September 17, 2015
Trends, Schemes & Analysis: 4-Minute Offense
Jim Comparoni
SpartanMag.com Publisher
EAST LANSING - Michigan State topped the 30-point mark for the 10th straight time last weekend against Oregon, but the Spartans' 8-minute and 4-minute offenses weren't successful.
The "eight-minute" and "four-minute" offenses come into play when a team is leading and needs to run clock to protect the lead. Michigan State failed, with a pair of three-and-out drives in the final 7:53, giving Oregon a chance to stage a comeback from a late 31-21 deficit and nearly steal victory.
Spartan offensive players were not happy with themselves about this aspect of the game following the victory over No. 7 Oregon. And they continued to stew about it during practice preparation for Saturday's game against Air Force, bent on improving in some of the aspects that failed them in the final minutes against the Ducks.
So what went wrong during those six plays?
Warner said improvements are necessary from game-planning on down to execution.
"It's a total … starting from us, from the staff, all the way down through our offense," offensive coordinator Dave Warner said during mid-week interviews on Wednesday. "We just need to do a better job, evidently of game planning and then executing. I'm not sure there's any secret to it. But we just have to get in that mindset. And I think, again, you go back a couple years, that thing sort of materialized and grew as the season went on, and I expect that to happen again."
Saturday's inability to close came down to six plays.
Two runs on the first drive led to a third-and-4 incompletion intended for R.J. Shelton.
Then on the second drive, a loss of 5 yards on a first-and-10 run led to incompletions on second-and-15 and third-and-15.
"The loss of five put us behind the ball a little bit, eight ball a little bit," said head coach Mark Dantonio. "I made the decision to throw it because we wanted to play to win the football game at that point. Getting a first down is going to win the game.
"But we didn't hit it for whatever reason. A little low throw, drop on a 50/50 catch, however you want to look at it. Ball sails on one. Did enough to score 31 points, doing enough to make it happen.
"You always want to close it out. There is no perfect game. You're always talking about what you could do differently and make it a little bit better."
Breaking Down The First 3-and-Out
Let's rewind and break down what went right and wrong on those six crucial plays:
On the first drive, MSU had it first-and-10 at the MSU 43-yard line, after stopping Oregon QB Vernon Adams short on a fourth-and-1 power read keeper.
1-10 -42: LJ Scott carried for a gain of 5 on a counter handoff behind pulling guard Brian Allen to the strong, unbalanced side.
MSU faked a fly sweep to RJ Shelton before handing to Scott. (Faking the fly sweep had influenced a linebacker out of the box as part of a gain of 10 late in the third quarter, on a zone play to the strong/unbalanced side. MSU went back to that action on this play).
[Unbalanced meaning a tight end and split end were on the same side of the formation, making the TE an ineligible receiver. Why have the TE covered up? Partly to mobilize the flanker for the fly sweep fake to the play side.]
Running the play to the right also allowed MSU to run the ball away from defensive end DeForest Buckner, easily Oregon's best defensive lineman. Buckner played right DE most of the night.
Connor Cook and Brian Allen are among those who need to improve their execution in future 4-minute situations.
Play-calling, scheming and functional blocking put MSU nicely on schedule with this first-down play.
But MSU would net -3 yards on its next five plays.
2-5 -47: Scott ran for a gain of 1 on an inside zone run. Brian Allen was not happy with himself after this play. He and Jack Allen were assigned to double-team the nose guard. Both Allens engaged the nose guard, and then the nose guard slanted to his left, away from Brian.
Rather than releasing the nose guard, knowing that Jack had the area controlled, and climbing out to the linebacker level, Brian stayed with the double-team too long, ended up lunging forward and wasting himself as a blocker.
That left Oregon's MLB unblocked. That MLB came forward and tackled Scott for no gain.
Scott was also upset with himself for not running the ball harder into the line. He tip-toed a bit toward the smoke.
3-4 -48: Connor Cook threw incomplete for Shelton.
MSU schemed a good play. For the first time all night, flanker Macgarrett Kings came in motion to the two-WR side, stopped and went back, and then stopped and went back in motion to the two-WR side again. Oregon defenders didn't go with him, signifying to Cook and the receivers that it was zone coverage.
