I began taking an initial look at the game film. Not claiming to be an expert by any means but here is my analysis of the first half offense so far. I will look at the second half tomorrow; the game made me sleepy ha. Here are a few points:
Our most productive sets were the pistol, 2-back 3-wide, and ace heavy (single back). Our td to Callaway came out of the 2-back 3-2wide. They viewed our backs as a threat catching out of the backfield in this formation; on that td you saw the safety come up to play either the slant or the back (Cronkite) out of the backfield which let Callaway behind the coverage.
We ran better in the first half out of the pistol, even that off-set pistol. Our linemen barely pulled/trapped, and having the rb's running vertical towards the hole out of the pistol made a difference. It is quite possible they were keeping things vanilla because again, on run plays, the line basically held their blocks and were expected to get push leaving the backs to create their own space. The few times I did see any pulls/traps they were ineffectively looking for people to block rather than creating space; watch Ivey on the 4th and 1 stuff as an example of what I mean by ineffective.
The left side of the line is better (I know-duh!), but there were times when Sharpe looked a little lost. He was caught reaching with his arms instead of using his feet on a couple of pass plays. Ivey is pretty solid. The commentators made a great point as the nose kept Dillard occupied at center allowing the backers to shoot the a-gap on the right side of the line.
The play-calling was spot-on for the most part, although it could have been just a tad more balanced. I think the game would have been entirely different had coach Mac elected to keep the 3-points instead of playing for fourth and 1. That would have been 2 scores in 3 drives, the kind of momentum our guys needed. The next offensive drive we went 3 and out. Take the points next time.
With regards to playmakers in the first half you have to tip your hat off to Del Rio. He made some pretty good decisions and drops by Fulwood, Thompson and Callaway hurt. His throw over the LB to Callaway may make some cringe, but you will not be throwing to open receivers all the time; he demonstrated an ability to put enough touch on the ball to get it in his hands, but AC81 has to make that catch next time. You guys have to stop sleeping on Powell, dude is a baller.
Scarlett played like a beast given that he was running between small creases. He demonstrated a lot of pure strength breaking tackles. He and Cronkite are clearly better backs than Thompson.
Based on the first half if we make some of the easy catches and keep the 3-points on the board, we go into the half 13-7 at worst and 20-7 at best. That’s a big difference for players’ psyche. I will come back with the second half analysis tomorrow.
You could see us try to go with quicker routes to begin the first half like the first down throw to Goolsby on the first drive. The backs ran shorter routes too as @johnhinson mentioned but execution once again terrible. Take for example Thompson's second drop where he was supposed to run a little curl route in front of the line backers. Rather than sitting in front of the backers he drifted 3-4 yards back causing del rio to make a more difficult throw which still hit him in the stomach but was dropped. Cronkite showed how it was done on his out route out of the backfield which went for 9 yards.
Their is a whole lotta patty cake going on. On Del Rio's sack he could've stepped up in the pocket more but watch Cronkite play patty cake with the linebacker who blitzed off the edge of Sharpe. He extended him out of the play but an SEC linebacker would blow his ass up. Johnson was terrible blocking on that play as well as the play with the forced fumble on Del Rio in the 4th quarter.
To be honest it boils down to two things: execution and toughness. Some of our oline just don't have the mentality you want from your guys who are supposed to be the road graters. Ivey is our best olineman followed by Taylor, Sharpe, and then tyler Jordan. Dillard was getting his shit handed to him by the nose but held up okay on some plays. Overall they're much better blocking when asked to simply block the guy in front of them. Taylor is the man though, not because of technique but because of his mean streak. After Johnson killed momentum on our first 4th quarter drive with that holding play Taylor was brought in. We ran behind him consistently and if you slow down the plays one thing is consistent: he was finishing guys either down field or putting them on their arses. For example, watch the toss sweep just after the 9 minute mark in which he pulled and proceeded to crush someone while Tyler Jordan was looking for someone then tripped over himself.
After watching the game it does not look as bad as it seemed. The scary thing is that you want our oline to come out hungrier. Otherwise our skill position guys are clearly a notch above what we have seen the past few years. Scarlett and Cronkite are it while our younger pass catchers (Hammond, Swain, and AC) looked great. The only upperclassman at wideout to me would be Powell.
Grades
QB=B+
RB’s=B+
Wideouts/TE’s=A-
Offensive Line=C
Our most productive sets were the pistol, 2-back 3-wide, and ace heavy (single back). Our td to Callaway came out of the 2-back 3-2wide. They viewed our backs as a threat catching out of the backfield in this formation; on that td you saw the safety come up to play either the slant or the back (Cronkite) out of the backfield which let Callaway behind the coverage.
