Scouting Reports
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LEGEND
Well-Known Member
Louisville Cardinals
Offense - Multiple/Pro spread
Multiple look ball control offense. My goal is to mix the run and quick passing game to keep the chains moving. Not looking for the big play or the quick score... But if it's there I will take my shots. I want to limit my turnovers and keep clock running.
Defense - Multiple defense
Multiple front defense with a mixture of odd and even fronts. The goal of my defense is to try and be sound. I want to bend but don't break. Don't care about yardage... Just want to limit big plays and quick scores. Want to make offense beat me with long drives.
Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk
Offense - Multiple/Pro spread
Multiple look ball control offense. My goal is to mix the run and quick passing game to keep the chains moving. Not looking for the big play or the quick score... But if it's there I will take my shots. I want to limit my turnovers and keep clock running.
Defense - Multiple defense
Multiple front defense with a mixture of odd and even fronts. The goal of my defense is to try and be sound. I want to bend but don't break. Don't care about yardage... Just want to limit big plays and quick scores. Want to make offense beat me with long drives.
Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk
Last edited:
Clemson Scouting Report
Offense - Two back power run/play action spread using two minute drill pace throughout the game. Entire offense is predicated on running a handful of concepts perfectly and using tempo, formations, motion and misdirection as window dressing to keep the defense off balance. If you've seen a Gus Malzahn coached Auburn game, you've seen my offense. Be prepared to defend hurry-up, no-huddle all game long.
Defense - Multiple even front defense. I historically base out of 425, but better than usual linebacker depth this season means I'll probably end up in 43/44 a bit more than usual. My top outside linebacker is also my second strong safety which should give me a little more flexibility than I've had in the past. Goal on defense is to stop the run and force turnovers, yards given up couldn't possibly matter less to me.
bluejay13
Well-Known Member
Wake Forest Scouting Report
Offense:
I have a "multiple" playbook with about 28 formations with concepts used by Tim Beck's Nebraska, Ohio State, and Auburn. I prefer to huddle since my playbook is so big and can be a pain to deal with all the different formation groupings. I use a handful of formations from what the defense is giving me throughout the game. I prefer to run the ball but with Demon Deacons being short on talent I am about 50/50 run and pass. Running concepts I like: power, trap, base, counter, blast, QB wrap, and the option. My goal is to get the opponent to commit more guys in the box to stop the run so my main passing concepts are built to attack outside the hash marks. The passing concepts I like: Flood, bubble screen, slip screen, dig with a drag underneath(not sure of the name but I throw the dig), and smash. Overall not too fancy but I have all these concepts grouped into multiple personnel groupings to attack different defensive formations.
Defense:
My defensive playbook is also maxed out on allowed plays but my base defense is a 4-3. Out of the base 4-3 I like to run two high safeties and show press. Out of that look I can mask: Cover 2 man under, Cover 2, Cover 3 Buzz, Cover 2 Sink, Cover 6, and Cover 4. Before the snap I always flip the front(flipping the formation) so the 3-technique defensive tackle isn't at a disadvantage from what I see. I usually play with a defensive lineman and read the offensive lineman and gap I am assigned. It's easy for me to pick up on slip screens if I'm disciplined and read oncoming blockers.
The defensive gap assignments are shown if you look at a 4-3 base man under. The defensive lineman have arrows showing which gap they control while the three linebackers have the "man assigned" line growing through the gap to the back in the backfield. Over time I have memorized which player has which gap assigned for when I switch to zone. Just a tip for other users so hopefully bring more 4-3 into this league.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Offense:
I have a "multiple" playbook with about 28 formations with concepts used by Tim Beck's Nebraska, Ohio State, and Auburn. I prefer to huddle since my playbook is so big and can be a pain to deal with all the different formation groupings. I use a handful of formations from what the defense is giving me throughout the game. I prefer to run the ball but with Demon Deacons being short on talent I am about 50/50 run and pass. Running concepts I like: power, trap, base, counter, blast, QB wrap, and the option. My goal is to get the opponent to commit more guys in the box to stop the run so my main passing concepts are built to attack outside the hash marks. The passing concepts I like: Flood, bubble screen, slip screen, dig with a drag underneath(not sure of the name but I throw the dig), and smash. Overall not too fancy but I have all these concepts grouped into multiple personnel groupings to attack different defensive formations.
Defense:
My defensive playbook is also maxed out on allowed plays but my base defense is a 4-3. Out of the base 4-3 I like to run two high safeties and show press. Out of that look I can mask: Cover 2 man under, Cover 2, Cover 3 Buzz, Cover 2 Sink, Cover 6, and Cover 4. Before the snap I always flip the front(flipping the formation) so the 3-technique defensive tackle isn't at a disadvantage from what I see. I usually play with a defensive lineman and read the offensive lineman and gap I am assigned. It's easy for me to pick up on slip screens if I'm disciplined and read oncoming blockers.
The defensive gap assignments are shown if you look at a 4-3 base man under. The defensive lineman have arrows showing which gap they control while the three linebackers have the "man assigned" line growing through the gap to the back in the backfield. Over time I have memorized which player has which gap assigned for when I switch to zone. Just a tip for other users so hopefully bring more 4-3 into this league.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
North Carolina Tar Heels Scouting Report
(@Walter323)
Clemson 41
North Carolina 14
Offense
Run first spread, stays in 11 personnel formations almost all game but the TE is actually a fullback in quite a few of the formations so it is technically 20 personnel.
It started off as a wing gun, downhill designed give run game but once he noticed I was in conservative option defense he started to run more reads and options. His run game is mostly inside zone based and his tailback is solid, had 7.5 YPC on 15 carries. He snuck a few tendency breaker runs on me in & Long situations that boosted the YPC, passing situation doesn't mean a pass is coming so don't drop 8 into conservative zones.
Early on he was two back offset wing formations and Gun Y Trips Wk almost every single play, later on he started to spread it out a bit more with spread and empty formations.
Pass game is mainly stick (out of Y Trips Wk) and quick curls to the boundary receiver vs off coverage. The curls are tough to stop, but he also locks on to receivers so you can bait him into throwing a curl and jump it manually, which I did once for an INT. As the game went on, he opened up the pass game taking more vertical shots and throwing more slants and digs. Was effective, but far too late to do any good.
One tendency of note, if you see a formation with a closed TE as the only receiver to one side (ex: Ace Twins, Gun Trio Wk), expect to see a corner route thrown to that closed TE (Fritts). Really tough to cover it with man because Fritts is a mismatch nightmare and the angle is weird, but if you manually play the zone to that side you can jump it. Stay wide so you don't get beat out of the break. He never looked to the trips side of the formation.
On the off chance he ends up in a Pistol Twin TE Slot set, expect Strong Power. He did run split zone out of it once, but split zone isn't the worry, Strong Power is because that play can get to the perimeter and go for a mile.
Walter fell behind 31-7 at halftime so he got one dimensional in the second half. In a perfect world, I'm guessing he wants to be run first with stick and curls to stress the perimeter as necessary. In the end, he ran 22 times out of 49 total plays.
Defense
Multiple defense, there were plenty of even and odd fronts. I'd say he was in an even front more often than not. More man than zone, more press than off coverage. Did go conservative Cover 3 zone on a 3rd & 18, but it burned him as I had a screen called.
Very, very aggressive defensively. He'll give you a lot of looks along the front and bring pressure from everywhere hoping it hits home before you get the ball out. He got home a few times and forced two INT on panic throws, but he also got burned by it. It is a go big or go home defense, today he went home as his defense allowed 337 yards rushing on 39 carries and 228 yards passing on 15 of 23.
User controls along the defensive line all game, typically playing toward the back's alignment. If you're a read offense from the gun, he'll try to manually control the end being read toward the back's alignment and attack the mesh point on read. He's actually very good at identifying read, but he also whiffed a couple times attacking the mesh point, including once which would have been a safety and ended up being a 63 yard run. Don't be afraid to run reads at attack him that way, but just be aware that he'll try to cloud up your read and attack the mesh. When in doubt, give.
Not a whole lot went right for @Walter323 defensively in this game. He's very susceptible to the run game and he knows it so he tries to play aggressive, shift late, attack the mesh point and force you into sacks and mistakes through the air. It's a fine strategy, but it didn't work out in this game. My tempo forced him to be very vanilla and he couldn't cloud up my reads as much as he wanted and I was able to move the ball at will.
One tendency note, if you happen to force a turnover and get the ball back, be ready for a loaded box zero blitz the following play. After both of his INTs, he came out with 9 in the box and brought the house the very next play with man across the board. I knew it was coming the second time, but accidentally ran into my HB trying to throw to my completely uncovered slot receiver and my QB spiked it into the grass. Were I smarter, I'd have called a screen. He may not do it against everyone, but he did against me so be aware.
