Our Offense

[FUBeAR]

Bear, I’m kinda with the other posters on this cluster f. Tell me I’m wrong but is the backside guard standing up like he’s in pass pro before he pulls? Something is seriously wrong here. Plus, as other posters have said better than me. We are either slow or weak or both. Wtf? We’re getting thrashed here.

I believe Coach Hendrix said on his show this week...that on Defense, you can have 3 guys in the secondary blow their coverage, but you get a sack & everyone thinks the D is AMAZING.

On Offense, if 1 Player doesn’t get his job done, then the entire O usually looks like a “cluster f.” And, it doesn’t have to be the same guy every play, of course. You could run 11 plays, have a different guy screw up on each play and be rock-solid perfect on the other 10 plays...and the Offense get destroyed every one of those 11 plays and we would watch that and say the whole Offense is ‘turrible.’...but they would each grade out at 91%.

We know it may have been better if the TE in the b/s OT spot would have turned back...and it may have been a mental bust. I’m not going to ‘call out’ the other issue...but we’ve broken it down enough to see/know it.

Just an example of what I’m talking about above. Mercer ‘s O looked like week-old dog poop against VMI, but as I was watching that game live, I kept seeing Mercer OLinemen winning battles at the LOS..or at least getting stalemates (which can be good enough). So, I used my ESPN+ Replay & my +10/-10 and watched every Player / every Play ... the way I would grade film. Their OL actually played very well against a tough VMI D, but that O’s running game is designed to have a lot of smaller guys (backs ) throwing key blocks at the point of attack. They just weren’t getting it done...but it looked fix-able & it looked they were working on their angles, leverage, and footwork during the game to be able to make those blocks. Look, the Bears didn’t run for much on FU’s excellent D either, but they ran well enough (because of improved RB blocking) to maintain a run threat, avoid repetitive 3 & outs, and keep the D off the field. They did none of those things vs. VMI...and got whipped because of it.

Point is...FU’s challenges on O may not be as BIG as they seem right now, but they also may be harder to fix than the example above. Very smart Coaches on the FU staff. They’ll get it right to beat the bellhops & come back strong in the Fall.

[FUBeAR]

Here's another I've watched a few times.

What exactly are we doing here?

Ok, there's a little stunt up front that forces our center to make a difficult block and gets Bell off his line.

Outside of that, I have no idea what the plan was here. I guess just hope Dejuan Bell could outrun the defense.

We make the creative decision to leave the defensive left unblocked, then pull two additional blockers to run right by those guys, and then send the ball carrier right at them.

We do get two linemen to the second level, though. Still missed the block on the eventual tackler, but I guess we got there.

The best block on UTC that play was thrown by the ref at the end of the play. He's about the only one that neutralized anybody.

1st steps & attack angles for OLmen are very important. Play was dead as soon as penetration in A gap forced ball carrier to get depth. No way of knowing how that play would have turned out if that penetration doesn’t happen. No need to analyze it any further.

[The Jackal]

No doubt a difficult block for the center.

[Furmanoid]

Bear, I’m kinda with the other posters on this cluster f. Tell me I’m wrong but is the backside guard standing up like he’s in pass pro before he pulls? Something is seriously wrong here. Plus, as other posters have said better than me. We are either slow or weak or both. Wtf? We’re getting thrashed here.

I believe Coach Hendrix said on his show this week...that on Defense, you can have 3 guys in the secondary blow their coverage, but you get a sack & everyone thinks the D is AMAZING.

On Offense, if 1 Player doesn’t get his job done, then the entire O usually looks like a “cluster f.” And, it doesn’t have to be the same guy every play, of course. You could run 11 plays, have a different guy screw up on each play and be rock-solid perfect on the other 10 plays...and the Offense get destroyed every one of those 11 plays and we would watch that and say the whole Offense is ‘turrible.’...but they would each grade out at 91%.

We know it may have been better if the TE in the b/s OT spot would have turned back...and it may have been a mental bust. I’m not going to ‘call out’ the other issue...but we’ve broken it down enough to see/know it.

