⚡ CFB Dashboard

Will have a separate 10 Thoughts post as usual coming later, but wanted to do some deep dive of the OL here first. I noted a few different times that it was a bit of a struggle for the OL on Saturday, and that was certainly true on the rewatch, but it also showed that things are closer than you might think to hitting big. While I think everyone can see that the protection is already pretty much a night and day difference in terms of being better and more sound, the run game has struggled to pick up where Michigan had sort of left of at some points last season. In short, I think what we're seeing is an OL that is very close, but is still working out some timing issues, and probably will have at least one lingering personnel issue throughout the rest of the season until some development takes place. More on that later, in the meantime, let's go to two clips to highlight how this unit is close in the run game: #1 - Zone Read Left (Early Third Quarter - 2nd & 3) Here is the Due# clip of it for reference. Alright, time to breakdown this play. This one here is a zone read to the left, with WR Channing Goodwin doing a motion into an insert block with the first man outside of the box as a read for Underwood to decide on. For the offensive line, this is blocked as standard inside zone to the left. Here is effectively how it's drawn up with the OL assignments... Then that single untouched DE there between Sprague and Marshall is your read man. Bryce either keeps or gives based on his movement, which live is a give, and Bryce correctly gives. As to the OL, here's how each block actually unfolds and OL coach comments on it: RT Andrew Sprague (#54): This is actually a very impressive block to make considering that the play is Inside Zone to the left. He is tasked with scooping that next gap over, which ends up giving him a slanting NT coming his way. Sprague's job is then to reach the NT and get Sprague's helmet on the playside shoulder of the NT here, which he does. Some folks may criticize a lack of "push" here, but Sprague's entire job is to get the positioning here, way more important than push on this one, and he does so exceedingly well. Again, Sprague's block is to reach this gap and make sure that the NT isn't able to dart in and tackle the RB going to the left. He thoroughly accomplishes that. RG Brady Norton (#70): Again, important to remember the OL is blocking this for a specific type of play, and so Norton is zoning to the playside (his A-gap), where he ultimately would need to take either that NT if he slants playside, or work up to the LB if the NT slants backside. With the NT going towards Sprague (backside), Norton is free to climb to the backer, which he does. The issue becomes that J. Marshall ends up going to the right, and thus Norton can't get a body on the LB because he is tracking to make contact towards the left, as he is supposed to. Remember, OL are less athletic than LBs so you are taught to go to where the LB will be, not where they are, and so Norton is tracking towards where he believes the LB will be when the LB reads Marshall going to the left. Norton is in good position, but the back going the wrong direction leaves him stranded and unable to do anything. This is not Norton being soft and not blocking anyone, this is Norton setting himself up to make the block where it should be made, only for the back to go a different way and thus have Norton's LB go a different direction as well. Decent work on Norton's part here, not really anything you'd critique him on other than maybe wanting a little bit more verticality on the second step before climbing to the backer. C Jake Guarnera (#53): This what we call a GROWN MAN BLOCK folks. Guarnera ends up isolated one-on-one without leverage against Oklahoma DT David Stone, a guy many believe will be an NFL player in due time. Guarnera reaches him, but also just obliterates the dude off the ball, absolutely dominates the man. Incredible stuff and a reason that Guarnera is going to be an NFL guy himself. This is significantly impressive. LG Nathan Efobi (#55): This is actually where the play goes wrong. Efobi does not really notice the WILL LB's shallowness, and thus is a bit caught off guard with how quickly the blitzing LB comes downhill. He gets just enough of the backer to avoid having him make a TFL, but unfortunately because the backer can dive in, it causes Marshall to have to press his run back to the right rather than to the left as the play is designed. Had Efobi had just a bit more awareness or a bit more quickness, this play is very well executed, but Efobi being too slow here disrupts the rest of the play and causes a 5+ yard gain to turn into a 1 yard gain. LT Blake Frazier (#77): Frazier is the only one not tasked with reaching to his playside, as traditionally, in what's called an opened-ended zone (others may call it an open-front zone or other terms), where there is no TE help, you traditionally have the LT execute what is called an inside winner here, and simply drive the defensive end laterally to create a big seam for the back to theoretically run inside of. So in the way this play is designd, Efobi would be reaching that LB and sealing him inside of Efobi (LG) while Frazier seals outside the DE and thus the seam is between the two. Frazier does a very nice job here, really good winner to push the defender well wide and unable to make a play back inside. So in summary: Guarnera has an elite block, Sprague does a very nice job, Frazier does a very nice job. Norton executes correctly for his assignment, but ultimately Efobi not getting enough of this blitzing backer muddies the read for Jordan Marshall, who now sees the play as dead and simply tries to make the most out of it and grab a yard or two to the right, rather than press to the left where the actual play is being blocked for. Had Efobi gotten more contact here, Marshall has a very nice lane to the left, stays to the left and runs this sucker for at least five yards, depending on if that off-screen safety makes the tackle there or not. In summary, very well blocked by 4/5 of the OL, as well as Goodwin, as