Special Teams
Very good at punting along the sideline without kicking it out of bounds, uses the sideline as a 12th defender. If I had more athleticism at returner I might have broken one of them, but I don't and my punt returner was injured very early in the game anyway so it was even worse.
Did not attempt a field goal.
Summary
The score does not tell the whole story for @Walter323, the game could have been both better and far, far worse for him. Clemson led 31-7 at half and I slowed my offense down to a crawl. If I had kept going full speed, I probably touch 60+, UNC just had no answers for my run game. That said, Walter's offense is way better than the stats or score showed. His tailback ran for 7.5 YPC and until he was forced into being one dimensional, his pass game was very tough to stop. Once I reeled off 24 unanswered in the second quarter, it got bad.
(@Walter323)
Clemson 41
North Carolina 14
Offense
Run first spread, stays in 11 personnel formations almost all game but the TE is actually a fullback in quite a few of the formations so it is technically 20 personnel.
It started off as a wing gun, downhill designed give run game but once he noticed I was in conservative option defense he started to run more reads and options. His run game is mostly inside zone based and his tailback is solid, had 7.5 YPC on 15 carries. He snuck a few tendency breaker runs on me in & Long situations that boosted the YPC, passing situation doesn't mean a pass is coming so don't drop 8 into conservative zones.
Early on he was two back offset wing formations and Gun Y Trips Wk almost every single play, later on he started to spread it out a bit more with spread and empty formations.
Pass game is mainly stick (out of Y Trips Wk) and quick curls to the boundary receiver vs off coverage. The curls are tough to stop, but he also locks on to receivers so you can bait him into throwing a curl and jump it manually, which I did once for an INT. As the game went on, he opened up the pass game taking more vertical shots and throwing more slants and digs. Was effective, but far too late to do any good.
One tendency of note, if you see a formation with a closed TE as the only receiver to one side (ex: Ace Twins, Gun Trio Wk), expect to see a corner route thrown to that closed TE (Fritts). Really tough to cover it with man because Fritts is a mismatch nightmare and the angle is weird, but if you manually play the zone to that side you can jump it. Stay wide so you don't get beat out of the break. He never looked to the trips side of the formation.
On the off chance he ends up in a Pistol Twin TE Slot set, expect Strong Power. He did run split zone out of it once, but split zone isn't the worry, Strong Power is because that play can get to the perimeter and go for a mile.
Walter fell behind 31-7 at halftime so he got one dimensional in the second half. In a perfect world, I'm guessing he wants to be run first with stick and curls to stress the perimeter as necessary. In the end, he ran 22 times out of 49 total plays.
Defense
Multiple defense, there were plenty of even and odd fronts. I'd say he was in an even front more often than not. More man than zone, more press than off coverage. Did go conservative Cover 3 zone on a 3rd & 18, but it burned him as I had a screen called.
Very, very aggressive defensively. He'll give you a lot of looks along the front and bring pressure from everywhere hoping it hits home before you get the ball out. He got home a few times and forced two INT on panic throws, but he also got burned by it. It is a go big or go home defense, today he went home as his defense allowed 337 yards rushing on 39 carries and 228 yards passing on 15 of 23.
User controls along the defensive line all game, typically playing toward the back's alignment. If you're a read offense from the gun, he'll try to manually control the end being read toward the back's alignment and attack the mesh point on read. He's actually very good at identifying read, but he also whiffed a couple times attacking the mesh point, including once which would have been a safety and ended up being a 63 yard run. Don't be afraid to run reads at attack him that way, but just be aware that he'll try to cloud up your read and attack the mesh. When in doubt, give.
Not a whole lot went right for @Walter323 defensively in this game. He's very susceptible to the run game and he knows it so he tries to play aggressive, shift late, attack the mesh point and force you into sacks and mistakes through the air. It's a fine strategy, but it didn't work out in this game. My tempo forced him to be very vanilla and he couldn't cloud up my reads as much as he wanted and I was able to move the ball at will.
One tendency note, if you happen to force a turnover and get the ball back, be ready for a loaded box zero blitz the following play. After both of his INTs, he came out with 9 in the box and brought the house the very next play with man across the board. I knew it was coming the second time, but accidentally ran into my HB trying to throw to my completely uncovered slot receiver and my QB spiked it into the grass. Were I smarter, I'd have called a screen. He may not do it against everyone, but he did against me so be aware.
Special Teams
Very good at punting along the sideline without kicking it out of bounds, uses the sideline as a 12th defender. If I had more athleticism at returner I might have broken one of them, but I don't and my punt returner was injured very early in the game anyway so it was even worse.
Did not attempt a field goal.
Summary
The score does not tell the whole story for @Walter323, the game could have been both better and far, far worse for him. Clemson led 31-7 at half and I slowed my offense down to a crawl. If I had kept going full speed, I probably touch 60+, UNC just had no answers for my run game. That said, Walter's offense is way better than the stats or score showed. His tailback ran for 7.5 YPC and until he was forced into being one dimensional, his pass game was very tough to stop. Once I reeled off 24 unanswered in the second quarter, it got bad.
North Carolina State 48 - Virginia 28
Jan 15, 2016
NCST offense - It's @bruin228 so everything is warp speed. I couldn't really stop any of it and his QB was on point from the very beginning. Mostly 1 HB/4 WR 2x2 stuff with some Pistol stuff sprinkled in. Ran a lot more than usual as I kept whiffing on user tackles.
NCST defense - I don't know what it was. I think it was 90% 3-3-5 Split, but I'm not sure. A lot of guys in the box and I couldn't run the ball at all. Vulnerable to the short pass as he is predominately in Cover 4 or Cover 3 and will allow you to dink and dunk. Played a lot of man on 3rd down.
Summary - I got no answers for his offense other than to recruit better CPU defenders to make up for my mistakes. I had the opportunity for 2-3 game changing INTs, but they bounced harmlessly off my CBs. However, other than that he dices up zone and man. Stay patient with the short pass and you can move the ball.
Jan 15, 2016
NCST offense - It's @bruin228 so everything is warp speed. I couldn't really stop any of it and his QB was on point from the very beginning. Mostly 1 HB/4 WR 2x2 stuff with some Pistol stuff sprinkled in. Ran a lot more than usual as I kept whiffing on user tackles.
NCST defense - I don't know what it was. I think it was 90% 3-3-5 Split, but I'm not sure. A lot of guys in the box and I couldn't run the ball at all. Vulnerable to the short pass as he is predominately in Cover 4 or Cover 3 and will allow you to dink and dunk. Played a lot of man on 3rd down.
Summary - I got no answers for his offense other than to recruit better CPU defenders to make up for my mistakes. I had the opportunity for 2-3 game changing INTs, but they bounced harmlessly off my CBs. However, other than that he dices up zone and man. Stay patient with the short pass and you can move the ball.
Pitt Panthers Scouting Report
(@SandS2910)
Clemson 49
Pittsburgh 35
Offense
Really multiple up-tempo offense, you'll see a little bit of everything. Under center and gun, 21 personnel I-Formation with a fullback to singleback bunch formations to 11 personnel gun to 5WR Empty. Will go no-huddle consistently when he thinks he has an advantage.
Most people who are that multiple typically have run or pass formation tendencies, running under center and throwing from the Gun but @SandS2910 breaks those tendencies. He'll routinely throw from under center and routinely run from the gun.
Run game is mostly zone stuff, both inside and outside zone stretch with one back counter mixed in (both under center and gun). He'll mix in option if you're giving it to him, he ran a few reads and one triple option vs me early on but got away from it after a fumble. His tailback is huge, 253lbs and runs like a tank. Broke a ton of tackles and was just tough to bring down in general, any time he started going heavy it became very tough for me to make plays. That counter play is the real run threat, be ready for it and try and string it out.
Sands played most of this game with his third string quarterback. His 93 OVR All-American was injured coming into the game and his backup was injured fairly early. His third stringer is actually higher rated OVR and did a fairly good job outside of some rough throws early on.
Pass game was fairly diverse but he's mainly looking to throw short. A lot of flood patterns and quick stuff that give him fairly clean reads. He is patient though, he threw backside to the trailing receiver on flood a few times. He will take some shots deep, mostly when you play press coverage and he'll take a few shots up the seam if he thinks you're getting too aggressive with your safeties. Hot routes quite a bit at the line depending on what you're showing.
There really aren't any specific tendencies here, he'll run anything and everything out of every formation. Even when he got into the I it was an even mix of both zone stretch (or power) and play action.
You have to cover Tyler Boyd (23), 99 OVR with 94 speed and he was really hard to cover in this game, he only caught 5 passes but they went for 163 yards and 3 TD. He's good about spreading the ball around though.
It is truly a big play offense, Pitt scored touchdowns of 57, 79, 50 and 52 and Boyd was a big reason for that.
