Film Review of GT Game

HurricaneVision

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Nov 16, 2012
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You know the drill, this post will be long. It will contain lots of stills of the game, rather than gifs. If that isn’t for you, no worries. I use stills to show nuance and details that get lost when you see gifs. That doesn’t mean you can’t follow along with the game and see what I’m looking at. These reviews are time consuming, so if you enjoy my work I would appreciate a follow on Twitter [MENTION=5374]HurricaneVision[/MENTION]

Obviously someone has already lost on the kickoff return team, but you can’t let this man run unimpeded right to your returner. Yes, Bradley Jennings (on the ground) blocked the wrong man, and was supposed to block the guy streaking right down the line to tackle our returner, but it’d be nice if we could get this right sometime. #30 is blocking the correct person here, but if he could’ve seen this a tick sooner, maybe he could’ve improvised. Everyone else is doing their job and this could’ve been a nice return if Jennings would just block the guy he’s supposed to.
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First play and wow did Gaynor get bullied. I really wish we had run an out route with Berrios on this play because the CB tipped off that he was going to bail pre-snap with his alignment. You can see the boundary receiver is going to run deep and clear out that zone in the flat. If Berrios is running an out route it’s easy money. Look at the CB in the second pic here and you can see by the way he has his hips turned it would be very difficult for him to get to an out breaking route there. I don’t love our route concepts here, as Berrios runs a post right into the coverage, but I think we were wanting the deep route outside and the coverage broke down. Rosier pulled the ball immediately after being hit by the DT and then turned, tucked the ball, tried to run and just slipped. For all intents and purposes, this drive is over.
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Gaynor does do a nice job pulling on 2nd down, we crash the edge with Herndon, and gain 11 yards on tough running by Homer.

If you’ve read some of these in the past, you know that I consistently note that McDermott bends at the waist, rather than at the knees, which saps his already limited power. The GT DE walks him back into Rosier. You can see here a big flaw that Rosier has, as he has already pulled his eyes down off his receiving targets, is tucking the ball to run at the first sign of pressure. I’d like to see him gain a little more confidence in the pocket to allow plays to develop rather than dropping his eyes and tucking the ball immediately.
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Quick observation on the punt protection unit: We swapped Herndon and Demetrius Jackson as protectors. Last week, when we had a lot of trouble with them splitting the players, they were reversed on their sides. It was a perfect punt as well.
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I’d like to see us playing tighter in the box here. We have seven in the box with a two-deep shell and both corners in off coverage. Against a team like GT, you have to worry about the deep ball in the passing game, I understand that, but I feel like this is a box that ripe to run all over.
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That’s not what happened though. They tried to crash down on the edge and pull the backside G around for counter option. Chad Thomas does exactly what he should do when he sees that G pull, he shoots that gap before the blocker can crash down and starts chasing right behind the G. Harris needs to get upfield and take that pitch then re-trace down to the QB. You actually want to create space and get your hips just past the pitch man. He does that and Thomas makes the tackle for a loss on the play. Textbook start.
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Again, Trent Harris does this perfectly. Lok at how he loops around the QB, rather than running a bee-line straight to him. This takes away the pitch and forces the QB to keep it. This is exactly what we should do all day long against this team. If you are having trouble seeing it, you can see Harris’ arm past the hip of the QB as he re-traces down to sack the QB. Harris got in there so quickly the QB didn’t look to the throw down to #2 on this play.
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Run the dive on 3rd and long and get two yards. Punt time.

This punt is why I’d like to see Berrios return more of them and not fair catch so often. This was a low punt, no doubt about it, but if you saw this screen shot you’d think he is tackled immediately. He makes a few guys miss and returned it to the GT 45. Great return.
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This is just Rosier making a predetermined read with where he’s going with the ball. Herndon is covered here. Look to the top of the screen. He has a two-man route combination with Berrios running an out off of the same look that GT showed them on the first drive. The Miami coaches made an immediate route adjustment based on the same pre-snap look I saw on the first drive and have it setup perfectly. Rosier needs to get off that first read that is covered, get to the field side routes and let it develop. If #2 0 crashes down on Berrios he has Harley on the post or square-in and this S is dead. If #2 0 jams the WR he has a sideline pass to Berrios for an easy first down (#2 0 plays the deepest man as he should and Berrios is left wide open). It’s there. The coaches had it perfectly designed here and we just didn’t take it. Settle down and let the play develop, Malik.
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We run that outside zone out of the shotgun set, pull Darling around the edge, and Homer has a nice hole, keeps his legs moving and gets the first down. Good job Darling. When I did a film review of our recruits the year he was incoming I originally had him #1 on our recruits. Eventually I settled on Joe Jackson as #1 and Homer #2 (yes, that means I was lower on Richards than I should’ve been), but I think he’s a really talented player.

