Red Zone Offense

[colleyvillesooner]

Time to go 1's on 1's this week and work this **** out. Can NOT win the NC kicking FG's.

Went on the road, and came out with a W. Survive and move on. I think in the long run, this was a lot better than winning by 50 and resting the starters. Coaches will be up everyones *** this week.

[OUinFLA]

on my tv the game isn't over yet?

[stoops the eternal pimp]

we came in ranked around 70th in redzone touchdown percentage..we haven't been good at is since 2008...

[OUinFLA]

Im thinking we need to recruit a "Refrigerator" Perry type of fullback for those 1st and goal situations.

Anyone know how many 1st and goals we've had to kick a fg (or miss a fg) in the past decade or so?

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I think it's some oline mentality and some play calling questions....TE's virtually ignored and the Oline can't get past their first guy to get the 2nd level...

[OUinFLA]

maybe we need to start lifting weights and stuff.

I'll start tomorrow

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I just took a huge dump..I hope that helps

[OUinFLA]

YEA! we scored in the RED ZONE.

on a run

[Okie35]

I think it's some oline mentality and some play calling questions....TE's virtually ignored and the Oline can't get past their first guy to get the 2nd level...

I agree its both mentality and play calling. Seems like we never play action in the redzone anymore either.

[LRoss]

This is a legit concern of course.

But these announcers have been priceless on the topic. Obviously td's are better than fg's, but we kept kicking and they kept talking about how these were "wins" for KU. I get what they're saying, of course, but imagine if you were new to football. For a while it REALLY would have sounded like KU was mounting some sort of an amazing comeback with their red zone defense as OU slowly pulls further and further ahead. . . .

[colleyvillesooner]

Yes, the announcers were awful.

[stoopified]

I am asking for a year and a half why we don't line up Musil at fb and Millard at tb in short yardage and goal-line situations. Why not? We have tried everything else in the last 2 years.

[Mazeppa]

we came in ranked around 70th in redzone touchdown percentage..we haven't been good at is since 2008...

Let's see what happened after 2008? Oh, Landry Jones became the starting quarterback. mmmmmm

[FirstandGoal]

This is a legit concern of course.

But these announcers have been priceless on the topic. Obviously td's are better than fg's, but we kept kicking and they kept talking about how these were "wins" for KU. I get what they're saying, of course, but imagine if you were new to football. For a while it REALLY would have sounded like KU was mounting some sort of an amazing comeback with their red zone defense as OU slowly pulls further and further ahead. . . .

So this is how the game looked on my screen....

Kansas gets the ball, goes 3 and out (sometime netting negative yardage in the process), punts the ball. The good guys drive the ball down the field, stall out somewhere between the 10 yard line and endzone, successfully kick a FG adding yet another 3 points to the lead.

Umm, not sure what that dumbass announcer was seeing, but it sure as hell wasn't Kansas "winning" squat.

[Hotrod3157]

Red zone offense tonight. Landry missed Broyles high when he was open on a slant. Landry threw a little behind Millard out of the backfield but he probably wouldn't have caught it anyways since he was falling down. Whaley dropped a touchdown pass and Broyles got hosed with a fumble call that took almost 6 minutes to find "indisputable" evidence to overturn that would have it at the two for us. First time in a while I was really happy with the play calling in the red zone just the execution tonight wasn't there. I'll take the comfortable win and look forward to next game.

[BoulderSooner79]

Let's see what happened after 2008? Oh, Landry Jones became the starting quarterback. mmmmmm

