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Our running game


bschoolprof

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Overall complaint: it sucks, which is obvious.  

Specific complaints: 1) For a guy who says we must run the ball, Herman never seems to commit to the running game, just like last year.  To start the game (and the season), we run 6 offensive plays before punting.  We gave the ball to a RB once.  Wasn't the whole point of bringing Hand on board to solidify the running game?  He's known more as a run game guru than anything else.

2) We never stick with what seems to be working.   Ingram had 2 ypc more than any of our other backs.  His last carry of the game was with 5:20 in the 2nd quarter.  How can you commit to the running game if you don't let our best runner run the ball?

3) Did anyone notice how sluggish we are starting our run plays in getting the ball to our backs?  The mesh seems to take forever, and it's like our backs just stand still at the beginning of the play.  This gives the defense plenty of time to see what's going on.  This play below is emblematic of what I'm talking about.  It's like we are running a counter, but there's no counter - the back takes a few false steps and then goes. Why?  Also, this looks like an RPO where the correct read based on numbers seems to have a been a throw to the WR (lulz at the blocking though).  Our run game is just so bafflingly fucked.  

 

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That play was fucked for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one is no push on the left side of the line. Specifically from Vahe (though if it had been a pass, he would have been okay--his guy pushed him 2 yards into the backfield, but at least he didn't get around him. Yay.) Wouldn't have mattered what the back did, even if it had been scripted as a straight dive play, it was going nowhere. Same if Sam had kept it -- safety was already at the line of scrimmage before Sam could have gotten there.

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There was a scoring drive that was extremely efficient in the 2nd quarter where we ran 80% of the time.

That particular drive was effective, difficult to defend and identical to how Herman called plays when he was tOSU coordinator.

If we had done that the whole game, it would’ve given our defense plenty of rest, high amount of possession time and an easy win against a mediocre team.

Unfortunately it’s clear that our goal is to not accomplish intelligent scoring. We often like to throw completely fucking stupid screens, put our young QB in a high probability position of failure, and reward horrible run reads. We certainly aren’t selfish in the sense that we always want to give the other team the ball so they can play offense. We enjoy turnovers, relish in team and indivisible penalties and have absolutely zero desire to call a good game. Fuck. Fuck. Fucking. Fuck.

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1 minute ago, DaggerHorns said:

There was a scoring drive that was extremely efficient in the 2nd quarter where we ran 80% of the time.

That particular drive was effective, difficult to defend and identical to how Herman called plays when he was tOSU coordinator.

If we had done that the whole game, it would’ve given our defense plenty of rest, high amount of possession time and an easy win against a mediocre team.

Unfortunately it’s clear that our goal is to not accomplish intelligent scoring. We often like to throw completely fucking stupid screens, put our young QB in a high probability position of failure, and reward horrible run reads. We certainly aren’t selfish in the sense that we always want to give the other team the ball so they can play offense. We enjoy turnovers, relish in team and indivisible penalties and have absolutely zero desire to call a good game. Fuck. Fuck. Fucking. Fuck.

Who was it who said last year that “sometimes we aren’t even trying to score”? I’m pretty sure it was Beck, right before Herman announced that assistants would no longer hold press conferences.

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37 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

Overall complaint: it sucks, which is obvious.  

Specific complaints: 1) For a guy who says we must run the ball, Herman never seems to commit to the running game, just like last year.  To start the game (and the season), we run 6 offensive plays before punting.  We gave the ball to a RB once.  Wasn't the whole point of bringing Hand on board to solidify the running game?  He's known more as a run game guru than anything else.

2) We never stick with what seems to be working.   Ingram had 2 ypc more than any of our other backs.  His last carry of the game was with 5:20 in the 2nd quarter.  How can you commit to the running game if you don't let our best runner run the ball?

3) Did anyone notice how sluggish we are starting our run plays in getting the ball to our backs?  The mesh seems to take forever, and it's like our backs just stand still at the beginning of the play.  This gives the defense plenty of time to see what's going on.  This play below is emblematic of what I'm talking about.  It's like we are running a counter, but there's no counter - the back takes a few false steps and then goes. Why?  Also, this looks like an RPO where the correct read based on numbers seems to have a been a throw to the WR (lulz at the blocking though).  Our run game is just so bafflingly fucked.  

 

RB lacked vision there. Could have broken it to the outside. 

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28 minutes ago, Auto Driller said:

I won’t believe that the coaching staff is serious about fixing the running game until Kyle Porter is permanently banished to the bench.