This is an unusual play design here. Ordinarily when you run a read option you would allow the DE to make the decision for the QB and leave him unblocked. If the DE crashes down, you pull it, if he stays true, you give it. Here, we block the DE with Herndon, which reduces our numbers by one. If this is an RPO, Rosier still makes the wrong read, as he should’ve pulled it and thrown the bubble to Berrios as his first read (he has five yards easily). Next, Rosier should’ve given the ball on this play, as Homer had a hole between #73 and #74 here. Rosier pulls it and runs right into the DE and gets a couple yards. Of the three options Rosier had, he made the worst choice possible. He has played poorly thus far.
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We are wearing them out on this outside zone give out of the shotgun. Pull Gauthier and Darling, McDermott blocks down (you can see his helmet on the hip of [URL=https://www.canesinsight.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=9]#9 0-something[/URL] ). Homer already has the ball here as Rosier is reading the end who stays home. Correct decision here, and good job by Rosier to keep the ruse up and freeze that DE from chasing. This play goes for nice yardage.
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Gaynor on the ground right at the snap. I believe he was trying to cut the DT, but he misses badly. Bad play number two for Gaynor. We run this reverse to Thomas and GT stayed home and hit him hard for a gain of five. Rosier threw a block on this play, which shows his toughness, but be careful.
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Alright, they brought pressure off the edge here. Rosier is looking to the field side but he needs to understand this rusher is free and come off that read quickly and hit Thomas on the dig route. Instead, he throws a fade to Harley and it’s nearly picked. I like that Rosier is aggressive, but if he takes the middle throw here it moves the chains easily.
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I hate to add much in the way of criticism, but I really don’t like four verticals at the 16 yard-line on 3rd and 5 on a condensed field. We have no one threatening the middle of the field in this route concept. We couldn’t even get Homer out into the pattern because they blitzed. I’d love a delayed screen with four verts behind it on a play like this sometime. If Homer had snuck out of the backfield on this play and Rosier had given more time to develop he’d have an easy first down or more. Look at Rosier’s feet on this throw. That back foot is parallel to the LOS and his shoulders are falling away. He’s feeling pressure that isn’t there. To be fair, it goes right through Mullins’ hands.
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Derrick Smith makes a great tackle on the kickoff. Bad kickoff by Badgley was low and short.
I don’t like our starting alignment here. I’d have Harris up on the LOS and a bit wider on this play. At least McCloud on the other side doesn’t have a blocker at his feet so he can run cleanly. You know GT is going to try and cut at your legs here. On the first drive we had Harris up on the LOS more and he made plays. Against an option team that loves the pitch, you need to have your outside shoulder wider than the furthest blocker. They don’t have that here and he’s easily pinned inside. Seven-yard gain. That’s exactly what makes GT so tough. Now they’re going to grind clock, run another couple of plays and it’s almost certain they’re going to pick up the first down after that successful of a play on first down. Key to beating GT, and what we started doing in the second half, is shut them down on first down. BTW, it was a nice play by Quarterman to avoid a block and make the tackle.
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I don’t know what McCloud is doing here. My guess is he is thinking. He doesn’t trust his keys to be wrong, so he waits to see it, and if you do that against GT you’re already done. Look at how he hasn’t moved yet. The other two LB’s are already ready running there. He has to see this and get upfield. Now! If he waits like he does here, that inside slot man is going to come down and block him out of the play. McCloud is our edge player here. He is the key. If he plays this poorly we cannot stop this play. I will say it again, if McCloud plays this pitch like he does here, the defense simply cannot stop it out of this alignment. He has to get upfield and get into this gap before the blockers can get there and definitely before the slot man can block him.
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Next play is the same thing. Just to the other side. McCloud has to get upfield! He is our edge player here. He has to contain the edge above all else. If McCloud gets upfield and is wrong, and they trick us here, we have other players who can come stop this play. We cannot stop this play if McCloud is going to play it this way. This run is almost housed and Jackson ran it down. For what it’s worth, Jackson has made the edge saving play on back-to-back plays now. He’s played well thus far.
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I’m looking forward to seeing what we do differently in the second half, because right now we are playing even further back off the hip of the down lineman to the strong side (top of the screen here), and I’d like to see us spread wider and play the nine-gap on the edge to take away some of this pitch action (the nine-gap simply means the widest gap outside the shoulder of the TE). We are concerned with the dive, as we should be, but that pitch is something they grabbed on and picked us to death with early on. McCloud actually stunted inside on this play and was completely out of position. I don’t know what they saw, but they absolutely have seen McCloud as the player to attack on our defense early on.
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Gotta make this tackle on the dive play. DJ Johnson has this dead for a loss and misses the tackle and the runner gets a first down.
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Norton makes a nice tackle on the QB keeper on the next play. No gain. On the next play they get a TD and we played it wrong. Look at Trent Harris squatting at the top of the screen. You can’t stop the pitch this way. He has to get upfield quickly. You have to trust Quarterman to handle that cutback run. If Harris gets upfield and into the pitch alley, he can then re-trace down the LOS and tackle the QB with the help of Quarterman for no gain or even a loss here. Instead, he pitches it and it’s a TD. Never. Stop. Your. Feet. Jaquan Johnson actually missed a tackle at the two-yard line as well.
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Kickoff into end zone for touchback. On first down we hand off on the read option to Trayone Gray and get a yard. Next play Rosier keeps and gets a few yards up-the-middle.

On third down we run three-wide and have a predetermined read to throw the fade to Cager 1-on-1 on the outside. We ran all three receivers deep. I really wish we’d have some crossers and other man beaters to get GT off of us, or punish them for playing us so tight. A lot of fans believe the downside to playing tight, physical coverage at the LOS in man-to-man is the risk of getting beat deep. That is definitely a risk, but another risk is the inability to handle flood zone and crossing concepts. Think of the Patriots and how they run receivers across from each other and get natural pick plays on defenders who have to get through traffic and stay with receivers on crossers. We have it in our offense, but we are too in love with the fade right now because Rosier throws a pretty good ball on the fade.