Just an example of what I’m talking about above. Mercer ‘s O looked like week-old dog poop against VMI, but as I was watching that game live, I kept seeing Mercer OLinemen winning battles at the LOS..or at least getting stalemates (which can be good enough). So, I used my ESPN+ Replay & my +10/-10 and watched every Player / every Play ... the way I would grade film. Their OL actually played very well against a tough VMI D, but that O’s running game is designed to have a lot of smaller guys (backs ) throwing key blocks at the point of attack. They just weren’t getting it done...but it looked fix-able & it looked they were working on their angles, leverage, and footwork during the game to be able to make those blocks. Look, the Bears didn’t run for much on FU’s excellent D either, but they ran well enough (because of improved RB blocking) to maintain a run threat, avoid repetitive 3 & outs, and keep the D off the field. They did none of those things vs. VMI...and got whipped because of it.

Point is...FU’s challenges on O may not be as BIG as they seem right now, but they also may be harder to fix than the example above. Very smart Coaches on the FU staff. They’ll get it right to beat the bellhops & come back strong in the Fall.

But if your play design is so delicate that one screw up anywhere on the line blows up every play, that just doesn’t seem smart. Somebody screws up every play. The more challenging their assignments, the more often they screw up. I didn’t want to believe this, but I’m persuaded that 2 or 3 of our OL guys just aren’t very good. We shouldn’t run a single play that takes those guys out of their comfort zone. The weak links should be making the simplest, easiest possible block on every play. It’s rec league 101 where half your OL is on strike because they think they should be QB. You just work around the malcontents and rely on the two oddballs who like playing OL. It seems like our coaches are just assuming our guys are going to get better. When? How? A big guy with bad feet is a big guy with bad feet. I don’t think you can fix that. You have to play with the team you’ve got.

[The Jackal]

Bear, I’m kinda with the other posters on this cluster f. Tell me I’m wrong but is the backside guard standing up like he’s in pass pro before he pulls? Something is seriously wrong here. Plus, as other posters have said better than me. We are either slow or weak or both. Wtf? We’re getting thrashed here.

I believe Coach Hendrix said on his show this week...that on Defense, you can have 3 guys in the secondary blow their coverage, but you get a sack & everyone thinks the D is AMAZING.

On Offense, if 1 Player doesn’t get his job done, then the entire O usually looks like a “cluster f.” And, it doesn’t have to be the same guy every play, of course. You could run 11 plays, have a different guy screw up on each play and be rock-solid perfect on the other 10 plays...and the Offense get destroyed every one of those 11 plays and we would watch that and say the whole Offense is ‘turrible.’...but they would each grade out at 91%.

We know it may have been better if the TE in the b/s OT spot would have turned back...and it may have been a mental bust. I’m not going to ‘call out’ the other issue...but we’ve broken it down enough to see/know it.

Just an example of what I’m talking about above. Mercer ‘s O looked like week-old dog poop against VMI, but as I was watching that game live, I kept seeing Mercer OLinemen winning battles at the LOS..or at least getting stalemates (which can be good enough). So, I used my ESPN+ Replay & my +10/-10 and watched every Player / every Play ... the way I would grade film. Their OL actually played very well against a tough VMI D, but that O’s running game is designed to have a lot of smaller guys (backs ) throwing key blocks at the point of attack. They just weren’t getting it done...but it looked fix-able & it looked they were working on their angles, leverage, and footwork during the game to be able to make those blocks. Look, the Bears didn’t run for much on FU’s excellent D either, but they ran well enough (because of improved RB blocking) to maintain a run threat, avoid repetitive 3 & outs, and keep the D off the field. They did none of those things vs. VMI...and got whipped because of it.

Point is...FU’s challenges on O may not be as BIG as they seem right now, but they also may be harder to fix than the example above. Very smart Coaches on the FU staff. They’ll get it right to beat the bellhops & come back strong in the Fall.

But if your play design is so delicate that one screw up anywhere on the line blows up every play, that just doesn’t seem smart. Somebody screws up every play. The more challenging their assignments, the more often they screw up. I didn’t want to believe this, but I’m persuaded that 2 or 3 of our OL guys just aren’t very good. We shouldn’t run a single play that takes those guys out of their comfort zone. The weak links should be making the simplest, easiest possible block on every play. It’s rec league 101 where half your OL is on strike because they think they should be QB. You just work around the malcontents and rely on the two oddballs who like playing OL. It seems like our coaches are just assuming our guys are going to get better. When? How? A big guy with bad feet is a big guy with bad feet. I don’t think you can fix that. You have to play with the team you’ve got.