I think that is part of it. LJ doesn't trust his arm to put the ball into tight places. In '08, we had an incredible redzone TD percentage and it was due to having Gresham along with Sam's accuracy. It certainly wasn't from power running. LJ seems to lock in on 1 guy and then throw it away quickly if it's not there. The very first drive against the horns last week, LJ locked in on Stills who was blanketed and then threw it away and took the FG. Haywood was completely uncovered in the middle of the endzone, but LJ didn't seem to run through any progression. I don't know if that is by design or what. I've noticed that happens a lot and as many others have mentioned, we don't use the TE much. We don't have a Gresham, but Hanna et. al. are pretty good.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I think that is part of it. LJ doesn't trust his arm to put the ball into tight places. In '08, we had an incredible redzone TD percentage and it was due to having Gresham along with Sam's accuracy. It certainly wasn't from power running. LJ seems to lock in on 1 guy and then throw it away quickly if it's not there. The very first drive against the horns last week, LJ locked in on Stills who was blanketed and then threw it away and took the FG. Haywood was completely uncovered in the middle of the endzone, but LJ didn't seem to run through any progression. I don't know if that is by design or what. I've noticed that happens a lot and as many others have mentioned, we don't use the TE much. We don't have a Gresham, but Hanna et. al. are pretty good.

Spot on Boulder..

[Mazeppa]

I think that is part of it. LJ doesn't trust his arm to put the ball into tight places. In '08, we had an incredible redzone TD percentage and it was due to having Gresham along with Sam's accuracy. It certainly wasn't from power running. LJ seems to lock in on 1 guy and then throw it away quickly if it's not there. The very first drive against the horns last week, LJ locked in on Stills who was blanketed and then threw it away and took the FG. Haywood was completely uncovered in the middle of the endzone, but LJ didn't seem to run through any progression. I don't know if that is by design or what. I've noticed that happens a lot and as many others have mentioned, we don't use the TE much. We don't have a Gresham, but Hanna et. al. are pretty good.

Landry has started what some 30 plus games, and still can't figure it out?

[colleyvillesooner]

So Whaley dropping a TD and Millard tripping is Landry's fault?

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Definitely he put the ball where it's supposed to be in both of those cases...Good point Colley

I guess what has bothered me is it doesn't seem he either trusts himself or his TEs down when he gets to this point...

[BoulderSooner79]

Landry has started what some 30 plus games, and still can't figure it out?

LJ doesn't call the plays. I'm just saying it looks to me he is very conservative in the redzone and throws the ball away when it seems he has more time to try to find someone open. Redzone turnovers are killers and it is certainly better to get 3 than to come up empty. At some point, we'll probably need that great TD throw where he hangs in there until the last second to get the win. But who knows, we haven't so far this year and those FGs have added up.

[missann]

Landry has started what some 30 plus games, and still can't figure it out?

This is why I can't comprehend all the Landry apologists here. Posters get slammed for saying LJ is inconsistent. But he's been the starter for a while now and he's still shaky. In the quest for an MNC, that's a liability. I just don't see the luster others see; all the stats in the world won't change that.

[Mazeppa]

So Whaley dropping a TD and Millard tripping is Landry's fault?

Look at the replay, both of those passes were behind the players.

[OU_Sooners75]

Is James Hanna still on the team? What about Ratteree or Haywood?

If they are, can they not run routes or catch a ball or something?

The problem with our red zone?

Its simple.

we have three choices:

1. Run up the middle...from a set we do not run on a regular basis between the 20s.
2. Throw to Broyles.
3. Throw to Stills.

Our red zone offense can be defended and stuffed by high school teams!

[missann]

Look at the replay, both of those passes were behind the players.

A LOT of passes are short/behind. The receivers just contort and bail him out.

[Mazeppa]

LJ doesn't call the plays. I'm just saying it looks to me he is very conservative in the redzone and throws the ball away when it seems he has more time to try to find someone open. Redzone turnovers are killers and it is certainly better to get 3 than to come up empty. At some point, we'll probably need that great TD throw where he hangs in there until the last second to get the win. But who knows, we haven't so far this year and those FGs have added up.

If your playing Alabama of LSU FGs won't add up to the score you will need to win.

[Mazeppa]

A LOT of passes are short/behind. The receivers just contort and bail him out.


Like that guy in the Fantastic Four comic book?

[OU_Sooners75]

So Whaley dropping a TD and Millard tripping is Landry's fault?

If the wr has to turn or twist to catch a ball that is thrown behind him, then yeah!

