Texas WR/TE Passing Offense Talk

[LTtxfan 49141]

Thanks @satyanash

(Scipio Tex) 2020 UTEP Post-Mortem: Offense

WR/TE

The RBBC (running back by committee) is joined by the WRBC and TEBC. The beauty of having a lot of skill options and an effective OC and QB running point guard is that it's hard for a defense to cheat towards tendency or personnel. We could see the downside of not having one overwhelming guy at WR or TE if a good defense plays physical man against us with a talented secondary and strong pass rush and guys need to win 1 on 1 consistently, but I'm having trouble finding that team in the Big 12. Particularly after looking at today's scores. Holy moly. So we'll deal with Alabama in the playoffs when we get there. 

Josh Moore totaled 6 catches for 127 yards against UTEP's fairly awful corners. And yeah, that safety's angle wasn't so great on his game opening 78 yard TD jaunt either. But you can see Moore's quickness and ability to separate. Moore is also comfortable in multiple spots and that will be important when Jake Smith returns. Tarik Black got tripped up by the turf monster twice and he needs to learn to keep two hands on the ball in a crowd, but I like his effort, route-running, and how he uses his length to attack the ball. He doesn't passively receive the pass - he snatches the ball. Really pleased to see him go for 5-80-1 td in his Texas debut.

Speaking of transfers, Brenden Schooler, who has been here a week, exploited single coverage for 2-65-1 td, including a sideline tightroping 40 yard touchdown after stiff arming the UTEP corner into the field turf (and the hoards of crickets that apparently reside there). Anyone still mad he's on the team? Schooler did drop a Thompson pass that he should have had, so his status as my adopted son is still in question.

Jordan Whittington looked great until his knee injury. 2-45 in the passing game, including a sideline catch where he showed strength and burst, and a nicely schemed 15 yard gain on the reverse. Best hopes for him, but as expected, the lengthy persistence of his hernia issue is going to have downstream effects for some time. Marcus Washington had 2-43-1 td on a couple of nice routes. Also dropped a gorgeous Thompson pass. He took a shot and held on to the ball on his 26 yard catch.

What's more surprising: that Kai Money caught 4 balls and a touchdown? Or that Kai Money is a white guy from Brownsville? Eagles made a nice play late on a deflection off of the defender for his only catch, a 35 yard touchdown. He also ran some routes where he didn't separate and he couldn't come up with a semi-high difficulty misfire from Ehlinger. #13 seeing Ehlinger throw for 400+ in a half without any contribution from him in the box score is good for realigning his perspective.

Texas played all four tight ends. I liked what I saw from Brayden Liebrock. He moves well and he's really comfortable split out (2-11). He's also an enthusiastic blocker in space. I'd like to see more. Cade Brewer caught a well-schemed open TD throw (Whittington's pre-snap motion and Ehlinger's sell make UTEP's secondary bite hard; Josh Moore is also wide open in the end zone on the same play) and some other good concepts. I didn't see Wiley get any targets. Epps had a big run (credits as a rush) for 40 yards on the Card option but he didn't nab any balls in the passing game.

 

Edited September 13, 2020 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49141]

Thanks @satyanash

(Bobby Burton) Texas vs. UTEP grades: Sam Ehlinger, offense dominates opener

Wide receivers

Last year, it was the Devin Duvernay show. This year, it's more of a committee approach, and multiple players got in on the action. Six different wide receivers caught TD passes. The most exciting was the first play from scrimmage by Joshua Moore, who looks like he could become Ehlinger's favorite target. Moore led the team with six catches for 127 yards. Michigan grad transfer Tarik Black finished with five catches for 80 yards and a score. He also looked like he got tripped up by the turf a couple of times and unnecessarily fumbled the ball trying to gain extra yards in the second quarter. There were a couple of drops, including one by Marcus Washington, although Washington also made two of the nicer catches on the evening. Brennan Eagles continues to be an enigma. He looked to be on a different page than his QB a couple of different times only to make a highlight reel TD catch in the third quarter. Jordan Whittington's catch-and-run late in the first half showed exactly why Texas coaches have been so high on the Cuero product. Brenden Schooler, who has good size and physicality, turned a simple out route into a long TD. This group provides more run-after-catch ability than previous Texas receiving corps. But they have to cut down on the drops as the competition stiffens.

