Defense - Next Three Weeks
You gotta love the next three weeks of UT football if you like defensive football. We get the opportunity to see how coach Akina plans to stop the option while defending a strong passing attack against the Cowboys in the first week, slow down the air show complete with circus acts against Texas Tech the second week, and finish with the shotgun option featuring a full grown rodeo bull against the Aggies.
We haven’t fared particularly well against the option the last two years playing busy instead of assignment football. Chizik thought his gap control defense should handle the triple option but didn’t exactly count on simple built-in option advantages such as angle blocks, motion, or crackback/seal blocks in the alley. One of the major problems of playing reaction technique against the option is keeping the numbers balanced against each part of the option. You might get two or even three on the QB one play but find nobody on the pitch—assignment football against the option makes sure someone is responsible for each of the second two options (keep-pitch).
The angle a defender takes makes a ton of difference in defending his option responsibility in the two schemes. There is a big difference in the angle taken by the LB/S playing the QB inside out to the pitch (busy) than the angle taken by same if they are assigned only the pitch (assignment). There is also a better opportunity to defeat the block or prevent being outrun to the numbers with a straight-line angle instead of the crooked angle that busy teaches you to take.
The key question this week is whether Akina feels option assignments are necessary to stop the Cowboy option. If he decides to stay with technique in getting the option stopped like Chizik before him, I hope he stays with the young group of LB’s who might overcome disadvantages against the blocking scheme. Otherwise, it could get ugly.
November 1, 2007 at 5:41 pm
“If he decides to stay with technique in getting the option stopped like Chizik before him, I hope he stays with the young group of LB’s who might overcome disadvantages against the blocking scheme. Otherwise, it could get ugly.”
Sergio Kindle is out for OSU. So it very likely will get ugly.
November 1, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Well, shit.
November 1, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Out with a stinger according to the DMN:
Stung
November 1, 2007 at 8:45 pm
how come our coordinators never pull groins or anything? i thought davis would have hurt something by now just lifting his playbook…
November 1, 2007 at 10:32 pm
They just leave the playbook in the coaches’ box.
It’s not like anyone would want to steal it.
November 1, 2007 at 11:35 pm
I am convinced that Bobino and Killebrew could take several 12 gauge rounds to the chest and not miss a series. They are like superman but without the powers that might help in the game of football. Pretty astounding toughness.
Along those lines, they might be able to punt the ball into the stratosphere like the young Clark Kent did after practice in the first movie. It would be worth a look.
November 2, 2007 at 12:23 am
Here, I’ll help you scheme against us Aggies and our big offensive weapons:
How to stop Goodson - don’t bite on the smoke draw
How to stop Jovorskie - crash the ends
How to stop Martellus - is the TE an eligible receiver in college football?
How to stop McGee - make the arduous journey to Burnett, TX and throw his Aggie Ring into the flaming depths of the oil refinery
November 2, 2007 at 3:57 am
We’ll be fine as long as Oklahoma State doesn’t run any option, sweep, off tackle, cutback runs or send more than 2 receivers deep against our cover 2.
November 2, 2007 at 4:11 am
With Kindle out, OSU will have a field day running cutbacks around Killebrew. If they’re too dumb to do that, then they deserve to lose.
November 2, 2007 at 5:09 am
If you had asked me who the biggest key in the OSU game was, I might have said Kindle. Against that offense, we just couldn’t afford to have our starters in the game for more than a few series. I think we are about to be taken to the woodshed. Hope I am wrong, but without Sergio they will put up 30+ pretty easily.
November 2, 2007 at 5:54 am
Time for MacAkina to earn that salary and break out the double eagle flex.
November 2, 2007 at 6:29 am
Killebrew will be fine. Mack has been starting him for a reason. He reads the offense better than Kindle and doesn’t bust as many assignments.
Coach Akina, and the rest of the staff for that matter, has done a great job this year (look at the defensive ranking) despite bringing in a bunch of new guys and I have complete confidence that he and Mack will develop a winning formula for this weekend, as they always do for OSU.
November 2, 2007 at 6:30 am
Let’s play “name the defense”: I propose “double beagle flex” when Killebrew and Bobino are on the field.
November 2, 2007 at 6:37 am
“Coach Akina, and the rest of the staff for that matter, has done a great job this year (look at the defensive ranking) despite bringing in a bunch of new guys and I have complete confidence that he and Mack will develop a winning formula for this weekend, as they always do for OSU.”
I’d like some of whatever it is you’re smoking.
November 2, 2007 at 6:42 am
what a fanbase!!
November 2, 2007 at 6:46 am
Killebrew is great at doing absolutely nothing and then jumping on the pile to get a tackle assist.
November 2, 2007 at 6:48 am
“develop a winning formula for this weekend, as they always do for OSU.”