Defense
Again, very multiple. Seems like he was in an odd front for much of the game but he also had some 425 looks. It looks like it was a 335/425 hybrid but there may have been some 3-4 in there as well. Mostly press coverage, mostly man but he'll jump into zone in & Long type situations. He forced some mistakes jumping into that zone coverage when I was expecting man.
He was very aggressive with his safety pre-snap, often times moving him quite a ways out of position to try and shade towards my back's alignment. He manually scraped on my read plays, leaving option defense on conservative and electing to stop me with his manual safety. It was very successful and held my QB to very little on the ground; however, it left him very vulnerable to inside zone and trap plays. I gashed him pretty good with both because I was able to just wash his front down and his second level was out of position trying to hedge on my read game.
There was a lot of show blitz and exotic looks, likely a factor of the type of offense I run. I had trouble with it early on as he would have plays with both a LB and safety playing as an overhang player. Once I ironed things out, I was able to gash the middle of the defense. He was very hesitant to load the box against me, there were multiple times where he had just 4 or 5 in the box and I was able to gash him with a run play, even in 3rd & Medium type situations.
You really need to attack with the run against Sands, make him make a tackle manually. His pass defense is pretty good and I really struggled to get any sort of separation on the perimeter. I hit a few deep shots off of verts, but both were more good plays by my WR than bad coverage.
Special Teams
Great kicker, I didn't get to return a single kickoff in the game. Punter was very good as well, averaging 44.8 per punt although that was boosted by a 72 yard punt that rolled to a stop just inside the 1. I was in base defense late in the game expecting a 4th down attempt.
He has Boyd back on punts and kicks so be careful if you aren't able to kick the ball out the back of the end zone or out of bounds, that guy is a freak.
Summary
That was a really good game that could have gone the other way very easily. Pitt had some huge plays through the air because of Boyd at receiver and brings such a wide variety of looks on both offense and defense it is tough to really get an idea what is coming next. He's prone to mistakes, fumbling three times (losing only 1) and could have easily been intercepted more than once. The best plan of attack is to run the ball between the tackles and put a little pressure on his offense and look to make a mistake.
(@SandS2910)
Clemson 49
Pittsburgh 35
Offense
Really multiple up-tempo offense, you'll see a little bit of everything. Under center and gun, 21 personnel I-Formation with a fullback to singleback bunch formations to 11 personnel gun to 5WR Empty. Will go no-huddle consistently when he thinks he has an advantage.
Most people who are that multiple typically have run or pass formation tendencies, running under center and throwing from the Gun but @SandS2910 breaks those tendencies. He'll routinely throw from under center and routinely run from the gun.
Run game is mostly zone stuff, both inside and outside zone stretch with one back counter mixed in (both under center and gun). He'll mix in option if you're giving it to him, he ran a few reads and one triple option vs me early on but got away from it after a fumble. His tailback is huge, 253lbs and runs like a tank. Broke a ton of tackles and was just tough to bring down in general, any time he started going heavy it became very tough for me to make plays. That counter play is the real run threat, be ready for it and try and string it out.
Sands played most of this game with his third string quarterback. His 93 OVR All-American was injured coming into the game and his backup was injured fairly early. His third stringer is actually higher rated OVR and did a fairly good job outside of some rough throws early on.
Pass game was fairly diverse but he's mainly looking to throw short. A lot of flood patterns and quick stuff that give him fairly clean reads. He is patient though, he threw backside to the trailing receiver on flood a few times. He will take some shots deep, mostly when you play press coverage and he'll take a few shots up the seam if he thinks you're getting too aggressive with your safeties. Hot routes quite a bit at the line depending on what you're showing.
There really aren't any specific tendencies here, he'll run anything and everything out of every formation. Even when he got into the I it was an even mix of both zone stretch (or power) and play action.
You have to cover Tyler Boyd (23), 99 OVR with 94 speed and he was really hard to cover in this game, he only caught 5 passes but they went for 163 yards and 3 TD. He's good about spreading the ball around though.
It is truly a big play offense, Pitt scored touchdowns of 57, 79, 50 and 52 and Boyd was a big reason for that.
Defense
Again, very multiple. Seems like he was in an odd front for much of the game but he also had some 425 looks. It looks like it was a 335/425 hybrid but there may have been some 3-4 in there as well. Mostly press coverage, mostly man but he'll jump into zone in & Long type situations. He forced some mistakes jumping into that zone coverage when I was expecting man.
He was very aggressive with his safety pre-snap, often times moving him quite a ways out of position to try and shade towards my back's alignment. He manually scraped on my read plays, leaving option defense on conservative and electing to stop me with his manual safety. It was very successful and held my QB to very little on the ground; however, it left him very vulnerable to inside zone and trap plays. I gashed him pretty good with both because I was able to just wash his front down and his second level was out of position trying to hedge on my read game.
There was a lot of show blitz and exotic looks, likely a factor of the type of offense I run. I had trouble with it early on as he would have plays with both a LB and safety playing as an overhang player. Once I ironed things out, I was able to gash the middle of the defense. He was very hesitant to load the box against me, there were multiple times where he had just 4 or 5 in the box and I was able to gash him with a run play, even in 3rd & Medium type situations.
You really need to attack with the run against Sands, make him make a tackle manually. His pass defense is pretty good and I really struggled to get any sort of separation on the perimeter. I hit a few deep shots off of verts, but both were more good plays by my WR than bad coverage.
Special Teams
Great kicker, I didn't get to return a single kickoff in the game. Punter was very good as well, averaging 44.8 per punt although that was boosted by a 72 yard punt that rolled to a stop just inside the 1. I was in base defense late in the game expecting a 4th down attempt.
He has Boyd back on punts and kicks so be careful if you aren't able to kick the ball out the back of the end zone or out of bounds, that guy is a freak.
Summary
That was a really good game that could have gone the other way very easily. Pitt had some huge plays through the air because of Boyd at receiver and brings such a wide variety of looks on both offense and defense it is tough to really get an idea what is coming next. He's prone to mistakes, fumbling three times (losing only 1) and could have easily been intercepted more than once. The best plan of attack is to run the ball between the tackles and put a little pressure on his offense and look to make a mistake.
Georgia Tech Ramblin' Wreck Scouting Report
(@JSU Zack)
Georgia Tech 7
Clemson 44
(Game cobbled together over 3 starts due to disconnects)
Offense
***Sounds like Zack is changing his offense after this game so my offensive scouting report isn't going to do much good, but I'll keep some generic tips*
GT ran an under center Flexbone option offense in this game, managing just 6 first downs and 162 yards. In the past his Flexbone has been very effective against me, but my front 4 were dominant up front and really took away everything. Zack is very good about running sprint/lead/load option type plays, better than I've seen anyone run it from under center since it can be a little clunky but he makes it work.
Zack is mainly looking to attack inside out with his run game. I don't know how a change in scheme will impact that, but he wanted to hit me with the interior runs and then bust big plays off the edge with option. Unfortunately, my 1 tech DT was absolutely dominant and singlehandedly blew up some of those plays allowing me to focus on stopping the option myself.
Interestingly enough, Zack's pass game from the Flex is very good. He reads plays well and knows what routes will be open vs certain coverages. Unfortunately for Zack, QBA 5 was a nightmare and he was overthrowing a ton of passes early on and when he finally got passes on target, they were dropped. He dropped two touchdown passes in the game, both uncovered, uncontested drops. Not sure if that is a personnel issue or what, but it was brutal. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out if he changes schemes to something more spread out.
Not sure what @JSU Zack's new offense is going to look like but I'd imagine it will still be run first with a good quick passing game that attacks short-intermediate areas outside the box.
Defense
Mostly 4-3, may have been a little Nickel in there but it looked like 4-3 almost all game.
A lot of zone, a lot more than most users utilize and very rarely used pressed coverage.
Zack is very aggressive about loading the box, since he is mostly zone, he can keep those overhang alley defenders fairly close to the tackle box and still have them in a position to stop the quick passing game. He more or less shut down my run game, I had a few big runs off of Jet but most of my runs were just 1-2 yard grind it out type plays and he blew them up in the backfield a lot. If you're an inside zone heavy run team (like me) who likes to cut against the grain, you'll struggle against Zack because of the way his linebackers fill. Outside zone is your best bet for running the ball.
Conservative option defense almost all game. In the first try to play the game, I was able to exploit that hard on the first drive of the game but in the follow up games I couldn't get my option game going at all. He tends to user control the OLB toward the back's alignment and scrape on read and option looks. He's very good at it and shut down my read game. Speed option probably would have been a bit more successful, but I didn't want to risk any pitches. I did get 8 yards on a shovel pass though.
He'll show a variety of safety looks, but seemed like there was a lot of two high safeties. That allowed me to attack with bubble screens because his alley players were close to the box but it all but eliminated any shots I could take deep. You have to throw on the perimeter vs Zack. Smash and Corner type plays are good, slant/flats can be effective as well. I had a few solid completions in the middle of the field on shallow and mesh but that was more a factor of just dumping it off short vs zone, he doesn't really care if you complete a short pass. Take what you can get.