Grade: A

Tight end

Yes, Cade Brewer caught three passes, including a touchdown where he sold the short ball to get open deep. But what I really liked from Brewer was his improved feel in blocking for the run game. Brewer has been a tentative blocker at best in previous years, but he seems to finally getting a better feel for where he's supposed to be and what he's supposed to be doing in the run game to create lanes for the backs. That was the most encouraging aspect of the night for me among the tight ends. We also saw Brayden Liebrock get his first extensive action. He made catches on two back-to-back plays; the second one was particularly solid.

Grade: B

Offense

Welcome to Austin, Mike Yurcich. The Horns got off to a fast start and really never slowed down, except for back-to-back three-and-outs to start the second half. Yurcich's style and play-calling put receivers in better positions to earn yards after the catch. His move to run more crossing routes in the late first quarter really gave UTEP fits. The O produced explosive plays and 28 first downs. With 698 yards of total offense, it's hard to find much wrong. But the Horns were just 5 of 10 on third downs on the night. Third-down efficency will need to improve. Overall, the Horns look talented. They appear explosive and solid at the same time. This has the makings of the best Texas has seen in a decade. And part of that is in the small things. The Horns even ran a rub route correctly to end the first half for a touchdown to Kai Money. I can't remember Texas ever executing a rub route that well. Good job by players and coaches alike.

Grade: A

 

Edited September 13, 2020 by LTtxfan

[Macanudo 12974]

Crossing routes.   Huh, who would have ever thought those work.

[LTtxfan 49141]

Nice to see Eagles get a TD in UTEP game 🤘

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

Oh Yeah...

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

 

[bullet 1596]

6 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Thanks @satyanash

(Scipio Tex) 2020 UTEP Post-Mortem: Offense

WR/TE

The RBBC (running back by committee) is joined by the WRBC and TEBC. The beauty of having a lot of skill options and an effective OC and QB running point guard is that it's hard for a defense to cheat towards tendency or personnel. We could see the downside of not having one overwhelming guy at WR or TE if a good defense plays physical man against us with a talented secondary and strong pass rush and guys need to win 1 on 1 consistently, but I'm having trouble finding that team in the Big 12. Particularly after looking at today's scores. Holy moly. So we'll deal with Alabama in the playoffs when we get there. 

Josh Moore totaled 6 catches for 127 yards against UTEP's fairly awful corners. And yeah, that safety's angle wasn't so great on his game opening 78 yard TD jaunt either. But you can see Moore's quickness and ability to separate. Moore is also comfortable in multiple spots and that will be important when Jake Smith returns. Tarik Black got tripped up by the turf monster twice and he needs to learn to keep two hands on the ball in a crowd, but I like his effort, route-running, and how he uses his length to attack the ball. He doesn't passively receive the pass - he snatches the ball. Really pleased to see him go for 5-80-1 td in his Texas debut.

Speaking of transfers, Brenden Schooler, who has been here a week, exploited single coverage for 2-65-1 td, including a sideline tightroping 40 yard touchdown after stiff arming the UTEP corner into the field turf (and the hoards of crickets that apparently reside there). Anyone still mad he's on the team? Schooler did drop a Thompson pass that he should have had, so his status as my adopted son is still in question.

Jordan Whittington looked great until his knee injury. 2-45 in the passing game, including a sideline catch where he showed strength and burst, and a nicely schemed 15 yard gain on the reverse. Best hopes for him, but as expected, the lengthy persistence of his hernia issue is going to have downstream effects for some time. Marcus Washington had 2-43-1 td on a couple of nice routes. Also dropped a gorgeous Thompson pass. He took a shot and held on to the ball on his 26 yard catch.

What's more surprising: that Kai Money caught 4 balls and a touchdown? Or that Kai Money is a white guy from Brownsville? Eagles made a nice play late on a deflection off of the defender for his only catch, a 35 yard touchdown. He also ran some routes where he didn't separate and he couldn't come up with a semi-high difficulty misfire from Ehlinger. #13 seeing Ehlinger throw for 400+ in a half without any contribution from him in the box score is good for realigning his perspective.

