Former Hurricanes wide receiver Ahmmon Richards pulled out the telestrator on Pitt's loss at Boston College, and here's the full session.
This is first-and-10, first play of the game, and they're going to take a shot. Talk about getting a younger guy into the game. What better way to start than letting him gun it 40, 50 yards down the field?
Boston College is in Cover 4, so they run a Cover 4 beater. They know the safety is the guy they're targeting, and the quarterback is looking right at him. The inside receiver runs an in-breaking route, and the receiver you can't see on the screen runs a deep post behind it. The outside corner turns it into man and picks up the outside receiver. The inside safety picks up the 10-yard dig. That creates a one-on-one opportunity on the perimeter. That's what happens when you identify the other team's tendencies based off their coverage shells.
First play of the game. You do not want to see that in Hard Rock. For the chat, we're not really a Cover 4 team, so I doubt they dial up that exact deep post. But when you put stuff on film, I'm going to take your word for it that you may try to use it in a different formation. They ran a similar concept later off a Cover 3 beater. Both were deep posts, just from different parts of the field.
Pitt does a really good job of bringing pressure. When they play man coverage, if you really watch, they're sitting on pretty much all the routes. And they're going to bring pressure right up the A-gap to challenge the guards. I anticipate them doing the same thing to us, because our quote-unquote weakness so far this season has been the interior of the offensive line.
So you're going to get pressure from the Will and the Mike right up the A-gap. They put two blitzers on one guy, and he has to pick one, which means somebody's coming free. On the perimeter, it's man across the board.
They sit on routes because they know the ball has to come out fast. This is where defensive IQ comes in. You shouldn't be bailing when you know the guy has to get rid of it. Obviously you have to backpedal, but you shouldn't be 30 yards off when the quarterback has to throw within a second.
That's what happens here. He's forced to throw it, he throws a high ball over the middle, and somehow it's not picked off. I highlight this because Pitt should have had two picks in this game. They got one later. This was one of the easiest picks that player will ever see, and he found a way to drop it.
But this is what they're trying to create, and it's what they'll want to do to Mensah. Put pressure on him and make him make mistakes. I really believe that pick he threw against Florida State, one of those "why did you throw it" moments, is something they'll look at. If we put enough pressure on him, will he do that again? Let's bring pressure and see if he makes a bonehead mistake.
Pitt brings one, two, three, four, five, six, and Boston College blocks six. A hat for a hat. What Pitt is banking on is all these one-on-one matchups across the board. That's their style. They believe their D-line and their players are better than yours, and they're going to bank on that.
Look at the down and distance. Fourth-and-8, money down. They're not going to sit in coverage and let you throw on them. They're going to bring pressure, speed up your clock and make you get the ball out fast.
BC did a really good job here. They run a simple speed-out concept: verticals, speed outs, outside release. Great ball by the quarterback. He understands the blitz is coming and you cannot hold the football. That was a great counter. Get the ball out fast and get it to your playmakers in space. If this was us, you're looking at Malachi Toney catching the ball in space.
You have to have answers for the test. You have to understand tendencies and get the ball out.
So here's an empty look again, and instead of bringing pressure, they run their Cover 2. You get zone drops across the board. Look at the eyes. The corners' eyes are all in the backfield, and he has the deep middle. He doesn't have a hook. This is a very hard defense to throw on.
Now, there are opportunities. We saw it with Florida State, where Malachi Toney ran a seam, a go route slash seam right up the middle of the defense. You should get outside releases, either comebacks or go routes from the outside receivers, to pull these safeties.
And this ties back to our third-down defense, where teams have been able to convert. That's why I keep mentioning Cover 2. If the quarterback gets the ball out on third-and-long and throws a check down, we come up, swarm to the football and get off the field. When you blitz, you leave a void in the zone. That's why I like Cover 2 in certain situations, especially long passing downs. I think we can do a really good job in that situation coming up and tackling the football.
Boston College recognized there was nothing down the field. Take your five yards, take what you can get and keep the drive alive. That's how you stop the big plays.
DMoney: Let me ask you, Ahmmon, on the Cover 2. How often do they mix it in? You mentioned it's situational, some of the passing downs, because their run defense is No. 1 in the country by a lot. And the weakness when you have those two safeties back is the running game, right? So how do they mix that in and keep that elite run defense while also being able to play these kinds of coverages?
Ahmmon: Right now they're in empty, so there's absolutely no way you're going to run the football. Also, I forgot to mention while we're here: we talked about stunting last week. Take a look at what's going on up front, and why they're running Cover 2.
When it's third-and-long or second-and-long, I noticed they love going Cover 2 or Cover 4. They'll go Cover 3 as well. But that Cover 2, later in the game, they run it in the red zone and it actually benefits them. They get an interception in the red zone running Cover 2. So on passing downs, I expect some sort of Cover 2, and you're going to get some stunting up front. I really believe you're going to see a lot of stunts this game, based off last game.
DMoney: And they're getting pressure with four on those stunts and playing Cover 2. That's a tough deal for Mensah, right?