Shelton ran a zone-beater sticks route as the No. 2 receiver as part of a three-man route combination. He sat down in an open area.
Cooks was rolling to the field on the play. He threw on the run, and threw inaccurately, low for an incompletion.
Dantonio called it a 50-50 ball, indicating the QB and WR were both responsible.
Cook blamed himself, and said he was "pissed at myself" while watching Oregon drive for a touchdown in the minutes that followed.
Warner was asked if Shelton was to blame.
"That one? Yeah, tough catch (to make)," Warner said. "Tough catch. No problem with him."
Oregon then received a punt, drove 80 yards in nine plays to cut the lead to 31-28.
The Second 3-and-Out
Then the Spartans took over with another crack at the four-minute offense, first-and-10 at their 22 with 3:19 to play.
1-10 -22: Madre London was stopped for a loss of 5 on a counter sweep to the short side.
On this play, MSU shifted the line from left to right, resulting in Brian Allen moving from left guard to center, and moving Jack Allen from center to right guard.
MSU utilized this radical shift several times during the game, with a mixture of success and failure. The first time MSU showed this unique shift, the Spartans passed the ball, on a 12-yard comeback to Aaron Burbridge.
Later, London had a 6-yard gain on a power to the strong side after the center shift. MSU missed a field goal at the end of that drive.
Ironically, MSU tried to run a counter to the weak side out of this look earlier in the game, and lost three yards. That loss stalled a drive in the red zone and led to a field goal which gave MSU a 31-24 lead.
It was a surprise that MSU would go back to a counter to the weak side off of that look when it failed earlier in the game. But MSU believed in it. The problem was Oregon wasn't surprised, or fooled.
After the first time MSU showed the center shift, Oregon caught onto it and began shifting its defensive line to match up with the strength of MSU's offensive front.
HOWEVER, on this ill-fated play that began MSU's second three-and-out, Oregon's defensive line stood pat in the face of the shift and DID NOT SHIFT WITH THE SPARTANS.
MSU likely expected a shift, expected Oregon to load up to the unbalanced tight end side. MSU sought to counter Oregon back the other way and get the Ducks outflanked.
As it turned out, Oregon had more defenders waiting for the ball carrier on the weak side, foiling the play before it got started.
Secondly, when Oregon opted not to shift when the Spartans shifted, this led to MSU tight end Josiah Price matching up with Buckner at the eventual point of attack. Price essentially becomes the left tackle after the shift takes place. Price vs. Buckner was a horrible matchup for MSU.
LJ Scott rushed for 76 yards on 11 carries against Oregon.
Buckner gained two yards of penetration against Price, upsetting Brian Allen's trek to the perimeter as a pulling center as part of the counter action.
Because Price was beaten, Oregon's outside LB was able to come forward and engage Allen two yards behind the line of scrimmage, further foiling the play.
MSU pulled Benny McGowan from the back side. Because Allen and Price were bottled-up behind the line of scrimmage, McGowan was never able to turn the corner and hunt an inside linebacker. Instead, that inside linebacker surged forward behind Buckner and helped tackle London for the loss.
The negative play call was devastating to MSU's chances of holding the ball and run clock. From there, Dantonio's decision to play aggressively with the pass resulted in two incompletions and clock stoppages, serving to Oregon's delight.
"They got players too," Dantonio said in reference to Oregon's defensive front. "We talk about inches, we talk about a throw being high or a little low. We talk about a guy with possible 50-50 catches. We come up a little bit short."
2-15 -17: Cook rolled out to the field and threw incomplete to a well-covered Kings at the sideline against two-deep/man-under.
Could Cook have carried that for half of the yardage? Difficult to say. He was getting pressure from inside-out and would have had to make a strong open-field run to do damage on a keeper there, but that's certainly something the coaches and quarterbacks reviewed and considered in the film room.
3-15 -17: Cook threw incomplete for Burbridge on a square-in against two-deep coverage at 14 yards. Even if Burbridge had caught it, he likely would have been tackled short of first-down yardage.