Special Teams
Punter was solid but he was very close to giving up some punt returns because of fairly deep, middle of the field punts. My punt returner wasn't quite athletic enough to get the edge. His kicker was only getting it about 4 yards deep in the end zone so I was able to return kicks, including a 79 yarder to set me up on the short field.
Summary
Because of the game needed to be put together over 3 games the points and stats really don't really tell the whole story with this game. Zack never could get into a rhythm and his option just went nowhere against my strong front four, it forced him to be one dimensional and passing from flexbone is a nightmare. He went Pistol 4 WR as the game went on and had some success with it here and there but my defense is at its best defending 2x2 spread formations so it played right into my hands.
It will be interesting to see what Zack's offense transitions to because his defense would be good enough to compete at the highest level of the conference if his offense didn't keep punching his team in the dick. Between the missed passes, the drops and failed conversion attempts, the Ramblin' Wreck defense was behind the eight ball all game long.
(@JSU Zack)
Georgia Tech 7
Clemson 44
(Game cobbled together over 3 starts due to disconnects)
Offense
***Sounds like Zack is changing his offense after this game so my offensive scouting report isn't going to do much good, but I'll keep some generic tips*
GT ran an under center Flexbone option offense in this game, managing just 6 first downs and 162 yards. In the past his Flexbone has been very effective against me, but my front 4 were dominant up front and really took away everything. Zack is very good about running sprint/lead/load option type plays, better than I've seen anyone run it from under center since it can be a little clunky but he makes it work.
Zack is mainly looking to attack inside out with his run game. I don't know how a change in scheme will impact that, but he wanted to hit me with the interior runs and then bust big plays off the edge with option. Unfortunately, my 1 tech DT was absolutely dominant and singlehandedly blew up some of those plays allowing me to focus on stopping the option myself.
Interestingly enough, Zack's pass game from the Flex is very good. He reads plays well and knows what routes will be open vs certain coverages. Unfortunately for Zack, QBA 5 was a nightmare and he was overthrowing a ton of passes early on and when he finally got passes on target, they were dropped. He dropped two touchdown passes in the game, both uncovered, uncontested drops. Not sure if that is a personnel issue or what, but it was brutal. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out if he changes schemes to something more spread out.
Not sure what @JSU Zack's new offense is going to look like but I'd imagine it will still be run first with a good quick passing game that attacks short-intermediate areas outside the box.
Defense
Mostly 4-3, may have been a little Nickel in there but it looked like 4-3 almost all game.
A lot of zone, a lot more than most users utilize and very rarely used pressed coverage.
Zack is very aggressive about loading the box, since he is mostly zone, he can keep those overhang alley defenders fairly close to the tackle box and still have them in a position to stop the quick passing game. He more or less shut down my run game, I had a few big runs off of Jet but most of my runs were just 1-2 yard grind it out type plays and he blew them up in the backfield a lot. If you're an inside zone heavy run team (like me) who likes to cut against the grain, you'll struggle against Zack because of the way his linebackers fill. Outside zone is your best bet for running the ball.
Conservative option defense almost all game. In the first try to play the game, I was able to exploit that hard on the first drive of the game but in the follow up games I couldn't get my option game going at all. He tends to user control the OLB toward the back's alignment and scrape on read and option looks. He's very good at it and shut down my read game. Speed option probably would have been a bit more successful, but I didn't want to risk any pitches. I did get 8 yards on a shovel pass though.
He'll show a variety of safety looks, but seemed like there was a lot of two high safeties. That allowed me to attack with bubble screens because his alley players were close to the box but it all but eliminated any shots I could take deep. You have to throw on the perimeter vs Zack. Smash and Corner type plays are good, slant/flats can be effective as well. I had a few solid completions in the middle of the field on shallow and mesh but that was more a factor of just dumping it off short vs zone, he doesn't really care if you complete a short pass. Take what you can get.
Special Teams
Punter was solid but he was very close to giving up some punt returns because of fairly deep, middle of the field punts. My punt returner wasn't quite athletic enough to get the edge. His kicker was only getting it about 4 yards deep in the end zone so I was able to return kicks, including a 79 yarder to set me up on the short field.
Summary
Because of the game needed to be put together over 3 games the points and stats really don't really tell the whole story with this game. Zack never could get into a rhythm and his option just went nowhere against my strong front four, it forced him to be one dimensional and passing from flexbone is a nightmare. He went Pistol 4 WR as the game went on and had some success with it here and there but my defense is at its best defending 2x2 spread formations so it played right into my hands.
It will be interesting to see what Zack's offense transitions to because his defense would be good enough to compete at the highest level of the conference if his offense didn't keep punching his team in the dick. Between the missed passes, the drops and failed conversion attempts, the Ramblin' Wreck defense was behind the eight ball all game long.
JSU Zack
How do I IT?
@TXHusker05 FWIW, I play more aggressive option D as it allows me to focus on stopping the base plays. That first drive I forgot to set the adjustment.
I played more two-high against you due to the unreal arm of Watson. I vary between looks depending on the offense and understand how both a two shell and one shell work. Most of the big pass plays you hit were either due to me overplaying the outside passing game or just straight getting torched due to slow LBs.
My main idea is to stay in a base D regardless of the offense. I've been studying a lot of NDSU film lately and noticed they shut Montana down with a base 4-3 D. I'm a "run the dang ball, stop the dang run" guy, but I understand the ins and outs of Air Raid/West Coast passing. That's why my flex pass was so good - I create the traditional pass plays that are missing from those formations.
With that said, you can probably tell by the coaching hire that I'm going back to my roots of good, old-fashioned West Coast offense. It's where I started, and likely where I'll remain from now on.
I love the flex, but EA made it the red-headed stepchild. I don't want to go spread simply because it's too easy. I'd rack up insane numbers and then have that one "off" game against a good D to lose in a title run.
I played more two-high against you due to the unreal arm of Watson. I vary between looks depending on the offense and understand how both a two shell and one shell work. Most of the big pass plays you hit were either due to me overplaying the outside passing game or just straight getting torched due to slow LBs.
My main idea is to stay in a base D regardless of the offense. I've been studying a lot of NDSU film lately and noticed they shut Montana down with a base 4-3 D. I'm a "run the dang ball, stop the dang run" guy, but I understand the ins and outs of Air Raid/West Coast passing. That's why my flex pass was so good - I create the traditional pass plays that are missing from those formations.
With that said, you can probably tell by the coaching hire that I'm going back to my roots of good, old-fashioned West Coast offense. It's where I started, and likely where I'll remain from now on.
I love the flex, but EA made it the red-headed stepchild. I don't want to go spread simply because it's too easy. I'd rack up insane numbers and then have that one "off" game against a good D to lose in a title run.
Louisville Cardinals Scouting Report
(@LEGEND)
Louisville 21
Clemson 69
Offense
Best described as a pro style spread. Started with a lot of 12 personnel Pistol, but got away from it and spent the rest of the game in 20 personnel split Gun (Split Slot and Offset). When he went HUNH desperation, he went 2x2 10 personnel gun spread.
Balanced between run and pass early until he fell behind huge, honestly, it was too balanced and there wasn't much rhyme or reason to the offense. He started off trying to establish the run and I thought did a good job of it using zone stretch and even a speed option but then inexplicably went away from it. If you can force a TFL or two early, he'll abandon the run game and become very one dimensional. He had two drives early in the game where he was sacked on 4 of 5 plays, with the 5th being an interception. No runs at all despite soft coverage.
You can bait him into some bad throws because he very rarely takes shots deep, he tries to hit a few quicks up the seams and various quick game stuff like slants and shallows. I spent most of the game in aggressive zone defense and it wasn't until he got desperate that he took shots down the field, all of which were very successful. If he took more shots, he'd have a very deadly offense because there is quite a bit of talent on that offense.
It was 31-0 at halftime so it is tough to say what the offense would look like in a more competitive game. The pass game was very bland and predictable until he "stopped caring" at which point it was actually quite effective as he was taking risks down the field and taking advantage of my aggressive zones.
Split Offset was his most used formation, but he almost exclusively threw from it. If you see a split offset backfield, note the split of the solo side receiver. If he's in a tight alignment, expect to see some sort of mesh or crossers concept. Occasionally he'll try to slip the back to the twin receiver side out of the backfield up the seem, but it is a slow developing route and he took a sack on two consecutive plays waiting for it to come open.
Defense
Multiple front, honestly not sure what the base defensive alignment is because he made so many shifts it was completely indistinguishable. Felt like it was a 5 man front almost the entire game, either 4-3 shifted to an under look or 3-4 with the outside linebackers fairly tight to the formation.