I’m fond of the ones that include bending over for a half and then seeing if Vince Young can single-handedly bail us out. Those are my favorite gameplans from our offensive staff. In that sense, I agree with you absolutely: this weekends gameplan will be no different from any of the others they have developed. The probably haven’t noticed that the personel has changed, however.
November 2, 2007 at 6:59 am
I predict a 120+ yard performance for RB Savage, 300+ yard passing performance by QB Robinson (yes, he is better than Colt. Who isn’t?), and a 100+ yard receiving performance by WR Bowman, and 38+ points scored by OSU.
OSU 38
Texas 27
Keep in mind that OSU has had two weeks to prepare for us, which is the same amount of time KSU had.
November 2, 2007 at 7:43 am
“what a fanbase!!”
Yes, a sizable and growing number of whom are displaying signs of lucidity. DeLoss and Little Bill must be growing uneasy that the spin ain’t selling like it used to. Did you see all the empty seats last weekend?
November 2, 2007 at 7:44 am
“Killebrew will be fine. Mack has been starting him for a reason.”
He must be… I just can’t figure out for the life of me what it could possibly be. Breakfast in bed?
November 2, 2007 at 7:49 am
I’ll trust Mack’s opinion on personnel decision over the eternally disgruntled within the Texas fanbase.
You can’t question Mack’s record @ Texas and we are heading for another BCS bowl despite it being a rebuilding season.
November 2, 2007 at 7:59 am
BCS bowl? The only BCS bowl Texas is going to see this year will have frosted flakes in it. This is not one of the longhorns better efforts.
November 2, 2007 at 7:59 am
“I’ll trust Mack’s opinion on personnel decision over the eternally disgruntled within the Texas fanbase.”
Why don’t you watch the defense with the first-team LBs and then with the second-team LBs and then trust your own got-damn eyes.
“You can’t question Mack’s record @ Texas and we are heading for another BCS bowl despite it being a rebuilding season.”
I remember when I used to get baked in the A.M. like this. Good times!
November 2, 2007 at 8:06 am
“I’ll trust Mack’s opinion on personnel decision over the eternally disgruntled within the Texas fanbase.”
Live like you wanna live, brother.
“You can’t question Mack’s record @ Texas and we are heading for another BCS bowl despite it being a rebuilding season.”
I can question one conference championship in ten years and a 3-6 record against Bob Stoops. Your mileage must vary.
November 2, 2007 at 8:53 am
“I’ll trust Mack’s opinion on personnel decision
I’ve found saying this works best when you’re wearing red sparkly shoes, click them together and say something about Kansas. Because if you say if while watching Killebrew, et al whiff for the umpteenth time, it sounds silly as shit.
November 2, 2007 at 9:26 am
Coach:
Great post. Thanks for this.
It’s surreal to see a team with Longhorn on its helmet struggle against the triple option. Destroying it is pretty much what used to define Longhorn defense.
It’s more odd that playing against it has become some sort of mystery for college defensive coordinators. You couldn’t call yourself a defensive coordinator 15 years ago if you didn’t know an outside veer load from the load in your pants.
I’m of the opinion that there’s unrealized value in running the triple option right now in college football if you’re not a premier program.
November 2, 2007 at 10:00 am
When has it been a bad idea for any talent-limited program to run an option attack of one kind or another? Assuming you have a QB who can take a hit and whose IQ is somewhere north of 100, of course.
November 2, 2007 at 10:21 am
The Fred Akers teams in the late 1980’s forgot how to defend the option.
November 2, 2007 at 11:05 am
At Purdue?
November 2, 2007 at 11:28 am
At Texas
November 2, 2007 at 11:36 am
1986 47-12 loss
November 2, 2007 at 11:46 am
That’s not forgetting how to defend the option. That’s having to defend Charles Thompson with the football equivalent of Doperbo.
November 2, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Thomas Hardy was right about you.
November 2, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Shut up and write more college football analysis, Tess.
November 4, 2007 at 4:00 pm
So how did he do?
Ha.
November 4, 2007 at 9:55 pm
“Killebrew will be fine. Mack has been starting him for a reason. He reads the offense better than Kindle and doesn’t bust as many assignments.”
Absolutely clueless fucking idiot.
November 7, 2007 at 8:15 am
Coach, how would you defend Tech given our personnel and assuming Norton and Kindle are healthy? Any idea on why Colorado and Mizzu were so successful stopping Tech? Garcias.
November 7, 2007 at 10:40 am
Moved here:
Defending Tech
November 7, 2007 at 10:50 am
This long & too much reading & confuse Kevin. Kevin just tell lineback guys run back 5 step & see what happen. This will work. Trust Kevin. Kevin no quit ever.
Look! Funny orange cow head on Texas helmets. Make Kevin laugh.
Kevin Cosgrove
Defensive Coordinator for Life
U of Nebraska