Punt. Travis Homer is an outstanding gunner. He makes the tackle on the punt return. He’s just too good to take off of that role.

On GT first down, we are still lining up in a shell defense with our edge players two yards off the LOS. It might seem like this is to give the defense more space to run down those pitches, but in my mind it does the opposite. It makes it to where there is more ground to cover and makes it easier for that slot man to block down on the edge rather than allowing our edge players to get upfield quicker, beat the block, and take away that pitch.
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At the snap, here is McCloud flat-footed again. In his defense, he now has to defend against two men because GT white-washed us with cut blocks.
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This pitch was easy for GT because if you play it flat-footed like McCloud did you can’t defend either the pitch-man or the QB. GT is picking on McCloud repeatedly. Jaquan saves us on the edge by fighting off a block and making the tackle as the last man possible after 25 yards.
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Their offense is attack McCloud. The announcers said, “they look like they’ve deciphered something.” Yes, they are attacking McCloud’s indecision on the edges. Look, it’s another edge play to his side. Look at McCloud at the top of the screen. The ball has been snapped, the QB is already making the play fake and #2 2 is getting around the edge to lead this play. McCloud could be forcing the give by getting inside of the hip of #2 2 already and there would be no play on the edge. It’d force the ball back into the defense completely. Yet, McCloud hasn’t gotten out of his stance yet. He is “looking” at the ball and “thinking” about the play instead of trusting what his coaches have taught him. Everything is setup to defend this play, but McCloud has to do his part and set the edge. He doesn’t, they actually give it to the RB Benson here, McCloud isn’t moving and misses the tackle. Benson gets 16 yards. This film is really bad for McCloud thus far. Indecision is much worse than making a decision and being wrong sometimes. Indecision is wrong every time against the option.
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They take McCloud out and Perry plays this toss much better. He didn’t hesitate and used his speed to run it down. This wasn’t an option pitch, this was simply a toss sweep, so you have to run-and-chase this one, rather than getting upfield and then retracing your steps down.
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Perry is stuck here, as GT faked the give on the dive and Perry took a step toward that RB. Now, he has to flatten his angle towards #2 6 here. Force the QB to keep the ball here and then try and retrace for the tackle. Perry goes straight to the QB and he has an easy pitch for a first down. If Perry is two yards further upfield and one yard further outside this play doesn’t happen. GT is just merciless with their exploitation of this edge player today. It’s akin to us running that bubble screen five times in a row since they can’t stop it.
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We have made an adjustment and moved everyone up on the LOS on this play. I like this alignment better than the shell defense we were playing. In fairness, GT said if you’re going to do that can you stop the dive? The answer on this play was no, as Benson got 14 yards on the dive. Mike Smith gets blocked out cleanly, then Owens misses a tackle that would’ve stopped it after six. Stay healthy Shaq and Pinckney.
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We aligned the same way on the next play and they tried the dive again and Norton shut it down. We aligned the same way before the next play. Pinckney and Jaquan did a great job communicating before the play and you could see Pinckney saying he has this gap and Jaquan has the pitch. It was a pitch, Jaquan ran it down and no gain. Press the edges and they can’t run that toss all day.

Next play is the TD pass to the RB. First off, Pinckney needs to make this play. Every week I’m showing a free rusher with a path to the QB not getting him to the ground. These are big plays that we are missing when this happens. This is a four-point tackle here. Next, Shaq has played a great game thus far, but he gets caught here. Knowles has the edge on this play and Shaq is supposed to have #2 6 in coverage. Shaq doesn’t even slow down as the RB runs right by him. He gets caught with his eyes in the backfield and took his eyes off his man. You can see Shaq here just about stepping on the “&” in 3rd & Goal. It might appear to be Jaquan’s man, but Jaquan has to retreat to cover the deep part of the end zone here for that crosser coming across the back of the end zone. I hate playing against GT.
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A special teams theme that I see every week and it bothers me is a complete lack of understanding on who to block in the return game. If there is a free man running towards your returner, block him. Deejay Dallas completely lets #45 run right into his return man here. If he blocks him Thomas might have something. Dallas is on the 15-yard line looking the other way from this free coverage man.
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Berrios takes the bubble screen for a first down on the first play. It’s free money if they give us this look. Rosier should be checking into this play every single time they give us this base. We have two blockers to their two defenders in the play and then Berrios can run free. Mike Harley is not a big guy, but he can really block.
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I’ve read on the board that Rosier doesn’t audible in the second half, but I don’t think it’s so much that he doesn’t audible or can’t audible, I think it’s simply Richt drilling it into Rosier’s head to take the play that is right there. On the previous play I showed how it is free money if they play that alignment. Well, this play is the exact same thing. They walk the nickel player down on the LOS and threaten a blitz. Rosier’s arm goes up to signal a blitzer on the edge. This should be an automatic check to the bubble screen. Every single time. Especially to Harley’s side because he’s such a good blocker. They raise up and throw the bubble to Thomas here because GT can’t defend it from this alignment. It’s boring to an offense and a QB to run bubble, bubble, bubble, but they cannot stop it from this alignment. It is simply six+ yards every single time if we want it and you have to take that. Eventually the defense will change and come up to stop this play, because they have to, which opens up more intermediate and deep stuff, but just keep taking it until they do.
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We run inside zone the next two plays and get the first down. Next play shows why we get off schedule at times. Look how open Harley is on this play. This is a set your feet and make the throw play. Rosier misses badly and it’s second and 10.
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Next play Rosier reads the DE perfectly, pulls the ball and runs for a first down. Wish Thomas was a little better blocker on the play or it’d gone for more. Herndon just stands up their edge player like it’s nothing. That kid is going to play on Sunday for years.