Stemmed his defense late using a ton of back and forth shifts and show blitz, shake blitz attempts. I assume this was to counter my tempo and he did catch me snapping the ball during a shift and running right into a TFL, but once I caught on, I was able to vary my tempo and read the defense post-stem and inevitably found an uncovered receiver.
Louisville's run defense was fantastic, honestly the best I've faced so far, but Legend sacrificed his pass defense in order to do it. There were many plays where receivers were left completely uncovered in order to stop the run. It worked out fine for him early while I dealt with some QBA 5 issues but once I got Watson ironed out, I was able to throw all over the place.
You have to take shots down the field against @LEGEND, he is incredibly aggressive and dares you to take those shots. If you try and run into a loaded box or try and nickel and dime him through the air, you're going to run into a lot of issues. I specifically found success with shallow cross and drive concepts, he typically jumped the shallow leaving the dig behind it wide open. Deep posts from outside receivers were also very successful as he started to leave perimeter receivers on an island to shut down the interior run/pass game.
Interesting that Legend user controlled a defender away from my back's alignment against me, which is rare but he did a good job of manual run support and quickly taking control of the DE when I had a read play called in order to mess with my read game.
Special Teams
His punter is likely very tired.
Summary
Legend's self scouting report above is right on the money. He doesn't take shots, almost to a fault and he is looking to control the ball. Unfortunately, he is prone to mistakes through the air as his passing game is very bland and predictable. If he would stick with the run game, he would have quite a bit more success offensively. Defensively, he is very aggressive to stop the run, be prepared to throw and take risks in order to make plays.
Legend is better than the score implies, he went down 14-0 on two pretty fluky plays. I fumbled and advanced it for a 65 yard TD and had a terrible QBA 5 throw land right in the hands of a receiver on the other side of the field. He mentally checked out after that, despite still being in the game and let it get away.
If you can force a few TFL or an early turnover or score, you can get in Legend's head and it will only snowball from there. If you trust your offense, I would highly recommend taking the ball to open the game. If you march down the field and score, you can easily get him playing overly aggressive and out of control.
(@LEGEND)
Louisville 21
Clemson 69
Offense
Best described as a pro style spread. Started with a lot of 12 personnel Pistol, but got away from it and spent the rest of the game in 20 personnel split Gun (Split Slot and Offset). When he went HUNH desperation, he went 2x2 10 personnel gun spread.
Balanced between run and pass early until he fell behind huge, honestly, it was too balanced and there wasn't much rhyme or reason to the offense. He started off trying to establish the run and I thought did a good job of it using zone stretch and even a speed option but then inexplicably went away from it. If you can force a TFL or two early, he'll abandon the run game and become very one dimensional. He had two drives early in the game where he was sacked on 4 of 5 plays, with the 5th being an interception. No runs at all despite soft coverage.
You can bait him into some bad throws because he very rarely takes shots deep, he tries to hit a few quicks up the seams and various quick game stuff like slants and shallows. I spent most of the game in aggressive zone defense and it wasn't until he got desperate that he took shots down the field, all of which were very successful. If he took more shots, he'd have a very deadly offense because there is quite a bit of talent on that offense.
It was 31-0 at halftime so it is tough to say what the offense would look like in a more competitive game. The pass game was very bland and predictable until he "stopped caring" at which point it was actually quite effective as he was taking risks down the field and taking advantage of my aggressive zones.
Split Offset was his most used formation, but he almost exclusively threw from it. If you see a split offset backfield, note the split of the solo side receiver. If he's in a tight alignment, expect to see some sort of mesh or crossers concept. Occasionally he'll try to slip the back to the twin receiver side out of the backfield up the seem, but it is a slow developing route and he took a sack on two consecutive plays waiting for it to come open.
Defense
Multiple front, honestly not sure what the base defensive alignment is because he made so many shifts it was completely indistinguishable. Felt like it was a 5 man front almost the entire game, either 4-3 shifted to an under look or 3-4 with the outside linebackers fairly tight to the formation.
Stemmed his defense late using a ton of back and forth shifts and show blitz, shake blitz attempts. I assume this was to counter my tempo and he did catch me snapping the ball during a shift and running right into a TFL, but once I caught on, I was able to vary my tempo and read the defense post-stem and inevitably found an uncovered receiver.
Louisville's run defense was fantastic, honestly the best I've faced so far, but Legend sacrificed his pass defense in order to do it. There were many plays where receivers were left completely uncovered in order to stop the run. It worked out fine for him early while I dealt with some QBA 5 issues but once I got Watson ironed out, I was able to throw all over the place.
You have to take shots down the field against @LEGEND, he is incredibly aggressive and dares you to take those shots. If you try and run into a loaded box or try and nickel and dime him through the air, you're going to run into a lot of issues. I specifically found success with shallow cross and drive concepts, he typically jumped the shallow leaving the dig behind it wide open. Deep posts from outside receivers were also very successful as he started to leave perimeter receivers on an island to shut down the interior run/pass game.
Interesting that Legend user controlled a defender away from my back's alignment against me, which is rare but he did a good job of manual run support and quickly taking control of the DE when I had a read play called in order to mess with my read game.
Special Teams
His punter is likely very tired.
Summary
Legend's self scouting report above is right on the money. He doesn't take shots, almost to a fault and he is looking to control the ball. Unfortunately, he is prone to mistakes through the air as his passing game is very bland and predictable. If he would stick with the run game, he would have quite a bit more success offensively. Defensively, he is very aggressive to stop the run, be prepared to throw and take risks in order to make plays.
Legend is better than the score implies, he went down 14-0 on two pretty fluky plays. I fumbled and advanced it for a 65 yard TD and had a terrible QBA 5 throw land right in the hands of a receiver on the other side of the field. He mentally checked out after that, despite still being in the game and let it get away.
If you can force a few TFL or an early turnover or score, you can get in Legend's head and it will only snowball from there. If you trust your offense, I would highly recommend taking the ball to open the game. If you march down the field and score, you can easily get him playing overly aggressive and out of control.
LEGEND
Well-Known Member
Actually... pretty much just ran plays after scoop and score. Mind was not in game and second score only took what little interest I had left completely away!
On defense It was a mixture of 3-4 & 4-3 with some nickel. Wasn't trying to "shake blitz" you just caught me mid audible trying to change defense or disguise looks.
Basically, I just sold out to stop your run. I wasn't in game but wasn't going to let you run for 200+ to add insult to injury!
Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk
On defense It was a mixture of 3-4 & 4-3 with some nickel. Wasn't trying to "shake blitz" you just caught me mid audible trying to change defense or disguise looks.
Basically, I just sold out to stop your run. I wasn't in game but wasn't going to let you run for 200+ to add insult to injury!
Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk
North Carolina State
(@bruin228)
Clemson 45
NC State 31
Offense
Hurry-up, no-huddle air raid. Bruin is what he is and always has been, we've all seen it and it a bitch to stop.
It's a fairly true to form air raid, mostly 2x2 and 3x1 spread sets but he'll throw in some 11 personnel and a few compressed 3x1 bunch 2x2 tight looks here and there.
Expect to see all the typical air raid staples shallow cross and smash are his two bread and butter concepts. He'll mix in stick and mesh and crossers and four verts but he's mainly looking to attack with shallows and smash.
He's very good about checking down if his first read is cloudy, his tailback led his team with 9 catches in the game mainly on check downs in the flat or delays out of the backfield. You cannot just drop 7-8 into conservative zones and expect to find success stopping Bruin's offense, he will throw short and check down on you all day long if you let him.
Not much to his run game, it was mainly QB Wrap and HB Counter. May have been an inside zone play mixed in but Wrap and Counter is the core. Keep in mind he trailed 21-0 just four minutes into the game so he was fairly one dimensional early on. That said, he's rushing for 193 yards per game this year so keep the run in mind. I don't believe he ran a single read or option play in this game, which is surprising because his Sophomore QB is 83 speed and I was in conservative option defense all game. Wouldn't be shocked to see some read show up in his offense other times.
You have to be aware of the scramble in the red zone. Because he has less field to work with, if his first look isn't there because you dropped 7-8 into coverage, he will take off and run immediately. He only scrambled to his left.
Like most air raid offenses, he really has no down & distance tendencies. The entire playbook is at his disposal regardless of the down and distance or the ball's location on the field. That said, Bruin does have a few quirks to be aware of:
1) He will only throw short side on smash. Because he can't see the outside WR to the wide side of the field with the ball on the hash, he'll only throw smash toward the boundary. Do not let your flat defender align inside the slot receiver or he'll be walled off and never get to the hitch, I would highly recommend AGAINST man align if you're a 425/335 team.
2) All of the pass concepts with a designed HB flare/swing in his offense are hot routed to a HB wheel. Fundamentally the main concept doesn't change, but because he's now able to get the ball to the back while the back is on the move it becomes a very tough to defend the check down.