I agree with this, but I also think Porter could have had a pretty good game against us if he'd suited up for Maryland.  He's not good enough to do anything behind our line, but behind another team's line and against our defense, yeah, he'd probably look pretty good.

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That was just a shitty play, and emblematic of our entire first quarter. And if our WRs are going to block like that, we need to eliminate the WR screen entirely. And Vahe has been a key fixture on the worst succession of O lines in Texas history. Hmmm. 

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We've started running speed option, which I love. Read option looks predetermined sometimes but thats fine. Need to start running that HB counter out of the gun that Mack used to love.

Finally, we have 3 badass running backs, we have 3 badass wide receivers. Should be running spread triple option with two backs in the backfield. You can also put one of them in motion and spread the field even more.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1858938-inside-the-auburn-offense-why-gus-malzahns-system-works-and-works-so-fast

I was hoping Hand would bring some of this here.

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5 minutes ago, Zavala said:

We've started running speed option, which I love. Read option looks predetermined sometimes but thats fine. Need to start running that HB counter out of the gun that Mack used to love.

Finally, we have 3 badass running backs, we have 3 badass wide receivers. Should be running spread triple option with two backs in the backfield. You can also put one of them in motion and spread the field even more.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1858938-inside-the-auburn-offense-why-gus-malzahns-system-works-and-works-so-fast

I was hoping Hand would bring some of this here.

He probably wanted to but Hand only gets one vote and Herman gets two. Herman chose to continue his dogshit offense, personnel groupings and play calling.

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11 minutes ago, Zavala said:

 

Finally, we have 3 badass running backs, we have 3 badass wide receivers. Should be running spread triple option with two backs in the backfield. You can also put one of them in motion and spread the field even more.

 

You can pretty much do anything out of a 2-back set that you can do with a 1-back set. Plus you have an extra blocker that can easily go to either side of the field and take on the first tackler. YOu can fake a screen right, throw it left - and the guy catching it is a running back, not a receiver. Running backs know how to run the ball, take hits, hold onto the ball - and break into the clear. With the possible exception of Porter, probably every one of these backs broke long amazing runs in high school. Get them the ball, get them some blocking and use the running game to set up big passes to those amazing receivers we've put on the field.

 

Quit trying to turn receivers into running backs. Keep them healthy doing what they do best.

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24 minutes ago, Zavala said:

We've started running speed option, which I love. Read option looks predetermined sometimes but thats fine. Need to start running that HB counter out of the gun that Mack used to love.

Finally, we have 3 badass running backs, we have 3 badass wide receivers. Should be running spread triple option with two backs in the backfield. You can also put one of them in motion and spread the field even more.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1858938-inside-the-auburn-offense-why-gus-malzahns-system-works-and-works-so-fast

I was hoping Hand would bring some of this here.

We run the slowest developing speed option I've ever seen.  It's like a HR jog.   

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All of our running plays seem to develop at a snail's pace. I can't remember the last time we had a running back hit a hole at full speed.

It’s by design. Why they want to do that I still don’t understand, but they feel there is a reason. For me it fails miserably as it isn’t designed for the OL to get push. It’s like a halfass draw where you sort of pass pro but then they try to go upfield. And all it truly accomplishes is allowing the LBs to fill the gaps well before our RB can get there.

It’s shitty.

I guess maybe the WR screen they showed there is to freeze the LBs and have them look to the sideline. However, no one even remotely sold that as a fake so what’s the point? If it’s not believable it’s just counter productive. Which is the story of our whole offense.
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I’ll never for the life of me understand why everything we do on offense is so gahdamnnnn slow. It’s like we’re moving at half speed. Hand offs are slow, screens are slow, end arounds are slow, everything is f*ckin slow. The scary part is I think that’s why our defense was a step behind, they’re going up against this in practice to the point that they think that is normal.

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Completely forgot about this until I read it on another thread.

Kyle Porter was not even on the 2-deep roster for this game.  I believe Watson was 1st team and Ingram/Young were co-2nd team.  So the guy that's not even important enough to list on the roster just HAS to be on the field during crunch time.  

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4 minutes ago, Ldogg53 said:


It’s by design. Why they want to do that I still don’t understand, but they feel there is a reason. For me it fails miserably as it isn’t designed for the OL to get push. It’s like a halfass draw where you sort of pass pro but then they try to go upfield. And all it truly accomplishes is allowing the LBs to fill the gaps well before our RB can get there.

It’s shitty.