On the next play #62 sticks with his man and blocks him out of the hole so that Homer can through on the zone stretch play. Hayden Mahoney into the game early in the second quarter and making his presence felt. Said last play I wish Thomas had a better block and then he makes the block on the edge to spring Homer on the next play (he’s setting up in front of #78 on the play). Nice work all the way around here. Homer goes for 30 yards.
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We pulled Mahoney on the next play and he made an ok block, Gray had to jump over his man which slowed him down. If Mahoney gets to his man and seals the edge it’d go for the first down. Brings up third down. We go for a back-shoulder fade to Mike Harley and it’s incomplete. Play was there with a little better throw though. FG.

On the kickoff, Derrick Smith beats his man but misses the tackle. You don’t see our defenders running free on kickoffs, we actually have to beat a block to make the tackle. GT fumbles it but we didn’t get the loose ball. Knowles makes a form tackle with his helmet right on the ball. Props to him for this play.

First down we stay in the shell defense and they do us a favor and run the dive, get only a couple. Next play we stay in the shell defense and they run the option. I wanted to highlight this play because look at Perry running right next to Shaq here. Why is Perry not angling up into the gap between the QB and pitch man? Why is he running such a straight line to the QB here? Shaq has the QB perfectly here. Just do your job and this is a loss or a one-yard play. It goes for six yards instead.
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On third down Shaq comes in and makes an excellent tackle on the QB after we finally cut off the pitch man. Look at Demetrius he is getting upfield and not running right to the QB. Then he retraces down and hits the QB (who does get away, but Shaq cleans it up).
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GT picks up the 4th down on the sneak. Playing GT is like getting a root canal.

On the first down play Trent Harris runs right at the QB who has a pitch man coming in motion and gets it off. We force the edge and get him out after two yards, but again, if we would space between the QB and pitch man we’d stop that play and make the QB take it inside repeatedly. Slowly we are playing it better.

Here you go Charles Perry! Look at him get upfield, put some space between himself and the pitch man. He forces the QB to keep, retraces down and tackles him after a one-yard gain. McCloud has effectively been benched at this point. Finally, a third and long.
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They run an option on third down, test Perry again, this time he’s even with the QB, instead of a half step past him. The QB pitches it, of course, and Jackson makes a very nice play on the edge to turn it back him and allow the defense to get the stop. Perry is playing it better, but he’s still needing to get up just a bit more. Good punt by GT and Miami takes over at the 10.

On our first play Rosier locks onto Homer out of the backfield. Thomas is open for another easy bubble screen. I saw the pre-snap alignment and thought they were just going to throw it again, but Rosier didn’t take it for some reason. It’s a guaranteed six yards if they throw this over and over again. The LB is in coverage on Homer. The LB stops him for nothing.
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Homer gets six on outside zone on next play. On third down I don’t know why Rosier doesn’t let this ball fly. Langham is running a dig route and Rosier is free to throw it and Langham comes open just past the sticks. Langham flattens this route along towards the number 20 and has the play. Rosier rolls out the other direction, escaping the pocket and throws it over Harley’s head. Punt.
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Knowles is beat deep and doesn’t turn to locate the football. Pass interference. Questionable call though as there was very little contact and you are not required to look at the ball in college if you don’t create an advantage with contact.
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Same thing on the next play. Perry has to be a yard wider here and running at an angle that eats up that cushion. The one thing he absolutely can’t do is stop his feet. He isn’t defending the edge at all here. This play goes for a first down. This is the play Pinckney is injured on.
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They run a dive and get three. It’s a win basically any play they don’t run the pitch or outside option at this point. Next play, props to Knowles who does his job here. He gets upfield and keeps his shoulder outside the runner. This sets an edge for the defense. It forces the man back into traffic or right into your arms. The runner keeps going outside and it goes for a loss of one though Knowles doesn’t make the tackle, Jaquan does, Knowles lets the cavalry get there.
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They try to pass on third down and we stayed disciplined on the back end. The QB tries to run and McIntosh comes off his block and stops him after a gain of one. Mike Smith does a nice job picking up the wheel route which is where they wanted to go initially.
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On fourth down Malek Young makes a great play. He gets upfield immediately on the throw-back screen and grabs the receiver by the ankle. He doesn’t make the tackle, but he turns it back into the defense and allows Joe Jackson to run it down from behind. Truthfully, it might have been a game saving play because if Young isn’t out there and gets blocked by the OL out front, this goes into the end zone and we are in big trouble. There is no one else on the edge and Young trusts himself and goes. Too often a guy stops his feet when he sees himself out there by himself and plays it safe. He lets #67 get there for the block and it’s over. Instead, he puts himself in there immediately and it was huge. Those feet you see in the background are Joe Jackson’s and he has so much speed he tackles this man in two yards.
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First down and they are up close on our slot to take away the bubble. We run that horizontal zone give and get a couple. Second down we check down to Herndon. Third and two. Homer gets the first on an inside give. 1:04 remaining in the half.