3) On 3rd & Medium situations, he really likes to create what looks like a Texas-Drive concept where the Y/Slot to the back's alignment runs a slant or shallow and the HB runs an angle behind him. He tried running it a few times on 3rd & Medium, I was able to attack it with pressure since angle is a slow developing route but that play is a zone killer.
Defense
4-2-5 base, rarely strayed from it except to maybe go base nickel a few times.
Mainly a zone defense (Cover 3 mostly, but there was some Cover 2) but he pressed with his outside corners almost the entire game. While they don't typically get a bump at the line because it is zone, the press allows them to play sort of an outside leverage man/deep shell hybrid. It is zone, but those corners will carry the receiver straight up the field as if it is man. Makes it tough to read and really tough to attack vertically.
Loaded the box against me, as most users do. 4 DL and both LB plus either the manually controlled FS walked down or one of the two alley SS manually brought tight to the formation. He keeps the SS close enough to the slot receiver to make you second guess yourself on bubble but you can typically throw bubble out there safely.
He was routinely walking safeties into the box and between the linebackers and defensive line and had 12 TFL to show for it. That said, he took himself completely out of the play on multiple pass plays and I was also able to cut back against the grain on inside zone quite a few times.
Don't be afraid to use screens, especially bubble screens, swing screens and slip screens. Be careful on any perimeter SE/WR Mid type screens though because that press defender can easily just trail the WR right down the line.
He seemed to be in both aggressive big hit and/or aggressive strip the entire game as he was repeatedly missing tackles on strip attempts. This is easily countered with conservative run on offense. He played with aggressive option defense most of the game, but he switched up to conservative option defense here and there and caught me with it a few times when I was expecting a give read.
Special Teams
All of his kickoffs were too deep to return, although I did try to return one with zero success. His punt coverage was a little shaky, if I had a quicker returner I think I could have broken at least one for 6.
Summary
The bottom line is that we've all seen what Bruin does offensively for years now, it is hard as hell to stop even when you know what is coming. You have to force him to throw short and check down and hope he makes a mistake, do not let him take big plays through the air. I nearly let him back in the game by getting over aggressive and allowing a few deep seam passes, once I got back to my core defense that stopped and I was forcing him to just take a few yards at a time.
You are going to have to put up points to win, do not let up off the gas pedal even for a minute because there is no such thing as a safe lead against @bruin228. He very nearly came back from being down 21-0 just 4 minutes into the game.
(@bruin228)
Clemson 45
NC State 31
Offense
Hurry-up, no-huddle air raid. Bruin is what he is and always has been, we've all seen it and it a bitch to stop.
It's a fairly true to form air raid, mostly 2x2 and 3x1 spread sets but he'll throw in some 11 personnel and a few compressed 3x1 bunch 2x2 tight looks here and there.
Expect to see all the typical air raid staples shallow cross and smash are his two bread and butter concepts. He'll mix in stick and mesh and crossers and four verts but he's mainly looking to attack with shallows and smash.
He's very good about checking down if his first read is cloudy, his tailback led his team with 9 catches in the game mainly on check downs in the flat or delays out of the backfield. You cannot just drop 7-8 into conservative zones and expect to find success stopping Bruin's offense, he will throw short and check down on you all day long if you let him.
Not much to his run game, it was mainly QB Wrap and HB Counter. May have been an inside zone play mixed in but Wrap and Counter is the core. Keep in mind he trailed 21-0 just four minutes into the game so he was fairly one dimensional early on. That said, he's rushing for 193 yards per game this year so keep the run in mind. I don't believe he ran a single read or option play in this game, which is surprising because his Sophomore QB is 83 speed and I was in conservative option defense all game. Wouldn't be shocked to see some read show up in his offense other times.
You have to be aware of the scramble in the red zone. Because he has less field to work with, if his first look isn't there because you dropped 7-8 into coverage, he will take off and run immediately. He only scrambled to his left.
Like most air raid offenses, he really has no down & distance tendencies. The entire playbook is at his disposal regardless of the down and distance or the ball's location on the field. That said, Bruin does have a few quirks to be aware of:
1) He will only throw short side on smash. Because he can't see the outside WR to the wide side of the field with the ball on the hash, he'll only throw smash toward the boundary. Do not let your flat defender align inside the slot receiver or he'll be walled off and never get to the hitch, I would highly recommend AGAINST man align if you're a 425/335 team.
2) All of the pass concepts with a designed HB flare/swing in his offense are hot routed to a HB wheel. Fundamentally the main concept doesn't change, but because he's now able to get the ball to the back while the back is on the move it becomes a very tough to defend the check down.
3) On 3rd & Medium situations, he really likes to create what looks like a Texas-Drive concept where the Y/Slot to the back's alignment runs a slant or shallow and the HB runs an angle behind him. He tried running it a few times on 3rd & Medium, I was able to attack it with pressure since angle is a slow developing route but that play is a zone killer.
Defense
4-2-5 base, rarely strayed from it except to maybe go base nickel a few times.
Mainly a zone defense (Cover 3 mostly, but there was some Cover 2) but he pressed with his outside corners almost the entire game. While they don't typically get a bump at the line because it is zone, the press allows them to play sort of an outside leverage man/deep shell hybrid. It is zone, but those corners will carry the receiver straight up the field as if it is man. Makes it tough to read and really tough to attack vertically.
Loaded the box against me, as most users do. 4 DL and both LB plus either the manually controlled FS walked down or one of the two alley SS manually brought tight to the formation. He keeps the SS close enough to the slot receiver to make you second guess yourself on bubble but you can typically throw bubble out there safely.
He was routinely walking safeties into the box and between the linebackers and defensive line and had 12 TFL to show for it. That said, he took himself completely out of the play on multiple pass plays and I was also able to cut back against the grain on inside zone quite a few times.
Don't be afraid to use screens, especially bubble screens, swing screens and slip screens. Be careful on any perimeter SE/WR Mid type screens though because that press defender can easily just trail the WR right down the line.
He seemed to be in both aggressive big hit and/or aggressive strip the entire game as he was repeatedly missing tackles on strip attempts. This is easily countered with conservative run on offense. He played with aggressive option defense most of the game, but he switched up to conservative option defense here and there and caught me with it a few times when I was expecting a give read.
Special Teams
All of his kickoffs were too deep to return, although I did try to return one with zero success. His punt coverage was a little shaky, if I had a quicker returner I think I could have broken at least one for 6.
Summary
The bottom line is that we've all seen what Bruin does offensively for years now, it is hard as hell to stop even when you know what is coming. You have to force him to throw short and check down and hope he makes a mistake, do not let him take big plays through the air. I nearly let him back in the game by getting over aggressive and allowing a few deep seam passes, once I got back to my core defense that stopped and I was forcing him to just take a few yards at a time.
You are going to have to put up points to win, do not let up off the gas pedal even for a minute because there is no such thing as a safe lead against @bruin228. He very nearly came back from being down 21-0 just 4 minutes into the game.
Florida State Seminoles Scouting Report
@Rando
Clemson 76
Florida State 28
Offense
Gun, pass heavy, hurry up no huddle offense. I'd hesitate to call it spread because it's a lot of compressed tight and bunch formations as well as split gun but it is gun and it is all pass.
Expect to see a TON of split gun and a TON of throws to the HB out of the backfield. Ins, outs, check down curls and most importantly quick throws up the seam to the back. He was 25 of 43 passing in the game, tailbacks caught 9 of the passes, dropped another 2 and he was intercepted throwing to the tailback 4 times. Were I to estimate how many of those 43 pass attempts were HB up the seam out of the backfield, I'd guess around 15. He rarely threw screen passes, it was just a ton of short throws to backs out of the backfield.
Expect a lot of crossing routes both with receivers and backs. Really enjoys calling a play where receivers cross the field going one way and then scrambles going where they came from. Again, for reference, 11 rush attempts and 10 were by the QB. Of those 10, 1 was a called run and 2 were sacks. His QB fumbled 4 times including once on speed option, once on shovel option and twice on scrambles.
With occasionally take shots deep with #8 (Kermit the Frog). Pretty sure that midget has 99 SPD so he'll run past you up the seam if you're not careful
Plays very out of control on offense, the full speed HUNH pace does him no favors because he gets in a hurry and rushes, often to run the same play he just ran. It becomes very, very easy to pattern read and jump his passes because he telegraphs them from a mile away. I had 3 manual pick sixes in the game, all 3 on what were just telegraphed quick throws.
I cannot overstate enough how many times he will target the backs out of the backfield and/or scramble. It is the entirety of his offense. The tempo does him far more harm than good and it caused him to give up 38 first quarter points.
Defense
34 with what looked like 335 Nickel and 245 Nickel mixed in.
Very active trying to set up his defense manually, he'll manually move multiple players all over and often times manually run back and forth with a player pre-snap trying to time up your snap count. The end result was that he moved his players out of position more than he actually moved them to a place they could be of use.
