Thoughts on the LT game

[JasonB]

Was out of town this weekend, so had to watch it with a group and then wanted to watch it again before I posted...

- Let's start with the easy part - the defense looked great. The defensive line was fantastic, as expected. Miller and Roberts and beasts against that level of competition, and Chatman back at the 3 tech looks like he did two years ago. 92 and 98 looked good as well inside, and that is critical for us. The tackles did extremely well. Kori Robertson the pick 6 was amazing, but I thought overall he had a really nice game.
- I think you can also see that all the reports about Jennings running for his life against the second team DL isn't because our second OL is terrible. That pass rushing group with 11 and 58 on the edge. I was surprised to see Cam out there as much, but 11 and 58 did great. One thing to keep an eye on - they had one 3rd and 12 with 11 and 58 out there and slid Roberts inside, and that side of the line got gashed for a 9 yard run. Teams will make a note of that.
- Lots of pressure on the QB - PFF had us as 32 pressures, which is a great number. Roberts did better than I expected on the pass rush when he was a DE in the down 4. Most of the pressures were caused up the middle, between the DTs directly or them opening gaps for the LBs. I don't think we will see a lot of that against OU, but I think we will see it in conference over and over again.
- I still think we are missing a dominant edge pass rusher, and it will hurt us against OU. Because OU is effective offensively and because of their pace of play, it will be difficult if not impossible to make situational substitutions to get that third down package in there. So, we have to get a pass rush from Paul in the base look and I just don't know if he has that ability.
- LB I think was better than expected. There was a play early where Wilson came in to early against the run and got caught in the line for a decent gain, but outside of that they played really well. We were hoping for a step forward, and I think the group exceeded expectations. Kilgore had the big sacks in his first game, and Walker was all over the place. The group has a massive speed upgrade over last season. I think they showed that they are going to run around and swarm. Burns, Adimora, Walker, Kilgore, and Wilson all had positive plays and looked the part.
- At corner, Woods I thought was terrific, and a true number 1. Megginson gave up a big play, but I think that is actually the fault of McGill, and I will get to that later. AJ got toasted a bit on that last TD drive, and that is really the downside overall, but the group did okay. We knew going in, however, that the LT QB kept things over the middle, so this next week will be a much bigger test for the group.
- At safety, Massey is back to what he was before his injury and NWO was really good as well. They both did really well, outside of an early missed tackle by NWO. BTW, tackling overall was much improved, but of course having better athletes helps. Keep your eye on McGill. He made some really good plays near the line of scrimmage, but they are asking him to play Free Safety, which he has never done before, and he got exposed a little on the big TD.
- Offensively, we knew that LT would run-blitz coming in, and that really had an impact on the consistency of the running game. I said coming in that I would be happy with us in the 40s and them in the teens, and we didn't get in the 40s. I don't think the offense was that great, and there are some concerns heading into OU.
- The Jet sweeps got blown up because of the run blitzing and LBs playing close to the line. We also ran a TON of counter schemes in the blocking game that were really complex and didn't do very well against the run blitz. I think we were just executing some concepts instead of being worried about what they were doing, but the complicated schemes will get us killed against OU.
- We knew they were good at corner, but that the LBs and S would play close to the box, so those deep balls would have been available all day. Had the one dropped by Kerley, but I think we just didn't keep calling them because we spent a lot of the game working on the base offense.
- I'm concerned about Rogers. He had a rough spring kicking, and that first game wasn't great with 2 missed FG and 2 KO out of bounds. He is talented, but there is cause for concern there.
- We really struggled when we got behind the chains. Negative plays - blown up running play or a penalty - killed drives because we couldn't recover. Lots of 3rd and 13 with a 5 yard pass. Certainly a concern.
- On the OL, Osborne, White, and Bryant were good, as expected. Hickman graded out well, but he got caught picking up the wrong LB on at least one play and it resulted in a 3 yard loss. They guy I was really happy with was Parr. I thought he did extremely well. He had a pull where he perfectly executed running between 51 and 50 and picked up a blitzing LB for a big yardage game. PJ Williams got some run at both tackle and guard and while he did okay, I think he was the 6th best OL.
- The reason for the inconsistent running game was not because people were beaten on blocks, it was because we struggled blocking the right guy with the blitzing LBs. I mentioned Hickman messing up earlier. Rooster didn't see the blitzing LB on a jet sweep and the guy he needed to get got a TFL. Maryland did the same thing at least twice. Maryland also got pushed back on one running play early in the game, which caused Rooster to bounce into him and fall down on what could have been a big run.
- We had one 4th and short early where we got the first running behind Hickman and Osborne, as expected. We lost one later because LT sent everybody and we just ran out of players to block. I'm sure we have a toss or a play action prepared against that in the future.
- H-Back I thought did much better in pass protect than in the running game. I didn't think Eby made much of a difference in the running game, which was a little disappointing. The blitzing LB thing makes it harder, but still, I was hoping for a little more. First game, new position, so you expect him to struggle with reading things. Will be interesting to see how that improves before conference play starts. It was interesting not to see Chatman in there much at all, we saw Bison at DT a ton, and Levelston didn't get a lot of PT. That is something to keep an eye on.
- TE Maryland struggled with his blocking, as mentioned above. Harris did better as expected. But both were great in the passing game, where we really need them. The double TE look in the red zone with a short and a deep was a great play that I think we will see a lot of this season. The Preston rollout with a TE in the flat is another look we will see a lot of.
- At RB, both Rooster and Knighton struggled in the pass blocking game. Rooster and Lavine both struggled running the ball, but honestly I think it is mostly a timing thing. Our backs were trying to hit the hole too quickly instead of letting the blocking develop in front of them. That patience will get worked out over the next couple of weeks. LJ was clearly the most impressive out there. But overall I think the running game wasn't as effective as we had hoped it to be on a consistent basis. A little patience will go a long way. I think also Rooster is a smaller back, so trying to run headfirst into blitzing LBs isn't really his game. If that had been a real opponent running that scheme, we would have seen a lot more RPO and deep ball.
- QB - Preston had a solid game. Kerley should have come down with one deep ball, and Brinson messed up on the sideline once, otherwise this is a 300 yard game. I don't like some of the third and long decisions, because he gave us no chance to get the first. It was interesting that we really only threw one WR screen. Threw a lot of short routes to the outside, which I don't love - they don't pick up much, it is a riskier throw. Kind of like how basketball has moved towards eliminating the mid-range game, I tend to prefer that in the college passing game - either pass it to someone close to the line and give them a chance to make a play (layup) or throw it deep (the three pointer). A lot of 5 yard routes, especially on 3rd and 12, don't really do it for me. But that could have been just called in the first game to get a flow going. I would keep my eye on 3rd down decision making as well as him favoring the right side of the field as we move forward. Lots of quick decisions and staying on the right side and not moving through progressions to the left. It isn't something I have seen in practice, so it could be a sign of nerves in a first game. He also only completed 27% of his throws over 20 yards, which is certainly not a problem I have seen at practice. I don't think that is a long term issue for him.
- Finally, at WR, I think we have a lot of good WR. I am still concerned that we don't have that go-to elite guy. Hudson had a big play, which is a positive sign. Same with Keyshawn Smith. Kerley continues to not really show up and make his presence felt in the games. I'm not sure if you call that one play a drop, but it was catchable and the go-to-guy makes that catch. Against OU and TCU, you need that guy that not only Preston trusts, but also that the other team has to respect and unbalance the defense. We don't have that guy yet, and it will hurt our offense in both of those games...