Ahmmon: Yeah. And we should do the same on defense. Create pressure. On passing downs, let's run a little stunt. Let's do what other teams are doing to our offense, because it's having some success and causing a few problems. I'd steal a page out of some teams' books here and there.
Here's play action on second-and-4. For a lot of teams, second-and-4 is a running down. You make it third-and-manageable or try to pick up the first. They go play action instead. You get a hook route that freezes the safety, and they run a deep post right over the top. That puts this guy on an island, and you've got one-on-one at the bottom of the screen.
That's what I mean: you've got some guys playing zone and some playing man. I don't know what they're doing here. The underneath defenders don't have anyone. They just zone drop. This receiver gets absolutely cooked at the line of scrimmage and runs an inside go route. The quarterback had two guys open. He had the go route for a touchdown, or he had the deep post. He took the deep post.
No. 17 has cement feet. I don't know what his 40-yard dash time is, but he ain't the fastest guy, and he's been getting cooked all game. No. 12 is a really good player. I like 12. But 17 is the guy I think we want to mark and take advantage of. Explosive plays down the field: that's what we're going to see, and that's what we need to see Saturday.
We have to be smart and disciplined. We have to ID the Mike and know who we're blocking. We have to keep Mensah clean, because like we saw with Florida State, the only way they have a chance is to get Mensah off his game or get after our quarterback.
On defense, we have to be sound in our zone drops and make this young guy beat us with his arm. We have to keep him contained in the pocket. He has some mobility. He's not the fastest guy, but he's a skilled four-sport athlete. He can move. He's not a statue at all. So we have to do a really good job of hiding our looks, not showing our hand too early, and creating turnovers. I think if we create turnovers, it shouldn't be close. And get off the field on third down. That's a big one.
Watch the full session on the CanesInsight YouTube channel, and subscribe so you catch Dr. AR in the lab every week.
Pitt's Opening Shot Play
Ahmmon: We're going to start with Pitt's offense, then rotate through their offense and defense. They come out in a two-by-two. Like I was saying earlier, they don't do a lot of pre-snap motion, so we can probably blitz.This is first-and-10, first play of the game, and they're going to take a shot. Talk about getting a younger guy into the game. What better way to start than letting him gun it 40, 50 yards down the field?
Boston College is in Cover 4, so they run a Cover 4 beater. They know the safety is the guy they're targeting, and the quarterback is looking right at him. The inside receiver runs an in-breaking route, and the receiver you can't see on the screen runs a deep post behind it. The outside corner turns it into man and picks up the outside receiver. The inside safety picks up the 10-yard dig. That creates a one-on-one opportunity on the perimeter. That's what happens when you identify the other team's tendencies based off their coverage shells.
First play of the game. You do not want to see that in Hard Rock. For the chat, we're not really a Cover 4 team, so I doubt they dial up that exact deep post. But when you put stuff on film, I'm going to take your word for it that you may try to use it in a different formation. They ran a similar concept later off a Cover 3 beater. Both were deep posts, just from different parts of the field.
Pitt's defense: pressure and man across the board
Ahmmon: Now let's get on their defense for a second. Boston College comes out in empty, which means there's no running back in the backfield. The running back is split out here.Pitt does a really good job of bringing pressure. When they play man coverage, if you really watch, they're sitting on pretty much all the routes. And they're going to bring pressure right up the A-gap to challenge the guards. I anticipate them doing the same thing to us, because our quote-unquote weakness so far this season has been the interior of the offensive line.
So you're going to get pressure from the Will and the Mike right up the A-gap. They put two blitzers on one guy, and he has to pick one, which means somebody's coming free. On the perimeter, it's man across the board.
They sit on routes because they know the ball has to come out fast. This is where defensive IQ comes in. You shouldn't be bailing when you know the guy has to get rid of it. Obviously you have to backpedal, but you shouldn't be 30 yards off when the quarterback has to throw within a second.
That's what happens here. He's forced to throw it, he throws a high ball over the middle, and somehow it's not picked off. I highlight this because Pitt should have had two picks in this game. They got one later. This was one of the easiest picks that player will ever see, and he found a way to drop it.
But this is what they're trying to create, and it's what they'll want to do to Mensah. Put pressure on him and make him make mistakes. I really believe that pick he threw against Florida State, one of those "why did you throw it" moments, is something they'll look at. If we put enough pressure on him, will he do that again? Let's bring pressure and see if he makes a bonehead mistake.
Six on six, and the answer
Ahmmon: Staying on Pitt's defense: you get a lot of man coverage and man blitzes. Man here, man there, a lurker in the middle of the field, man across the board. If the running back stays in, his man is blitzing, and he's probably blitzing anyway. That's why BC kept the running back in this time instead of going empty.Pitt brings one, two, three, four, five, six, and Boston College blocks six. A hat for a hat. What Pitt is banking on is all these one-on-one matchups across the board. That's their style. They believe their D-line and their players are better than yours, and they're going to bank on that.
