1st 2 series that game, the OL actually blocked well, rier took off once when he could've stepped up in the pocket and delivered a throw. The first blatantly missed block in the run game was at 3rd and goal when Ivie who came in as a FB completely ignored a blitzing safety who tackled Taylor in the backfield (4th Vine in Landon's Film review article).
3rd series Riles was blown up by the DT and sacked Grier on a 2nd down, then Grier took off running when he had a clean pocket on 3rd down.
4th series had the first real blocking breakdown, it was Fred Johnson, Grier scrambled for 5 yards. He had another scramble when he wasn't under real pressure, and the drive ended in a missed FG.
5th series we had a tricky formation with 2 TEs lined up inside tackles, the interior linemen as a hole didn't get any penetration and nobody was distracted by the 2 TEs and the play failed. Thurman got blown up by a LB on a 3rd and 1 but a pulling Riles got to the point of attack just in time to bump the LB a bit. The LB ended up making the tackle, but just past the 1st down. Thurman misses an assignment on a blitz by the OLB the next play. LT Sharpe picked up the DE, the OLB blitzed from the outside, and Thurman should've rotated over to pick him up, but instead tried to help Dillard who was blocking just fine, giving the OLB a free shot. LB coming free from the L side is gonna be a theme. Grier juked his way out of a shoebox and gained a few yards. A 12 man in the huddle penalty made it a 3rd and 8, and Dillard got whipped on the next play, but Grier completes a tough pass to McGee while being tackled to make it 4th and 2. We converted on a toss play, and followed it up with a nice pass to McGee. The LB came in untouched from L side again, but Grier got rid of the ball quickly, UK overloaded that side so it's probably Grier's fault for not recognizing it. Powell then got another 1st down on a screen pass, Dillard finally makes a block on a screen pass, but only because it was a double screen and Grier looked left first, so that gave him enough time to get in position. Ivey had a false start somewhere around here, though not sure if it's entirely his fault since there appeared to have been some issues with the snap count.
Interesting to note that while the 2 toss plays appeared similar, they were actually different. The first was designed to outside of the 3 TEs, while the second was designed to go between the 3 TEs.
The 6th series started with a run, which was shut down after both Thurman and Riles lost their battles. Next was a dropped quick slant to Powell. Both the DE and the OLB came free on the right side. The OLB came free because of poor blitz recognition yet again by Riles/Johnson, as Riles should've picked up the DE and Johnson picking up the OLB, but Johnson picked up, and was beaten by the DE. Johnson then had a false start. The OLB again came free off a missed blitz recognition by Johnson/Riles on 3rd down, Grier was sacked.
The 7th series' first pass play was blown up because Riles was beaten on the play. Grier took off with good protection the next passing play. The drive ended with a pick in the endzone.
The 8th series' first mistake was by Dillard, didn't really affect the play, but he was driven back like a practice dummy on a run play. Grier again runs unnecessarily on 3rd down. This time, for the first time, we actually picked up the blitzing OLB.
The 9th series started off well, but on 3rd and 9, we ONCE AGAIN allow a blitzer come free from the outside, this time a safety, due to poor blitz recognition by Sharpe/Thurman. Think it was more Thurman's fault as he once again helps out with Dillard while leaving Sharpe trying to block 2 guys at the same time. Grier miraculously avoided a sack though threw incomplete.
The 10th series began with a good run by Grier, with no options open downfield on a roll out, good protection there. Goolsby had a poor block on 2nd and 10, then on 3rd and 10 we run a screen play to Taylor, but Thurman didn't block well, and Taylor didn't make use of Thurman well either, resulting in a failed conversion.
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In total, by my count, by far the biggest mistake was mental. We need to figure out how to pick up a blitzer coming from the outside, because all except one attempt by the Wildcats resulted in the blitzer coming free untouched. Aside from that, Thurman and Dillard performed poorly in the run/screen game with 2 big missed blocks each, while Riles and Johnson performed poorly in pass pro getting whipped twice each while Johnson also had a penalty.
