I need to ask around a bit more about this play, but I think we saw Aaron Burbridge take a nice step in football IQ on his 17-yard TD reception in the second quarter, which gave MSU a 14-7 lead. And I think we saw MSU's elevating trust in him on this play as well.
It was second-and-8 at the 17, with 13:52 to go in the first half.
Burbridge scored on a slant, making a catch at the 11-yard line and breaking two tackles in getting across the goal line. One of the best plays of his career to this point.
Rewind to the snap.
Oregon showed an eight-man front - something the Ducks don't do a lot. They usually play with two deep safeties, and occasionally roll one of them down to a robber level. But Oregon RARELY shows an eight-man front at pre-snap and commits to it.
They did on this play. And at the snap, the CBs bailed - showing a deep cover-three, with eight in the box.
I didn't understand this defense for Oregon at all. Didn't understand the timing. Didn't understand how they carried it out.
First of all, MSU had just run the ball on first-and-10 for a gain of 2 (I think Connor Cook made an error on his play choice while calling an audible. Maybe I'll get into that more later, after I look into it some more).
Anyway, MSU was second-and-8 after an unsuccessful run play.
There's very little chance that MSU is going to run the ball again after a gain of 2 on first down. That's just not MSU's mode of operation. It was a passing down all the way for MSU.
Why Oregon would show a run-stopping front on second-and-8 at the 17 is beyond me.
And it wasn't a matter of Oregon trying to get to the QB with a wholesale blitz out of an eight-man front. It was a PASSIVE eight-man front.
Oregon blitzed one guy off the edge. It was a five-man rush. The other three LBs in the box just read the play, made a false step toward the backfield off the play-action fake, were simple by-standers while Cook calmly turned and waited for Burbridge to clear an OLB to complete the slant pass.
(Nice use of the slant pass vs the eight-man front, by the way. Something I think we would see more of by MSu vs WMU's eight-man fronts last week, especially their Bear stuff. What beats the Bear? West Coast offense. Timing routes. Slants. Bill Walsh 101, circa 1987).
Anyway, Oregon goes with an eight-man front, which leaves three in the secondary, which creates more room for WRs.
Then the CB doesn't even jam and press. He bails.
Now Burbridge has all this open space for a slant.
Now here's where I'm hypothesizing, and my never get an answer: Burbridge shuffles his feet for a beat or two while getting into his release off the line of scrimmage. He sees the CB bail. And at this moment, I suspect that Burbridge reads the defense and runs a hot route or sight adjust (an option route of sorts).
Usually a hot route is done to give the QB a quick target vs a blitz. This was technically a blitz, with Oregon sending a fifth pass rusher.
But MSU was in max protection. MSU kept the TE and two backs in for protection. It was a two-man route. The WR on the other side (Kings) ran a short hitch. So this was basically a one-man route.
MSU ran a sophisticated play fake by incorporating 'power' into the play action. In other words, they pulled Donavon Clark to the strong side. That's a strong run sell. And the two ILBs bit on it and came forward (but again, strangely, they weren't blitzing. This was like a read-and-react blitz. Very strange). [The tricky part for MSU was to pull Clark and then close the daylight that he vacated for pass protection. MSU is pretty good at this. Jack Allen slid to the right as part of his usual blocking track for power to his left. MSU pulled off the pass pro without a problem. And Cook trusted it.]
Anyway, I thought Oregon did a poor job of anticipating MSU's play selection at this point. And picked a horrible time for one of the few times all night that they would try to cover with three, and allow a free release off the line of scrimmage IN THE RED ZONE. And, like I said, it was a passive blitz.
But MSU wouldn't have capitalized if the one man in the one-man route (Burbridge) hadn't made the read, and the cut, and THEN broke two tackles.
I'll try to find out how much of that was on Burbridge, or if that was originally called for a slant. (I doubt it was a slant all the way. If it had been press coverage, I suspect MSU might have released him to the outside for a fade on second-and-eight. I think it was an option route, a sight adjust. And I think this is evidence that he adjusted pretty darn well. And Cook's trust in Burbridge has to be escalating).
