Thoughts on the WTF OMG game
Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2022 12:57 pmI clearly have issues. I only caught part of the game live because my son had a play on Thursday evening. And yet, having seen the early game, and knowing the final score, I still sat down on Friday and watched the entire game.
This was a disaster from the start. It was awful. It was very clear that we didn't have a good practice week and didn't handle the double away game quick turnaround well, at all. It was also very clear that Tulane had been targeting this game for a while and were very, very well prepared to play against our defense. They knew what we were running a lot. When we ran out of the pistol to the outside, they all knew what was coming and the whole team exploded to the ball at one. Tulane was really well prepared.
To contain our offense, Tulane played only 6 in the box. But what they did was have their two LBs (they play a 4-2-5, similar to what our base defense is supposed to be) very close to the line. For the most part, our OLine would be okay against their D Line. But as usual, nobody is able to get out to block the second level, and they were right there to make a play. The LBs did a great job of meeting Camar in the hole, for example, and really limited his ability to spring a bigger play. On the first third down of the game, we tried to get to the second level on a run to the left - JT left his guy to get out ahead, and Hickman was supposed to pick up the tackle in front of JT. But Hickman wasn't quick enough, and that tackle blew the play up. The OL has been good against bad defenses, but against good players, they just aren't quite athletic enough to make the plays.
On the second offensive possession, there were a couple of things that started to play out. For the first time in a while, our OL had massive problems in pass protect. Just flat out outmuscled. Event JT at left guard... the DT had long arms and was able to use leverage to push him back. Later in the game, when we got more into pass mode, the tackles started to get beat. It was a really bad day for the OL. But, man, we have to be able to catch the ball. PFF only credited us with 7 drops, but I know they are being nice because they only credited RJ Maryland with one. On the first pass play of the second possession, Tanner throws it low, but Maryland needs to come up with that. On the second, the throw is a little high and wide, but Maryland just throws one hand up at it. If he turns his body and reaches across with both hands, that should be a catch as well.
The drops were just one aspect of the basic fundamentals that we struggled with across the board. The defensive side was even worse. As the season has plugged along, we are playing more and more of a 3 man front with an edge player off the line. It was a big contrast with the more traditional 4-2-5 that Tulane ran out. I really don't like it. We were too spread a lot of the time, got no penetration on the line against either the run or the path, and it was just too easy for Tulane to double someone on the DL and nobody was there to fill a gap. On the first play of the game, Slade gambled inside and left the edge wide open - it just wasn't a good decision, and it allwed a huge run. The first TD run - we weren't prepared at all to defend any option or zone read (despite the fact that the QB is mobile and has made plays with is feet all season). The entire team bit on the fake toss and it was an easy score.
On the second drive, on the first play Rogers was not in the right coverage and had his hips turned the wrong way, leading to a big game. The corner fundamentals were terrible all game long, exhibited by the long TD where Hall got busted on the double move and fell down. And then on another big run, Phillips just doesn't read the running play at ALL, is way out of position, so when Aho gets pushed to the side, there is no LB anywhere close, and 22 takes a horrible angle at the ball.... just terrible all the way around. And of course when they finish that second drive off, Westfall gets caught inside and just doesn't even react to the outside run. On a screen for a TD later, we have 4 defenders on the same side of the field as the RB. Nobody goes up to cover him to prevent the pass, and all 4 just kind of don't react to the play and allow him to walk into the endzone.
Here are my takeaways, and some are going to be pretty harsh. I get that this is "one of those days", and that things snowball. But when that stuff happens, you can really tell a lot more about the team than when the other team is inferior.
1) We miss Kaz. This team isn't nearly physical enough on either side of the ball, outside of Lavine. Our new strength coach has a ton of experience at a lot of different programs. So I am willing to say that this is a year 1/transition issue. But with all of the injuries and the lack of physical play... I want to see him prove it is going to get better before spring.
2) Practice needs to ramp it up and be more physical so that we can practice tackling in space. Again, first year for Lashlee, and as a first time head coach, it can be a challenge to get the balance right. But there are too many red jerseys, and not enough live action plays where people are actually tackling. We can't be in a situation where we think the whole season is going to blow up if one guy gets hurt. Practice HARD and next man up. You can't get the kids ready to play if practice isn't played at full speed and everyone is forced to absorb contact and make plays.
3) When Tanner feels right and is fundamentally sound, he is great. When he isn't... he isn't. His feet were all over the place. Some of that was because we were losing the battle at the OL. But he was stepping to the side instead of forward into his throws. It forces you to put more arm effort into the throw, which reduces accuracy and strength, and it also throws your balance off leading to the inaccurate throws that were too often a little low or behind or high and wide. Lots of drops, but TM had a poor game.
