Halftime adjustments

[Cat_5_Cane]

Remember when UVA scored 50 points against our defense running the same pass to the tight end play all game long? Let's be happy we have a coaching staff that is actually capable of making adjustments.

I'll always remember that in the bowl game against wisconsin as well. So frustrating.

 

[CaneAlmighty]

I personally would not have predicted that this offense could've scored more than 17 points on a good defense.

VTech dominated them on the road. We should've done the same at home.

Are you saying we don't have a "good" defense? Please explain.

 

[zone3cane]

I personally would not have predicted that this offense could've scored more than 17 points on a good defense.

VTech dominated them on the road. We should've done the same at home.

You sound like a ******....

VT didnt have Turnovers that caused GT to play in a short field the entire 1st half too, w/o those turnovers the game wouldve been over at half time.

Coach D'nofrio didnt have time to tell the defense the adjustment before half time b/c the offense either scored too quickly or turned the ball over. 45-23 was the score w/ 1:08 seconds left in the game... thats dominating.

I dont care about VT, they barely beat East Carolina and Marshall so they aint perfect either.

 

[weownfsu]

WTF is Penn Med talking about? You sound like some Randy Shannon holdover

 

[LuCane]

It appeared as though we were using the defensive ends to take away the fullback dive early on and that opened up the pitchman to turn the corner on the perimeter. There were two issues I thought we needed to address. The first being we were slow playing the quarterback with the outside linebacker. Instead of straight attacking the quarterback with force the outside 'backer was hesitating which allowed the quarterback a better read and pitch momentum. The second was that we were playing a lot of sky force coverage with the safeties. They were either getting caught up by the receivers blocking them prior to reaching the alley or they were taking bad angles.

In the second half coach D used a little more cloud coverage where the corners became primary force. I actually thought this adjustment was the right call but wondered whether or not AJHighsmith and KCRodgers would be able to cover the deep halves. The other adjustment coach D made was changing the responsibilities of the DE's. The DE's forced the pitch. I don't think it was a coincidence that the fullback started finding daylight after coach D made that adjustment. JMO.

If you take it a step deeper into why those were issues, I think we're looking at a consistent problem we've seen pop up and will probably continue to see pop up: we allow the offense to mostly dictate. After watching what had worked against GT earlier in the season, I was surprised we didn't attack the A and B gaps more w/ our LBs.

I'd have to re-watch the game for just this, but it seemed Perryman and crew were playing very far back. Perryman made a lot of tackles. However, they were after things had washed out and were coming like 8-10 yards downfield. Was surprised when we didn't sprinkle in some gap exchange/blitzes from the LBs/DEs. It's the way to address the spread-option, but it'd have also helped us out. I don't think this is a tactical issue. It's a philosophical decision.

More often than not, I think we're going to setup to allow offenses to self-destruct. If we come up on an offense that's clicking or an O-Coordinator who stays one step ahead of our D, then we're just gonna get into a track meet and have to outscore 'em. At least we won a game we would have lost the past few years.

I completely agree that it is a philosophical decision by this staff. The decision is basically whether the philosophy is going to be read and react or attacking and dictating on the defensive side of the ball. When a defense is constantly reacting to what an offense is trying to execute there is often hesitation and indecision. Granted that's not always the case because experience plays an important factor. I'm of the belief that as the underclassmen gain more experience in coach D's scheme they will play faster as a unit. Nothing takes the place of game reps I don't care how much simulation a defense gets from the scout team. Live action is where true experience is gained. And game planning for the spread option is in itself a unique animal.

I think you have to take a closer look at how other teams where defending GT earlier this season. From a philosophical standpoint, GT faced mostly one gap, penetrating fronts. That's the difference, IMO. Although I couldn't tell if Miami was playing an over or a solid front, I thought back to the Jimmy Johnson 4-3 over-slide front that he used to smash OU's wishbone. The key was to defend the 'bone inside, out. Miami stuff the fullback dive with the DT's and MLB. Without going into details, you know the techniques the DT's and MLB played upfront. And, although Miami's MLBers have historically received major praise for being able to play sideline to sideline, their success was fundamentally grounded in the fact that they were able to help anchor the interior gaps. The tackle to tackle gaps. That's actually the main responsibility for the MLB in the 4-3 over front. Anything else is gravy and just adds juice. By controlling the interior gaps with penetrating DT's and an anchoring MLB it allowed the entire defense to play fast and downhill. The result...destruction.

Two things:

1) Because of the reasons you outlined, Tech's smallish, but upfield/disruptive approach will actually give some of our offensive schemes problems

2) I still think there are concerns with the philosophy in terms of our ultimate goal. I had no doubts we'd be better this year with better and/or more experienced personnel. It's about those 2-3 games a year when we face a combination of accurate QB and playmaker that causes some concern about being inherently reactive. Remember, if the end goal here is championship, that's another hump altogether. It means there *will* be a team that slices our zone at times and doesn't self-destruct as they approach the goal line. Right now, our answer to that is "score more." In the future, it looks like our answer to that may be "we'll have more talent on the edge." My hope is it's enough. My trust is in Golden that he's always seemingly corrected any issues. I imagine if he feels we need to blitz more (kinda like we did last year at times), we'll do that in those 2-3 matchups a year that will decide our Championship hopes.