Blood from a Turnip: A Spring Game Glimpse into Texas' QB/GT RPO package?

[Katfid54 8593]

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a few months but have ended up busy with some other shit.  With the season upon us, though, I knew it was now or never (damn, it feels good to write those words).  In any event, this was an RPO package I noticed in the Spring Game that I haven’t seen anyone else talk about.

This RPO package is a frontside QB counter (or QB GT, because both the Guard and Tackle pull), with a backside RB flare route.  The TE runs an arc to the alley, looking to block first force.

Here’s the Xs & Os draw up:

 

Texas ran this play three times in the spring game--all three times by Casey Thompson.  Here's a look at each.

First play:  Thompson QB Keeper:

The first time Texas ran the play, Thompson kept the ball, turning the play into an almost twenty yard gain.

Marcus Tillman (13) does a great job, clearly knowing he has responsibility for the RB's route.  But watch the effect of the TE and RB's action on Luke Brockermeyer (#47), who takes two false steps toward the field, allowing Reese Moore (76) to complete his wrap and seal him inside.

Tope Imade (67) does a nice job of getting into position to block Byron Vaughns (50), although his execution of the block leaves something to be desired (what old school OL coaches would call "titty rubbin").  Vaughns makes minimal effort to actually get off the block, though, so Imade's block succeeds.

It is not clear whether there's a real RPO on this play, or whether it just an action look with a called run.  The second gif sure looks like Thompson is reading Brockermeyer and decides to keep it after seeing his false steps.

Second play: Mr. Glass in the Flats

Later that same quarter, Texas ran the play again, with the RB flat action again going toward the field side.  This time, though, Thompson threw the flare to Kirk Johnson, who turned the play into a seven of eight yard game.  It is worth noting that Johnson was hit by three defenders on this play and, miraculously, did not burst into fractals of himself.

Unlike Brockermeyer's hesitation on play 1, Caleb Johnson (30) attacks upfield at the initial action.  Again, whether there's an actual read being performed by Thomspon or not is unclear.  But if there was, Johnson's response would have forced the pass.

Thompson puts the ball slightly behind Johnson, instead of leading him, but it actually allows more time for Johnson's blocks to develop.  Unlike Tillman in the original clip, Cort Jaquess (57) lacks the speed to actually flow to the flat with the RB.  He ends up getting caught up in Kai Jarmon's (88) block on Donovan Duvernay (27).  Side note:  the fact that walk on sophomore Kai Jarmon can seal off Duvernay this well is not a great look for Duvernay--in his fourth year with the program.  From the slot, Jordan Pouncey (86) takes Mason Ramirez (28) for an absolute ride.

Although Wiley (18) does a nice job of looking for first force, he does a terrible job of getting actually finding work or getting ready to make a block.  And Hank Coutoumanos (41) blows right past him to make the tackle.

Third play: Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.

Texas went back to the well one more time behalf the half.  It went.... not great.

This actually looks like it was supposed to be a pass.  If you watch Bru McCoy (RIP) at the bottom of the screen, he runs a hitch, instead of stalk-blocking the CB.

But Orlando responds to the look with the most Orlando of responses:  Fuck it, let's blitz. 

Orlando sends 7, although Mason Ramirez (28) does a great job of ditching his blitz and following the RB out of the backfield.  If he doesn't do that, the flare might have been able to nibble off some positive yards.

Overshown (31) is screaming to the RB, too.  Danny Young is very happy the ball was not thrown to him.  Side note:  Watch for teams overscheming for this by sending their FS over the top to help on the RB flare (as Overshown does here), which will leave the arc-ing tight end wide open down the middle of the field.

The OL gets absolutely gobbled up by Orlando's blitz.  Leitao (81) has no idea what to do, as most of the defense runs across his face. 

Thompson does a nice job of eating the ball, rather than forcing the issue, given that this is almost certainly a called pass.

Conclusion

What's the import of this?  Why is this specific RPO set interesting?

