running game analysis

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

i'm not sure how much time i'll have for these, but i'll try to get through a few from the aTm game and the iowa state game.

this play is a well designed almost well executed dive against a run blitz.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplay1.PNG

so we come out in a double slot unbalanced formation.

unbalanced is simply there are more people on one side of the ball than normal. so instead of TE T G C G T TE we have T G C G T TE WR. this also means that the tackle on the bottom is actually eligible to go out for a pass.

aTm is in a weird stacked coverage to start with. however, notice the inside leverage of both of the defensive backs on the edge. with that much safety help they should be in neutral/outside leverage. the guy over stills is already tipping the blitz. also note that landry is looking right at it

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplay2.PNG

okay so pre-snap aTm unveils the initial blitz. this actually makes it a better alignment for the run we have called so they go with the play. obvious audible checks are to millard or to stills.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplay3.PNG

at this point, we have a problem. once again the coverage is in inside leverage with safety over the top. this is normally indicative of man coverage. however, the guy that is over stills is much too close to him to be looking in for the snap of the ball. this is the first tip of a delayed blitz. we also see how aTm has managed to roll 8 into the box against finch.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplay4.PNG

they show the blitz. this is what is referred to as a run blitz. the goal is to clog the running lanes and overload the number of blockers. the problem is that committing that many blitzers to the run, you leave a lot of 1 on 1 coverage (in some cases 0 on 1).

right now, we are actually in pretty good shape on this run as long as we don't have any breakdowns.

one thing to note is that we see here how devastating a swing pass to stills would have been at this point. the linebacker has him in coverage. this would be a huge gain had they just done a quick pass to him.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplay5.PNG

resetting showing the running lane. millard has to make a decision here. he either goes with the outside guy and allows the pulling guard to handle the blitzer or he has to take the blitzer WELL inside to create room for finch to avoid the outside guy. this play breaks down because millard chooses the inside guy, but doesn't force him farther inside. this changes the running lane to veer to close to the outside guy giving him a good angle for the tackle.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplay6.PNG

in order to make this play work, 1 of the following has to happen:

1. millard has to get his guy close to the hash.
2. the aTm guy has to go too far upfield.

the design of the play limits the odds of option 2 though because the handoff and ball are fully visible to the oncoming blitzer. if this play relied on deception, the handoff would have been blocked from the blitzer so that he hesitated.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplay7.PNG

millard fails to get the guy to the hash causing finch to have to alter his angle slightly. to make this play work, he has to hit the blue line at the place where 77 is standing. the alteration pushes him to the leg of the M.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplay8.PNG

because of the course alteration, the aTm guy is able to get a solid shoulder pad on finch to bring him down for no gain. 1 foot lower and this is a whiff arm tackle that goes for 12-20 yards.

[Cornfed]

I hate zone blocking.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

we aren't in zone blocking on this play because of the pulling guard.

[NormanPride]

Dang, I was hoping Millard was a beast that never messed up. :( I know, I know... freshman.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

okay, so here we have a basic zone play. everyone is just straight up zone blocking and we see what we are trying to accomplish out of it.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayb1.PNG

okay so we've got 7 in the box vs 6 blockers. its hard to tell by the camera angle, but it looks like man on the top and zone on the underneath guy (outside leverage).

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayb2.PNG

classic zone blocking with landry holding the man on the edge. we use deception to neutralize a defender.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayb3.PNG

so what we notice here is that creases start to form in the DL/OL scrum. this is an area where murray excels. he starts angling towards a crease that he can ride.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayb4.PNG

murray wiggles a little bit and gets on the linebackers shoulder. this will allow him to power through for a few more yards.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayb5.PNG

murray is 3 yards downfield when he makes contact with the defender. everything after this point is all murray.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayb6.PNG

murray ends up gaining 3 more yards before they bring him down.

so what we begin to see is the difference between man blocking and zone blocking and finch/murray.

the zone play is a low risk play that has a minimal chance of gaining big yards. in general you can expect it to end up at <2 yards (20%), 2-3 yards 40% of the time, 3-4 20%, 4-6 15%, 7+ 5%.

the man blocking play has a much higher % chance of bigger gains. it also has a higher % of being stuffed. thus it would be a medium risk play. so something like -2 to 0 (33%), 1-3 (25%), 4-7 (20%), 8-11 (15%), 12+ (7%)

[NormanPride]

How much would our running game improve if the QB was a threat to take the ball even 5 yards?

