking. Everything still looks a little slow. Duke, for whatever their talent shortcomings, looked quicker and more confident executing the fundamentals of their offense than VT's offense did.
This review does notake me feel good going into the GT game.