There is nothing especially noteworthy but I wanted to point out the route concepts here. I really like them. Homer is threatening the short corner, but can turn this up the sideline for a wheel route or he can settle down on the edge there. Langham can turn this into a deep post or a post-corner. Berrios is a nice checkdown. Herndon is a safety valve right in the middle but also holds the LB from getting too much depth to help take away the deep post behind him. Harley is running a route deep down the seam. This means we are threatening every yard on the field. If the OL gives Rosier time, which they do, there will be yards available in this play. He checks it down to Berrios, though I would’ve taken Homer here. Rosier remains a one or two read QB who really only focuses on one side of the field on most plays. With experience he will open up the offense even more I believe.
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The next play is the crazy snap play over his head. This is maybe the best trait that Rosier possesses. He is very poised. When that ball went over his head and he went scrambling for it, truthfully, I expected him to just fall on it, but he remined calm. Then when he went scrambling towards the sideline I expected him to throw it away. Instead, he made a play and threw a pass along the sideline that Mullins somehow caught. Whether the ball was caught or not, it was a demonstration of poise in the leader on the field. Players notice these things.

Next play was an incomplete pass to Langham in the seam. Would’ve taken a perfect throw, but he was open. Then Gaynor has a false start. Next play, Langham makes a nice catch away from his frame, then breaks this tackle and gets to the 22. Gilmore says he has to play more, and I think he’s right.
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Check down to Herndon as we go quick. Rosier throws a dime to Homer on the next play for a TD. Rosier put the ball in the only place that Homer could’ve caught it and scored. Nice throw. As bad as this film has been in the first half, we are fortunate to go in only down 14-13.

You know the next play is the onsides kick and here is the deal. Berrios is supposed to just catch the ball and run with it. It’s honestly a great play design and it is going to work. If this ball goes the 10 yards in the air it works easily. There is no one within five yards of Berrios when this ball lands. Two things here: Berrios has to pick it up. Even though he wants it to go 10 yards, he has to eat it and pick it up. The other is that Badgley has to be sure he hits it 10 yards. Even if it goes out of bounds, you can’t leave it short. We make both of these mistakes on the same play and GT just picks it up and runs it in for a TD. I don’t really mind the call, as it was there, it absolutely was there, but the execution was not.
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Jeff Thomas makes a legit great return as he broke tackles and then showed the burst to get to the 46-yard line. Need more of that. On first down, GT gives us the exact same look where the slot defender has his hips already turned inside. We choose to run the zone read and Rosier keeps for two yards. Hopefully we start running an out route against that coverage when we see it again.

They give that exact look on the next play, only this time we have three to that side and we run a bubble and get the first down. Berrios missed the block, but Langham breaks the tackle. It doesn’t matter if we run the same play every down if they aren’t going to stop it.

Same look to the other side and we run the bubble to Braxton, who drops the ball. It would’ve gone for an easy five again. We run the horizontal zone run on second down and get only two. That drop on first down puts us behind the chains.

On third down we see the loss of Walton in pass protection for the first time. You can see they blitzed their MLB and ran a stunt with their DE looping inside. Homer releases too early here because he doesn’t see the stunt and thinks he’s free to get out into his route. This leaves the stunter free to sack Rosier. Berrios is his target running a square-in over the middle. He has Langham singled up on the fade if he had time to see it and it would’ve been open. Good stunt design by GT.
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GT runs the dive on first down and with Benson out the threat is much lower. Still running a shell defense with our edges back off the LOS.

Here is your adjustment to the pitch. Exactly what I’ve wanted to see. Look at #9 Thomas getting up the field. He rides the hip of the lead blocker and is right there to kill any pitch play. We have to tackle the dive play with the interior of our defense, but this is an adjustment for sure. The QB keeps off of this after we took away the pitch and gets a first down. Have to make that tackle at the LOS.
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They run the dive on second down for four yards. Next play, look at McCloud being slow to react again. He is just standing there, while Shaq is already flowing to the play. Thomas needs to see this play. He needs to get on the inside hip of #70 and run horizontal to the LOS right with the blocker. Both players play this poorly, this pitch outside goes for a first down.
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This is what the end should be doing on this play. Look at how far upfield Demetrius is on this pitch. Jackson comes up from the edge and forces everything back inside and Shaq is scraping downhill to clean everything up. Shaq has been fantastic in this game for the most part- despite what Rod Gilmore keeps trying to say on the broadcast. I write these as the play is going on so I don’t know the outcome of the play beforehand a lot of times. They stopped this for a loss of four. It’s all because they got upfield at the snap.
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Knowles only job is to stay deeper than the deepest receiver. He’s been peeking in the backfield all game. Second time they’ve thrown deep on him. First time was a PI, and this time was completed. Look at Knowles flat-footed and peeking into the backfield even though the WR is obviously running a route.
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GT runs the dive and gets three yards. We’ve played the dive pretty well, which is what starts everything for their offense.