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

next play

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayc1.PNG

same alignment, same formation, same play call

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayc2.PNG

big crease forms on the left side. this is an inherent advantage of the zone blocking scheme because it allows you to take advantage of any lineman making a spectacular block on a particular play. in a man blocking scheme, the outstanding block has to take place at the point of attack to be taken advantage of.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayc3.PNG

this is what makes demarco so good. instead of immediately diving into the hole, he takes the extra effort of eliminating the free DT from the play by deception. by pressing the outside hard, he forces the player to commit and take themselves out of the play.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayc4.PNG

demarco dives back inside the crease that 94 just got snookered out of

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayc5.PNG

one of the linemen loses his block and they get a hit on demarco, enough to get him knocked off balance. in the long run, it doesn't really matter as aTm has a safety that is going to finish off the play. the only thing is does is eliminate the chance of a move/missed tackle and more yards.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayc6.PNG

we've got the first down, now how many more yards can we squeeze out of it

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayc7.PNG

one last dive for yards turns a 2 yard zone play into a 7 yard gain.

[dwarthog]

:pop:

[TopDawg]

jkm, you mentioned something about the pass to stills in your analysis of the first play in this post, but based on what i'm seeing in your pre-snap photos, it looks like we've got at least 5 or 6 yards on that play in each of the three plays you show (Broyles on the last two?). Am I reading it wrong? If not, why wouldn't we audible to that play?

[mikee likee]

This is great stuff keep it up.

[NormanPride]

That's most likely something you see post-snap, so it would have to be a designed QB read which I don't think it is.

[TopDawg]

That's most likely something you see post-snap, so it would have to be a designed QB read which I don't think it is.

It just looks like...numbers-wise...we've got a good matchup out there. Prior to the snap you can see it's 2-on-2 and our slot receiver has a 10 yard cushion. You make one block, and it's a 5 yard gain. You make one block and make a guy miss and it's huge. That's the way I see it anyway...but I may be misreading it.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

It just looks like...numbers-wise...we've got a good matchup out there. Prior to the snap you can see it's 2-on-2 and our slot receiver has a 10 yard cushion. You make one block, and it's a 5 yard gain. You make one block and make a guy miss and it's huge. That's the way I see it anyway...but I may be misreading it.

yes, looking at this play in a vacuum i agree. however, you can't look at it that way, you have to take the previous 40ish plays that we ran into context as well.

in the first half we took the short pass option hoping for the easy yards. what was proven was that the aTm perimeter guys were better at defeating our blocks (even outnumbered) than we were in producing yards. we were ending up with 1-2 yard gains instead of 5-7 yards. in terms of risk, this makes this play rather silly as you are just inviting a pick 6.

aTm's plan in the 1st half was mike stoopsian. they somehow got us to smash against their strengths for 30 minutes. what you see in these shots is us running plays where we have the advantage. the finch play was no gain but if you are watching it you have to be positive about what it tells you -> that with 8 in the box you are a 1/2 step away from a long one. the murray plays illustrate what we should have been doing from the beginning -> 5-6 yard gains in their soft underbelly.

[cccasooner2]

Any good examples on our short yardage Meerkat formations? :)

[NormanPride]

I'm amazed that after two games Finch has already gotten defenses to stack the box. Now we just need to get better at fakes and we can make them pay.

[TopDawg]

yes, looking at this play in a vacuum i agree. however, you can't look at it that way, you have to take the previous 40ish plays that we ran into context as well.

Good call. I only watched a little bit of the first half and promptly erased what I saw from my memory...but now that you mention it, I remember being stymied on those screens.

How did they get us to smash against their strengths like that? Alignment? Invite the outside screens where they felt confident they could beat the blocks?

[mightysooner]

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayb6.PNG

Why is Stills holding hands with #7 ^^^ after the play?

[Breadburner]

Great Break down......This is Football...!!!!!

