Had some time this evening, decided to breakdown Pitt's O from Syracuse game. Lot of stuff has been covered repeatedly already by some posters but I like to possibly give a different perspective on what the offensive staff could be thinking and why. (Plus this keeps me in coaching mode during short hiatus)
1st drive opened with Inside Zone out of one of their base sets (Right Trips Zap), holding brought back decent plus opener.1st and 20 Right Trips but different personell (11), so instead of a Tight Slot you got wide trips, with pin and pull outside zone scheme to the boundary for 3. 2nd and 17 was I believe the first empty set of the year (could be wrong), with a completion by 88. Concept looks like Fade-Bow-Stop to the trips, In-Go backside. Have zero idea how that would be being read. Only thing that makes sense is if the fade in the trips was supposed to be a Curl. Anyway, gain of 12. 3rd and 5, out of Left Trips (11 personell) is the shovel to 88 which has been discussed at length. Boy did Browne take a shot. I fully understand what and why you run plays like this but boy do you expose your QB. No quick game?
2nd drive, great opener. Left trips with base personell, so 88 is tight slot, P/A boot back to him on F-Delay. Gain of 8, solid play. 2nd and 2, great PA design. Faked Inside Zone to RB, end around to Henderson, threw post to Weah. A few things. 1) I am not a huge proponent of 1 routes, which essentially what this was, only because if secondary doesn't bite, you have no other option. 2) Weah did a poor job of stemming route. What you need to do is use the DB's leverage against him, meaning he is lined up in an outside shade so your initial stem (the first vertical part of the route needs to be run on a slight angle attacking his outside shoulder, getting DB to open hips to sideline. Then, once you get on his toes, you need to put that outside foot in the ground and rip hard back through inside shoulder without getting collisioned. Jester's feet were extremely poor. The pitter patter on top of the route looked like a sophomore in HS. Very good throw by Max. 3) Full slide protection, O'Neil pins inside shade, B gap defender initially, then lets him go. Nothing occurred but you can't do that. Do your assignment and finish.
3rd and 2 play was a disaster. For starters, the X's alignment was extremely tight presnap, looked to try and run a corner. Henderson ran an out, which safety was all over. Browne doesn't have the feet to Sprint out to his left. Bill Walsh always said he would never make his QB do something that is unnatural for him to do. I second that. Very disappointing end to a series where you had 2nd and 2.
3rd drive, opened with Unbalanced Bunch Toss to Hall. Nice job with assignments, 87 needs to move feet instead of just position block. 88 did real nice job leading up on OLB. O'Neill really showed athleticism. He is a very frustrating player to watch. Has got all the skills needed, just needs way more consistentcy. Good forward lean by Hall. It's a gimmicky play but it works. 2nd and 2 was another Unbalanced set where you presnap have your slot WR covered up so backside X can run jet. Ended up being a semi Statue to Whitehead. Should have been much bigger play. Blocking scheme was there. 58 was supposed to turn up on most dangerous man, which he didn't do, along with Officer getting abused by Safety. Those things just can't happen. 3rd and 1, another Unbalanced set, Pitt had a 4 man surface against 3 down lineman and got Zero push on Inside Zone. On top of that, neither Cuse LB's played down hill at the snap, OL got beat across their face, just a cluster.
4th drive, opened with Left Trips P/A, threw Swing to Ollison. Good read by Browne. 2nd and 4, outside zone from a tight trips set. Pulled Officer, he made a solid block just needs to stay with him. 3rd and 3 was Mesh concept with Lopes and Weah that has been dissected at length. As a side note, Cuse was in an Okie front, and played Man 2 Free which I believe they played on all 3rd downs so far. The SS in this scheme made a great read and closed like a bat out of hell.
Pitt ended up getting 1st down by too many men on field call. Opener looks like an RPO out of a traditional Ace Set, either that or it was really good sell job on PA by OL. Regardless, gain on 6. 2nd and 5 was another gimmick set where 88 covered up 87, Ollison was a tight slot with Hall and Whitehead in backfield. Sort of a poor man's bunch set. Ran pin and pull outside zone scheme, great job by Ollison and O'Neill. Here is stating the obvious, Jordan needs more touches. I saw every game he played in HS. I saw him do freakish things with the ball. Saw cuts that looked like Reggie Bush.
