Get the Ball to the A-Backs

[77GTFan]

All year it seemed we were reluctant to run the option out to the pitch play, which in the TO is usuually going to be the big hitter play on offense.

In the bowl we had 51 rushes by the QB and FB and 6 by the A backs. Those six plays averaged almost 10 yards each. 28 carries by Tevin, 23 by AA, 4 by Orwin and two by Roddy indicates we have lost confidence in the option pitch.

I hope we correct this next year with whoever plays QB. Some might argue that teams are taking the pitch away from us and giving us the keeper. But, if that's really accuarate, we are in trouble, because 6 carries by the A backs will not cut it. I think Tevin
partcularly gave up on the pitch too easily.

 

[alpha]

...indicates we have lost confidence in the option pitch.

Not surprised. Roddy and Orwin accounted for three turnovers against Ugag.

I've been most disappointed in our A-backs this year. While some have been better than others in blocking, none of them have been dependable as ball carriers. This is probably why we saw so many different A-backs start through the season with the exception of Roddy. Every time the ball was pitched, I held my breath. Every time one of the A-backs got tackled, I held my breath. I'm not even counting the times the A-back got tackled by the sideline and the ball fumbled out of bounds, that probably happened half a dozen times this season.

 

[JWE37]

I noticed the samae thing. I think its a combination of 3 things:

1) Teams were making Tevin beat them by taking the outside away.
2) Perimeter blocking or lack there of
3) Tevin made quick decisions where Josh would string the play out and make defenders commit (like he's supposed to) before pitching.

*When we have a B-back and QB that can go the distance on any given play......you will see the A-backs get more touches. I really hope Synjyn, Perkins, and Sims step it up.

 

[floridajacket]

On regular option plays, it's not a question of whether we want to pitch it or not. We don't "give up" on the pitch. It doesn't matter what we want to do, it matters how the defense commits. As the year has gone on, defenses have played the pitch man more, which is why we have seen more runs by AA and TW.

 

[Josh H]

In my opinion, it isn't just the option game where we should work on getting the ball to the A-backs. I thought our A-backs (especially Orwin) were very dependable in the passing game.

 

[declinometer]

what i would like to see is what gsu and navy do. start the a-backs in motion and stop to see how the defense reacts. at that point cpj can signal in a different play if necessary. cpj used to do that but for some reason has gotten away from it. perhaps it was because our linemen would always jump.

 

[WreckTheRest]

The A-backs need to get back to the chocolate factory.

 

[cajunjacket]

In my opinion, it isn't just the option game where we should work on getting the ball to the A-backs. I thought our A-backs (especially Orwin) were very dependable in the passing game.

+1

And I think that we will do this more frequently once we get an O-line that can pass block and a QB that can pass.

 

[ITJacket]

On regular option plays, it's not a question of whether we want to pitch it or not. We don't "give up" on the pitch. It doesn't matter what we want to do, it matters how the defense commits. As the year has gone on, defenses have played the pitch man more, which is why we have seen more runs by AA and TW.

There are other ways to get the ball to the A-backs. Our toss sweep play comes to mind. Or even a more traditional inside hand-off to an A-back or hand-off sweep down the line. Have we ever thrown a screen pass to an A-back?

We have some of our most dynamic and talented players at A-back. If the A-back position isn't getting 15-20 touches a game, something is wrong.

 

[GTCrew4b]

There are other ways to get the ball to the A-backs. Our toss sweep play comes to mind. Or even a more traditional inside hand-off to an A-back or hand-off sweep down the line. Have we ever thrown a screen pass to an A-back?

We have some of our most dynamic and talented players at A-back. If the A-back position isn't getting 15-20 touches a game, something is wrong.

Unless the opponent has gameplanned to take away those touches...that's the strength of the option, you don't force anything...at least you ought not.

 

[Josh H]

There are other ways to get the ball to the A-backs. Our toss sweep play comes to mind. Or even a more traditional inside hand-off to an A-back or hand-off sweep down the line. Have we ever thrown a screen pass to an A-back?

We have some of our most dynamic and talented players at A-back. If the A-back position isn't getting 15-20 touches a game, something is wrong.

I still remember a play we ran in Clemson 2009, game #1. NCAA called this play "WB Misdirection". Motion goes one way, the A-back gets the ball right up the middle against the motion. Anthony Allen was the back we gave the ball to. Went for great yards the first time, not so much the next time.

 

[ITJacket]

Unless the opponent has gameplanned to take away those touches...that's the strength of the option, you don't force anything...at least you ought not.

This is only true to a point. Are we going to let our QB run the ball 50 times a game if a team sells out the Dive and the Pitch? Say we have a Reggie Bush-type player at A-back, are we not going to make an effort to get that guy the ball, even though teams are going to gameplan for him? Sorry, but that's just retarded.

 

[ITJacket]

I know its bad form to bump this thread, but I really want to hear an answer to my question from one of the "option = take what the defense gives you" guys.

What do we do if we have a truly special talent like a Reggie Bush or a CJ Spiller at A-back and the defense never dictates that we pitch it to him. Just don't get him the ball? In college football, you HAVE TO put the ball in the hands of your playmakers.

In my mind, the top playmaker on the team this year was Orwin, and he averaged 4 touches a game, 5 if you count catches. Unacceptable. And our QBs? Nearly 22 carries at game. Something is wrong with that picture.