Look at the down and distance. Fourth-and-8, money down. They're not going to sit in coverage and let you throw on them. They're going to bring pressure, speed up your clock and make you get the ball out fast.
BC did a really good job here. They run a simple speed-out concept: verticals, speed outs, outside release. Great ball by the quarterback. He understands the blitz is coming and you cannot hold the football. That was a great counter. Get the ball out fast and get it to your playmakers in space. If this was us, you're looking at Malachi Toney catching the ball in space.
You have to have answers for the test. You have to understand tendencies and get the ball out.
Cover 2 on passing downs
Ahmmon: I mentioned Cover 2 earlier today. I love Cover 2 defense in college football. A lot of these younger quarterbacks struggle with it because the windows are smaller. You have to throw into tight windows, and you have to have the guts to do it.So here's an empty look again, and instead of bringing pressure, they run their Cover 2. You get zone drops across the board. Look at the eyes. The corners' eyes are all in the backfield, and he has the deep middle. He doesn't have a hook. This is a very hard defense to throw on.
Now, there are opportunities. We saw it with Florida State, where Malachi Toney ran a seam, a go route slash seam right up the middle of the defense. You should get outside releases, either comebacks or go routes from the outside receivers, to pull these safeties.
And this ties back to our third-down defense, where teams have been able to convert. That's why I keep mentioning Cover 2. If the quarterback gets the ball out on third-and-long and throws a check down, we come up, swarm to the football and get off the field. When you blitz, you leave a void in the zone. That's why I like Cover 2 in certain situations, especially long passing downs. I think we can do a really good job in that situation coming up and tackling the football.
Boston College recognized there was nothing down the field. Take your five yards, take what you can get and keep the drive alive. That's how you stop the big plays.
DMoney: Let me ask you, Ahmmon, on the Cover 2. How often do they mix it in? You mentioned it's situational, some of the passing downs, because their run defense is No. 1 in the country by a lot. And the weakness when you have those two safeties back is the running game, right? So how do they mix that in and keep that elite run defense while also being able to play these kinds of coverages?
Ahmmon: Right now they're in empty, so there's absolutely no way you're going to run the football. Also, I forgot to mention while we're here: we talked about stunting last week. Take a look at what's going on up front, and why they're running Cover 2.
When it's third-and-long or second-and-long, I noticed they love going Cover 2 or Cover 4. They'll go Cover 3 as well. But that Cover 2, later in the game, they run it in the red zone and it actually benefits them. They get an interception in the red zone running Cover 2. So on passing downs, I expect some sort of Cover 2, and you're going to get some stunting up front. I really believe you're going to see a lot of stunts this game, based off last game.
DMoney: And they're getting pressure with four on those stunts and playing Cover 2. That's a tough deal for Mensah, right?
Ahmmon: Yeah. And we should do the same on defense. Create pressure. On passing downs, let's run a little stunt. Let's do what other teams are doing to our offense, because it's having some success and causing a few problems. I'd steal a page out of some teams' books here and there.
Shot plays at the safeties
Ahmmon Richards: We talked about shot plays. There's an opportunity for us to take advantage of Pitt's safeties. They're not the fastest, and they're not the best cover guys at all.Here's play action on second-and-4. For a lot of teams, second-and-4 is a running down. You make it third-and-manageable or try to pick up the first. They go play action instead. You get a hook route that freezes the safety, and they run a deep post right over the top. That puts this guy on an island, and you've got one-on-one at the bottom of the screen.
That's what I mean: you've got some guys playing zone and some playing man. I don't know what they're doing here. The underneath defenders don't have anyone. They just zone drop. This receiver gets absolutely cooked at the line of scrimmage and runs an inside go route. The quarterback had two guys open. He had the go route for a touchdown, or he had the deep post. He took the deep post.
No. 17 has cement feet. I don't know what his 40-yard dash time is, but he ain't the fastest guy, and he's been getting cooked all game. No. 12 is a really good player. I like 12. But 17 is the guy I think we want to mark and take advantage of. Explosive plays down the field: that's what we're going to see, and that's what we need to see Saturday.
What it all means Saturday
Ahmmon: They run pretty much the same stuff throughout the game, so I didn't want to overkill you with information. You're going to see a lot of Cover 2 and a lot of stunting when they run their zone coverages. They're going to send a lot of pressure. They'll send eight when you can only block seven, and six when you can only block five.We have to be smart and disciplined. We have to ID the Mike and know who we're blocking. We have to keep Mensah clean, because like we saw with Florida State, the only way they have a chance is to get Mensah off his game or get after our quarterback.
On defense, we have to be sound in our zone drops and make this young guy beat us with his arm. We have to keep him contained in the pocket. He has some mobility. He's not the fastest guy, but he's a skilled four-sport athlete. He can move. He's not a statue at all. So we have to do a really good job of hiding our looks, not showing our hand too early, and creating turnovers. I think if we create turnovers, it shouldn't be close. And get off the field on third down. That's a big one.
Watch the full session on the CanesInsight YouTube channel, and subscribe so you catch Dr. AR in the lab every week.