Warner said there were no open windows for Cook to throw to on that play.
After volunteering blame from the coaches on down at the outset of the interview, Warner agreed with Dantonio about Oregon's talent level.
"They're on scholarship too and they're good," Warner said. "Our guys played well but sometimes we're not going to make the block, just like sometimes you're not going to make the throw or the catch. But it comes down to execution. When it comes down to the fourth quarter, that's when you've got to step it up a little bit and make sure we're getting things done."
On MSU's last possession, after stopping Oregon in the final minute, the Spartans needed one more first down to clinch victory. A 5-yard penalty against the Ducks made things easier.
Then on second-and-two, London gained four yards on an inside zone, with all four yards coming after contact as he powered ahead with a second-effort.
'We Need To Be Greedy'
Cook has been critical of himself through the first two weeks of the season. Earlier in the Oregon game, he threw an interception when a pass intended for Kings sailed high.
"I think there is a lot on his shoulders through the publicity and so forth," Warner said. "You're always going to miss throws, you're going to miss reads. That's part of it. And he's hard himself. He's very hard on himself and he expects a lot of himself so I'm sure it's part of why he's saying that. But he's like everybody else, we're all looking to be a little bit better."
The Spartans are ranked No. 4 in the country, averaged more yards per play than the vaunted Oregon offense, and yet are striving to make corrections and improvements.
"We've done OK but we certainly haven't achieved the way we want to," Warner said. "We're taking strides and we're looking to improve.
"I tell our offense we need to be greedy. We need to want more yardage. We need to want more points. We need to want more of everything. So that's the way we're approaching it."
Dantonio was pleased with the way the Spartans answered Oregon's first two touchdowns with strong TD drives of their own.
"Part of this game is about handling adversity," Dantonio said. "Every time they made a drive and they cut the score a little bit, offensively, we had a drive where we answered the bell, had a drive where we came back down the field and scored.
"For the most part I feel like our offense played very, very well."
But the four-minute offense - an area of astounding strength in 2013 and '14 - needs some work.
Trends, Schemes & Analysis: 4-Minute Offense
Jim Comparoni
SpartanMag.com Publisher
EAST LANSING - Michigan State topped the 30-point mark for the 10th straight time last weekend against Oregon, but the Spartans' 8-minute and 4-minute offenses weren't successful.
The "eight-minute" and "four-minute" offenses come into play when a team is leading and needs to run clock to protect the lead. Michigan State failed, with a pair of three-and-out drives in the final 7:53, giving Oregon a chance to stage a comeback from a late 31-21 deficit and nearly steal victory.
Spartan offensive players were not happy with themselves about this aspect of the game following the victory over No. 7 Oregon. And they continued to stew about it during practice preparation for Saturday's game against Air Force, bent on improving in some of the aspects that failed them in the final minutes against the Ducks.
So what went wrong during those six plays?
Warner said improvements are necessary from game-planning on down to execution.
"It's a total … starting from us, from the staff, all the way down through our offense," offensive coordinator Dave Warner said during mid-week interviews on Wednesday. "We just need to do a better job, evidently of game planning and then executing. I'm not sure there's any secret to it. But we just have to get in that mindset. And I think, again, you go back a couple years, that thing sort of materialized and grew as the season went on, and I expect that to happen again."
Saturday's inability to close came down to six plays.
Two runs on the first drive led to a third-and-4 incompletion intended for R.J. Shelton.
Then on the second drive, a loss of 5 yards on a first-and-10 run led to incompletions on second-and-15 and third-and-15.
"The loss of five put us behind the ball a little bit, eight ball a little bit," said head coach Mark Dantonio. "I made the decision to throw it because we wanted to play to win the football game at that point. Getting a first down is going to win the game.
"But we didn't hit it for whatever reason. A little low throw, drop on a 50/50 catch, however you want to look at it. Ball sails on one. Did enough to score 31 points, doing enough to make it happen.
"You always want to close it out. There is no perfect game. You're always talking about what you could do differently and make it a little bit better."