Spent most of the game with both strip ball and big hit on aggressive. He stripped me once for a scoop and score touchdown, but it came at the cost of a trillion missed tackles. My backup quarterback broke 4 tackles on one long touchdown run because of it and I was rarely stopped at first contact.
He alternated between conservative and aggressive option defense all game long. I burned him a few times when he went conservative and tried to manually scrape exchange on my QB. He was playing so close to the LOS with his safety that he got caught up in traffic and burned. I used Trap effectively for the same reason, it let my OL release to the second level and pick up his manually controlled defender playing so close to the LOS and I ran free past him.
I only threw 12 passes in the game, completing 9 and getting QBA 5'ed to death on the other 3. Because of how aggressive he was moving his defense around, he was inevitably putting them in a worse spot than where they started. Felt like he was mainly in man, which killed him in the run game and didn't help at all through the air as my receivers ran free all game long (I just wasn't looking to put the ball in the air). Most of my passes were bubble or swing screens (my backs caught 5 of the 9) but I hit a couple huge plays to receivers including a hail mary just before half that was unfortunately tackled before I could score.
Fine user defender and was good about making tackles when he didn't get sucked up into the blocking, but the combination of aggressive big hit and strip ball and playing so close to the line of scrimmage he got lost in the flow led to 386 rushing yards against.
Special Teams
The first two scores of the game were a punt return TD for me and a 109 yard kick return TD for him the following play. He attempted to return every kick that wasn't out the back of the end zone and Kermit the Frog is FAST. He's also a Senior so you might not have to worry about him. Likes to set up going one way and aggressively cut back to use speed to get the edge. Got it the first time, didn't get it again and never crossed the 25 the rest of the game.
He goes out of his way to big hit and dive on returns. You can exploit that by just running sideways a few extra steps or doing a little quick stutter type move.
Summary
Well, it was 38-7 6 minutes into the game so in summary, it was a beat down. He has absurd amounts of talent on both sides of the ball but the lack of variety and playing out of control kills him. Cover the tailbacks, contain your LE (to the offense's right) and don't let Kermit the Frog beat you deep and you're golden.
@Rando
Clemson 76
Florida State 28
Offense
Gun, pass heavy, hurry up no huddle offense. I'd hesitate to call it spread because it's a lot of compressed tight and bunch formations as well as split gun but it is gun and it is all pass.
Expect to see a TON of split gun and a TON of throws to the HB out of the backfield. Ins, outs, check down curls and most importantly quick throws up the seam to the back. He was 25 of 43 passing in the game, tailbacks caught 9 of the passes, dropped another 2 and he was intercepted throwing to the tailback 4 times. Were I to estimate how many of those 43 pass attempts were HB up the seam out of the backfield, I'd guess around 15. He rarely threw screen passes, it was just a ton of short throws to backs out of the backfield.
Expect a lot of crossing routes both with receivers and backs. Really enjoys calling a play where receivers cross the field going one way and then scrambles going where they came from. Again, for reference, 11 rush attempts and 10 were by the QB. Of those 10, 1 was a called run and 2 were sacks. His QB fumbled 4 times including once on speed option, once on shovel option and twice on scrambles.
With occasionally take shots deep with #8 (Kermit the Frog). Pretty sure that midget has 99 SPD so he'll run past you up the seam if you're not careful
Plays very out of control on offense, the full speed HUNH pace does him no favors because he gets in a hurry and rushes, often to run the same play he just ran. It becomes very, very easy to pattern read and jump his passes because he telegraphs them from a mile away. I had 3 manual pick sixes in the game, all 3 on what were just telegraphed quick throws.
I cannot overstate enough how many times he will target the backs out of the backfield and/or scramble. It is the entirety of his offense. The tempo does him far more harm than good and it caused him to give up 38 first quarter points.
Defense
34 with what looked like 335 Nickel and 245 Nickel mixed in.
Very active trying to set up his defense manually, he'll manually move multiple players all over and often times manually run back and forth with a player pre-snap trying to time up your snap count. The end result was that he moved his players out of position more than he actually moved them to a place they could be of use.
Spent most of the game with both strip ball and big hit on aggressive. He stripped me once for a scoop and score touchdown, but it came at the cost of a trillion missed tackles. My backup quarterback broke 4 tackles on one long touchdown run because of it and I was rarely stopped at first contact.
He alternated between conservative and aggressive option defense all game long. I burned him a few times when he went conservative and tried to manually scrape exchange on my QB. He was playing so close to the LOS with his safety that he got caught up in traffic and burned. I used Trap effectively for the same reason, it let my OL release to the second level and pick up his manually controlled defender playing so close to the LOS and I ran free past him.
I only threw 12 passes in the game, completing 9 and getting QBA 5'ed to death on the other 3. Because of how aggressive he was moving his defense around, he was inevitably putting them in a worse spot than where they started. Felt like he was mainly in man, which killed him in the run game and didn't help at all through the air as my receivers ran free all game long (I just wasn't looking to put the ball in the air). Most of my passes were bubble or swing screens (my backs caught 5 of the 9) but I hit a couple huge plays to receivers including a hail mary just before half that was unfortunately tackled before I could score.
Fine user defender and was good about making tackles when he didn't get sucked up into the blocking, but the combination of aggressive big hit and strip ball and playing so close to the line of scrimmage he got lost in the flow led to 386 rushing yards against.
Special Teams
The first two scores of the game were a punt return TD for me and a 109 yard kick return TD for him the following play. He attempted to return every kick that wasn't out the back of the end zone and Kermit the Frog is FAST. He's also a Senior so you might not have to worry about him. Likes to set up going one way and aggressively cut back to use speed to get the edge. Got it the first time, didn't get it again and never crossed the 25 the rest of the game.
He goes out of his way to big hit and dive on returns. You can exploit that by just running sideways a few extra steps or doing a little quick stutter type move.
Summary
Well, it was 38-7 6 minutes into the game so in summary, it was a beat down. He has absurd amounts of talent on both sides of the ball but the lack of variety and playing out of control kills him. Cover the tailbacks, contain your LE (to the offense's right) and don't let Kermit the Frog beat you deep and you're golden.
Rando
Active Member
Great scouting report, even though it was a bit hard to read. I played the worst game I've played in a while. I don't know if it's an accurate assessment but since obviously based on what you saw it was horrible. My QB hasn't made that many turnovers all year, its not characteristic for him to throw more than 1 INT a game.
Also, I did not alternate between conservative or aggressive on option defense. I didn't mess with that at all. I did go for strips and big hits but I only turned that on when I was down by a bunch.
I changed my offense a bit the past couple of games. And I don't recall calling the same play twice often, and if I did there were plenty of hot routes. I hot route very often. That's why I was surprised when I read that you think my offense is easy to predict.
BulgyTexas
5 Star Recruit
Texas Longhorns
I run an option attack out of the Pistol with some Shotgun thrown in for good measure. Everyone gets involved in Triple Option plays, could be 2 RB, 1 RB and a WR, or a FB and a RB. I like the pistol sets because I can hide the direction of the read better, and also flip it to get better numbers without tipping my hand.
Play action passing is the main attack through the air, so my split tends to the ground game. I throw a lot of dig, shallow cross, flood, and slants, and like to call designed rollouts and bootlegs. It can be demoralizing when a team pounds it down your throat all game, and that’s what we shoot for. If I go Trio or Trips and you don't match up I will bubble screen you to death until you do.
Most of my formations have a tight end in them, and my main goal is to avoid tipping my hand when my opponent sees my personnel screen. I want you to see the same personnel groupings most of the game regardless of my play call.
I like a “Thunder and Lightning,” approach in the backfield. Sometimes that means my QB is my lightning, sometimes I have that combo in 2 RB. Big power backs are my weakness. I love huge targets at WR, in my offline none of my WR are under 6’4”.
Defensively I subscribe to the Kirk Ferentz philosophy. 43, 43, and more 43. I will match up in the passing game, but often times I expect my athletes to make plays out of simple sets. Cover 2, Cover 3, and some basic blitzes. The longer I can make my opponents drive the better the chance he will make a mistake. No big plays.
I’ve been the dominant player in OD’s and I’ve been the laughingstock. Somewhere in the middle is where I would place myself.
I run an option attack out of the Pistol with some Shotgun thrown in for good measure. Everyone gets involved in Triple Option plays, could be 2 RB, 1 RB and a WR, or a FB and a RB. I like the pistol sets because I can hide the direction of the read better, and also flip it to get better numbers without tipping my hand.
Play action passing is the main attack through the air, so my split tends to the ground game. I throw a lot of dig, shallow cross, flood, and slants, and like to call designed rollouts and bootlegs. It can be demoralizing when a team pounds it down your throat all game, and that’s what we shoot for. If I go Trio or Trips and you don't match up I will bubble screen you to death until you do.