Landry was way off today...just his MO on the road though.

[missann]

Like that guy in the Fantastic Four comic book?

LOL. Almost though - like the poster above said, they "twist and turn" while elevating to make the catch.

[btb916]

Whatever the problem is, there is a problem.

And in 2008 there was also a problem. (Note that Landry did not start in 2008, Samuel Bradford did.) See the National Championship Game. Two trips in the redzone I recall vividly: one ended in an interception, the other in runs up the middle which did not result in a touchdown.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

This isn't all on Landry..It's a complete mix of everyone involved in this...Anyway here is the stat

Going into the game, we have scored TD's on 59 percent of RZ opportunities.. that is 66th
last season, we scored TDs on 57 percent of RZ opportunities...that is 83rd
2009, we scored TDs on 56 percent of RZ opportunities...that was 66th
2008, we scored TDs on 84 percent of RZ opportunities...that was 1st

The poster above is right though..from the NC game on, it's been tough going to get those TDs close

[colleyvillesooner]

I guess I'm old school but even if you twist and turn, and the ball hits you in TWO hands atchest level and you drop it because you take your eye off it, that's on the receiver.

[btb916]

It certainly has been hard to get TDs from up close.

And while I most certainly do not think our performance tonight is indicative of this team's ability and talent overall, it is in one area...if we can't score on one of the worst defenses in history from inside the 5, how can we score against Bama or LSU?

Not going to make any predictions because I don't practice Santeria...but I wish we were better from inside the 5 for sure.

[colleyvillesooner]

That's where I agree with you on the TE position. In 2008 we had a 1st round Heisman QB throwing to a 1st round AA TE. That helped a TON. (14 TD's)

[aurorasooner]

Wasn't there an article (or blog) in the DO early last week that we were going to work on the red-zone O last week? Fail. Whatever we did, we need to go in another direction.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

now, we don't even attempt passes to TE..Even when they are open..

[btb916]

now, we don't even attempt passes to TE..Even when they are open..

And last year in aggieville it worked to perfection.

[OU_Sooners75]

I guess I'm old school but even if you twist and turn, and the ball hits you in TWO hands atchest level and you drop it because you take your eye off it, that's on the receiver.

I am old school too...however, the two drops you are talking about the receiver wasnt exactly alone. I agree, both should have held on, but they both were bracing for hits too.

I can see putting the ball at a point where only the WR can catch it...but it is not the WR's fault for dropping or missing a pass that is behind them or at their feet.

Those throws and the results were totally on Jones, though they should have been caught. Notice, I didnt say the play wasn't all on Jones.

[colleyvillesooner]

now, we don't even attempt passes to TE..Even when they are open..

Yeah not sure what that is about, but I'm sure they have to point that out on the film. Hopefflymwe get it sorted out, or unleash a TE barrage against someone.

The best the thing about this game was the D coming out in the second half and ending the game. That will come in handy later, maybe even in Kansas again.

[colleyvillesooner]

I am old school too...however, the two drops you are talking about the receiver wasnt exactly alone. I agree, both should have held on, but they both were bracing for hits too.

I can see putting the ball at a point where only the WR can catch it...but it is not the WR's fault for dropping or missing a pass that is behind them or at their feet.

Those throws and the results were totally on Jones, though they should have been caught. Notice, I didnt say the play wasn't all on Jones.



I'll give you the Millard one, but IMO Dom wasnt bracing for a hit, he was turning to run Into the EZ. He Looks it in and he walks in. Perfect play call, good enough throw, drop.

[OU-HSV]

Yeah Dom should've caught that one. Millard tripped but it was a poor pass anyway and the other one (I think it was right before the Millard one), well it was too high. That's one of the few types of passes that I don't think the old saying "if you touch it you catch it" should pertain to. I mean that receiver was stretched to the max and looked like it went off his finger tips. But luckily we were only playing KU and weren't in a serious risk of losing the game. I just hope they get a handle on the red zone troubles in case we're in close games in the future this year with teams whose offenses don't suck as bad as KU

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Yeah not sure what that is about, but I'm sure they have to point that out on the film. Hopefflymwe get it sorted out, or unleash a TE barrage against someone.