I guess maybe the WR screen they showed there is to freeze the LBs and have them look to the sideline. However, no one even remotely sold that as a fake so what’s the point? If it’s not believable it’s just counter productive. Which is the story of our whole offense.

Exactly.  The biggest issue with our offense may not be not the play calling.  It may be the plays themselves, or at least how we run them.  They're just so potato.  

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Our running game doesn’t suck. Our coaching sucks:

1) terrible personnel, and this is the biggest problem.  Porter being in the game, and insistence on Young and even Watson when Ingram should have gotten 15 carries. That is fucking criminal. 

2) our slow developing play calls. I kept hearing “we look slow” and “Maryland has better athletes”. Both are preposterous. Our coaching staff, just as with most Texas coaching staffs, figures out inventive ways of doing less with more, and are the antithesis of maximizing talent. 

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Nice thread so far.

I'm no expert. When I watch Auburn, they have a painfully slow handoff that serves a purpose. The QB seems to be reading a triple option comprised of pass, give, or keep. 

Presumably, that's the same thing going on with us except that the QB almost always gives, occasionally passes and never keeps. The high percentage play for the defense is to focus on the RB. Instead of them being frozen in a moment of uncertainty, we're just stationary for a moment before failure.

It would be nice to think we're setting something up out of this pause, but we never present a variation like a counter or jump pass or whatever. Every play we call is what it is. 

Also, am I correct in thinking we used tempo only in the second quarter when we looked like a ranked team for a few minutes and then never used it again? That looked like a pretty good identity and seemed to energize the offensive players. It's the only time we looked effective until the end of the fourth when we stopped ourselves three times in a row. That, sadly, is also an identity.

I don't even yell at the TV anymore. We get behind and I just feel sick the whole game. I felt pretty good at the end of the first half until we went for 2. You don't know how valuable a single point will be in the first half. Take the point. 

 

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3 minutes ago, Rex Kramer said:

Our running game doesn’t suck. Our coaching sucks:

This times eleventy kabillion.

If we had run the same hurry up with lots of running exactly the same way we did it before half time we would’ve done very well. We would have scored more points, had more first downs and a lot more offensive production. I believe that the coaching staff does not want this type of activity.

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26 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Completely forgot about this until I read it on another thread.

Kyle Porter was not even on the 2-deep roster for this game.  I believe Watson was 1st team and Ingram/Young were co-2nd team.  So the guy that's not even important enough to list on the roster just HAS to be on the field during crunch time.  

You’re thinking checkers, when we are playing 3d chess. Porter was out there because we were trying to catch them unawares. It was masterful and would have worked if we weren’t trying to be so perfect all the time. 

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7 minutes ago, DaggerHorns said:

This times eleventy kabillion.

If we had run the same hurry up with lots of running exactly the same way we did it before half time we would’ve done very well. We would have scored more points, had more first downs and a lot more offensive production. I believe that the coaching staff does not want this type of activity.

they go super conservative when up , then go panic mode in crunch time. The conservative approach is often punctuated by 'maverick' stupid trick plays that never work.

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Kyle “blitz pickup” Porter was split out to the field side in an empty backfield on 2nd and 10 (play before the final interception). He ran a 5 yard out and dropped a pass that hit him in the hands. 

In review:

4th / 5th string RB playing WR and dropping passes on the most important drive of the game.

ifeellikeimtakingcrazypills.jpg

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41 minutes ago, Ldogg53 said:


I guess maybe the WR screen they showed there is to freeze the LBs and have them look to the sideline. However, no one even remotely sold that as a fake so what’s the point? If it’s not believable it’s just counter productive. Which is the story of our whole offense.

Not only did no one sell it, the WR screen hadn't been established at that point. They had no reason to respect it. I think they ran it once, maybe twice, possibly for total negative yards. It just reeks of late Mack-era Gregg Davis/Shawn Watson scripted play calling. It is almost as if the first half play calls are put in numerical order and called in that order, no matter what.

Being a message board Madden Champ is one of the most cliche college football things to do, but I don't see how a play-calling staff with a total yearly salary of $5.8 MILLION dollars is that bad at play-calling. What's even more depressing is, while film study is an important piece of the game prep puzzle, Texas shouldn't need to rely on 4D chess when they are out-talenting a team by what is probably a 1.5 recruit star average per player. Back when Colt McCoy and Co. were smoking all of our early season opponents 52-10, they were able to run a play that maybe wasn't set up very well, but it didn't matter because the talent willed it to happen. That's how the naked screens and the bubble screens worked, in reality. So, not only is Tom being out-prepared by an interim head coach who has had to deal with a player dying, the head coach getting the boot, the investigation of that, and the national attention of that, the guys that Strong and Tom had to hustle to recruit is being out-physicalled and out-played by a bunch of guys who got only glances from a lot of top teams, if that.  I just can't seem to wrap my mind around it.