[OKC-SLC]

good jorb, jkm.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

so i was asked a specific question about defensive alignment when murray is in the slot and finch is in the backfield. so i have a couple of plays from the colorado game that illustrate it.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayd1.PNG

so here we have finch in the slot and murray in the backfield. the defense is pretty loose because of the spread formation. this is actually a variation of the formation that Q killed texas with. he'd go straight ahead from this formation and make the linebacker look silly.

the arrows show how the play will develop and what murray will do

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayd2.PNG

finch comes in motion to get the ball. key point here is that we are outnumbered at the point of attack.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayd3.PNG

i've illustrated the safe blocking scheme. murray chipping and then sealing the linebacker leaving the safety free. instead, we decide to pull off an incredibly risky maneuver by having the center reach for the DT, the guard seal the linebacker, the tackle reach for the DE, and murray take out the safety.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayd4.PNG

as you can see, this risky strategy has already generated one probably hold on the end. its borderline at home, but on the road that is a flag. it doesn't look like we are going to get to our blocks and he is going to be pushed out of bounds for a 1-2 yard gain.


http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayd5.PNG

we nick the linebacker which causes him to stumble. we have 2 downright blatant holds on the perimeter that aren't called. murray wipes out the safety and this looks like a huge gain.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayd6.PNG

and then finch makes a rookie mistake. he slows down to try to reverse his field when he should have trusted stills to finish his block. if he stays on the sideline this is easily to the 25/30 yard line. instead he cuts back into the teeth of the defense.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayd7.PNG

finch ends up getting to the 23 yard line. impressive run but he left 10 yards on the field because of the cut. the blocking scheme was tenuous at best and had this not been at home, we'd be at the 5 yard line right now.

http://www.ouportal.com/Portals/0/runningplayd8.PNG

okay, next play. murray in the slot and finch in the backfield. this isnt' the same formation as we only have 3 split out of the formation. things to note:
1. linebackers are pretty precise about where they are with respect to protecting the sideline. with murray back there they were really loose on the edge. with finch in there they are really tight because they dont' respect him as a receiver as much as murray.

2. the linebackers are a yard closer to the LOS. the objective with finch is to get him at the LOS, with murray you have more cushion because he can receive the rock in so many different places.

[soonercastor]

good breakdown :pop:

Coach Stoops mentioned during his presser that we ran the "bubble screen fake" two more times (after the overthrown ball by LJ), could you do a breakdown of why the defense didn't bite those two times; They were defending that bubble screen so well that, I'm surprised the fake didn't work then.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

i don't have very much of the aTm game recorded. i had to watch the wazzou game and then they cut away to the USC game at the beginning of the 4th quarter. i'll look through the tape and see if i can find it. in general, the fake bubble screen only works against a tight safety. aTm was running a loose safety most of the night except for the one to stills where he was overthrown.

[fadada1]

so, having glanced at this a touch, we've got one play showing 7 a&m defenders in the box.

my question is this - have we tried "play action" at any point this season?

we clearly made an attempt (apparently) at establishing a running game, and KW has roughly the same angle that we're seeing in the pictures... so, having approximately 20 more seconds on the play clock, speed-of-light communication devices, highly paid assistant coaches on the sidelines, and more than experiences D1 football players running the offense, to an untrained eye such as mine, it would seem that an ADJUSTMENT could be made given the "stimuli" presented by the a&m defense.

Play action is as fundamental as it gets AFTER establishing the run. in fadada1 terminology, it's the equivalent of tapping the ball in with the blade of your sand wedge after having executed a fundamentally sound chip shot.

[Iam4OUru]

This thread is so much better than the "can the coach" threads. Good job, dude...very entertaining.

[btb916]

Can you compare a play where our o-line has problems to where our o-line plays well? I would be interested in this, either running or passing.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

so, having glanced at this a touch, we've got one play showing 7 a&m defenders in the box.

my question is this - have we tried "play action" at any point this season?

we clearly made an attempt (apparently) at establishing a running game, and KW has roughly the same angle that we're seeing in the pictures... so, having approximately 20 more seconds on the play clock, speed-of-light communication devices, highly paid assistant coaches on the sidelines, and more than experiences D1 football players running the offense, to an untrained eye such as mine, it would seem that an ADJUSTMENT could be made given the "stimuli" presented by the a&m defense.