5th drive, backed up, opened with a Fake toss to a bunch set, then a roll to a flood concept with Henderson running deep cross, Weah comeback, 88 coming across the grain on a sneak route to opposite flat. Nice design. Henderson needs to stay high originally. Browne needs to try and set feet to drive through it. 2nd and 10 was an RPO (or really good sell by OL again) with a bubble to Lopes. 3rd and 7, empty set again. Double Smash with Lopes on an In. I'll be honest, I don't like concept that way. JMO.
Next drive, opened with the Inverted Veer shovel concept. The initial design is really good because this play was invented as a QB read off of the 1 back power. Canada or someone else then inserted the shovel option as a way to run it with a pro style QB. Cuse had a 8 man box vs this set and had the offense out gapped to the field. It's Ok to waste a play if you are able to see how they are playing a set and then comeback with an answer for it. This is what I am looking for, to see if they comeback with the adjustment. Anyway, gain of 1 on an ugly looking play. 2nd and 9, PA divide to Lopes, who did a great job of flattening away from FS. Solid throw by Max FROM THE POCKET. Next play, Bubble to Lopes FROM THE POCKET. Next play, PA from a left Trips set, Hit Weah on the Curl FROM THE POCKET. Next play, Comeback to Weah on the backside of a 3 x 1 set. Might have had action to the field, but Jester had a loose corner and Max made the safe throw FROM THE POCKET. Next play was a complete cluster. Unconventional set that is heavy run because slot WR to trips in covered up and ineligible. Lopes took jet to short side and presnap Pitt had the numbers. However, Cuse over played Jet, 21 needed to turn up in hole because of wide DE, and 78 pulled the wrong way, thus leaving the 3 tech unblocked. Just an all around ugly play. 3rd and 4, tried going back to Mesh play out of motioning to 3 x 1, same play Weah ran short of sticks. Cuse was in their Okie subpackage, brought 5, played one behind it. FS, who had RB in man, played downhill to pick him up and accidentally knocked Matthews off of his route. I am hoping there is a wrinkle off of this look.
Left a lot of plays and points out there in 1st half. Excited to see what adjustments are made in 2nd half..
1st drive opened with Inside Zone out of one of their base sets (Right Trips Zap), holding brought back decent plus opener.1st and 20 Right Trips but different personell (11), so instead of a Tight Slot you got wide trips, with pin and pull outside zone scheme to the boundary for 3. 2nd and 17 was I believe the first empty set of the year (could be wrong), with a completion by 88. Concept looks like Fade-Bow-Stop to the trips, In-Go backside. Have zero idea how that would be being read. Only thing that makes sense is if the fade in the trips was supposed to be a Curl. Anyway, gain of 12. 3rd and 5, out of Left Trips (11 personell) is the shovel to 88 which has been discussed at length. Boy did Browne take a shot. I fully understand what and why you run plays like this but boy do you expose your QB. No quick game?
2nd drive, great opener. Left trips with base personell, so 88 is tight slot, P/A boot back to him on F-Delay. Gain of 8, solid play. 2nd and 2, great PA design. Faked Inside Zone to RB, end around to Henderson, threw post to Weah. A few things. 1) I am not a huge proponent of 1 routes, which essentially what this was, only because if secondary doesn't bite, you have no other option. 2) Weah did a poor job of stemming route. What you need to do is use the DB's leverage against him, meaning he is lined up in an outside shade so your initial stem (the first vertical part of the route needs to be run on a slight angle attacking his outside shoulder, getting DB to open hips to sideline. Then, once you get on his toes, you need to put that outside foot in the ground and rip hard back through inside shoulder without getting collisioned. Jester's feet were extremely poor. The pitter patter on top of the route looked like a sophomore in HS. Very good throw by Max. 3) Full slide protection, O'Neil pins inside shade, B gap defender initially, then lets him go. Nothing occurred but you can't do that. Do your assignment and finish.
3rd and 2 play was a disaster. For starters, the X's alignment was extremely tight presnap, looked to try and run a corner. Henderson ran an out, which safety was all over. Browne doesn't have the feet to Sprint out to his left. Bill Walsh always said he would never make his QB do something that is unnatural for him to do. I second that. Very disappointing end to a series where you had 2nd and 2.