4) We are missing good athletic, strong players on the OL. We need at least one dominant guy. We have a bunch of players who are good enough to be okay, but we haven't had a physical dominant season from JT, Osborne, or Bryant, three players who we thought had the chance to have a breakthrough season. On some days, when it is windy, or cold, or the QB is just off his game... you need to be able to mush the other team. We can do that against bad defenses, but haven't shown the ability to establish a consistent running game against a good team all season. Lavine had a wonderful 2nd half effort in this game, but I'm not going to count it because at that point the LBs and S had backed off the line and they were encouraging us to run the ball and eat clock. We need an OL player who can manhandle or get out to the second level.
5) Now that we are out of the conference race and already qualified for a bowl, I want to see us in our base defense. Run the 4-2-5 and get players used to the positions they will be playing as we move forward. With Smith and Samuels, there is no way we are going to NOT want to play with 4 down linemen so that those guys can come off the edge. Smith and Samuels only getting 8 plays each against Tulane is just not good. I respect the seniors, so start Paul and Wiley the next two games, but I want to see a LOT of Smith and Samuels. Start Chatman and Levelston, but I want to see a LOT of Sandjo-Njiki. I know AHO got hype, but he is a tweener with not enough size at tackle and not enough speed on the edge. Play Reid, Phillips, and Slade because they are seniors, but I want to see a LOT of both Burns, Farrar, and Goree. We need more speed at LB, and it is time to see if those guys can play next year, or how hard we need to hit the portal. At corner, we need to play 14 a LOT if he is healthy. And at Safety, Roberts should start as a senior, but I want to see a lot of Moses out there, because he is the future. And I need to see what we have in Adimora.
6) Special Teams. Naviar is supposed to be a genius in this area. Our return game and coverage games are awful. Again, how much are we practicing this at full speed on the fields? I haven't seen much, because we are protecting all of our players from getting hurt.
So, a lot of things coming out of that game. We just need to get this program to a point where it is deep enough that we are able to practice hard all the time. Maybe we need to throw some NIL at the scout team, to encourage more and better skilled walkons. The scout team and walk-on program was something that Sonny really emphasized when he came in, but I have no idea what the state of it is now. But the way we practice needs to get fixed so that the team is more ready to compete against better teams next season. Against weaker opposition, skill players run the show. But when you play against good teams, you have to win at the line of scrimmage, and you have to be able to make defensive plays in space.
This was a disaster from the start. It was awful. It was very clear that we didn't have a good practice week and didn't handle the double away game quick turnaround well, at all. It was also very clear that Tulane had been targeting this game for a while and were very, very well prepared to play against our defense. They knew what we were running a lot. When we ran out of the pistol to the outside, they all knew what was coming and the whole team exploded to the ball at one. Tulane was really well prepared.
To contain our offense, Tulane played only 6 in the box. But what they did was have their two LBs (they play a 4-2-5, similar to what our base defense is supposed to be) very close to the line. For the most part, our OLine would be okay against their D Line. But as usual, nobody is able to get out to block the second level, and they were right there to make a play. The LBs did a great job of meeting Camar in the hole, for example, and really limited his ability to spring a bigger play. On the first third down of the game, we tried to get to the second level on a run to the left - JT left his guy to get out ahead, and Hickman was supposed to pick up the tackle in front of JT. But Hickman wasn't quick enough, and that tackle blew the play up. The OL has been good against bad defenses, but against good players, they just aren't quite athletic enough to make the plays.
On the second offensive possession, there were a couple of things that started to play out. For the first time in a while, our OL had massive problems in pass protect. Just flat out outmuscled. Event JT at left guard... the DT had long arms and was able to use leverage to push him back. Later in the game, when we got more into pass mode, the tackles started to get beat. It was a really bad day for the OL. But, man, we have to be able to catch the ball. PFF only credited us with 7 drops, but I know they are being nice because they only credited RJ Maryland with one. On the first pass play of the second possession, Tanner throws it low, but Maryland needs to come up with that. On the second, the throw is a little high and wide, but Maryland just throws one hand up at it. If he turns his body and reaches across with both hands, that should be a catch as well.
The drops were just one aspect of the basic fundamentals that we struggled with across the board. The defensive side was even worse. As the season has plugged along, we are playing more and more of a 3 man front with an edge player off the line. It was a big contrast with the more traditional 4-2-5 that Tulane ran out. I really don't like it. We were too spread a lot of the time, got no penetration on the line against either the run or the path, and it was just too easy for Tulane to double someone on the DL and nobody was there to fill a gap. On the first play of the game, Slade gambled inside and left the edge wide open - it just wasn't a good decision, and it allwed a huge run. The first TD run - we weren't prepared at all to defend any option or zone read (despite the fact that the QB is mobile and has made plays with is feet all season). The entire team bit on the fake toss and it was an easy score.