Jackson takes the cheese, they pull the ball and run the power option. Perry has to get upfield here. He has to run into that gap just past the hip of the QB so he can retrace and tackle him or be outside enough to stop the pitch. He doesn’t, it’s an easy pitch and they pick up five. No idea why Perry isn’t running upfield instead of breaking down like he’s doing here. That’s tentative defense.
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They run the dive, Joe Jackson hits the dive man quick, QB keeps and picks up the first down. That’s tough to stop honestly.

Why did we stop this weakside pitch for a loss? Simple. Malek Young got upfield, protected his legs from the cut block and strung out the play with his speed. No idea what Perry was doing here. He got lost in the trash off the edge instead of hitting upfield at the snap. The entire key to stopping the pitch is to be two yards past the LOS, rather than a yard behind it. That’s it. Their entire offense is based on geometry. They use leverage and angles in everything they do. Knowles does a nice job in support. His angle is off initially. You can see how he is running straight to the runner instead of where he is running to. He flattens out his angle and helps with the tackle.
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We are finally getting it. Young takes the WR and stays disciplined. The safety valve is the RB at the top of the screen but we blow it up. How did we blow this play up? McIntosh gets upfield and into the lane they want to go to. The QB is forced to eat it and reverse field right into McCloud who is rushing from the backside. Sack.
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Third and goal we blitz the A gaps and Young shuts down Jeune. Young has played his tail off. FG.

KO return is blocked decently, but not much there. Tackled at the 25.

Bubble screen on first down is a low throw and kills the timing. Gain of two.

Here is the big play to Thomas. Mahoney does a nice job pushing his man out in zone blocking. Gauthier comes back and just gets to the slanting DT and pushes him wide. Great job up front here. Thomas is hit in stride and gets run down at the four. I’m honestly surprised the GT guy caught him and it’s a big play as we don’t get the TD.
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We run the ZR on first down and the give is the right call as the DE doesn’t crash, but there is nothing there. Second down is a back-shoulder to Thomas, and it was a bad throw. I thought it was a fade route but it wasn’t. It was a modified wheel route honestly. He started like he was running a post, then he spun and ran a modified wheel route that they turned into a back-shoulder. Kind of a cool idea, but it was well-covered.

On third down we tried to hit Homer out of the backfield. Rosier had a lane to take off after the route was covered. He tried to squeeze it in to Berrios, who was covered. Luckily it wasn’t intercepted. You simply cannot risk that throw in the red zone. Rosier will have that one reviewed with him.

Derrick Smith and Homer have great coverage on the KO. First down, Harris stops his feet and lets the QB have an easy pitch. Young does a good job on the edge and Mike Smith made a nice play running the ball down on the sideline. Still a gain of six.

Same play on second down and we play it the same way. Until we get upfield we will get shredded by the pitch. Mike Smith took on a block and made a nice play again. On third down, the sneak is darned near impossible to stop against GT. Their RG is like 400 pounds, their QB is basically a RB, and they have huge splits that you’d basically have to guess perfectly to beat the snap and then get the QB down fast enough.

Finally, we get McCloud up the field and he stops the pitch. They did a nice job of changing things up as they pulled their massive RG. That means he is there to block McCloud from retracing and getting the QB, but it’s better than getting shredded by the dive. Shaq overruns this one a little bit, but you can’t really blame him with the way the pitch has worked today. Held them to three on this play. Hit him every time he keeps it!
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They run the dive on the next play and Norton makes a great play to shut it down. Gain of one. Brings up third and long, which is what you have to do against this team.

We got lucky here. Their receiver is wide open. He just slips and falls down or they pick this up. Jaquan got beat here.
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Good punt. Tough catch and run by Berrios on the return. On first down GT is tipping their coverage again. They’re obviously in bail coverage on the outside as both corners have their hips turned. What you want to do against this kind of coverage is run a route that either gets them out of bail and turns their hips to run, or breaks off the opposite direction of where their hips are turned. We do exactly this at the top of the screen with Langham who runs a square-in just past the sticks.
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Langham gets him out of bail and turns the route in and creates separation. Langham is growing up as a WR. I also love the way he plucks the ball with his long arms away from his frame. This is really hard for the CB to do anything about with the way they played this.
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Next play we go to the bottom of the screen with Mullins. GT mixed up their coverage on this one where they did bail at the snap, but they brought a nickel corner into zone to cover the stop routes. It’s the perfect defense for what we did, but we added a wrinkle and had Herndon run a crossing route underneath. This held the nickel in the underneath zone just long enough for Mullins to uncover behind the nickel and in front of his defender. Gain of nine, good job of patience by Rosier and play design by Richt. Herndon is running the shallow cross at the LOS, Mullins is running by the underneath defender here, his defender is bailing and you can see him at the first down line. Berrios is running a shallow crosser over the middle which holds the LB. Rosier hits the zone behind the nickel and in front of his defender.
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We run a QB draw on second down and he gets the first down on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Next play, seriously, what a catch by Langham. Look at this play. Running full speed in a monsoon, leaps as high as he can, plucks it with his hands and gets yards after the catch. This is a bad throw, and one that easily could’ve been picked off on a tipped pass if Langham can’t hold this. No idea how he caught this ball.
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Homer inside give gets five yards. Something that Homer does so well is fall forward. He has a way of contorting so even if you’re tackling him, he is getting hit at an angle that allows him to gain an extra couple yards.