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I wonder if a) whoever was calling that play really knew he was in (unforgivable) or b) we’re still operating from the perspective that our plan is so great it doesn’t matter who’s specifally in at RB.

Our decisions around who gets the rock continue to fucking astound me. 

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47 minutes ago, Txzen said:

You’re thinking checkers, when we are playing 3d chess. Porter was out there because we were trying to catch them unawares. It was masterful and would have worked if we weren’t trying to be so perfect all the time. 

Genius. At crunch time, we put our shittiest players on the field - and the defense can't figure out who to ignore. We freeze them.

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1 hour ago, RomaVicta said:

Nice thread so far.

I'm no expert. When I watch Auburn, they have a painfully slow handoff that serves a purpose. The QB seems to be reading a triple option comprised of pass, give, or keep. 

Presumably, that's the same thing going on with us except that the QB almost always gives, occasionally passes and never keeps. The high percentage play for the defense is to focus on the RB. Instead of them being frozen in a moment of uncertainty, we're just stationary for a moment before failure.

It would be nice to think we're setting something up out of this pause, but we never present a variation like a counter or jump pass or whatever. Every play we call is what it is. 

Also, am I correct in thinking we used tempo only in the second quarter when we looked like a ranked team for a few minutes and then never used it again? That looked like a pretty good identity and seemed to energize the offensive players. It's the only time we looked effective until the end of the fourth when we stopped ourselves three times in a row. That, sadly, is also an identity.

I don't even yell at the TV anymore. We get behind and I just feel sick the whole game. I felt pretty good at the end of the first half until we went for 2. You don't know how valuable a single point will be in the first half. Take the point. 

 

Agree with everything you said.  These are play selection issues, because Sam can run.  The problem is, he didn't run at all on designed runs until the 4th quarter.  This resulted in a very vanilla set of plays with no fluidity at all, and the players looked flat as a result.  Here are the things we need to do, in order:

1) Strip Beck of playcalling duty immediately.  I don't care if Herman is transparent publicly in that or not.  It's visible when Beck isn't involved and I don't need to know more than that.

2a) Shorten the damned RB rotation.  Ingram and Watson need 10 carries apiece.  Give Young at least 5, and if he decides he's going to better than 3 ypc, give him 10 too.  Do not give Porter the ball, and try to avoid having him in the damned game.  If we cannot find one of those other 3 that are effective in pass pro, then keep him in there for pass pro only, but that is extremely limiting, because he cannot go out for RB screens.  He simply isn't athletic enough to make a move and gain 5 yards.  He dropped a crucial one yesterday and got stopped for a 3-yard loss.  Herman has got to realize that his acceptance of Porter and Beck are going to put him on the hot seat and quickly.

2b) Have at least one Sam designed run per quarter.  Mix it the fuck up from the outset.

3) Stick with this plan.  By employing #2 above, it will work against most teams, and abandoning it won't be necessary because we will not have spotted anyone a 24-7 lead.  If we do to say OU, and you have a whole half to play, be patient and stick with it.  This goes hand in hand with the D not giving up 14 retarded points, but the first drive and 65-yard TD pass given up yesterday are such easy fixes, and I have faith in Orlando (and returning LBs and hopefully Davis).

4) Keep Sam.  This plan doesn't work with Shane because Shane can't run.  In most games, we shouldn't find ourselves in the precarious position of putting it on Sam's arm.  Yes, the continued fuckups concern me.  No, I am not sure he's the answer anymore.  I'd like to chalk this up to the first game, and a very weird one at that with the delay, where the coaches totally thwarted Sam's chances at success.  Time will tell.  I just know Shane ain't the answer.

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12 hours ago, bschoolprof said:

Overall complaint: it sucks, which is obvious.  

Specific complaints: 1) For a guy who says we must run the ball, Herman never seems to commit to the running game, just like last year.  To start the game (and the season), we run 6 offensive plays before punting.  We gave the ball to a RB once.  Wasn't the whole point of bringing Hand on board to solidify the running game?  He's known more as a run game guru than anything else.