This is an interesting RPO set, because it shows some air raidy fingerprints of Beaty/Fedora in our RPO game.  And it's something that can be super weaponized with an even more spread out field.  As an example of the Air Raid tie, here's OU running the exact same look with Kyler Murray in their spring game a few years ago:

I mentioned the TE Seam route above, here's what that would look like:

QB GT-Y Seam

And this QB GT can be run from any formation, and might by most devastating with Ehlinger from an empty set look:

QB GT RPO:  Empty Set

Or invert the flare route/bubble screen into the jail break screen that Herman loves to call against aggressive defenses:

The bottom line is:  I'm excited to see us roll out this RPO concept (and others) this year, and I think our offensive analysts will add some big time dynamism to this offense.

 

[TotallyLegit 3050]

I may be wrong, but I think this was also the first play of the Sugar Bowl:

 

 

[texifornia 56566]

@Katfid54's @Needs More Bourbon-style gif analytics is a great counterpoint to @sushihorn's trademark sunshine analytics treatises. Huge fan.

This board has some good posters sometimes.

[Katfid54 8593]

1 minute ago, TotallyLegit said:

I may be wrong, but I think this was also the first play of the Sugar Bowl:

 

 

Good shit, man.  When I saw it in the spring game, I had no recollection of seeing it all 2018 season.  Great memory, and I liked the way they motion into the formation.

Also compare Andrew Beck blocking three people on that play to the gifs posted above, where our TEs blocked, collectively over three plays, one defender (which was Marcus Tillman who absolutely shit-jacked Leitao on the first play).

[TotallyLegit 3050]

1 minute ago, Katfid54 said:

Good shit, man.  When I saw it in the spring game, I had no recollection of seeing it all 2018 season.  Great memory, and I liked the way they motion into the formation.

Also compare Andrew Beck blocking three people on that play to the gifs posted above, where our TEs blocked, collectively over three plays, one defender (which was Marcus Tillman who absolutely shit-jacked Leitao on the first play).

To be fair, I've watched that game a lot 😉

[Machinator 32098]

We're going to miss Andrew Beck.

Another GT counter example from the Sugar Bowl.

[TotallyLegit 3050]

If anything, losing Andrew Beck might simply necessitate running this with a flexed TE and/or having the TE run a seam constraint to maximize our personnel's strengths.

[Knoxtnhorn 5941]

Lulz at "fractals".

[Machinator 32098]

Iowa State game:

[Katfid54 8593]

5 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Iowa State game:

Yes.  This is different than the specific RPO from the Spring Game/UGA.  But shows how devastating the concept is out of empty set. 

I also love Watson just running fucking PAST the CB on the wheel route.  Would like to see that turn into a PA pass a la Auburn with Nick Marshall.

[Katfid54 8593]

26 minutes ago, Machinator said:

We're going to miss Andrew Beck.

Another GT counter example from the Sugar Bowl.

There's a lot to love about this gif.  LJH fucking flipping the CB.  Vahe just absolutely shitmauling the 1 tech.  Us abusing what appears to be UGa's 4-1-6 defense.  The fact that we're still throwing the pass for positive yards into the teeth of that 4-1-6 look.  How open both options are--i.e., the flare picks up 6.  But if Sam had kept it, he's probably picking up 6-8, too, based on how well the counter gets blocked.

The fact that this exact RPO popped up after the season and before UGa also lends credence to it being an air raid concept coming from Beatty.

Edited August 22, 2019 by Katfid54

[TotallyLegit 3050]

I've heard good things about Parker Braun, but does anyone know if he's more of a puller or more of a down blocker?

[Machinator 32098]

@Katfid54 check out 1:36:19

 

[Katfid54 8593]

4 minutes ago, TotallyLegit said:

I've heard good things about Parker Braun, but does anyone know if he's more of a puller or more of a down blocker?

Yes.

Pulling (Braun is left guard, #75):

 

Base Blocking:

 

Down Blocking:

[Machinator 32098]

From the Baylor game, with Buechele at QB. Shane was noticeably slow on the mesh.

[Katfid54 8593]

3 minutes ago, Machinator said:

@Katfid54 check out 1:36:19

 

Well, fuck.  There you go.  Apparently I should have just asked the Borg to show me every time Texas has ever featured this concept.  GIFed it for those following along at home:

Also, the misdirection on this play definitely fucks up Tech's linebackers, but Cosmi stops after he gets through the hole with his pull and gets absolutely fucking rocked by the playside LB.  Sam takes some pretty strong contact here from the free safety, too.

[TotallyLegit 3050]

5 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

Yes.

