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Dan Enos preview- CMU vs WKU

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1st play from CMU (9:26ish) - breaks the huddle with 1 RB, 2 TE side-by-side, 2 WR twins - motion WR from twins look to short side, motion both TEs - one to opposite side, one to the backfield as a FB. Playaction rollout on a 15-yard curl and hits the WR who breaks a tackle for a huge gain.

That's Enos' offense in a nutshell lol.

Also want to mention this play because it fits perfectly with the "look complicated, play simple" philosophy that Enos espouses. It's essentially a half-field, high-low read for the QB - easy to read quickly, but it gives the defense a lot of superfluous information to try and decipher pre- and post-snap, and creates single coverage on the WR running the curl. (Also gets the LBs hesitating on the TE drag underneath which was also open.)
 
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I like the play at the 20-minute mark. I-Form, 2 WR twins. WR motions to stacked, quick WR screen picks up a dozen. Simple, but the stacked formation helps the blocking WR get out front quickly without having to adjust angles, and creates another 1-on-1 with the DB. WR makes one move and picks up good yards.
 
General film observations (with the caveat of course that this was 2014 and may not completely reflect Enos' 2019 plans):

- The CMU defense is terrible
- The CMU OL is terrible
- The most ridiculous finish I've seen since the Duke runback - the balls to go for 2 to win it after being down 49-14 at one point. Didn't work out but still - holy crap.


All those things aside, there are some tendencies to gather from Enos' playcalling that jive with what he did later at Arkansas and Bama. None of this is groundbreaking, but it does point to some consistent patterns in offensive philosophy:

- Multiple formations and lots of pre-snap motion - I-form, single back, shotgun, multiple TE, 3-4-5 WR sets all with different splits
- Heavy reliance on playaction
- I-formation is the standard, BUT with RBs and TEs being used in the passing game - think West Coast, not 1990s Big 10.
- Pass heavy offense with the curl and out being staple routes, as well as the deep and shallow cross
- Lots of power/pulling in the run game as well as counters and tosses (seen more at Arky than here)
- Diverse and well-developed screen game, both WR and RB
- Lots of variation on who is staying in to block and who is running routes on any given play


Some real things to look forward to, IMO.
 
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His O is prolly gonna be a bit more advanced at Miami....more motion, shifts etc.....
 
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ghost2 said:
55:13 - blitz-beater shallow cross on 3rd and 7. The kind of play I swore we'd see from Richt based on his track record, but never really did...

60:05 - 4th and 15 and hits a deep cross for a TD.
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do you need a towel after listening to that much Lou Holtz?
 
canes614 said:
His O is prolly gonna be a bit more advanced at Miami....more motion, shifts etc.....
Click to expand...

There were motions and shifts everywhere in this game. I don't think it will be more "advanced" necessarily but some things I saw at Arky/Bama that I didn't see in this game that bode well for Enos' progression as a coordinator

- More spread elements such as jet sweeps, zone/read, RPO, etc. (saw a lot of this in 2015 Arky and 2018 Bama)
- More emphasis on tempo variation
- More variety in the run game - we saw a lot of formations here, but mostly inside zone and some power. Maybe just catering to his RB and OL, but I saw a lot more toss-sweeps, pulling guards, crackbacks, etc. at Arky than here

It's interesting to watch a full CMU game and then compare to just a year later at Arkansas and then again watching Hurts/Tua at Bama. I think it points to the idea that, while Enos definitely has some tendencies and staples, he does grow and adapt his offenses over time. It's kinda cool to watch that progression play out on film.
 
ghost2 said:
General film observations (with the caveat of course that this was 2014 and may not completely reflect Enos' 2019 plans):

- The CMU defense is terrible
- The CMU OL is terrible
- The most ridiculous finish I've seen since the Duke runback - the balls to go for 2 to win it after being down 49-14 at one point. Didn't work out but still - holy crap.


All those things aside, there are some tendencies to gather from Enos' playcalling that jive with what he did later at Arkansas and Bama. None of this is groundbreaking, but it does point to some consistent patterns in offensive philosophy:

- Multiple formations and lots of pre-snap motion - I-form, single back, shotgun, multiple TE, 3-4-5 WR sets all with different splits
- Heavy reliance on playaction
- I-formation is the standard, BUT with RBs and TEs being used in the passing game - think West Coast, not 1990s Big 10.
- Pass heavy offense with the curl and out being staple routes, as well as the deep and shallow cross
- Lots of power/pulling in the run game as well as counters and tosses (seen more at Arky than here)
- Diverse and well-developed screen game, both WR and RB
- Lots of variation on who is staying in to block and who is running routes on any given play
Some real things to look forward to, IMO.
Click to expand...