We ran better in the first half out of the pistol, even that off-set pistol. Our linemen barely pulled/trapped, and having the rb's running vertical towards the hole out of the pistol made a difference. It is quite possible they were keeping things vanilla because again, on run plays, the line basically held their blocks and were expected to get push leaving the backs to create their own space. The few times I did see any pulls/traps they were ineffectively looking for people to block rather than creating space; watch Ivey on the 4th and 1 stuff as an example of what I mean by ineffective.
The left side of the line is better (I know-duh!), but there were times when Sharpe looked a little lost. He was caught reaching with his arms instead of using his feet on a couple of pass plays. Ivey is pretty solid. The commentators made a great point as the nose kept Dillard occupied at center allowing the backers to shoot the a-gap on the right side of the line.
The play-calling was spot-on for the most part, although it could have been just a tad more balanced. I think the game would have been entirely different had coach Mac elected to keep the 3-points instead of playing for fourth and 1. That would have been 2 scores in 3 drives, the kind of momentum our guys needed. The next offensive drive we went 3 and out. Take the points next time.
With regards to playmakers in the first half you have to tip your hat off to Del Rio. He made some pretty good decisions and drops by Fulwood, Thompson and Callaway hurt. His throw over the LB to Callaway may make some cringe, but you will not be throwing to open receivers all the time; he demonstrated an ability to put enough touch on the ball to get it in his hands, but AC81 has to make that catch next time. You guys have to stop sleeping on Powell, dude is a baller.
Scarlett played like a beast given that he was running between small creases. He demonstrated a lot of pure strength breaking tackles. He and Cronkite are clearly better backs than Thompson.
Based on the first half if we make some of the easy catches and keep the 3-points on the board, we go into the half 13-7 at worst and 20-7 at best. That’s a big difference for players’ psyche. I will come back with the second half analysis tomorrow.
2nd Half
First play was off-tackle out of the one back shotgun which we ran in the first half with zone blocking. This time Dillard and Jordan pulled. We had hat on a hat and Scarlett would have to beat one guy which you expect him to be able to do. Dillard and Jordan instead whiffed on their blocks and Scarlett was tackled by 3 players. That's just no killer instinct; linemen have to want to devour guys in situations like that. It was literally the kind of play you could see Derrick Henry or Dalvin Cook busting open for a big one; that's not to blame Scarlett but rather Dillard and Jordan.You could see us try to go with quicker routes to begin the first half like the first down throw to Goolsby on the first drive. The backs ran shorter routes too as @johnhinson mentioned but execution once again terrible. Take for example Thompson's second drop where he was supposed to run a little curl route in front of the line backers. Rather than sitting in front of the backers he drifted 3-4 yards back causing del rio to make a more difficult throw which still hit him in the stomach but was dropped. Cronkite showed how it was done on his out route out of the backfield which went for 9 yards.
Their is a whole lotta patty cake going on. On Del Rio's sack he could've stepped up in the pocket more but watch Cronkite play patty cake with the linebacker who blitzed off the edge of Sharpe. He extended him out of the play but an SEC linebacker would blow his ass up. Johnson was terrible blocking on that play as well as the play with the forced fumble on Del Rio in the 4th quarter.
To be honest it boils down to two things: execution and toughness. Some of our oline just don't have the mentality you want from your guys who are supposed to be the road graters. Ivey is our best olineman followed by Taylor, Sharpe, and then tyler Jordan. Dillard was getting his shit handed to him by the nose but held up okay on some plays. Overall they're much better blocking when asked to simply block the guy in front of them. Taylor is the man though, not because of technique but because of his mean streak. After Johnson killed momentum on our first 4th quarter drive with that holding play Taylor was brought in. We ran behind him consistently and if you slow down the plays one thing is consistent: he was finishing guys either down field or putting them on their arses. For example, watch the toss sweep just after the 9 minute mark in which he pulled and proceeded to crush someone while Tyler Jordan was looking for someone then tripped over himself.
After watching the game it does not look as bad as it seemed. The scary thing is that you want our oline to come out hungrier. Otherwise our skill position guys are clearly a notch above what we have seen the past few years. Scarlett and Cronkite are it while our younger pass catchers (Hammond, Swain, and AC) looked great. The only upperclassman at wideout to me would be Powell.
Grades
QB=B+
RB’s=B+
Wideouts/TE’s=A-
Offensive Line=C
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