Pulling (Braun is left guard, #75):

 

Base Blocking:

 

Down Blocking:

[Katfid54 8593]

4 minutes ago, Machinator said:

From the Baylor game, with Buechele at QB. Shane was noticeably slow on the mesh.

Yeah, that's more of a traditional counter, with a fake WR screen at the top of the play.  Shane's give call is the right choice, because the DE is slow-playing the handoff and is also potentially a problem for any pass option.

There's a bunch of trash in the middle of the play that Watson does a nice job of fighting through to find positive yards.  It's too bad there's not more movement from E-Rod and Vahe's kick-out block, because there's a lot of green off Cosmi's ass based on his monster chip block up to the LB level.

[Katfid54 8593]

9 minutes ago, TotallyLegit said:

It's worth noting that those are clips from 2017, so Braun is a true sophomore in that film.

[gmr548 16533]

I want to salute OP for fostering honest, objective football discussion. Between rampant shitposting and sunshine pumping it's a sight to behold.

QB counter was the bread and butter for Norvell with Heard in the upset of OU in 2015. Despite the fact that the offensive unit was terrible, the passing game was non existent, and OU actually had a half decent defense, OU could never get a handle on that look and Texas ran for over 300 yards. I'd love to see that weaponized with a significant better OL and defenses having to account for a very efficient passing game.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Katfid54 8593]

Here's Braun (75) against Dexter Lawrence (90) from Clemson last year.  Lawrence was the #17 pick in the draft last year:

 

 

Edited August 22, 2019 by Katfid54

[Katfid54 8593]

One more clip of Braun from Clemson, where Braun basically dumpsterfucks Clemson's backup NG:

[TotallyLegit 3050]

It's only a shame he would have arguably been more effective with last year's offense, assuming we are going to be more vertical this year.

[Burt Macklin 19000]

2 hours ago, Katfid54 said:

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a few months but have ended up busy with some other shit.  With the season upon us, though, I knew it was now or never (damn, it feels good to write those words).  In any event, this was an RPO package I noticed in the Spring Game that I haven’t seen anyone else talk about.

This RPO package is a frontside QB counter (or QB GT, because both the Guard and Tackle pull), with a backside RB flare route.  The TE runs an arc to the alley, looking to block first force.

Here’s the Xs & Os draw up:

 

Texas ran this play three times in the spring game--all three times by Casey Thompson.  Here's a look at each.

First play:  Thompson QB Keeper:

The first time Texas ran the play, Thompson kept the ball, turning the play into an almost twenty yard gain.

Marcus Tillman (13) does a great job, clearly knowing he has responsibility for the RB's route.  But watch the effect of the TE and RB's action on Luke Brockermeyer (#47), who takes two false steps toward the field, allowing Reese Moore (76) to complete his wrap and seal him inside.

Tope Imade (67) does a nice job of getting into position to block Byron Vaughns (50), although his execution of the block leaves something to be desired (what old school OL coaches would call "titty rubbin").  Vaughns makes minimal effort to actually get off the block, though, so Imade's block succeeds.

It is not clear whether there's a real RPO on this play, or whether it just an action look with a called run.  The second gif sure looks like Thompson is reading Brockermeyer and decides to keep it after seeing his false steps.

Second play: Mr. Glass in the Flats

Later that same quarter, Texas ran the play again, with the RB flat action again going toward the field side.  This time, though, Thompson threw the flare to Kirk Johnson, who turned the play into a seven of eight yard game.  It is worth noting that Johnson was hit by three defenders on this play and, miraculously, did not burst into fractals of himself.

Unlike Brockermeyer's hesitation on play 1, Caleb Johnson (30) attacks upfield at the initial action.  Again, whether there's an actual read being performed by Thomspon or not is unclear.  But if there was, Johnson's response would have forced the pass.

Thompson puts the ball slightly behind Johnson, instead of leading him, but it actually allows more time for Johnson's blocks to develop.  Unlike Tillman in the original clip, Cort Jaquess (57) lacks the speed to actually flow to the flat with the RB.  He ends up getting caught up in Kai Jarmon's (88) block on Donovan Duvernay (27).  Side note:  the fact that walk on sophomore Kai Jarmon can seal off Duvernay this well is not a great look for Duvernay--in his fourth year with the program.  From the slot, Jordan Pouncey (86) takes Mason Ramirez (28) for an absolute ride.