well as Z. Marshall. Had Efobi done touch a touch better, this is a very well executed play. As I am emphasing, this is very close to hitting, even if the result is only a one-yard carry. #2 - Counter (2nd Q - 1st & 10) Here is the Due# clip of it for reference. This one is an unbalanced formation that Michigan attempts to run as a counter, maybe with an actual read that Byrce is making here given that Hoffman (42) bluffs the kickout on the end and looks to arc block. Hard to say definitively on the rewatch, as sometimes bluffs are intentionally designed to simply be bluffs, othertimes they work to bluff into something else like a route or an arc block (like this one looks to be). The read looks like it maybe happens too quickly to call it a read, but either way, the end sits and so Bryce hands off, which appears to be correct. Here's how this one should be drawn up: Apologies if I misdiagnosed the personnel OU had out there, you can effectively see how it correlates easily enough though. I do have Hoffman kicking out that DB (#23 for OU I think), but in actuality he is in a bluff to an arc. Just didn't have the tool on the free site was using to indicate that more accurately. This one is actually much easier to simply see how it happens, which is that OU has an advantageous alignment of that WILL LB who ends up making the tackle. Had he been stacked a little more inside, then it's a much easier combo block for RT Andrew Sprague and RG Brady Norton to make to go two-for-two and get both the DE and that LB. Instead, Norton and Sprague don't really recognize the needed adjustment there, and so you have Norton crashing inside too much here instead of fighitng back more vertically to bump Sprague off to even just get a piece of this linebacker. Ultimately, Sprague washes the DE out of the picture very well, but without the vertical element to Norton fighting with him, there's no physical bump or pressure to suggest to Sprague that he needs to go for that linebacker. Instead, with Norton taking a passive shuffle inside, everything washes and the LB gets free range over the top. This still is not an easy adjustment by any stretch, but ideally you get Sprague and Norton to recognize that the double team needs to be more vertical (especially with the MIKE so close to the LOS and thus less of a threat to slant over to Norton's A-gap), and try and go two-for-two there. Everyone else on the line (and Rhino and Buchanan here) all get the necessary contact to make this one happen, as the main gap here is off that Sprague-Norton double team. So overall, just a slight pre-snap adjustment/recognition needed here to turn this into another decent gainer of 4-5 yards depending on what happens with the safety crashing down to make the tackle. Instead, they miss the needed adjustment and this ends up going for half of what it could have. Close! But not there yet... And to be clear, there are a few more clips and plays I could also use, but think these two show the reality of it which is largely a lot of good stuff, but some minor tweaks, adjustments, and quicker recognition is needed to turn this unit into the run game machine we know it can be. It was tough overall on Saturday, but do not lose heart, as this is very close to breaking open. UTEP will present a very promising opportunity to get right there and really see some fruit. Lingering Personnel Issues... Right now, I think it is fair to say that these guards are mediocre. I think we've seen enough over the last year, and even into the first two games to note that Guarnera is a stud, Sprague is largely quite good (a bit erratic at times with some busts) and Frazier is decent and pretty steady. Essentially, you have at least a good LT, C, RT. The guard spots are where we are struggling the most. Norton is not exactly a bulldozer out there, not the most physical at the point of attack. Efobi does have the power and strength, but lacks the quickness and athleticism to play outside of the phone booth, and unfortunately this offense seems to ask for quite a bit of that. Heck, even the zone read I highlighted showed how challenging this even when it's not on a full skip pull. Evan Link seems to be injured, and unfortunately he had the worst game against WMU of the three in my opinion, with several assignment busts. Now ultimately, I do think Link is still the best option there as a game with some mental mistakes is one thing, especially considering that Link is the most experienced of the guards right and was genuinely solid at LT last season. Which is all a long winded way to say, it's probably easiest to see Link getting the groove of things and turning the LG spot from a weakness into a solid spot, and that would do a lot for this OL, particularly given how many negatives Efobi ended up racking up in this game. Babalola or Frazier at LG...? I am actually quite open to seeing if that works if Link is going to be out for awhile (no clue what the diagnosis or even injury is, just that he was out on Saturday). Given the amount of pulling and movement is asked of the guards, I think you can live with Brady Norton's lack of power if the other four spots are going to be genuinely solid. It's hard to truly say who would be the better fit there, as both are guys you genuinely would prefer to keep at tackle, as Frazier's a little top heavy in his build compared to what you'd stereotypically want for a guard, and Babalola doesn't seem to have repped much guard as far as I can tell. There's an argument for either, I'm more partial to letting Babalola start off there since he has seen the least amount of game experience overall and thus getting his feet wet with the slower speed of guard seems preferable to me, but ultimately, Babalola is still a tackle by build, frame, and skillset, so it'd be a bit funky for either guy in some ways. In short, there really isn't a great, great option for this one. I think most likely they would stick with Efobi, but that's entirely speculative and based on nothing concrete whatsoever. Anyways, again, that's the OL review section, will have the rest of it later this week. In the meantime, Go Blue!