<< This got pretty long on me (insert Michael Scott gif), so I’m breaking this into two parts, offense today, D/ST tomorrow.>>
The first drive of this game nearly perfectly sums up the entire game, offensively at least. Each play just a few inches off, but enough to give a really good NC State team the margin they needed to capitalize.
You could just watch Pacino’s Any Given Sunday “inches” speech to get my point.
I mean, just look at this first play. Great play design with the motion and play action fake that opens up the space for Cleveland to run into (kind of makes you wonder why we didn’t see more of this). This ball HAS to be caught, it’s that simple. Sure, the throw could be better, but Smith has got a linebacker bearing down on him, and the ball hits Cleveland in the hands. Inches.
Second play is counter, a great gap scheme play that is much easier to block for an inexperienced line compared to zone schemes. You can see the incredibly aggressive way that the LBs fly downhill when they see the pullers/mesh, and I’m wondering why this ball is not pulled and thrown into the space vacated by the short side LB… there is no one there. That’s one way you attack this Tony Gibson defense, make them wrong with RPOs. Regardless, this actually ends up blocked pretty well, but Tahj hits the B gap instead of the C gap which results in a loss and a very unlikely to convert third and long. Inches.
Third play, the offensive line does a good job of protecting against this 4-man rush (they did not against Houston) which gives Donovan plenty of time to throw the deep out. A throw that, in my opinion, he throws better than any other route, this is not one of those throws. Instead of putting the ball on the sideline and letting Xavier White run to it, and the first down, the ball is thrown at the receiver and broken up. Three plays, three, relatively, easy potential conversions, zero first downs. Inches.
To drive home that point, the above clip shows 4 plays that could have extended drives, but, instead, were just off enough to be incredibly frustrating.
First play, another out ball that is misplaced. Bradley must contort his body to make the catch which does not allow him to extend to the first down. Now, Tech is faced with a 4th and 1 and I don’t have to remind you of what happened next.
Next play is a good find by Donovan, except I’m still not sure what happened. Is this a bad throw? Did Loic just fall down? Either way, what should have been a first down, eventually results in a punt.
This next play is tough to watch because it might have gone for six. Tech is running Dart, another gap scheme where everyone blocks down, and the backside tackle pulls around to either kick out or lead. It sets up perfectly with a kick out block for Mills, but right as Rod puts his foot in the ground to cut inside of the block, Mason Tharp is inexplicably planted right in the hole. I can’t tell if he was knocked backwards or looking to pick up another block, but he ended up acting as a 12th man for the Wolfpack. Another possession getting behind the chains and ending in a punt.
As painful as that last one is to watch, this one may be the most gut wrenching considering the situation. Defense made another great stand, time is slowly starting to turn into the enemy, but a score here and we’ve got a game with plenty of time. Looks like Kittley has 4 Verts called, NC State is sitting back, spying Donovan and Tahj, and rushing three. Line does their job; Donovan can step up and create an opening to find Cleveland who has found some space in their zone, and instead of any easy pitch and catch, this turns into another missed opportunity that leads to a punt.
You cannot have that long of a list of “almosts” and expect to beat a team as good as NC State.
Feels like dog piling at this point, but this clip is three more plays from Smith that just can’t happen. I really like the play design with this first, the fake pitch and pull creates a boot like protection without having to boot. The problem is, even with the time provided, this results in a sack. Besides Donovan’s lack of pocket awareness, it’s troubling that, seemingly, no one was open. Between the rush and Thompson, 6 NC State defenders were occupied behind the line of scrimmage, and we can’t get a single receiver open? That’s a problem that (because we can’t see the routes) goes beyond Donovan.
The next one is the view I wish we had of every play, every game, but alas. Anyway, you can see the development of the coverage here, as well as where Donovan is looking. I’m not really sure what he is expecting to happen considering the coverage and route combination. Counting the deep safety, it’s 4 v 2 on that side of the field. I would like to think the moment he saw that coverage versus the play that was called, he would know he’s going to have to buy some time, but he just keeps looking over there. He obviously doesn’t expect the corner blitz, but I would like to see him start scanning the field when he realizes NC State has the drop 8 called. The broadcast blames Thompson for this, and I’m not sure what Kittley’s thoughts are, but I’m of the opinion dumping it to Thompson is a better corner blitz beater than trying to block him. Thompson sees him coming, and his reaction tells me he was in the right. It’s just going to be hard to be successful on offense with Smith struggling so much with awareness.
The last play is the pick six, again, something that just cannot happen if you want to win. I actually like the play call, because I have zero faith in converting this on the ground. To me, this looks like a miscommunication on a read between Smith and White. Smith reads it as one-high safety, which I assume means White is supposed to run an out. At the snap, the safety attacks downhill so White reads it as “no safety” and runs a post. Pretty impressive play by the DB in hindsight, because if he’s wrong, that’s 6 for Texas Tech. If you pause it at :22, you see the play, that ball needs to be dumped to Price, and I’m not sure Donovan ever even looks his way.
This rewatch left me, somehow, both more frustrated and more optimistic. Frustrated that, despite the mistakes, we were really close to pulling a major upset and a getting McGuire an early signature win. Optimistic that this offense is not miles away from being competent the way it seemed Saturday night. Some fine tuning, adjustments, coaching, and getting a little lucky will go a long way against the Longhorns and the rest of the season.