It’s hard to see here, but Mahoney pancakes this DT. It opens a huge hold for Homer to run through and he houses this run. The helmet in front of Homer that is turned to the side is Mahoney and the legs sprawled out behind him are from a poor, helpless DT getting put in the dirt. The man with the 9 showing is actually the other DT that Darling is blocking. Gauthier has released and is blocking the LB out front. Great job, OL.
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On the two-point conversion I have no idea why Rosier threw this ball to Herndon. He’s double covered here. Look at the top though and you see Berrios running an angle route where he fakes like he’s running an out and then spins to reverse the other direction. It’s open if Rosier holds the ball a second longer. Berrios is going to be running right back into that open zone here.
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KO return, Jennings misses a tackle (the field is a mess and he slips, but he overran it too). Then Trent Harris misses a tackle and Badgley has to tackle him.

Shaq makes the tackle on the dive play. Then he does it again on second down. He’s played well. On third down Trent Harris gets upfield instead of waiting but still has the speed to track down the QB on rollout. Malek Young did a great job of staying with his man in coverage. Another big play in a close game. The OL fell down on this play or it might’ve worked. Good play call and design by GT. Richt with the nice ups like no big deal on the end of this play.
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On first down we run a screen out of our end zone and Homer drops it. The GT defender did a great job of jumping over the blocker and would’ve stopped it for a minimal gain anyway.

We run the horizontal outside zone and Homer gets 22 yard. Langham with a nice block on the edge. We pulled Mahoney and Gauthier and both get just enough to seal the run. McDermott cuts off the backside LB with a nice cut block.
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Run ZR on first down and Rosier pulls it. Gets a couple. Second down we give it on the outside zone stretch play. The bubble was there as well if we wanted it. This is a decision Rosier makes on his own. With six in the box he calls for the run. To the field side with two blockers and a single high that far away we could’ve taken the bubble as well. Homer gets five yards.
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Darling jumps on third down. Makes it third and eight. Big play there. On third and eight McDermott missed the snap call. Look at him, he stays in his stance the entire time and the free man comes and pressures Rosier. Forces him to roll out and try to make a throw on the run t Berrios down the sideline. Two senior OL on back-to-back plays with big mistakes.
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Demetrius Jackson has been the DL to consistently get it right on the edge today. He has gone upfield time and time again today to wreck the pitch. Look at where he is, which blows everything up. Loss of five.
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GT’s only penalty of the game on second down. A false start hurts them. Second down their WR runs a post and the QB expected him to run an out. Third down McIntosh beats his man and misses the sack. Punt time.

It’s a huge punt though that Braxton doesn’t catch. It’s a bad play by Braxton on the 62-yard punt that he could’ve kept to around 50 or less.

First down and Mahoney manhandles the DT and gets his out of the hole. We get to the second level with our RT and C and Homer has a big run. What got into Hayden Mahoney today?

On first down the DE plays the ZR really well. He moves in tune with the mesh point and flattens out. Rosier pulls it (should’ve given it) and the DE is home for the tackle. Good play.

Second down Rosier gives it, when he should’ve kept it. Darling is beat off the snap and that blows the play up. The DE crashed though, and Rosier would’ve had more off the keep. GT defended this well. The bubble screen is there every play if we want it.
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On third down Mahoney is beat right off the snap. You can see #9 coming through already. Mahoney has to pick him up and not pass him over to St. Louis. Though the rusher outside of St. Louis also beats him and gets into the backfield. If they hold it a second longer Berrios is coming open on the post.
Note: The Image doesn't load, but it's a stunt that Mahoney tries to pass off to St. Louis, when he should take the first rusher, always. St. Louis gets beat inside and it sacks Rosier. If they give him another second Berrios is open behind it for the first down.

Feagles with a terrible 23-yard punt. Have to get better. GT gets a 62-yard punt from their own 10. We get a 23-yard punt to lose field position. That’s a difference of 39 yards in the punt exchange.

Marshall keeps off the edge for three yards on first down. McIntosh with the stop. Second down, McCloud plays this better but is still on the wrong side of the LOS on the pitch. Michael beats that blocker on the edge, gets up, makes the tackle for a gain of only a couple. If he doesn’t do that McCloud might not make this tackle in time. Charles Perry had a better game than McCloud, and I wouldn’t say Perry was great. I know PFF rated Perry highly, but I thought he was more solid. It’s just that McCloud struggled.
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Jackson did everything right here. Everything except keep his head up. If he brings his head up and wraps up the QB he stops this play well short. Instead he gets the first down. It’s a nice play by their QB.
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We are on their side of the LOS at the mesh point and guess what, the play is blown up. QB tries to keep and we still get him. Good job of running to the QB and stopping the dive on the way (if they had given it).
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Second down we played Shaq and Mike Smith together, haven’t seen that much. Mike Smith makes a nice tackle on the QB. Third down is the ball game. What a great play here by Jackson. This is a completion. This is the ball game. He knocks it out. Fitting that he makes the play after he missed the play on the previous third down. That’s what you do. Keep playing. Forget what’s happened and make the next one. Great job.
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Love this. Berrios isn’t scared. He’s excited. He knows they’re going to win this game right here in this moment. That’s what you need from your leaders. He’s shaking his fist, emploring the crowd to get loud. It’s the moment that he wants and not scared of.
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First down intended for Langham is low and incomplete. Second down we run the bubble that has been there all day. He makes a man miss and instead of the free six he gets 15. We run the same play on second down and he gets nine. It’s the same look that I’ve shown in ten or more of these stills. They are way off the receivers, six in the box, single-high safety. It’s free money.