Play action is as fundamental as it gets AFTER establishing the run. in fadada1 terminology, it's the equivalent of tapping the ball in with the blade of your sand wedge after having executed a fundamentally sound chip shot.

we actually ran quite a few play action passes. i went through one of them in the other thread. this thread is specifically about the run game. so far, i've just diagrammed specific plays for specific questions. if i get some time tomorrow i'll go into specific philosophy for the run game.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Good call. I only watched a little bit of the first half and promptly erased what I saw from my memory...but now that you mention it, I remember being stymied on those screens.

How did they get us to smash against their strengths like that? Alignment? Invite the outside screens where they felt confident they could beat the blocks?

i guess we'll make a passing game thread for this :(.

one of the foundational concepts of mike stoops' defense was deception. from a talent perspective, he never had more than 4 or 5 guys who were going to play in the NFL. however, he always figured out how to get an offensive coordinator to run a play right at them without them being blocked.

how you do this is bait and switch. basically you appear to be soft to invite the ingrained "take what they give you" mentality. then when the call is in, you change your alignment to turn the alignment from weak to strong. if the opposing team panics, its incredibly effective (see us vs texas from 2000-3). however, if they are patient it can burn you deep since you close the gap and make it about talent vs talent. this is why mobile QBs used to kill us.

R7O97sozoUo

watch this and see how many times we get our best players uncovered to make the play. its almost uncanny how teams would just beat themselves against calmus, TGRW, marshall, strait.

[OU_Sooners75]

Our running offense?

Get pushed around on the OLine...and hope our RBs can find the holes....then open a hole big enough for Mangino to run through, and our RB hit that hole at a snails speed.

:D

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

wow, i'm blown away by your consistent quality of input

[westbrooke]

i guess we'll make a passing game thread for this :(.


Given how much time I spend reading these threads, I'm acutely aware of how much time it must take you to create them. This could turn into a full-time job, and I'm sure we're not paying you enough for that. But we appreciate it. :)

[dwarthog]

JKM, I have a question for you.

Something that bugged me after a decision that Landry made in the a & m game.

He stepped forward into the pocket on a big a & m rush, and had clear running in front of him for 1st down plus yardage on a 3rd down play yet elected to throw into tight coverage and the pass went incomplete.

The immediate thought I had was, he exhibited poor football IQ.

I have to wonder how much that is playing into the issues you are pointing out.

[TopDawg]

i guess we'll make a passing game thread for this :(.

The pictures are great...but I always read your stuff before you started posting pics, so the analysis is just fine too. :)

[fadada1]

i'm of the philosophy, "continue to do something until they find a way to stop it." Specifically, in '99, we ran the "utah pass" about 5 times in one series (to Q) against a&m. i notice those bastards ran it against us a couple times saturday. while not technically a running play, it essentially is. i'd like to see us run that a bit more, or even the "sweep utah pass" that is run down the line (has a roll out look to it).

[NormanPride]

We ran it once I believe. We ran tons of screens and misdirection flat passes, but A&M read them all perfectly and our blockers were inept the whole day. I was more frustrated that we kept running them even though it was obvious that none of them were working...

[cvsooner]

so, having glanced at this a touch, we've got one play showing 7 a&m defenders in the box.

my question is this - have we tried "play action" at any point this season?



We did play action on at least three plays in the first half. I watched the first half again last night. And yes, we have done play action several times this season, and usually per game. They're not particularly good fakes, but we have run them.

[cvsooner]

We ran it once I believe. We ran tons of screens and misdirection flat passes, but A&M read them all perfectly and our blockers were inept the whole day. I was more frustrated that we kept running them even though it was obvious that none of them were working...

Well, the question becomes, are they close to working if everybody follows his assignment? Several plays were stopped cold by a single player making a great tackle. Had everybody else blocked well....and then one guy misses an assignment outright, or whiffs on a block, or the defender does a great job of fighting off the block and making the play. I think that's what Stoops means when he talks about not executing.

[cvsooner]

i'm of the philosophy, "continue to do something until they find a way to stop it." Specifically, in '99, we ran the "utah pass" about 5 times in one series (to Q) against a&m. i notice those bastards ran it against us a couple times saturday. while not technically a running play, it essentially is. i'd like to see us run that a bit more, or even the "sweep utah pass" that is run down the line (has a roll out look to it).