The best the thing about this game was the D coming out in the second half and ending the game. That will come in handy later, maybe even in Kansas again.

Ran through the OSU game from last season and a few others where we hit the TE and about all of them I went through, the only times the TE had a pass go his way was when he was standing up in the slot or in motion and never got down in a stance..Maybe there is something about being able to let a play develop long enough where the TE can get out of his stance, chip a defender and get down field..I dunno..I'm bored and can't sleep

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Maybe that's just us becoming TT offense more and the TE isn't anything more than a blocker now

[pappy]

I am asking for a year and a half why we don't line up Musil at fb and Millard at tb in short yardage and goal-line situations. Why not? We have tried everything else in the last 2 years.


Same here except I would put Musil at tb since Millard is a better blocker.

[StoopTroup]

I dunno..I'm bored and can't sleep


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn-NyrVdXaY

[cleller]

Hire Mark Mangino!

[hornswaggled]

It looked to me like our goal line formation was so tight that none of the OL's could get through to block a linebacker and open a running lane. End to end the formation is so close that linebackers can stack up in the middle and still be able to react to an off tackle or end run. The tight ends have to stay in to block the DE's, so they aren't available for a pass. With this formation it seems the options are limited to pass to split end or swing pass to the running back. I was glad to see the last RZ formation, the one where we scored with a running play. On that play we used more of a spread that created better blocking angles for the OL.

[BigTip]

There's an easy solution to this red zone problem; Don't get in the red zone.

When we're on the 40 or so, just throw down field, make a td.

Where do I send my address so I can start getting my coaching pay?

[MI Sooner]

I think that is part of it. LJ doesn't trust his arm to put the ball into tight places. In '08, we had an incredible redzone TD percentage and it was due to having Gresham along with Sam's accuracy. It certainly wasn't from power running. LJ seems to lock in on 1 guy and then throw it away quickly if it's not there. The very first drive against the horns last week, LJ locked in on Stills who was blanketed and then threw it away and took the FG. Haywood was completely uncovered in the middle of the endzone, but LJ didn't seem to run through any progression. I don't know if that is by design or what. I've noticed that happens a lot and as many others have mentioned, we don't use the TE much. We don't have a Gresham, but Hanna et. al. are pretty good.

Until Florida, I think we pretty much had our way with people punching it in on the goal line with the run game.

[Iam4OUru]

Does the staff even know how to fix this problem?

“Sorry we didn’t score every time, but we’re working on it,’’ - Bob Stoops

Stoops' sarcasm is not the least bit funny.

[BoulderSooner79]

Does the staff even know how to fix this problem?

“Sorry we didn’t score every time, but we’re working on it,’’ - Bob Stoops

Stoops' sarcasm is not the least bit funny.

I think it's very funny - it's what makes Bob so lovable.

[BoulderSooner79]

Does the staff even know how to fix this problem?

“Sorry we didn’t score every time, but we’re working on it,’’ - Bob Stoops

Stoops' sarcasm is not the least bit funny.

I think it's very funny - it's what makes Bob so lovable.

[BoulderSooner79]

Until Florida, I think we pretty much had our way with people punching it in on the goal line with the run game.

You're memory is different than mine. Our '08 run game was effective because our overall offense was effective. But when we lined up in power formation and tried to brute force it, we were stuffed by some mediocre defenses. We had the same threads here bitching about it. But if we kept the threat of the pass alive by splitting out Gresham, the run worked much better. It not only took 1 tackler away from the LOS to cover Gresh, it caused 3 other guys to worry about the mis-match of trying to cover him and opened up holes in the line.

[thecrimsoncrusader]

If your playing Alabama of LSU FGs won't add up to the score you will need to win.

Yeah, because Alabama and LSU have such great and diverse offenses and all. No wait, they don't.

