We need a catch all thread where Steve can see our disapproval on either the play call, play design, or execution. I have been accused of being a sunshine pumper when it comes to one Steve Sarkisian and his playcalling. Well, I am here to tell you that my issue with him isn't the playcalling per se but the play design/execution, or the lack there of. We are 8 games in so we kind of know who can do what, who needs to be coached up on what, and what to stay away from. Now let me preface this by saying we have scored in the 30's in every game this year, so this isn't to say we are doing a bad job overall, just sometimes we have wtf moments.
Take this clip where Murphy throws the interception. I know ultimately Murph has to learn to eat this ball but let's take a moment to look at all the dumb-fuckery on this play. There is a lot so hold on. I will put the still up then the gif so you can see how the play unfolded.
This play is dead from the start. Pay attention to BYU's defensive tackles. They have a 3-tech DT between Banks and Conner in the B-gap, and a 1 tech DT in the A-gap between Campbell and Majors. The red lines indicate what gaps they are attacking. The blue lines represent what we are asking our O-line to do. We are going to ask our gimpy center to reach the 3 tech all the way in the B-gap, our RG Campbell to reach the LB firing in the A-gap, Our RT Jones to reach the 1-tech in the A-gap, our two TEs to double team the DE, and our LG Conner is going to pull all the way around to kick out the edge blitzer. Banks has his DE and Brooks is going to chip him to slow him down. You are asking a lot of un-athletic guys to cover a lot of ground and still handle a guy close to 300lbs, hell bent on getting to the QB. What could go wrong?
The ball is on the 41. To reach guys in other gaps you have to give ground. So by the time MM has the ball the LOS has been relocated 3 to 4 yards backwards. Everyone except Campbell and the TE double-team is losing their battle. This puts MM into panic mode and he is looking to escape. Problem is the edge blitzer is right there and Conner, having to come all the way across the formation, is taking awhile to get to him. Now everyone at the same time say WTF is Worthy doing? Worthy comes off the line looking for someone to block. Except there is no one releasing behind him. MM is looking at Worthy like he is supposed to be running a route. Worthy never looks back until the pick happens. I think MM is trying to throw this away in the direction of Worthy but never sees the guy underneath. Bigger question is why are we asking our O-line to do this? There is a better way to handle this kind of blitz if this is simple play action, and what the hell was the play call and what went wrong?
The same thing on the goal line when MM fumbled. I am not going to draw up everyone's responsibilities because its much like the play above. The important part is we are asking Conner to come all the way across the formation and kick out the DE. It looks like we are expecting the play-action to make the DE freeze, but they aren't abiding by the rules. This is the play we ran where Worthy comes across like motion or possible jet sweep but quickly pivots for a rail route. The play was wide open, but we failed to get to the DE and he ended up causing the fumble. It's to be noted that Brooks did a horrible job blocking. He basically got out of the way.
I get this is supposed to look like run and that's why we are blocking it this way but at some point we have to figure out a better way to block it. When we get down around the goal line we need to throw out the slow developing plays. Rep the hell out of a smaller section of quick hitting plays until we get good a running them and use those. I am all for being physical. We just need to commit to it.