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LONG PORST: 3rd Down Defense Play by Play/Random Game Notes

JHallCanes

JHallCanes

2028 is our year
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First things first let me just say how happy I am to actually be rewatching and analyzing this team. It’s been a while. I apologize there is no screenshots here I’m just rewatching on TV

Also before diving in to my favorite part about the game last night, our 3rd down defense, let me first point out that this Ohio team is exactly the type of team we normally hate playing. A tough, physical, well coached team with a veteran QB. Gabbert is a very solid QB and I expect him to have a good season and he’s EXACTLY the type of good decision making QB that has DESTROYED us on the money down in the past

All that said let’s dive into it, this was fun

1. 3rd and 6. Miami/maybe the crowd cause a false start on Ohio and creates a 3rd and 11 (a terrifying down and distance in the past). Miami only rushes 4 (Bain, Mesidor, Harvey, Kelly) and we make it look like we rushed 8. Twists, stunts, dogs and cats living together….all this havoc allows Harvey to take a very straightforward inside rush and bring the QB down. The OL was completely lost.

2. 3rd and 8 Miami shows pressure in the A gaps from both LBs but they drop into coverage. Harvey lined up wide but makes a nice inside move, the OL confused again, and Gabbert rushes the throw and picks up 7. He felt Harvey coming.

3. 3rd and 9 (Harvey having his best game Ive seen so far btw) Harvey and Kelly standing up and Ohio is confused and forced to take a timeout. Bain absolutely ******* manhandles the OL into Gabberts lap and he has to rush the throw. Also Mesidor lining up next to him again at DT. This group of 4 really making things happen so far on 3rd down. Bain…his speed is ******* absurd

4. This was a BIG one. TVD threw a pick and the O was sluggish. We all started to get nervous here because it was 3rd and 3 from the 47. Momentum was shifting to Ohio. This package appears to be Bain/Harvey at DE and Moten/JHH at DT. Mauigoa and Wes IN THE BOX NOT BEHIND THE FIRST DOWN MARKER (I could cry), Mauigoa 100% was acting like he didn’t know what he was doing I’m convinced…the OL struggled and both Mauigoa and Wes blitzed with Wes getting home. Beautiful stuff to smash the momentum

5. 3rd and 6 in our territory we show pressure from 6 guys but Flagg drops back into coverage, Gabbert rushes the throw a bit and blanket coverage by Porter. Another wrinkle thrown and Gabbert and the OL is lost. Kicker makes another 50 yard field goal against us look like a chip shot (why is this always against us unless it’s FSU?)

6. First drive after half adjustments. 3rd and 3 again, another confusing look for Gabbert and the OL. Honestly even I’m confused I can’t tell who is who sometimes but Mesidor/Kelly at DE Cloyd and Mauigoa show A Gap pressure but drop into coverage, Couch times the blitz nicely and Gabbert gets spooked again. Another new look and Gabbert and the OL again look completely lost.

7. 3rd and 7 looks like our “big” unit in there with Moten, JHH, Harvey, and I see Chantz. Linebackers creep into the A gap again but drop, Couch blitzes…this one might be the same type of play as the last third down and Gabbert adjusts…I’ll have to check this again. Gabbert makes a really nice throw for a first down but it wasn’t easy

8. 3rd and 6 in our territory we stack 6 on the line and show major pressure but end up dropping the LBs again and this time drop Harvey from the end spot into PERFECT position where Gabbert wanted to go with the ball. Another new look and Gabbert has no clue what to do with it and throws it away. Beautiful.

9. 3rd and 2 not even sure what formation we threw at them this time tbh. 5 guys on the line, two standing up, with 4 stacked two yards behind them. Mesidor takes the line with him and the DL collapses Ohios OL and the linebackers fill in behind and smother it. Whatever it was…it was awesome.

10. 3rd and 11 we rush 4, nothing too special, Gabbert makes a nice throw but 100% they were short on the catch. They gave them 11 but absolutely only got 10. Whatever.

11. 3rd and 6 they are on our 30. I can’t tell all who is who but Deen is in there. They bring Cloyd and Flagg up into Gabberts face, Flagg drops, Bain beats the LT, Gabbert makes a nice play but Jaden Davis denies the pass.

12. 3rd and 2 and we are trying to prevent a garbage score. Pride time. Another unique looking front…backups are in…IDK who the **** is who but they do a good job. Yay whoever was in there…saw Gore, Ragone delayed blitz almost got home caused a bad throw

Ohio also went 0-2 on 4th downs which was HORRENDOUS for us last year


Synopsis: Guidry came to ****. I loved seeing the linemen standing up with the backers and you could honestly feel the confusion on the Ohio OL and QB. They didn’t know where the pressure, if any was coming. Lots of disguised pressure, TONS of A gap pressure from the LBs. These dudes made the secondary job easy tonight but when the secondary needed to step up, they did bigtime

It didn’t matter what the distance was, Guidry only went conventional one time (ironically the one 3rd and long we gave up) but he just gave a veteran QB and solid line too much to worry about

I am no guru but I didnt see any glaring mistakes and that was probably the cleanest defensive performance I’ve seen from this team since the Bill Young days. The only penalty on D that I noted was the mental lapse by LT. If you had to grade this overall performance you can’t give it anything other than an A. It’s one game but Lance Guidry has these dudes coached up.
 