On the second drive, on the first play Rogers was not in the right coverage and had his hips turned the wrong way, leading to a big game. The corner fundamentals were terrible all game long, exhibited by the long TD where Hall got busted on the double move and fell down. And then on another big run, Phillips just doesn't read the running play at ALL, is way out of position, so when Aho gets pushed to the side, there is no LB anywhere close, and 22 takes a horrible angle at the ball.... just terrible all the way around. And of course when they finish that second drive off, Westfall gets caught inside and just doesn't even react to the outside run. On a screen for a TD later, we have 4 defenders on the same side of the field as the RB. Nobody goes up to cover him to prevent the pass, and all 4 just kind of don't react to the play and allow him to walk into the endzone.
Here are my takeaways, and some are going to be pretty harsh. I get that this is "one of those days", and that things snowball. But when that stuff happens, you can really tell a lot more about the team than when the other team is inferior.
1) We miss Kaz. This team isn't nearly physical enough on either side of the ball, outside of Lavine. Our new strength coach has a ton of experience at a lot of different programs. So I am willing to say that this is a year 1/transition issue. But with all of the injuries and the lack of physical play... I want to see him prove it is going to get better before spring.
2) Practice needs to ramp it up and be more physical so that we can practice tackling in space. Again, first year for Lashlee, and as a first time head coach, it can be a challenge to get the balance right. But there are too many red jerseys, and not enough live action plays where people are actually tackling. We can't be in a situation where we think the whole season is going to blow up if one guy gets hurt. Practice HARD and next man up. You can't get the kids ready to play if practice isn't played at full speed and everyone is forced to absorb contact and make plays.
3) When Tanner feels right and is fundamentally sound, he is great. When he isn't... he isn't. His feet were all over the place. Some of that was because we were losing the battle at the OL. But he was stepping to the side instead of forward into his throws. It forces you to put more arm effort into the throw, which reduces accuracy and strength, and it also throws your balance off leading to the inaccurate throws that were too often a little low or behind or high and wide. Lots of drops, but TM had a poor game.
4) We are missing good athletic, strong players on the OL. We need at least one dominant guy. We have a bunch of players who are good enough to be okay, but we haven't had a physical dominant season from JT, Osborne, or Bryant, three players who we thought had the chance to have a breakthrough season. On some days, when it is windy, or cold, or the QB is just off his game... you need to be able to mush the other team. We can do that against bad defenses, but haven't shown the ability to establish a consistent running game against a good team all season. Lavine had a wonderful 2nd half effort in this game, but I'm not going to count it because at that point the LBs and S had backed off the line and they were encouraging us to run the ball and eat clock. We need an OL player who can manhandle or get out to the second level.
5) Now that we are out of the conference race and already qualified for a bowl, I want to see us in our base defense. Run the 4-2-5 and get players used to the positions they will be playing as we move forward. With Smith and Samuels, there is no way we are going to NOT want to play with 4 down linemen so that those guys can come off the edge. Smith and Samuels only getting 8 plays each against Tulane is just not good. I respect the seniors, so start Paul and Wiley the next two games, but I want to see a LOT of Smith and Samuels. Start Chatman and Levelston, but I want to see a LOT of Sandjo-Njiki. I know AHO got hype, but he is a tweener with not enough size at tackle and not enough speed on the edge. Play Reid, Phillips, and Slade because they are seniors, but I want to see a LOT of both Burns, Farrar, and Goree. We need more speed at LB, and it is time to see if those guys can play next year, or how hard we need to hit the portal. At corner, we need to play 14 a LOT if he is healthy. And at Safety, Roberts should start as a senior, but I want to see a lot of Moses out there, because he is the future. And I need to see what we have in Adimora.
6) Special Teams. Naviar is supposed to be a genius in this area. Our return game and coverage games are awful. Again, how much are we practicing this at full speed on the fields? I haven't seen much, because we are protecting all of our players from getting hurt.
So, a lot of things coming out of that game. We just need to get this program to a point where it is deep enough that we are able to practice hard all the time. Maybe we need to throw some NIL at the scout team, to encourage more and better skilled walkons. The scout team and walk-on program was something that Sonny really emphasized when he came in, but I have no idea what the state of it is now. But the way we practice needs to get fixed so that the team is more ready to compete against better teams next season. Against weaker opposition, skill players run the show. But when you play against good teams, you have to win at the line of scrimmage, and you have to be able to make defensive plays in space.