What is the solution when a defense forces us to be two dimensional?

ScionOfSouthland

ScionOfSouthland

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I am curious what the armchair quarterbacks have to say on this one. The defense we got from ND this year was very different than years past. It looked a lot like VT and Iowa.

For most offenses the goal is to make them one dimensional. For our offense it seems like the goal is to make us two dimensional, and we tend to perform here very poorly regardless of the quarterback.

Now I admit that with limited insight into our blocking and passing schemes I am a little clueless on this one, so to those of you who know the ins and outs of our offense I ask this: what separates us from an effective spread team that has a higher run-pass balance? Why do we hit the panic button and chuck it deep on three consecutive downs when the run gets stuffed?

I am asking beyond the obvious re: lining up in the shotgun, winning in man coverage, etc. Schematically, what is our big gap in the passing game?
 
Being under center cuts down on the time we have to check off receivers. Also, it is tough to pass underneath when the LB is sitting in the middle watching for the run. We do better when we roll the pocket when we need more time passing imho.

I wouldn't spend to much time agonizing over this. There aren't a lot of teams that will completely shut down our run game. We are better off working on becoming a better option team than practicing shotgun or new passing plays. This is especially true considering how little experience we have at Aback and WR.
 
Right now, our big gap in the passing game is experienced receivers and slot backs.

Need to pass to Skov more. He's got a lot more practice running routes and catching the ball than anyone else on our squad.
 
Running the ball is the higher percentage play. When you throw the ball, three things can happen and two of them are bad. That being said, passing is an important part of our offense because it keeps the defense honest. We just don't pass much for the reason I stated before. And like you said, we need receivers who can beat the DB in man coverage (e.g. Smelter, Waller, Godhigh, etc.)
 
I love our offense and how it works, but I have said this before on this board, we need to have some offensive sets that deploy more receivers when it is needed. It gives our opponents more to prepare for when they are planning against us. We have the talent, just need to use it.
 
We have absolutely no middle threat on passing plays. We throw long and to the sidelines, mostly. I would like to see a short pattern (10 to 15 yards) to the middle of the open field. We seem to take a lot of low % shots.
 
beej67 said:
Right now, our big gap in the passing game is experienced receivers and slot backs.

Need to pass to Skov more. He's got a lot more practice running routes and catching the ball than anyone else on our squad.
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Based on our last TD drive, I would say the biggest thing holding back our passing game is our play-calling and our QB accuracy. When given the chance and when the ball was catchable, the receivers all made plays.
 
JJacket said:
We have absolutely no middle threat on passing plays. We throw long and to the sidelines, mostly. I would like to see a short pattern (10 to 15 yards) to the middle of the open field. We seem to take a lot of low % shots.
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There was actually a really nice td pass to qua searcy against Tulane that probably is what you're looking for. JT threw a laser to him for about 15-20 yard gain and the score. Believe it was the south End zone.

I agree, more of that would be awesome.
 
put these on so we can be 3 dimensional.

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If the WRs can't get open 1 on 1 then the safeties are free to go anywhere.Really that makes any of our run plays tough unless we can dominate middle with the bback for 5 yds a pop.
 
We need to throw more passes to Qua Searcy and Micheal Summers. I'd say those are probably our best two receivers.
 
johncu said:
We need to throw more passes to Qua Searcy and Micheal Summers. I'd say those are probably our best two receivers.
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They're both injured at the ND game was the latest rumor. Qua's gone for a while. We don't know about Summers.

Unless you were trolling with this post.
 
Against ND, we seemed to have resurrected the 'get the QB killed play.'

Step 1 from Coach Corndog would be to remove this one from the playbook.

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05GTCorndog said:
Against ND, we seemed to have resurrected the 'get the QB killed play.'

Step 1 from Coach Corndog would be to remove this one from the playbook.

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The new version is JT uses his speed to roll out further, but then keeps spinning until he fumbles the ball or gets gang tackled.
 
Sometimes you have to stay patient with your bread and butter rather than start throwing the ball around ineffectively. Some games you win by just hanging in there and then you break a big play. As bad as it was on Saturday in the early going, a made FG or two by Butker and we are right there with ND at halftime. On Saturday, when JT saw penetration into the option lane he tried to spin out and make something happen. Or, he would slow down hoping something would come open. Their pursuit was too good for that. At times you simply have to take your medicine - turn upfield and get a hard earned yard or two. Josh Nesbitt was terrific at that, albeit he had a big frame and lots of strength. Just keep working at it, adjusting play calls and blocking assignments based on what we see from the press box. The long run by Snoddy was an example of eventually busting something open even when the offense is struggling.

I think Butker's misses and poor punting the first few punts hurt us a lot. We lost the field position game and we failed to take advantage of two scoring opportunities. Bobby Dodd would tell you that you can steal many a game like the one in South Bend on Saturday if your kicking game is sound. That said, I thought frustration set in on our QB too early and he tried to do too much. His play became frantic when what we needed was calm. I am not sure he was getting much help in calming himself and the offense down on the sideline. What little I saw it seemed the mood over on our sideline was pretty frustrated from the early going.

So, in answer to your question, I would not try to transition into a good passing offense when we are struggling, particularly if the defense is playing well and keeping us in the game. I'd keep "chopping wood" until something good happens. The success of the option game sets up our passing game, not the other way around. We simply don't have the right personnel to flip on a switch and move the ball consistently by passing when the defense is playing our option well in the early going.
 
Are we back wanting to see some more middle passing routes? It seems like it was just 2 years ago I was begging from something other than a burner down the side line with the QB chucking the ball downfield hoping our WR wins the jump ball. Smelter seemed to change that...I hope we have not regressed because it's very predictable.
 
77GTFan said:
I think Butker's misses and poor punting the first few punts hurt us a lot. We lost the field position game and we failed to take advantage of two scoring opportunities. Bobby Dodd would tell you that you can steal many a game like the one in South Bend on Saturday if your kicking game is sound.
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The wind was swirling on the field so bad Butker only had a chance to make the first of his two attempts. I don't know why he aimed to the left side of the uprights since that is the way the wind was blowing but that's what it looked like happened. The second kick was into the wind and had no chance at all.

But yeah, our kicking game really hurt us when we needed it to be perfect to have a shot.
 
If we can't block, we aren't going to win. That's what I've learned in 7 years of watching this offense.
 
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