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If Guidry is that dude then ****, we’re going to have a fun defense. Let’s hope they can keep it up against the more talented teams.

If he’s able to continue wreaking havoc while also being able to maintain structure, this defense will cause some recruits to rethink their decisions.
 
i’m a titans fan in the nfl and their DL play is a dream to watch- a borderline elite unit personnel wise with a ton of different body types that they run all kinds of stunts, games, and disguised/simulated pressure with. guys move all over the front and rotate a lot. last night watching miami it felt like that- with the caveat that because Tennessee’s front 4 is so good and they have an elite game wrecking player in the middle in simmons, they blitz very rarely because they can get home with 4 more often than not. it looked like we blitzed a ton, and i’m interested to see whether better teams will find a way to exploit that…but for now i’m a happy camper.
 
Gi0logy said:
If Guidry is that dude then ****, we’re going to have a fun defense. Let’s hope they can keep it up against the more talented teams.

If he’s able to continue wreaking havoc while also being able to maintain structure, this defense will cause some recruits to rethink their decisions.
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I’m seeing what the buzz was about. There might have been a couple of plays where a team with an elite WR can change the outcomes. Ohio couldn’t beat us one on one but I see what people meant by him causing havoc without hanging the secondary out to dry

On the flip side I expect a lot more turnovers in the future Gabbert is just a smart QB
 
TitansHope said:
i’m a titans fan in the nfl and their DL play is a dream to watch- a borderline elite unit personnel wise with a ton of different body types that they run all kinds of stunts, games, and disguised/simulated pressure with. guys move all over the front and rotate a lot. last night watching miami it felt like that- with the caveat that because Tennessee’s front 4 is so good and they have an elite game wrecking player in the middle in simmons, they blitz very rarely because they can get home with 4 more often than not. it looked like we blitzed a ton, and i’m interested to see whether better teams will find a way to exploit that…but for now i’m a happy camper.
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Yeah I’ll have to go back and watch the other downs but we ultimately didn’t blitz much on 3rd but we sure acted like we were going to. There were absolutely no gimme throws for Gabbert and that was the most maddening thing about our defenses lately. We didn’t even make the QBs job hard. The 2 they converted were a ****** spot and a really nice throw by the QB. They had to earn every hard against us.
 
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canester95 said:
So when u say Mauigoa was “acting” like he did not know what was going on, is that a strategy? Look like you are lost, then snap to assignment. Is that a thing? Wow, that is a cool way to exploit a QB. I’m a football dullard so if that is commonplace, I had no idea.
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Yes! I’ll see if I can find the time stamp but we were all about confusing their OL. So if you watch the pre snap activity Mauigoa was looking around communicating, at first I was like oh crap what’s happening here. Then it looked like him and Wes were having an animated conversation about where they were supposed to be lined up..

But as soon as the QB got set Mauigoa knew exactly what he was doing and where he was going and I think the OL was a bit on their heels

I could be way off but for as clearly prepared as Mauigoa looked all night, that one felt like a rope a dope to me
 
JHallCanes said:
Yes! I’ll see if I can find the time stamp but we were all about confusing their OL. So if you watch the pre snap activity Mauigoa was looking around communicating, at first I was like oh crap what’s happening here. Then it looked like him and Wes were having an animated conversation about where they were supposed to be lined up..

But as soon as the QB got set Mauigoa knew exactly what he was doing and where he was going and I think the OL was a bit on their heels

I could be way off but for as clearly prepared as Mauigoa looked all night, that one felt like a rope a dope to me
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If so, that is cold as ice
 
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What stood out to me OP was I couldn’t keep track of who was on the field and yet our guys did NOT seem confused. Even with all the subs going on, all the guys knew what their assignments were and executed them very well. The subs were executed **** near flawlessly and their O didn’t know who was on the field and where they were coming from.

It was a thing of beauty.
 
423Hurricane said:
What stood out to me OP was I couldn’t keep track of who was on the field and yet our guys did NOT seem confused. Even with all the subs going on, all the guys knew what their assignments were and executed them very well. The subs were executed **** near flawlessly and their O didn’t know who was on the field and where they were coming from.

It was a thing of beauty.
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If it’s one thing that’s been synonymous with Miami football the last 15+ years it’s been busted assignments especially on 3rd downs. I really didnt see any even on the conversions. Sometimes you just tip your cap to the offense

But yeah I had to pause and rewind a lot…and check the Rooster…a lot 😂

We just looked very well prepared consistently
 
#4 was a thing of beauty. Delayed blitz by the LB once the lineman over commits. That’s the play we usually can’t block but never seem to run ourselves. Really simple way to get home.
 
edge said:
#4 was a thing of beauty. Delayed blitz by the LB once the lineman over commits. That’s the play we usually can’t block but never seem to run ourselves. Really simple way to get home.
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Yessir! The timing of it was awesome too. And it kinda set the tone for all the fake A gap blitzes that Ohio kept messing up and Gabbert kept getting happy feet with

There didn’t seem to be anything crazy complex but there was just small variations of the same concepts and it just had them a mess
 
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