Breaking Down The First 3-and-Out
Let's rewind and break down what went right and wrong on those six crucial plays:
On the first drive, MSU had it first-and-10 at the MSU 43-yard line, after stopping Oregon QB Vernon Adams short on a fourth-and-1 power read keeper.
1-10 -42: LJ Scott carried for a gain of 5 on a counter handoff behind pulling guard Brian Allen to the strong, unbalanced side.
MSU faked a fly sweep to RJ Shelton before handing to Scott. (Faking the fly sweep had influenced a linebacker out of the box as part of a gain of 10 late in the third quarter, on a zone play to the strong/unbalanced side. MSU went back to that action on this play).
[Unbalanced meaning a tight end and split end were on the same side of the formation, making the TE an ineligible receiver. Why have the TE covered up? Partly to mobilize the flanker for the fly sweep fake to the play side.]
Running the play to the right also allowed MSU to run the ball away from defensive end DeForest Buckner, easily Oregon's best defensive lineman. Buckner played right DE most of the night.
Connor Cook and Brian Allen are among those who need to improve their execution in future 4-minute situations.
Play-calling, scheming and functional blocking put MSU nicely on schedule with this first-down play.
But MSU would net -3 yards on its next five plays.
2-5 -47: Scott ran for a gain of 1 on an inside zone run. Brian Allen was not happy with himself after this play. He and Jack Allen were assigned to double-team the nose guard. Both Allens engaged the nose guard, and then the nose guard slanted to his left, away from Brian.
Rather than releasing the nose guard, knowing that Jack had the area controlled, and climbing out to the linebacker level, Brian stayed with the double-team too long, ended up lunging forward and wasting himself as a blocker.
That left Oregon's MLB unblocked. That MLB came forward and tackled Scott for no gain.
Scott was also upset with himself for not running the ball harder into the line. He tip-toed a bit toward the smoke.
3-4 -48: Connor Cook threw incomplete for Shelton.
MSU schemed a good play. For the first time all night, flanker Macgarrett Kings came in motion to the two-WR side, stopped and went back, and then stopped and went back in motion to the two-WR side again. Oregon defenders didn't go with him, signifying to Cook and the receivers that it was zone coverage.
Shelton ran a zone-beater sticks route as the No. 2 receiver as part of a three-man route combination. He sat down in an open area.
Cooks was rolling to the field on the play. He threw on the run, and threw inaccurately, low for an incompletion.
Dantonio called it a 50-50 ball, indicating the QB and WR were both responsible.
Cook blamed himself, and said he was "pissed at myself" while watching Oregon drive for a touchdown in the minutes that followed.
Warner was asked if Shelton was to blame.
"That one? Yeah, tough catch (to make)," Warner said. "Tough catch. No problem with him."
Oregon then received a punt, drove 80 yards in nine plays to cut the lead to 31-28.
The Second 3-and-Out
Then the Spartans took over with another crack at the four-minute offense, first-and-10 at their 22 with 3:19 to play.
1-10 -22: Madre London was stopped for a loss of 5 on a counter sweep to the short side.
On this play, MSU shifted the line from left to right, resulting in Brian Allen moving from left guard to center, and moving Jack Allen from center to right guard.
MSU utilized this radical shift several times during the game, with a mixture of success and failure. The first time MSU showed this unique shift, the Spartans passed the ball, on a 12-yard comeback to Aaron Burbridge.
Later, London had a 6-yard gain on a power to the strong side after the center shift. MSU missed a field goal at the end of that drive.
Ironically, MSU tried to run a counter to the weak side out of this look earlier in the game, and lost three yards. That loss stalled a drive in the red zone and led to a field goal which gave MSU a 31-24 lead.
It was a surprise that MSU would go back to a counter to the weak side off of that look when it failed earlier in the game. But MSU believed in it. The problem was Oregon wasn't surprised, or fooled.
After the first time MSU showed the center shift, Oregon caught onto it and began shifting its defensive line to match up with the strength of MSU's offensive front.
HOWEVER, on this ill-fated play that began MSU's second three-and-out, Oregon's defensive line stood pat in the face of the shift and DID NOT SHIFT WITH THE SPARTANS.