[tulsaoilerfan]

I've never been a big fan of going with a jumbo set and then trying to power it in ; wouldn't it make more sense to spread out the defense instead of having 10 guys inside the box all geared up to stop the run?

[thecrimsoncrusader]

Agreed. The jumbo set is great if you're actually a predominant rushing offense. But being a predominant passing offense and then going into the jumbo package doesn't automatically make an effective run package. You can still run the same offense that got you to that point, you just have to adjust the routes and the play-calling, not the formation itself. The Sooners at least tried to throw it quite a bit near the goal line last night, which was progress, but Landry was out of sync as was the rest of the offense. Even if Landry played great, I still would have stated he looked sick. He was lethargic from the get go whether it be on the sidelines or when throwing a TD pass and he looked more pale than normal and just looked out of it.

[AlboSooner]

Yeah, because Alabama and LSU have such great and diverse offenses and all. No wait, they don't.
They don't rely on diversity to win games. They rely on their strength and balance. They may not have their fullback line up as a WR, but they will sic their fullback on your LB core and gain 5 yard to score a TD.

Give me I-formation over 5 wideouts any day.

[AlboSooner]

Does the staff even know how to fix this problem?

“Sorry we didn’t score every time, but we’re working on it,’’ - Bob Stoops

Is this quote from last year?

[MichiganSooner]

Put a tight end in the game as a fullback. Make Millard the tailback. Broyles, Stills as receivers. Run some plays.

[soonerman4life]

Fellas, it's not fair to put the lack of redzone scoring all on Landry. A national champion should be able to pound the ball into the endzone. The problem, from view at least, is team execution and not just LJ.

[Iam4OUru]

Is this quote from last year?

Oct. 16, 2011 12:26 a.m. - by Andrew Gilman - Stoops acknowledges red-zone issues
Coach Bob Stoops recognized the problems OU had Saturday in the red zone in its 47-17 victory at Kansas. “Sorry we didn’t score every time, but we’re working on it,’’ said Stoops, according to The Tulsa World. Sooners RapidReports

[VA Sooner]

I was hoping to see the fullback Millard running it in on a quick handoff with Whaley behind him as the distraction.

The whole night was off with the exception of Broyles and the second half defense.

But agree... definitely better to win a close one on the road and keep the intensity up. Lots of game film for the boys to watch... just hope they figure out something for our redzone offense in the future. We will need it against Kansas St, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.

[soonerbub]

Inside the 10:

- Broyles

- Millard

- Whaley Finch

plzkthx Josh

http://rebirthinternational.net/word/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/wishbone.jpg

[hornswaggled]

...(Landry) looked sick. He was lethargic from the get go whether it be on the sidelines or when throwing a TD pass and he looked more pale than normal and just looked out of it.

Maybe he caught celiac disease from that skinny quarterback at Tallahassee;)

[CarolinaSoonerFan]

Red zone offense tonight. Landry missed Broyles high when he was open on a slant. Landry threw a little behind Millard out of the backfield but he probably wouldn't have caught it anyways since he was falling down. Whaley dropped a touchdown pass and Broyles got hosed with a fumble call that took almost 6 minutes to find "indisputable" evidence to overturn that would have it at the two for us. First time in a while I was really happy with the play calling in the red zone just the execution tonight wasn't there. I'll take the comfortable win and look forward to next game.

We definitely ran more passing plays against KU, and I was pleased with that I just wish the execution was better.

[soonercastor]

I'm just glad the coaches acknowledge this and are working on it every week, hopefully we come up with a good solution and the (BOOMER) sooner the better because a huge part of it is confidence. We had the same issue with road wins and we have played much more comfortably on the road lately, I know some of that came with players' maturing as well.

[soonercastor]

Josh reads this forum :encouragement:

[AlboSooner]

<insert snarky Stoops comment here>

[winout]

I am asking for a year and a half why we don't line up Musil at fb and Millard at tb in short yardage and goal-line situations. Why not? We have tried everything else in the last 2 years.

Because either one would be met 2 yard behind the line by unblock dline man.

[winout]

Jiminy, how bad is Texas?