Offensive play by play

JTrain

JTrain

New member
1st half

Overall, Michigan State was aggressive on defense and got progressively more so as they realized how limited we were. We couldn't find a way to make them pay. Beck was basically using the quick screen game as our running game, but there was no deep threat and no testing the middle of the field. Tommy was inaccurate, which I think was partially due to the types of throws he was asked to make.

Our pass blocking was poor. Several times our tackles were blown by on the corner and several times they flat out missed assignments (coaching). Beck kept 6-7 blockers in several times, leaving fewer receiving options, while MSU usually only rushed four. The problem was that their four was still consistently beating our 6-7 due to blocks being completely missed or assignments blown. This meant we were getting the double whammy of not much time to pass and not many options to pass to (against seven or more in coverage).

Our run blocking was poor. A few times we just missed blocks but more often we were not holding blocks long enough or getting pushed back. Our running plays were very straightforward and the linebackers did not hesitate much. Their front 6-7 attacked aggressively and we gave them no reason not to. We very rarely attempted misdirection and I don't believe we ran one HB screen or QB draw in the first half.

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Second half to come, maybe.

 
I guess I disagree with your 2nd and 4th pictures.

2nd: There is still 3 defenders out there, the one by the X and the two further out. 3 DB's on 2 Wr's and a QB...advantage still them. As for a misdirection, you can't judge that by the picture. The defense would have reacted differently and would be in 100% different spots.

4th: We had just taken the shot on 2nd down and they covered it well. Take another on 3rd and if we don't get it we punt from the 2 instead of the 5. The run was the right call.

Pictures 1 and 3 are the offensive line just getting beat, mentally and physically.

 
2nd picture was just to show how aggressive their pursuit was right at the hand-off. They weren't concerned about a play action over the middle. Westy against the safety or perhaps the tight end against a linebacker was a possibility most of the night. Play-side safety was five yards from the LOS at the hand-off.

4th picture was just to show how close Ameer was to breaking a 98-yard run. Wasn't suggesting any alternative play call.

 
Yeah. Watched the game w my dad.

After the second series he said, "they have our offensive line completely confused. And beck has no schematic answer as far as roll out passes, misdirection, or bootlegs. Not only that it's going to be a LONG night because we run no midfield crossing routes and Armstrong isn't accurate enough to hit em anyway."

Literally the first half played out exactly like that.

I used to think e never ran roll out passes or true traps and counters because of something that had to do with Martinez. But now? I see it's just not in his philosophy.

As aggressive as their front four were, let em up field and trap em or run some sprint draws to the edge. A counter screen could been nice too. IDK, just not a lot of basic, fundamental, "keep a defense honest" type plays.

 
JTrain said:
2nd picture was just to show how aggressive their pursuit was right at the hand-off. They weren't concerned about a play action over the middle. Westy against the safety or perhaps the tight end against a linebacker was a possibility most of the night. Play-side safety was five yards from the LOS at the hand-off.

4th picture was just to show how close Ameer was to breaking a 98-yard run. Wasn't suggesting any alternative play call.
Click to expand...
Ah gotcha, I was just trying to interpret what you meant by the pictures. I agree with the play action over the middle and we figured that out in the second half. Agree on Ameer too, that's just an All-American Safety making a good 1 v 1 tackle.

 
#1: Have to wonder what the LG is doing there. Our interior line play kinda looked like this all night, I think. Except for the end -- where I wonder what happened, too.

#2: This does look like a hat-on-hat play. I think I remember seeing this one live and thinking, our line is not getting to the edge faster than the D is. This play looks both poorly executed, and poorly drawn up.

#3: Wow! Also, this is one of the plays on which RT #57 may as well have not been there.

#4: No complaints with running in this situation. I'm not sure I'd call this close to breaking a 98-yard run, though.

 
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Further shows Beck is out of his league. This board has discussed to death the types of plays one can use to counter their D. Unfortunately, he didn't try any of these until the 4th quarter and then only out of desperation.

We got out played and out coached.

Our OL plain was pathetic. There was nothing redeeming with their play. No bright spot. No foundation to build on.

Bo, IMO, needs to really look at bringing in a new OC and OL coach (Garrison and Cotton). Get a guy who can actually coach a QB. TA has athleticism and heart. Stuff you can't teach. If he could learn to "look off" a safety to freeze them, go through reads or even pump the ball to make a DB bite it would be a great improvement. To see him stare down a receiver while Westy is open (or other receiver) after several games shows that Beck isn't improving his quality of play, teaching him or has no idea how to fix it.

Some will say that Beck can only call so much and the guys need to perform, but after 4 years, this dumpster fire that was last night is on him.

 
Beck's smart and he's the top assistant we have on our staff. We really want to have the best coaches top to bottom we can, so unless Bo gets canned or we bring in a guy and a full set of new assistants, I'm quite against this.

We're going to get nowhere trading out assets when get-after-it coaches and ace recruiters like Beck are already hard to come by here.

A lot of people are pining for a QB coach now, which I do agree we need. We had a nationally respected one, and essentially let him go for Jon Garrison.

Most of our assistants have been here for several years now. I think it should be an annual thing that you look at every position on the staff, identify the value they bring coaching and recruiting, and actively search for improvement everywhere you can.

What's the point of "cohesion" anyway, if as I've read previously, Beck is having to struggle to teach half of his position coaches -- who he doesn't choose -- how to teach his offense? We have to fire on all cylinders.

 
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First Possession:

1&10, +30; TA under center with TE & HB right, Bell in motion - fake the give to Bell, Power G with Cotton pulling but he trips on Moudy

2&10, +30; Pistol TE right - Inside zone left but Cotton gets pushed back and the hole closes

3&11, +31; Shotgun with doubles each way, TE motion right - rollout right, Moore is open on an out for a first down but TA short hops it to him

So we tried AA twice, once with one TE, once with two but didn't get anywhere. Called a play and got a receiver open that would have been a first down on a relatively easy pass with little pressure but TA misses the pass.

 
Second Possession - 1st Q, 12:32

1&10 -34, shotgun, TE left - Zone read that Calhoun plays well. TA probably should have kept as Calhoun was square but closing down and made the tackle on AA

2&8 -36, shotgun, doubles both sides - playaction, pass complete to Janovich out of the slot

1&10 +48, shotgun, TE left - playaction, TA pressured but gets it out to Westerkamp who makes a great diving catch

2&4 +44, pistol HB with trips left - zone read but MSU runs a double LB A gap blitz. Just the perfect call against that play

3&6 +46, pistol, doubles both sides, AA motions to trips right - This is pic 3 in the OP. MSU shows blitzing seven but the rest drop out and they only bring two. Streup has a guy head up on him and a guy outside at the snap. He properly looks to the inside guy first but then #44 stops and by that time #43 is past him. With no back to help, the QB really has to be ready to throw this ball immediately. He might not have any receivers that looked to help him out either but it just needs to be thrown over someone's head and out of bounds.

So we kept trying AA but they played one well and had the perfect call the second time. We ran play-action twice with good results and then didn't handle a blitz look.

 
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