MSU likely expected a shift, expected Oregon to load up to the unbalanced tight end side. MSU sought to counter Oregon back the other way and get the Ducks outflanked.
As it turned out, Oregon had more defenders waiting for the ball carrier on the weak side, foiling the play before it got started.
Secondly, when Oregon opted not to shift when the Spartans shifted, this led to MSU tight end Josiah Price matching up with Buckner at the eventual point of attack. Price essentially becomes the left tackle after the shift takes place. Price vs. Buckner was a horrible matchup for MSU.
LJ Scott rushed for 76 yards on 11 carries against Oregon.
Buckner gained two yards of penetration against Price, upsetting Brian Allen's trek to the perimeter as a pulling center as part of the counter action.
Because Price was beaten, Oregon's outside LB was able to come forward and engage Allen two yards behind the line of scrimmage, further foiling the play.
MSU pulled Benny McGowan from the back side. Because Allen and Price were bottled-up behind the line of scrimmage, McGowan was never able to turn the corner and hunt an inside linebacker. Instead, that inside linebacker surged forward behind Buckner and helped tackle London for the loss.
The negative play call was devastating to MSU's chances of holding the ball and run clock. From there, Dantonio's decision to play aggressively with the pass resulted in two incompletions and clock stoppages, serving to Oregon's delight.
"They got players too," Dantonio said in reference to Oregon's defensive front. "We talk about inches, we talk about a throw being high or a little low. We talk about a guy with possible 50-50 catches. We come up a little bit short."
2-15 -17: Cook rolled out to the field and threw incomplete to a well-covered Kings at the sideline against two-deep/man-under.
Could Cook have carried that for half of the yardage? Difficult to say. He was getting pressure from inside-out and would have had to make a strong open-field run to do damage on a keeper there, but that's certainly something the coaches and quarterbacks reviewed and considered in the film room.
3-15 -17: Cook threw incomplete for Burbridge on a square-in against two-deep coverage at 14 yards. Even if Burbridge had caught it, he likely would have been tackled short of first-down yardage.
Warner said there were no open windows for Cook to throw to on that play.
After volunteering blame from the coaches on down at the outset of the interview, Warner agreed with Dantonio about Oregon's talent level.
"They're on scholarship too and they're good," Warner said. "Our guys played well but sometimes we're not going to make the block, just like sometimes you're not going to make the throw or the catch. But it comes down to execution. When it comes down to the fourth quarter, that's when you've got to step it up a little bit and make sure we're getting things done."
On MSU's last possession, after stopping Oregon in the final minute, the Spartans needed one more first down to clinch victory. A 5-yard penalty against the Ducks made things easier.
Then on second-and-two, London gained four yards on an inside zone, with all four yards coming after contact as he powered ahead with a second-effort.
'We Need To Be Greedy'
Cook has been critical of himself through the first two weeks of the season. Earlier in the Oregon game, he threw an interception when a pass intended for Kings sailed high.
"I think there is a lot on his shoulders through the publicity and so forth," Warner said. "You're always going to miss throws, you're going to miss reads. That's part of it. And he's hard himself. He's very hard on himself and he expects a lot of himself so I'm sure it's part of why he's saying that. But he's like everybody else, we're all looking to be a little bit better."
The Spartans are ranked No. 4 in the country, averaged more yards per play than the vaunted Oregon offense, and yet are striving to make corrections and improvements.
"We've done OK but we certainly haven't achieved the way we want to," Warner said. "We're taking strides and we're looking to improve.
"I tell our offense we need to be greedy. We need to want more yardage. We need to want more points. We need to want more of everything. So that's the way we're approaching it."
Dantonio was pleased with the way the Spartans answered Oregon's first two touchdowns with strong TD drives of their own.
"Part of this game is about handling adversity," Dantonio said. "Every time they made a drive and they cut the score a little bit, offensively, we had a drive where we answered the bell, had a drive where we came back down the field and scored.
"For the most part I feel like our offense played very, very well."
But the four-minute offense - an area of astounding strength in 2013 and '14 - needs some work.