 

[The Champ]

I know its bad form to bump this thread, but I really want to hear an answer to my question from one of the "option = take what the defense gives you" guys.

What do we do if we have a truly special talent like a Reggie Bush or a CJ Spiller at A-back and the defense never dictates that we pitch it to him. Just don't get him the ball? In college football, you HAVE TO put the ball in the hands of your playmakers.

In my mind, the top playmaker on the team this year was Orwin, and he averaged 4 touches a game, 5 if you count catches. Unacceptable. And our QBs? Nearly 22 carries at game. Something is wrong with that picture.

If you have a superior play maker at A back you do things to get him the ball more but you don't force pitches to him. You run sweeps to him, run handoffs to him, use him as the pitch man more often and design screens and passes to get him the ball in space.

I don't think Orwin was our best playmaker, it was AA and we really rode him especially towards the end. CPJ called tons of zone dives for him in the last 5 games and without looking at any stats I would bet he had 20+ carries in the last 7-8 games.

Most teams (AF especially) seemed content to let Tevin beat them on the outside.

 

[floridajacket]

I know its bad form to bump this thread, but I really want to hear an answer to my question from one of the "option = take what the defense gives you" guys.

What do we do if we have a truly special talent like a Reggie Bush or a CJ Spiller at A-back and the defense never dictates that we pitch it to him. Just don't get him the ball? In college football, you HAVE TO put the ball in the hands of your playmakers.

In my mind, the top playmaker on the team this year was Orwin, and he averaged 4 touches a game, 5 if you count catches. Unacceptable. And our QBs? Nearly 22 carries at game. Something is wrong with that picture.

Well, a couple of things. You could look at the A-backs running numbers and say "Look at how many yards the A-backs get, why don't we get the ball more often." But another way of looking at it is they got so many yards because the other defense left that option open.

If you call an option play, then you don't make the wrong read just to pitch the ball. Why call an option play if you're going to pitch it anyway? Even if you have CJ Spiller as an A-back, if you call an option play you have to use what the defense gives you.

Now you can call predetermined plays and more of our plays are predetermined than people realize. For example, Nesbitt's big run against VPI was a predetermined call. If you think we should have called more predetermined plays to get Orwin the ball, then that's a different position than "not pitching it enough."

But I don't think our issue on offense is a lack of rushing yards. AA and TW have gotten plenty of yards, partially because the opposing defenses have played the pitch heavily. If you're getting plenty of yards, why play into the defenses hands and give it to the guys they're keying on to? It doesn't make any sense.

Now, if you have a true phenom, you can try to use screen passes, smoke routes and other things. But just pitching it when the defense is already playing the pitch heavily won't give that much success. We've had success with the pitch because we only pitch when the defense isn't playing it.

 

[alpha]

In my mind, the top playmaker on the team this year was Orwin, and he averaged 4 touches a game, 5 if you count catches. Unacceptable. And our QBs? Nearly 22 carries at game. Something is wrong with that picture.

You're kidding right? Anthony was hands down THE playmaker on offense this year (and not surprisingly so). None of the other players came close except maybe Joshua had he not been injured.

All of our a-backs were completely unreliable this year. Orwin probably was the highlight for that position group but that isn't really saying much. For a position that didn't get that many touches this year, they surely fumbled the ball a lot.

btw, this may just be semantics but I wouldn't say defenses "played the pitch" this year, they were determined to contain the QB so he couldn't even get outside of the tackles (and thereby preventing him from seeing the pitch). We countered that starting from the UNC game by pitching the ball as soon as it was pulled from the mesh.

 

[ncjacket]

In my mind, the top playmaker on the team this year was Orwin, and he averaged 4 touches a game, 5 if you count catches. Unacceptable. And our QBs? Nearly 22 carries at game. Something is wrong with that picture.

#1 that's in your mind. #2 PJ has said over and over and over and over that he doesn't care who has the ball if the offense is moving. Our problem WAS NOT who had the ball and who didn't. Our problem all year was that whoever had the damn ball kept dropping it. And that includes A backs, B Back, QBs and WRs.

 

[GTJay]

Our problem WAS NOT who had the ball and who didn't. Our problem all year was that whoever had the damn ball kept dropping it. And that includes A backs, B Back, QBs and WRs.

This.

 

[77GTFan]

I think to get the ball to the A-back more on the option the QB has to be patient and go lateral longer to get an outside containment player to commit to him and pinch, then the pitch is there. Out QB's seem to be headed downfield at an angle after they pull the ball from the B-back. That makes it hard to pitch. How many times did you see our QB pitching just before he took a hit? That's what it takes to make the big play happen.

 

[alpha]

I think to get the ball to the A-back more on the option the QB has to be patient and go lateral longer to get an outside containment player to commit to him and pinch, then the pitch is there. Out QB's seem to be headed downfield at an angle after they pull the ball from the B-back. That makes it hard to pitch. How many times did you see our QB pitching just before he took a hit? That's what it takes to make the big play happen.

How would you go lateral longer if there is a defender in contain? The point of the contain is to prevent the QB from moving laterally (and outside the pocket).

btw, the best example of how this does not work was that one game where Nesbitt tried to throw a pitch over a defender by jumping and it got intercepted.