Dive to Homer on second down gets the first down. On first down we run the bubble again and the difference is the boundary corner finally crashes hard instead of staying back and to the sideline. Good play to hold it to three. Bubble screen to Herndon gets the first down.

Bubble screen to Herndon gets the first down. On second down, GT tries to adjust and walk another S down into the boundary side. We run the bubble to Herndon anyway and Langham does a really nice job of blocking on the edge. Langham has to play more and Herndon needs to be more of a receiving option. This still goes for nine. Timeout Miami.
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I have absolutely read and memorized the rule 9-1-6 and this is not a penalty. He is blocking the defender between 10 & 2, they’ve done away with the designated area that I previously wrote about (this is the first year). It has been replaced with this language: “all players after the ball has left the tackle box, are allowed to block below the waist only if the force of the initial contact is directed from the front. “From the front” is understood to mean within the clock-face region between “10 o’clock and 2 o’clock forward of the player being blocked.” Comments: Simplifies and clarifies the rule. Note that the “low-blocking zone” is no longer defined, and everything is in reference to the tackle box. Also clarifies the rule regarding the crackback block.” That is absolutely within 10 & 2 of the person being blocked. This official should be disciplined.
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Simmons makes a great play on Herndon on 2nd down and knocks it away. Rosier was late though, he was open a second earlier on the option route. Third down we try to run the ball and Darling misses the LB and he drills Homer. If Darling gets this block Homer easily gets the first down. You can see 25 is coming to plug this hole. Darling is out there and has him. If he makes that block there is a huge hole that Homer can cut towards the top of the screen and he might actually house this ball.
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Everybody knows the next play is the Langham play, which was a fortunate bounce, yes, but it was really a great play more than a lucky one. You have to put yourself in position to fight for the ball before you can catch it and Langham did that. Spicer actually made a nice hold on the FG because the snap was a bit inside and it was in a monsoon.

Final Thoughts: Miami came into this game as setup to lose as a team can be for a home game. They were coming off an emotional road win. They were coming off a very physical game. They were playing an opponent who takes a long time to prepare for because it’s such an unusual style. They were missing five starters and had a sixth go out in this game. GT played as well as they can reasonably play. They had one penalty the entire game. They had a lucky bounce go their way to score a TD on an onsides kickoff. They did everything they could to win this game, and yet, despite all of that, Miami won the game.

Clemson, Auburn, Washington, Washington State, Michigan, and a host of other teams didn’t find a way to win against teams who probably all are worse than GT or definitely comparable. Yet, we did.

Shaq was outstanding this game. Homer is a dude. St. Louis played great at RT. Mahoney grew up in this game. We found a way to get it done again, this time in a monsoon. What a gritty win for my Canes. Let’s keep it rolling this week.
 
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The amount of work and effort you put into this is incredible. You're an asset to this message board.

Hats off to you sir. Dilly Dilly!
 
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Another awesome write up! This offense has room to grow. If Malik will settle and can learn from film study. This is my conclusion from your post. Thanks again!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Based on your observations, does it appear that Rosier's height impedes his ability to throw over the trenches and into the middle of the field? The constant vertical routes are really frustrating.
 
have absolutely read and memorized the rule 9-1-6 and this is not a penalty. He is blocking the defender between 10 & 2, they’ve done away with the designated area that I previously wrote about (this is the first year). It has been replaced with this language: “all players after the ball has left the tackle box, are allowed to block below the waist only if the force of the initial contact is directed from the front. “From the front” is understood to mean within the clock-face region between “10 o’clock and 2 o’clock forward of the player being blocked.” Comments: Simplifies and clarifies the rule. Note that the “low-blocking zone” is no longer defined, and everything is in reference to the tackle box. Also clarifies the rule regarding the crackback block.” That is absolutely within 10 & 2 of the person being blocked. This official should be disciplined.

Send this to Rick, Blake, the ACC front office - nail it to the front of the building like Martin freaking Luther.
 
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Incredible work.

For clarification, why do you prefer the stills to the gifs?

Excellent work. Much appreciated.
 
GT is definitely a Top 25 caliber team. I didn't realize they outgained Tennessee by almost 300 yards in the other game they lost. How'd they lose that one?
 
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I don't have twitter so I can't give you a follow but I just want to say I support you. Great work as always!
 
So despite all the complaints about our route trees on this board this breakdown shows guys running wide open all over the field and our QB making some bad reads/decisions.
 
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So despite all the complaints about our route trees on this board this breakdown shows guys running wide open all over the field and our QB making some bad reads/decisions.

Exactly. I've been preaching this for days. So many message board morans blame the playcalling.the fact if the matter is is that Rosier is LIMITED. Richt has been trying to PROTECT him, yet these dumbasses want even MORE risky throws over the middle or complicated route trees.
 
This is the best one yet. Really breaking down these bull**** nuances that GT beats you up with.

Goes to show you. Perry played OK, but the game significantly changed as soon as he took over for McCloud. McCloud was just that bad. Even I noticed it real time and that says something.

We should have manhandled those pussies. No matter what it's always good to escape this game with a W.
 
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