2) We never stick with what seems to be working.   Ingram had 2 ypc more than any of our other backs.  His last carry of the game was with 5:20 in the 2nd quarter.  How can you commit to the running game if you don't let our best runner run the ball?

3) Did anyone notice how sluggish we are starting our run plays in getting the ball to our backs?  The mesh seems to take forever, and it's like our backs just stand still at the beginning of the play.  This gives the defense plenty of time to see what's going on.  This play below is emblematic of what I'm talking about.  It's like we are running a counter, but there's no counter - the back takes a few false steps and then goes. Why?  Also, this looks like an RPO where the correct read based on numbers seems to have a been a throw to the WR (lulz at the blocking though).  Our run game is just so bafflingly fucked.  

 

When the safety gets a tackle assist at the LOS and he wasn't blitzing, you're going too slow.

And Vahe got destroyed right there. Cripes. 

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10 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

Nice thread so far.

I'm no expert. When I watch Auburn, they have a painfully slow handoff that serves a purpose. The QB seems to be reading a triple option comprised of pass, give, or keep. 

Presumably, that's the same thing going on with us except that the QB almost always gives, occasionally passes and never keeps. The high percentage play for the defense is to focus on the RB. Instead of them being frozen in a moment of uncertainty, we're just stationary for a moment before failure.

It would be nice to think we're setting something up out of this pause, but we never present a variation like a counter or jump pass or whatever. Every play we call is what it is. 

Also, am I correct in thinking we used tempo only in the second quarter when we looked like a ranked team for a few minutes and then never used it again? That looked like a pretty good identity and seemed to energize the offensive players. It's the only time we looked effective until the end of the fourth when we stopped ourselves three times in a row. That, sadly, is also an identity.

I don't even yell at the TV anymore. We get behind and I just feel sick the whole game. I felt pretty good at the end of the first half until we went for 2. You don't know how valuable a single point will be in the first half. Take the point. 

 

Regarding the slow handoff, not only is it useless when the QB rarely keeps the ball, it’s even worse when the QB does such a piss poor job of ball handling.  His fake keep is laughable and indicative of either poor coaching of poor coach-ability.  Watch the clip in the OP.  His fake is so half-assed.  Motherfucker even stares at the RB as he jogs out his “fake”.  In what realm of bullshit do Sam’s movements and actions after the handoff give even a remotely possible impression that he still has the football?

yeah.  If you aren’t going to utilize the advantage of an option appearance, then there’s no reason to take on its disadvantages (flat-footed backs receiving slow handoffs.

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1 hour ago, scottsins said:

Motherfucker even stares at the RB as he jogs out his “fake”.  In what realm of bullshit do Sam’s movements and actions after the handoff give even a remotely possible impression that he still has the football?

I noticed that during the game. I wondered if it was part of his dazed look during much of the first quarter starting with the delay of game. Strangely low energy. We looked energetic when we were in uptempo, but, of course, we abandoned that after it was successful.

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15 hours ago, bschoolprof said:

Overall complaint: it sucks, which is obvious.  

Specific complaints: 1) For a guy who says we must run the ball, Herman never seems to commit to the running game, just like last year.  To start the game (and the season), we run 6 offensive plays before punting.  We gave the ball to a RB once.  Wasn't the whole point of bringing Hand on board to solidify the running game?  He's known more as a run game guru than anything else.

2) We never stick with what seems to be working.   Ingram had 2 ypc more than any of our other backs.  His last carry of the game was with 5:20 in the 2nd quarter.  How can you commit to the running game if you don't let our best runner run the ball?

3) Did anyone notice how sluggish we are starting our run plays in getting the ball to our backs?  The mesh seems to take forever, and it's like our backs just stand still at the beginning of the play.  This gives the defense plenty of time to see what's going on.  This play below is emblematic of what I'm talking about.  It's like we are running a counter, but there's no counter - the back takes a few false steps and then goes. Why?  Also, this looks like an RPO where the correct read based on numbers seems to have a been a throw to the WR (lulz at the blocking though).  Our run game is just so bafflingly fucked.  

 

Zach Evans would bounce left around Vahe, cut back middle and be off to the races. 

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On 9/2/2018 at 11:24 AM, MaybeACoordinator said:

RB lacked vision there. Could have broken it to the outside. 

It's an OZ/Stretch. That's the RBs primary read.  The end crashed hard.  I'm not sure how much less vision one could have. Maybe he didn't think he could get around Vahe.  It is certainly troublesome that the point of attack is 2 yards into our backfield.

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