So, overall, very happy with the defense, which I am convinced is good enough to win conference. I'm concerned about our offense against TCU and OU, because it is clearly going to take some time to get it rolling. Once we get into conference play, we will be fine. But OU was really impressive this past weekend, and I am concerned that we won't be good enough offensively to keep our defense from being on the field too much.

[Topper]

Thank you JasonB. I couldn't figure out some our run blocking schemes.

[Arkpony]

Agreed. Lack of a running game will hurt us against OU .

[BUS]

Block o line.

[BUS]

Block o line.

[Charleston Pony]

It will help to have Cam Wheaton back but he's not a power runner so OU defense will expose our OL as not quite ready for prime time and none of our backs will find a lot of running room. Please prove me wrong, guys!

[JasonB]

I suspect that OU will try and play us straight up for a while and see if they can stop the run without playing the LBs tight. I think the OL performed just fine, it was the TE, H-Back and RBs not picking up the secondary players that led to negative runs.

Some of the odd blocking schemes were because the OL was blocking for a different play than Stone/RBs ran.

[Blvd_Stang]

Thank you for taking the time to compile these thoughts. I really enjoy reading your analysis.

[AusTxPony]

Not the most positive assessment of our play, but right on target. Hopefully the Offense can settle in and up their game. The Defense looked so improved, but now will be truly tested. If Duke can do it, we can, right? Thanks as always, Jason.

[dalpony]

Thank you JasonB - I know we all appreciate your analysis