Most of my formations have a tight end in them, and my main goal is to avoid tipping my hand when my opponent sees my personnel screen. I want you to see the same personnel groupings most of the game regardless of my play call.
I like a “Thunder and Lightning,” approach in the backfield. Sometimes that means my QB is my lightning, sometimes I have that combo in 2 RB. Big power backs are my weakness. I love huge targets at WR, in my offline none of my WR are under 6’4”.
Defensively I subscribe to the Kirk Ferentz philosophy. 43, 43, and more 43. I will match up in the passing game, but often times I expect my athletes to make plays out of simple sets. Cover 2, Cover 3, and some basic blitzes. The longer I can make my opponents drive the better the chance he will make a mistake. No big plays.
I’ve been the dominant player in OD’s and I’ve been the laughingstock. Somewhere in the middle is where I would place myself.
Virginia Cavaliers Scouting Report
@NavyHog
ACC Championship
Virginia 27
Clemson 45
Offense
Balanced gun spread, not sure if anyone remembers NY_KIA from old Utopia and his Brian Kelly-ish gun spread offense videos but @NavyHog's offense reminded me a bit of that. Fairly diverse personnel groupings (20, 11, 10, Empty) and fairly balanced between run and pass before he had to get into desperation pass mode.
If I remember right, Navy's pass offense is #1 in the country but he opened up the game with a 67 yard TD run off of a QB keeper. I had him stopped but the QB ran him right over, there were a lot of broken tackles on both sides and that was the first of many. He had a big run off HB Counter later and ended up with over 100 yards rushing on just 12 carries, had his defense not let him down he very easily could have run for 200-300 yards.
The run game itself is fairly simple, he has a really nice series of plays where he goes read, wrap and counter, all attacking the same side of the field. It all looks the same initially and it becomes really tough to decipher it and make a play. He ran a straight QB Power once and ran what I think was a midline read option once with less success. Nothing is off limits in his run game, 12 runs (including a few sacks) probably had 6 different individual calls.
Pass game is a little west coast in nature. He doesn't take a lot of shots, it's mainly looking to get the ball in space with high percentage throws and then gain yards after the catch. QBA 5 appeared out of thin air on him in the middle of the game and just caused havoc but once he got it under control his pass offense was lights out.
Expect to see a lot of route combos that attack a single player, he really likes the trips concept where there is a shallow, a slant and a curl because that play typically wrecks zone and I'm 90% zone every game.
Navy's screen game is fantastic, one of the more effective screen games in the league. He'll run bubble (mainly from Empty), now screens to the widest receivers, slow slip screens to tailbacks, all of it. He has a good feel for when a screen will work so you really have to be ready for it.
Defense
Looks like he was mainly in an even front with two high safeties. In the past, Navy would play me with a straight 425, single high look but it looks like he went with a two high look with one of the two safeties user controlled quite a bit in this game. Looked like it was mainly a blend of 425 and 43/4 with maybe some 46 mixed in?
Navy brings more blitzes than most people in the league, because he's good enough with his user controlled players to cover guys even in man coverage. There were multiple plays I thought I had him beat and he stuck with the receiver and had a shot at an INT, if he doesn't drop INTs, it's a different game.
Navy defaults to conservative option defense and then manually scraping. He's the best at it but some missed/broken tackles really let him down in the game. That was out of his control. I will say that my tempo allowed me to better attack Navy with the run, he typically plays my run game strong because he can take the option game away but because I was going so fast I was able to attack with trap and straight gives quite a bit.
He's not afraid to leave players on islands, it back fired on him a bit in this one because my receivers and tight ends are just huge and damn near impossible to cover one on one. Again, that's not a weakness of Navy's defense just a talent mismatch that I imagine will change as he recruits.
You have to run the ball against Navy, as tough as it is, you have to keep going. Do not let a few TFL deter you. Keep pounding the rock and make him make tackles. If he does, you may be in trouble but you cannot get one dimensional, he's way too good in manual coverage. Mix in some screens if you can (especially if you can hide it with tempo or misdirection), but keep pounding the rock and then take some shots on the perimeter and up the seam.
Special Teams
Nothing all that notable, his kickoffs were mostly returnable but his coverage is great so I rarely got it to the 25. He's very good at getting his punts right along the sideline making it tough to return.
Summary
@NavyHog is one of the better skill players in the OD, especially when it comes to making plays on defense. There will be a point in the game when you're frustrated and are tempted to abandon your offense (whatever it is), you cannot give in to that temptation. If you do, Navy will own you. Even if he gets a few TFL or makes a few good user plays in the pass game, you have got to keep attacking. Make him be perfect to win.
That may sound like common sense but there are people in the league who don't capitalize on mistakes and you can still be one dimensional and win. Navy is not one of those people. Make him be perfect, don't fall into the trap he's laying, just play your game no matter what goes wrong. The second you panic, you're fucked.
@NavyHog
ACC Championship
Virginia 27
Clemson 45
Offense
Balanced gun spread, not sure if anyone remembers NY_KIA from old Utopia and his Brian Kelly-ish gun spread offense videos but @NavyHog's offense reminded me a bit of that. Fairly diverse personnel groupings (20, 11, 10, Empty) and fairly balanced between run and pass before he had to get into desperation pass mode.
If I remember right, Navy's pass offense is #1 in the country but he opened up the game with a 67 yard TD run off of a QB keeper. I had him stopped but the QB ran him right over, there were a lot of broken tackles on both sides and that was the first of many. He had a big run off HB Counter later and ended up with over 100 yards rushing on just 12 carries, had his defense not let him down he very easily could have run for 200-300 yards.
The run game itself is fairly simple, he has a really nice series of plays where he goes read, wrap and counter, all attacking the same side of the field. It all looks the same initially and it becomes really tough to decipher it and make a play. He ran a straight QB Power once and ran what I think was a midline read option once with less success. Nothing is off limits in his run game, 12 runs (including a few sacks) probably had 6 different individual calls.
Pass game is a little west coast in nature. He doesn't take a lot of shots, it's mainly looking to get the ball in space with high percentage throws and then gain yards after the catch. QBA 5 appeared out of thin air on him in the middle of the game and just caused havoc but once he got it under control his pass offense was lights out.
Expect to see a lot of route combos that attack a single player, he really likes the trips concept where there is a shallow, a slant and a curl because that play typically wrecks zone and I'm 90% zone every game.
Navy's screen game is fantastic, one of the more effective screen games in the league. He'll run bubble (mainly from Empty), now screens to the widest receivers, slow slip screens to tailbacks, all of it. He has a good feel for when a screen will work so you really have to be ready for it.
Defense
Looks like he was mainly in an even front with two high safeties. In the past, Navy would play me with a straight 425, single high look but it looks like he went with a two high look with one of the two safeties user controlled quite a bit in this game. Looked like it was mainly a blend of 425 and 43/4 with maybe some 46 mixed in?
Navy brings more blitzes than most people in the league, because he's good enough with his user controlled players to cover guys even in man coverage. There were multiple plays I thought I had him beat and he stuck with the receiver and had a shot at an INT, if he doesn't drop INTs, it's a different game.
Navy defaults to conservative option defense and then manually scraping. He's the best at it but some missed/broken tackles really let him down in the game. That was out of his control. I will say that my tempo allowed me to better attack Navy with the run, he typically plays my run game strong because he can take the option game away but because I was going so fast I was able to attack with trap and straight gives quite a bit.
He's not afraid to leave players on islands, it back fired on him a bit in this one because my receivers and tight ends are just huge and damn near impossible to cover one on one. Again, that's not a weakness of Navy's defense just a talent mismatch that I imagine will change as he recruits.
You have to run the ball against Navy, as tough as it is, you have to keep going. Do not let a few TFL deter you. Keep pounding the rock and make him make tackles. If he does, you may be in trouble but you cannot get one dimensional, he's way too good in manual coverage. Mix in some screens if you can (especially if you can hide it with tempo or misdirection), but keep pounding the rock and then take some shots on the perimeter and up the seam.
Special Teams
Nothing all that notable, his kickoffs were mostly returnable but his coverage is great so I rarely got it to the 25. He's very good at getting his punts right along the sideline making it tough to return.
Summary
@NavyHog is one of the better skill players in the OD, especially when it comes to making plays on defense. There will be a point in the game when you're frustrated and are tempted to abandon your offense (whatever it is), you cannot give in to that temptation. If you do, Navy will own you. Even if he gets a few TFL or makes a few good user plays in the pass game, you have got to keep attacking. Make him be perfect to win.
That may sound like common sense but there are people in the league who don't capitalize on mistakes and you can still be one dimensional and win. Navy is not one of those people. Make him be perfect, don't fall into the trap he's laying, just play your game no matter what goes wrong. The second you panic, you're fucked.