It was second-and-8 at the 17, with 13:52 to go in the first half.
Burbridge scored on a slant, making a catch at the 11-yard line and breaking two tackles in getting across the goal line. One of the best plays of his career to this point.
Rewind to the snap.
Oregon showed an eight-man front - something the Ducks don't do a lot. They usually play with two deep safeties, and occasionally roll one of them down to a robber level. But Oregon RARELY shows an eight-man front at pre-snap and commits to it.
They did on this play. And at the snap, the CBs bailed - showing a deep cover-three, with eight in the box.
I didn't understand this defense for Oregon at all. Didn't understand the timing. Didn't understand how they carried it out.
First of all, MSU had just run the ball on first-and-10 for a gain of 2 (I think Connor Cook made an error on his play choice while calling an audible. Maybe I'll get into that more later, after I look into it some more).
Anyway, MSU was second-and-8 after an unsuccessful run play.
There's very little chance that MSU is going to run the ball again after a gain of 2 on first down. That's just not MSU's mode of operation. It was a passing down all the way for MSU.
Why Oregon would show a run-stopping front on second-and-8 at the 17 is beyond me.
And it wasn't a matter of Oregon trying to get to the QB with a wholesale blitz out of an eight-man front. It was a PASSIVE eight-man front.
Oregon blitzed one guy off the edge. It was a five-man rush. The other three LBs in the box just read the play, made a false step toward the backfield off the play-action fake, were simple by-standers while Cook calmly turned and waited for Burbridge to clear an OLB to complete the slant pass.
(Nice use of the slant pass vs the eight-man front, by the way. Something I think we would see more of by MSu vs WMU's eight-man fronts last week, especially their Bear stuff. What beats the Bear? West Coast offense. Timing routes. Slants. Bill Walsh 101, circa 1987).
Anyway, Oregon goes with an eight-man front, which leaves three in the secondary, which creates more room for WRs.
Then the CB doesn't even jam and press. He bails.
Now Burbridge has all this open space for a slant.
Now here's where I'm hypothesizing, and my never get an answer: Burbridge shuffles his feet for a beat or two while getting into his release off the line of scrimmage. He sees the CB bail. And at this moment, I suspect that Burbridge reads the defense and runs a hot route or sight adjust (an option route of sorts).
Usually a hot route is done to give the QB a quick target vs a blitz. This was technically a blitz, with Oregon sending a fifth pass rusher.
But MSU was in max protection. MSU kept the TE and two backs in for protection. It was a two-man route. The WR on the other side (Kings) ran a short hitch. So this was basically a one-man route.
MSU ran a sophisticated play fake by incorporating 'power' into the play action. In other words, they pulled Donavon Clark to the strong side. That's a strong run sell. And the two ILBs bit on it and came forward (but again, strangely, they weren't blitzing. This was like a read-and-react blitz. Very strange). [The tricky part for MSU was to pull Clark and then close the daylight that he vacated for pass protection. MSU is pretty good at this. Jack Allen slid to the right as part of his usual blocking track for power to his left. MSU pulled off the pass pro without a problem. And Cook trusted it.]
Anyway, I thought Oregon did a poor job of anticipating MSU's play selection at this point. And picked a horrible time for one of the few times all night that they would try to cover with three, and allow a free release off the line of scrimmage IN THE RED ZONE. And, like I said, it was a passive blitz.
But MSU wouldn't have capitalized if the one man in the one-man route (Burbridge) hadn't made the read, and the cut, and THEN broke two tackles.
I'll try to find out how much of that was on Burbridge, or if that was originally called for a slant. (I doubt it was a slant all the way. If it had been press coverage, I suspect MSU might have released him to the outside for a fade on second-and-eight. I think it was an option route, a sight adjust. And I think this is evidence that he adjusted pretty darn well. And Cook's trust in Burbridge has to be escalating).