3rd drive, opened with Unbalanced Bunch Toss to Hall. Nice job with assignments, 87 needs to move feet instead of just position block. 88 did real nice job leading up on OLB. O'Neill really showed athleticism. He is a very frustrating player to watch. Has got all the skills needed, just needs way more consistentcy. Good forward lean by Hall. It's a gimmicky play but it works. 2nd and 2 was another Unbalanced set where you presnap have your slot WR covered up so backside X can run jet. Ended up being a semi Statue to Whitehead. Should have been much bigger play. Blocking scheme was there. 58 was supposed to turn up on most dangerous man, which he didn't do, along with Officer getting abused by Safety. Those things just can't happen. 3rd and 1, another Unbalanced set, Pitt had a 4 man surface against 3 down lineman and got Zero push on Inside Zone. On top of that, neither Cuse LB's played down hill at the snap, OL got beat across their face, just a cluster.
4th drive, opened with Left Trips P/A, threw Swing to Ollison. Good read by Browne. 2nd and 4, outside zone from a tight trips set. Pulled Officer, he made a solid block just needs to stay with him. 3rd and 3 was Mesh concept with Lopes and Weah that has been dissected at length. As a side note, Cuse was in an Okie front, and played Man 2 Free which I believe they played on all 3rd downs so far. The SS in this scheme made a great read and closed like a bat out of hell.
Pitt ended up getting 1st down by too many men on field call. Opener looks like an RPO out of a traditional Ace Set, either that or it was really good sell job on PA by OL. Regardless, gain on 6. 2nd and 5 was another gimmick set where 88 covered up 87, Ollison was a tight slot with Hall and Whitehead in backfield. Sort of a poor man's bunch set. Ran pin and pull outside zone scheme, great job by Ollison and O'Neill. Here is stating the obvious, Jordan needs more touches. I saw every game he played in HS. I saw him do freakish things with the ball. Saw cuts that looked like Reggie Bush.
5th drive, backed up, opened with a Fake toss to a bunch set, then a roll to a flood concept with Henderson running deep cross, Weah comeback, 88 coming across the grain on a sneak route to opposite flat. Nice design. Henderson needs to stay high originally. Browne needs to try and set feet to drive through it. 2nd and 10 was an RPO (or really good sell by OL again) with a bubble to Lopes. 3rd and 7, empty set again. Double Smash with Lopes on an In. I'll be honest, I don't like concept that way. JMO.
Next drive, opened with the Inverted Veer shovel concept. The initial design is really good because this play was invented as a QB read off of the 1 back power. Canada or someone else then inserted the shovel option as a way to run it with a pro style QB. Cuse had a 8 man box vs this set and had the offense out gapped to the field. It's Ok to waste a play if you are able to see how they are playing a set and then comeback with an answer for it. This is what I am looking for, to see if they comeback with the adjustment. Anyway, gain of 1 on an ugly looking play. 2nd and 9, PA divide to Lopes, who did a great job of flattening away from FS. Solid throw by Max FROM THE POCKET. Next play, Bubble to Lopes FROM THE POCKET. Next play, PA from a left Trips set, Hit Weah on the Curl FROM THE POCKET. Next play, Comeback to Weah on the backside of a 3 x 1 set. Might have had action to the field, but Jester had a loose corner and Max made the safe throw FROM THE POCKET. Next play was a complete cluster. Unconventional set that is heavy run because slot WR to trips in covered up and ineligible. Lopes took jet to short side and presnap Pitt had the numbers. However, Cuse over played Jet, 21 needed to turn up in hole because of wide DE, and 78 pulled the wrong way, thus leaving the 3 tech unblocked. Just an all around ugly play. 3rd and 4, tried going back to Mesh play out of motioning to 3 x 1, same play Weah ran short of sticks. Cuse was in their Okie subpackage, brought 5, played one behind it. FS, who had RB in man, played downhill to pick him up and accidentally knocked Matthews off of his route. I am hoping there is a wrinkle off of this look.
Left a lot of plays and points out there in 1st half. Excited to see what adjustments are made in 2nd half..