And, if the linebacker hasn't blown his assignment he'll stop that play dead. The one instance I recall came on a blitz, which isn't really a blown assignment, but suddenly there's a hole to exploit and Lewis in this case makes a swipe at the ball and misses it. Gray then gets about 10 yards before the secondary takes him down.

[cvsooner]

JKM, I have a question for you.

Something that bugged me after a decision that Landry made in the a & m game.

He stepped forward into the pocket on a big a & m rush, and had clear running in front of him for 1st down plus yardage on a 3rd down play yet elected to throw into tight coverage and the pass went incomplete.

The immediate thought I had was, he exhibited poor football IQ.

I have to wonder how much that is playing into the issues you are pointing out.

Some of Landry's decisions are questionable. He had a rough first half...overthrew two touchdown strikes, tried a third pass to Ratteree in the end zone that required a Bradfordesque pass between two defenders when Stills was open at the goal line. Frankly, given the choice between a very hard to make throw and an easier to make throw and to the receiver with the better hands...I think I'd throw it to Stills.

Landry's not a great runner but he had several opportunities to use his legs. I have to think he's been instructed not to pull it down and run it, to trust his line and wait for the play to develop. Sometimes I wish he'd follow his instincts.

He did run once and nearly got a first down.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Some of Landry's decisions are questionable. He had a rough first half...overthrew two touchdown strikes, tried a third pass to Ratteree in the end zone that required a Bradfordesque pass between two defenders when Stills was open at the goal line. Frankly, given the choice between a very hard to make throw and an easier to make throw and to the receiver with the better hands...I think I'd throw it to Stills.

Landry's not a great runner but he had several opportunities to use his legs. I have to think he's been instructed not to pull it down and run it, to trust his line and wait for the play to develop. Sometimes I wish he'd follow his instincts.

He did run once and nearly got a first down.

one of the hallmarks of a great college QB is the ability to improvise. their other measureables may vary, but the ability to just make it up as they go sets them apart. if you presented josh with 4 options and told him to run a play 11 times you might end up with 9 different results.

landry is very vanilla. you give him 4 options and those are the only 4 options he will do in 100 plays. it makes him perfect for the NFL who value consistency. horrible for college where you have no margin for error and you have to figure out how to win - every play, every series, every quarter, every half, every game.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Play action is as fundamental as it gets AFTER establishing the run. in fadada1 terminology, it's the equivalent of tapping the ball in with the blade of your sand wedge after having executed a fundamentally sound chip shot.

to equate this with football, you'd have to have one of your buddies with the ability to move the hole around while you putt.

you have to understand that there is another mind on the other side of the field who is just as capable of guessing what you are doing. what happens if he rolls the dice on your play action and throws in a robber defense? you think you are going to have an easy 30 yard gain to the TE and end up with a pick coming back the other way.

what i'm trying to show you here is how we do things TACTICALLY - within one single play. strategy and flow are based on the sequence of plays, momentum, and how the opponent guessed when you did various plays.

wilson got snookered in the first half by the opposing coach -> not because of the goal line stand, not because of the score, but because he forgot to run the ball. we had thrown the ball almost 30 times by halftime.

[NormanPride]

Wilson forgets to run the ball a lot. I really wish we could get someone else to call the plays.

[SoonerAtKU]

Well, judging from some of the comments made this week, most of the screens are off of a run-pass read option from Landry. Maybe the sin is giving Jones the option to throw the screen as a "safe out" if he thinks the run isn't viable?

[cvsooner]

Our first rush attempt didn't come until half the first quarter was over, and then it wasn't all that effective:

Murray,Demarco rush for 3 yards
Jones,Landry rush for 6 yards
Murray,Demarco rush for 3 yards

And here's the first and goal
Murray,Demarco rush for no gain
Murray,Demarco rush for no gain --aTm penalties get it down to the two!
Millard,Trey rush for 1 yard -- now at the one...
Murray,Demarco rush for no gain
Murray,Demarco rush for no gain

Eight running plays in the first quarter, for 13 yards...and stuffed at the goal line. Twice.

And 15 pass plays...including two certain TDs with better throws.

An off night.