It also didn’t help that Grier took off numerous times when he could’ve stepped up in the pocket and gone through the progressions, but it's hard to develop that kind of confidence when your OL was flat out whipped 5 times and allowed a blitzer to come free 5 more times (though one was on Grier for not recognizing the overload).
3rd series Riles was blown up by the DT and sacked Grier on a 2nd down, then Grier took off running when he had a clean pocket on 3rd down.
4th series had the first real blocking breakdown, it was Fred Johnson, Grier scrambled for 5 yards. He had another scramble when he wasn't under real pressure, and the drive ended in a missed FG.
5th series we had a tricky formation with 2 TEs lined up inside tackles, the interior linemen as a hole didn't get any penetration and nobody was distracted by the 2 TEs and the play failed. Thurman got blown up by a LB on a 3rd and 1 but a pulling Riles got to the point of attack just in time to bump the LB a bit. The LB ended up making the tackle, but just past the 1st down. Thurman misses an assignment on a blitz by the OLB the next play. LT Sharpe picked up the DE, the OLB blitzed from the outside, and Thurman should've rotated over to pick him up, but instead tried to help Dillard who was blocking just fine, giving the OLB a free shot. LB coming free from the L side is gonna be a theme. Grier juked his way out of a shoebox and gained a few yards. A 12 man in the huddle penalty made it a 3rd and 8, and Dillard got whipped on the next play, but Grier completes a tough pass to McGee while being tackled to make it 4th and 2. We converted on a toss play, and followed it up with a nice pass to McGee. The LB came in untouched from L side again, but Grier got rid of the ball quickly, UK overloaded that side so it's probably Grier's fault for not recognizing it. Powell then got another 1st down on a screen pass, Dillard finally makes a block on a screen pass, but only because it was a double screen and Grier looked left first, so that gave him enough time to get in position. Ivey had a false start somewhere around here, though not sure if it's entirely his fault since there appeared to have been some issues with the snap count.
Interesting to note that while the 2 toss plays appeared similar, they were actually different. The first was designed to outside of the 3 TEs, while the second was designed to go between the 3 TEs.
The 6th series started with a run, which was shut down after both Thurman and Riles lost their battles. Next was a dropped quick slant to Powell. Both the DE and the OLB came free on the right side. The OLB came free because of poor blitz recognition yet again by Riles/Johnson, as Riles should've picked up the DE and Johnson picking up the OLB, but Johnson picked up, and was beaten by the DE. Johnson then had a false start. The OLB again came free off a missed blitz recognition by Johnson/Riles on 3rd down, Grier was sacked.
The 7th series' first pass play was blown up because Riles was beaten on the play. Grier took off with good protection the next passing play. The drive ended with a pick in the endzone.
The 8th series' first mistake was by Dillard, didn't really affect the play, but he was driven back like a practice dummy on a run play. Grier again runs unnecessarily on 3rd down. This time, for the first time, we actually picked up the blitzing OLB.
The 9th series started off well, but on 3rd and 9, we ONCE AGAIN allow a blitzer come free from the outside, this time a safety, due to poor blitz recognition by Sharpe/Thurman. Think it was more Thurman's fault as he once again helps out with Dillard while leaving Sharpe trying to block 2 guys at the same time. Grier miraculously avoided a sack though threw incomplete.
The 10th series began with a good run by Grier, with no options open downfield on a roll out, good protection there. Goolsby had a poor block on 2nd and 10, then on 3rd and 10 we run a screen play to Taylor, but Thurman didn't block well, and Taylor didn't make use of Thurman well either, resulting in a failed conversion.
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In total, by my count, by far the biggest mistake was mental. We need to figure out how to pick up a blitzer coming from the outside, because all except one attempt by the Wildcats resulted in the blitzer coming free untouched. Aside from that, Thurman and Dillard performed poorly in the run/screen game with 2 big missed blocks each, while Riles and Johnson performed poorly in pass pro getting whipped twice each while Johnson also had a penalty.
It also didn’t help that Grier took off numerous times when he could’ve stepped up in the pocket and gone through the progressions, but it's hard to develop that kind of confidence when your OL was flat out whipped 5 times and allowed a blitzer to come free 5 more times (though one was on Grier for not recognizing the overload).