I think we see more of a CMU offensive scheme at Miami then what Enos ran at Ark or Bama because at those two places he had outstanding OL' were as at Miami so much. Hence the reliance on more motion to gain leverage on defenses. I do think he will incorporate the fly sweep at Miami since he didn't have this much speed at CMU.

Go Canes
 
Paranos said:
I think we see more of a CMU offensive scheme at Miami then what Enos ran at Ark or Bama because at those two places he had outstanding OL' were as at Miami so much. Hence the reliance on more motion to gain leverage on defenses. I do think he will incorporate the fly sweep at Miami since he didn't have this much speed at CMU.

Go Canes
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I understand your point but I think I disagree - sort of. In another thread, someone asked "what can Enos do to help mask our OL deficiencies" and while motion helps, I think some of the wrinkles he added at Arkansas and Bama speak more to what he can do. Yes, he had dominant OL at those two places, but he also implemented a scheme that helped keep that OL out of bad situations. At Arkansas in particular he started really varying his run scheme to help the OL - not just with formations (running out of 3-4 WR sets) but also with misdirection. I didn't see a ton of misdirection at CMU but he started doing some really nice things at Arkansas with getting the D to flow one way then running counter to the flow either with handoffs or pitches or the jet sweep.
 
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Coach Macho said:
An assistant coach told me that our offense is going to look a lot like Alabama's offense last season. (schematically)
That's what they're trying to emulate.
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That's really exciting, and I was really hoping that would be the case, based on our personnel at Miami.
 
Coach Macho said:
An assistant coach told me that our offense is going to look a lot like Alabama's offense last season. (schematically)
That's what they're trying to emulate.
Click to expand...
Was this at Manny Diaz's kegger at the Nike clinic?
 
Looking at some 2018 Bama game tape now - very early thought: think some of the Arky misdirection concepts, but from spread formations.
 


Yes I know Enos wasn't the OC at Bama in 2018, but he was there and from all accounts had a great deal of input on playcalling (to the point where he was going to be Bama's next OC.) . Here are a couple examples of some of the concepts Enos used at Arkansas (motion, playaction) but from a spread look:

2018 Bama v. Ark - 1st play, shotgun, 3 WR - motion TE across formation, playaction rollout to short side, Tua hits TE in stride on the short cross after CB bites on the QB - touchdown.

11:43 - shotgun 3 WR - motion TE to slot giving a 4 WR look, playaction/RPO then hits TE on a skinny post for big yards. Boundary WR ran a short curl and got the CB flat footed.

17:28 - Tua at QB, Hurts in the slot! Motions and takes the jet sweep for 7. Next play Hurts at QB and keeps it on the fake screen for big yards. An example of using personnel to dictate playcalling. Another note on this run - OL running counter blocks to the right allowing Hurts to plant his foot and cut upfield untouched.

18:30 - Very next play after the Hurts run. Tua back at QB. Motion, now FAKE jet sweep belly handoff to the RB. Big hole for 15 yards. This is how you scheme a run game. Set up a tendency, then run counter to that tendency. Great stuff.

19:00 - You guys. Next play - fake jet sweep, fake belly handoff, playaction pass. Eventually Tua finds his checkdown wide open for good yards, but the sequence of plays here is just gorgeous - jet sweep, fake jet/RB counter, fake jet+fake counter playaction pass.

20:10 - under center now. Singleback, 2 TE, 2 WR tight to the formation - look at the close splits - obvious run. Nope, playaction rollout and there's that high-low crossing pattern (both open because of the formation/playaction.) Easy pitch to Jeudy for big yards.

Also WAY more up-tempo stuff here than at any of Enos' previous stops. He's been quoted as saying he wants to be able to dictate everything including tempo - go fast, go slow, go medium - but I would love to see him press the tempo like this when we're eating up chunks of yards and keep the momentum going, especially in the redzone.

More later, but if this is what we want our offense to look like, count me the f@ck in!
 
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