The first drive of this game nearly perfectly sums up the entire game, offensively at least. Each play just a few inches off, but enough to give a really good NC State team the margin they needed to capitalize.
You could just watch Pacino’s Any Given Sunday “inches” speech to get my point.
I mean, just look at this first play. Great play design with the motion and play action fake that opens up the space for Cleveland to run into (kind of makes you wonder why we didn’t see more of this). This ball HAS to be caught, it’s that simple. Sure, the throw could be better, but Smith has got a linebacker bearing down on him, and the ball hits Cleveland in the hands. Inches.
Second play is counter, a great gap scheme play that is much easier to block for an inexperienced line compared to zone schemes. You can see the incredibly aggressive way that the LBs fly downhill when they see the pullers/mesh, and I’m wondering why this ball is not pulled and thrown into the space vacated by the short side LB… there is no one there. That’s one way you attack this Tony Gibson defense, make them wrong with RPOs. Regardless, this actually ends up blocked pretty well, but Tahj hits the B gap instead of the C gap which results in a loss and a very unlikely to convert third and long. Inches.
Third play, the offensive line does a good job of protecting against this 4-man rush (they did not against Houston) which gives Donovan plenty of time to throw the deep out. A throw that, in my opinion, he throws better than any other route, this is not one of those throws. Instead of putting the ball on the sideline and letting Xavier White run to it, and the first down, the ball is thrown at the receiver and broken up. Three plays, three, relatively, easy potential conversions, zero first downs. Inches.
To drive home that point, the above clip shows 4 plays that could have extended drives, but, instead, were just off enough to be incredibly frustrating.
First play, another out ball that is misplaced. Bradley must contort his body to make the catch which does not allow him to extend to the first down. Now, Tech is faced with a 4th and 1 and I don’t have to remind you of what happened next.
Next play is a good find by Donovan, except I’m still not sure what happened. Is this a bad throw? Did Loic just fall down? Either way, what should have been a first down, eventually results in a punt.
This next play is tough to watch because it might have gone for six. Tech is running Dart, another gap scheme where everyone blocks down, and the backside tackle pulls around to either kick out or lead. It sets up perfectly with a kick out block for Mills, but right as Rod puts his foot in the ground to cut inside of the block, Mason Tharp is inexplicably planted right in the hole. I can’t tell if he was knocked backwards or looking to pick up another block, but he ended up acting as a 12th man for the Wolfpack. Another possession getting behind the chains and ending in a punt.
As painful as that last one is to watch, this one may be the most gut wrenching considering the situation. Defense made another great stand, time is slowly starting to turn into the enemy, but a score here and we’ve got a game with plenty of time. Looks like Kittley has 4 Verts called, NC State is sitting back, spying Donovan and Tahj, and rushing three. Line does their job; Donovan can step up and create an opening to find Cleveland who has found some space in their zone, and instead of any easy pitch and catch, this turns into another missed opportunity that leads to a punt.
You cannot have that long of a list of “almosts” and expect to beat a team as good as NC State.
Feels like dog piling at this point, but this clip is three more plays from Smith that just can’t happen. I really like the play design with this first, the fake pitch and pull creates a boot like protection without having to boot. The problem is, even with the time provided, this results in a sack. Besides Donovan’s lack of pocket awareness, it’s troubling that, seemingly, no one was open. Between the rush and Thompson, 6 NC State defenders were occupied behind the line of scrimmage, and we can’t get a single receiver open? That’s a problem that (because we can’t see the routes) goes beyond Donovan.
The next one is the view I wish we had of every play, every game, but alas. Anyway, you can see the development of the coverage here, as well as where Donovan is looking. I’m not really sure what he is expecting to happen considering the coverage and route combination. Counting the deep safety, it’s 4 v 2 on that side of the field. I would like to think the moment he saw that coverage versus the play that was called, he would know he’s going to have to buy some time, but he just keeps looking over there. He obviously doesn’t expect the corner blitz, but I would like to see him start scanning the field when he realizes NC State has the drop 8 called. The broadcast blames Thompson for this, and I’m not sure what Kittley’s thoughts are, but I’m of the opinion dumping it to Thompson is a better corner blitz beater than trying to block him. Thompson sees him coming, and his reaction tells me he was in the right. It’s just going to be hard to be successful on offense with Smith struggling so much with awareness.
The last play is the pick six, again, something that just cannot happen if you want to win. I actually like the play call, because I have zero faith in converting this on the ground. To me, this looks like a miscommunication on a read between Smith and White. Smith reads it as one-high safety, which I assume means White is supposed to run an out. At the snap, the safety attacks downhill so White reads it as “no safety” and runs a post. Pretty impressive play by the DB in hindsight, because if he’s wrong, that’s 6 for Texas Tech. If you pause it at :22, you see the play, that ball needs to be dumped to Price, and I’m not sure Donovan ever even looks his way.
This rewatch left me, somehow, both more frustrated and more optimistic. Frustrated that, despite the mistakes, we were really close to pulling a major upset and a getting McGuire an early signature win. Optimistic that this offense is not miles away from being competent the way it seemed Saturday night. Some fine tuning, adjustments, coaching, and getting a little lucky will go a long way against the Longhorns and the rest of the season.