Although Wiley (18) does a nice job of looking for first force, he does a terrible job of getting actually finding work or getting ready to make a block.  And Hank Coutoumanos (41) blows right past him to make the tackle.

Third play: Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.

Texas went back to the well one more time behalf the half.  It went.... not great.

This actually looks like it was supposed to be a pass.  If you watch Bru McCoy (RIP) at the bottom of the screen, he runs a hitch, instead of stalk-blocking the CB.

But Orlando responds to the look with the most Orlando of responses:  Fuck it, let's blitz. 

Orlando sends 7, although Mason Ramirez (28) does a great job of ditching his blitz and following the RB out of the backfield.  If he doesn't do that, the flare might have been able to nibble off some positive yards.

Overshown (31) is screaming to the RB, too.  Danny Young is very happy the ball was not thrown to him.  Side note:  Watch for teams overscheming for this by sending their FS over the top to help on the RB flare (as Overshown does here), which will leave the arc-ing tight end wide open down the middle of the field.

The OL gets absolutely gobbled up by Orlando's blitz.  Leitao (81) has no idea what to do, as most of the defense runs across his face. 

Thompson does a nice job of eating the ball, rather than forcing the issue, given that this is almost certainly a called pass.

Conclusion

What's the import of this?  Why is this specific RPO set interesting?

This is an interesting RPO set, because it shows some air raidy fingerprints of Beaty/Fedora in our RPO game.  And it's something that can be super weaponized with an even more spread out field.  As an example of the Air Raid tie, here's OU running the exact same look with Kyler Murray in their spring game a few years ago:

I mentioned the TE Seam route above, here's what that would look like:

QB GT-Y Seam

And this QB GT can be run from any formation, and might by most devastating with Ehlinger from an empty set look:

QB GT RPO:  Empty Set

Or invert the flare route/bubble screen into the jail break screen that Herman loves to call against aggressive defenses:

The bottom line is:  I'm excited to see us roll out this RPO concept (and others) this year, and I think our offensive analysts will add some big time dynamism to this offense.

 

Good shit. This Play can be run out of so many different formations and personnels with slight wrinkles (like TE running a seam vs. blocking, jailbreak screen instead of RB flare, etc). I especially like the idea of running it with whittington starting in the backfield, then motioning our wide to make it super obvious for the QB what to pick, even pre-snap. 

I can’t quite tell if they run it as a true option all the time, but I think they do. Thompson didn’t look like he was keying on any one player, especially in the second clip, but Sam pretty obviously seems to be keying on the weak side ILB in the UGA AND TT clips. If he flows to the RB, Sam keeps, if he stays in the box, Sam throws. Thompson arguably follows this rule in his clips, so I think that’s the key for the option. 

1 hour ago, Machinator said:

We're going to miss Andrew Beck.

Another GT counter example from the Sugar Bowl.

Eh. There’s no reason why Brewer can’t make that same play. Beck doesn’t do much more than get in the way and I think Brewer’s far superior receiving ability will actually make him tougher for defenses to handle.

1 hour ago, TotallyLegit said:

I've heard good things about Parker Braun, but does anyone know if he's more of a puller or more of a down blocker?

He’s a beast of a Run blocker no matter the assignment, like Katfid shows in this gifs. He was able to successfully down block Clemson’s DL consistently last year, which should be way harder considering he was giving up about 65 lbs to Dexter Lawrence. He’s honestly one of the best pulling guards I’ve eve seen at the college level. Incredible speed, light on his feet to change direction if the defender tries to evade him and he absolutely blows up his man almost every time. 

Pass pro will be the question. His technique in pass pro last year was lacking and he struggled to anchor against bull rushes. Overall though, he’s never going to flat out miss his man (hi Vahe!) and some slight technique improvements that have hopefully occurred this offseason could get his pass pro to above average pretty easily. 

36 minutes ago, TotallyLegit said:

It's only a shame he would have arguably been more effective with last year's offense, assuming we are going to be more vertical this year.

I don’t think the offensive system will change much this year. I think the verticality will result from more explosive personnel and better throws than a significant change in the offense and type of plays called.