I guess that is my fundamental question.

Is this a lack of talent? I'm inclined to think not. Most of these guys came highly recruited.

Are we running a system that requires such precision and that minor screw ups are magnified?

Are we trying too hard on offense? I mean, on the 2nd and 2 play against Mercer, we run a naked boot pass give up a sack for a big loss. Why not just hand the ball to Devin Wynn and plow ahead for two yards?

We are playing back on our heels on offense. Afraid to make a mistake. Not attacking. Missing assignments. I think Hendrix has already noted that we put "too much in," leading me to believe he recognizes that we have over-complicated the offense.

At this point, I'd be happy to see us go back to basics and demonstrate the ability run the basics. When we show that, then let's increase the difficulty.

[Furmanoid]

That’s what I hoped we would do, but I’m not seeing any indication of that happening. Are we going to wait and try to simplify things during those few weeks of summer practice? I don’t think we are. So hopefully some super efficient drills will be employed so these guys make drastic improvement and do a much better job running the same stuff. Then we can praise the coaches for sticking to their guns.

But if we don’t change the offense and guys don’t show DRASTIC improvement, we may have a real bad Fall. Then we can slam the coaches form being stubborn.

[Paul C]

Are we trying too hard on offense? I mean, on the 2nd and 2 play against Mercer, we run a naked boot pass give up a sack for a big loss. Why not just hand the ball to Devin Wynn and plow ahead for two yards?

because maybe they're listening to the folks on this message board

[FUBeAR]

Are we trying too hard on offense? I mean, on the 2nd and 2 play against Mercer, we run a naked boot pass give up a sack for a big loss. Why not just hand the ball to Devin Wynn and plow ahead for two yards?

because maybe they're listening to the folks on this message board

Yeah - I’m out - tried to give the peeps here a bit of insight into how very small details can derail a play / a plan / a game / an Offense. Hope it was helpful, but will (try to) leave future commentary to the experts.

[curiousfan]

As a fan...it is ok to question schemes, personnel, on field performance, etc....doesn’t mean the world is ending, we are panicking, we aren’t fans of the program...it just means the program needs self evaluation/self scouting and get it fixed...it’s obvious things on offense that we keep tip toeing around....GO GET US SOME DUDES at WR

[The Jackal]

Are we trying too hard on offense? I mean, on the 2nd and 2 play against Mercer, we run a naked boot pass give up a sack for a big loss. Why not just hand the ball to Devin Wynn and plow ahead for two yards?

because maybe they're listening to the folks on this message board

Yeah - I’m out - tried to give the peeps here a bit of insight into how very small details can derail a play / a plan / a game / an Offense. Hope it was helpful, but will (try to) leave future commentary to the experts.

We've got experts running the offense, and we are struggling to move the ball 10 yards. So, it's all relative at this point.

[FUBeAR]

I mean, just my casual observation is there was no need to pull on that play. There was a hole, the play side OT blocks his man out, and the fullback needs to run up and put a hat on the linebacker.

I then wonder if we are confused. Pulling a veteran RG into the fullback feels like someone screwed up. Either the guard wasn't supposed to pull, or the fullback ran the wrong way. Either way, I'm quite certain Coach Quarles didn't design the play for the fullbacks and offensive lineman to run into each other or block the same man.

I'd feel somewhat differently if this play design was complex, but it really isn't.

A-Gap Power - pretty good scheme. NDSU has won a few Football games running a near-steady diet of it. No (major) mental errors in that clip.

One variation below...assignments depend on formations /alignments, but you can see the ‘theme’ from this play diagram...

Did someone mention A-Gap Power & NDSU?

[The Jackal]

Good things happen when you block the right guys and run through the correct hole.

[FUBeAR]

Good things happen when you block the right guys and run through the correct hole.

...and use effective technique/footwork to do it.

[Sad Din]

Good things happen when you block the right guys and run through the correct hole.

and dont get called on 3 holding penalties!

[Furmanoid]

Good things happen when you block the right guys and run through the correct hole.

Also helps when the whole DL slants out of the play. And the NDSU guy pulls faster in slo mo than ours do real time.