[fadada1]

to equate this with football, you'd have to have one of your buddies with the ability to move the hole around while you putt.

you have to understand that there is another mind on the other side of the field who is just as capable of guessing what you are doing. what happens if he rolls the dice on your play action and throws in a robber defense? you think you are going to have an easy 30 yard gain to the TE and end up with a pick coming back the other way.

what i'm trying to show you here is how we do things TACTICALLY - within one single play. strategy and flow are based on the sequence of plays, momentum, and how the opponent guessed when you did various plays.

wilson got snookered in the first half by the opposing coach -> not because of the goal line stand, not because of the score, but because he forgot to run the ball. we had thrown the ball almost 30 times by halftime.

HOGWASH!!!

;) :D

[cvsooner]

I dunno if he 'forgets' to run the ball a lot or that we just really aren't very good at it.

[cvsooner]

Second quarter rushes:

Finch,Roy rush for 3 yards
Finch,Roy rush for no gain
Murray,Demarco rush for 7 yards
Jones,Landry sacked for loss of 9 yards (which is really a pass but counts against runs)
Jones,Landry sacked for loss of 7 yards (ditto)
Murray,Demarco rush for 17 yards

Then Jones throws the oskie.

Four runs, and 14 pass plays in the second. So much for the 'run, run, pass' pattern people always accuse KW of doing.

[cvsooner]

In the fourth quarter on the two goal line stands, the play calls were six passes and two runs (for 14 yards total of the drive), and then four straight runs on the first go-round. Passes tallied 57 yards of the drive from the 39 to the four.

The second one was eight straight passes...which took us downfield 67 yards. Then four straight runs.

Seems to me we got away from what was working...with A & M's pass defense statistically weaker compared to their run defense, I'd say we played right into their hands, unfortunately.

[toast]

jkm, thank you for your time and work in doing all of this.

[NormanPride]

I think our OL got exposed for a technically sound but completely untalented bunch of converted TEs. :D

[cvsooner]

That's probably more accurate than you think. Poor Mensik was just getting pwned. Stephenson didn't do much better, though. Von Miller was just devastating.

[NormanPride]

He DID lead the nation in sacks last year.

[Cornfed]

we aren't in zone blocking on this play because of the pulling guard.

Zone blocking is why 77 has no idea who he is supposed to block. also loo at the right hand side of the line, wheres the second level of blocking??

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Zone blocking is why 77 has no idea who he is supposed to block. also loo at the right hand side of the line, wheres the second level of blocking??

actually, the jacked up rolling coverage is what causes the confusion with 77. normally they would have left a lineman there for the trap, but with the speed of the blitz they leave him to take out a linebacker (which he does).

one of our adaptations with bad/green OL is to elminate second level blocking to make sure we get the 1st level. with guys like finch, the second level guys he can take.

[starclassic tama]

wow, i'm blown away by your consistent quality of input

but he played the GAME AT A LEVEL PAST HIGH SCHOOL, BET YOU DIDN'T!

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

but he played the GAME AT A LEVEL PAST HIGH SCHOOL, BET YOU DIDN'T!

i dropped out after 7th grade to attend OU

[cvsooner]

And to give credit where credit is due, we didn't play all that badly. In some cases, the aTm guy(s) make a really good play--batting down a pass that's open, making a very sure one-on-one tackle, fighting off a pretty good block to plug a hole. It's not like those are padded dummies you're trying to run a play through and around.

Thanks for your work and analysis here, JKM. As always, a veritable fount of college pigskin knowledge. And I mean that in a good way.

[NormanPride]

I think our effort suffered most of the game. WRs weren't blocking as well as normal, OL couldn't get a push, and the D was having mental lapses.

It's games like those where we really miss great senior leadership. Those are the guys that help the younger kids gut out a game where they feel like everything is going wrong.

[Widescreen]

That's probably more accurate than you think. Poor Mensik was just getting pwned. Stephenson didn't do much better, though. Von Miller was just devastating.

Which stinks because we made Miller a complete non-factor last season. :(

[NormanPride]

Home game.

[dwarthog]

Which stinks because we made Miller a complete non-factor last season. :(

Must be why that Trent Williams guy got drafted so high. Just sayin'.....

[cvsooner]

We outplayed them for one quarter. They outplayed us for three. Ball game.