Edited August 22, 2019 by Burt Macklin

[Katfid54 8593]

4 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

I especially like the idea of running it with whittington starting in the backfield, then motioning our wide to make it super obvious for the QB what to pick, even pre-snap. 

Watching the UGa gif Machinator posted even demonstrates that out of 11 personnel. Watch #30 clearly lining up over Beck. It's obvious that he's in man. Based on the alignment of the rest of the defense, its pretty clear they're either in a man 2 or cover 4 look. So, yes, I agree that this look and some presnap motioning can make pretty clear what the "right" RPO read is going to be.

[Katfid54 8593]

4 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

I don’t think the offensive system will change much this year. I think the verticality will result from more explosive personnel and better throws than a significant change in the offense and type of plays called.

I think there will be a lot more 10 and 20 personnel than last year.

Edited August 23, 2019 by Katfid54

[Burt Macklin 19000]

1 hour ago, Katfid54 said:

Watching the UGa gif Machinator posted even demonstrates that out of 11 personnel. Watch #30 clearly lining up over Beck. It's obvious that he's in man. Based on the alignment of the rest of the defense, its pretty clear they're either in a man 2 or cover 4 look. So, yes, I agree that this look and some presnap motioning can make pretty clear what the "right" RPO read is going to be.

Yeah, mainly I think that aspect will be especially helpful if Thompson has to play. Really, that whole package can be used to manufacture a drive or two with Thompson in there in a pinch.

1 hour ago, Katfid54 said:

I think there will be a lot more 10 and 20 personnel than last year.

Probably, especially if Brewer gets hurt at all during the year, but the offense won’t be drastically different, especially the blocking assignments, which is what OP was talking about re Braun.

[Katfid54 8593]

10 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

Yeah, mainly I think that aspect will be especially helpful if Thompson has to play. Really, that whole package can be used to manufacture a drive or two with Thompson in there in a pinch.

Between that, the empty set QB power package we ran against TCU last year, and our QB sweep/QB draw/etc. plays, yes, there's a lot we could do with Thompson to just make sure we can (in Herman's words) "get out of a game" if we needed him.

With that said, all reports on Thompson are that he's progresses sufficiently that we won't have to rely on a limited package of plays with him if he's needed.

[Katfid54 8593]

17 hours ago, gmr548 said:

QB counter was the bread and butter for Norvell with Heard in the upset of OU in 2015. Despite the fact that the offensive unit was terrible, the passing game was non existent, and OU actually had a half decent defense, OU could never get a handle on that look and Texas ran for over 300 yards. I'd love to see that weaponized with a significant better OL and defenses having to account for a very efficient passing game.

True, although this version of the play gets to the edge faster than the version used in that 2015 offense.

In 2015, the offense relied almost exclusively on jet motion to counter off of.  That requires the ball to be snapped while the jet action is still on the opposite side of the football from the where he's ultimately going to end up.  See below (although there's no GT motion by the OL; they just block inside zone):

In fact, the ball gets snapped while Marcus Johnson is only just getting to the tackle box.  Then, once the ball is snapped, there's still the mesh point of the handoff.  What's the import of all those additional steps?  It gives the defenders more time to recover from false steps (although there aren't many made by OU here) while still being able to defend both the QB run and the jet motion.  Compare that to how Luke Brockermeyer's two false steps cost him the ability to make it to the hole to defend against the QB GT RPO.

And even if the play is defended perfectly, an LB with less athleticism than Kirk Johnson won't be able to beat Johnson to the flat before his is already turning upfield:

But here's the pre-snap box count and blocking assignments against OU:

They've got six in the box, PLUS an overhang defender and safety with clear run responsibilities.  We run the play right into the teeth of the defense, where they have numbers advantage and speed advantage.  On paper, that play probably should have been a loss of two yards. But the two defenders who get to Johnson happen to be shitstain Sooners, so they obviously blow the tackle, and Johnson waltzes into the end zone.  There is even an unblocked safety from the field side who has a better angle to the sideline than Johnson does, because our formation has kept the box count high and not spread the defense out.

Compare that to what the box looks like when we run Herman's QB GT against UGa in the Sugar Bowl:

A huge part of the difference in those defensive alignments is obviously the competence of our passing game in 2018 vs. 2015.  But another big part of it is that we are putting less of our players near the football and spreading the defense out more, making them account for more grass on the football field.