Texas played all four tight ends. I liked what I saw from Brayden Liebrock. He moves well and he's really comfortable split out (2-11). He's also an enthusiastic blocker in space. I'd like to see more. Cade Brewer caught a well-schemed open TD throw (Whittington's pre-snap motion and Ehlinger's sell make UTEP's secondary bite hard; Josh Moore is also wide open in the end zone on the same play) and some other good concepts. I didn't see Wiley get any targets. Epps had a big run (credits as a rush) for 40 yards on the Card option but he didn't nab any balls in the passing game.

 

LIebrock also hustled and got Black's fumble when UTEP had two guys with better shots.

Eagles one catch was phenomenal on an underthrown ball, but mostly he looked like he wasn't focused.  I think Sam had 4 of his incompletions thrown towards Eagles.

[bullet 1596]

7 TD passes to 7 different receivers.  Wonder if that has ever happened at UT.  Or anywhere else?  Maybe Andre Ware did it vs. SMU.

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

Good comments on WR Coach Coleman...

    Joshua Moore Media Availability [Sept. 15, 2020]

[Doc Reeves 6434]

On 9/13/2020 at 1:42 PM, LTtxfan said:

Or that Kai Money is a white guy from Brownsville?

 

 

 

 

 

(j/k. You know i love you kai)

[LTtxfan 49141]

On 9/13/2020 at 1:42 PM, LTtxfan said:

(Scipio Tex) 2020 UTEP Post-Mortem: Offense

What's more surprising: that Kai Money caught 4 balls and a touchdown? Or that Kai Money is a white guy from Brownsville? Eagles made a nice play late on a deflection off of the defender for his only catch, a 35 yard touchdown. He also ran some routes where he didn't separate and he couldn't come up with a semi-high difficulty misfire from Ehlinger. #13 seeing Ehlinger throw for 400+ in a half without any contribution from him in the box score is good for realigning his perspective.

 

Just want to show the whole section regarding Kai Money written by Scipio Tex

Edited September 17, 2020 by LTtxfan

[BurntOrange&White 39929]

Eagles fucked up 3 routes, right?

[lemonandaturd 4285]

Schooler,  right now,  is better and more experienced than every WR on the 2020 aggy depth chart.   Money is a very reliable option when Smith and Whittington are not 100%.  

[ousux 5595]

Just want to show the whole section regarding Kai Money written by Scipio Tex

Scipio should either do a little research or refrain from guessing race from now on.

Of course both takes effort, wont happen.

[thepop 4409]

Happy for Josh. Kid fucks up, learns, and moves on

[LTtxfan 49141]

Good info on passing offense.... Thanks @satyanash  

(Ian Boyd) Inside the gameplan: The Longhorns show off their schematic makeover

Mike Yurcich’s offense

This was my favorite play of the game.

They hurried into this set, and you can see the UTEP strong safety struggling to figure out where he’s supposed to be. A now screen to the bottom might have been easy yardage for Texas, or at least it would be if they’d executed it properly. They’re also running inside zone and it’s right on the edge of being called for “ineligible man downfield” (Kerstetter). So Ehlinger has three options on the play, throw to the bottom, hand off, or throw to the top, based on where the defense aligns numbers.

What makes this design so effective is the three receivers loaded into the boundary. They create a lot of space for the single side receiver to the field, like an isolation clear out in a basketball game. UTEP, as most teams would in this situation, gives Brenden Schooler a lot of space to avoid getting beat over the top. Schooler runs a hitch route and then after a nice ball and a stiff-arm he’s running all alone with the rest of the Miners on the other side of the field. The better answer from UTEP would have been to surrender an easy run, but that wasn’t their gameplan.

We’ll call this one “touchdown play 2.0.” It’s an unbalanced sort of formation they can easily get into while moving at “warp speed,” just like they can with the 4x0 tight zone/bubble screen RPO they ran so often in 2019 (and used twice in this game). The defense has to figure out how to align to it very quickly and then Ehlinger is in position to make quick decisions and distribute the ball in space to playmakers.

There’s no reason Texas couldn’t mix in such schemes regularly and have a half dozen or more “touchdown plays” with wonky, perhaps unbalanced formations and multiple options attached to runs for Sam Ehlinger to choose from. Don’t be surprised if they do, what else is a senior quarterback for?

It’s hard to overstate how deadly such a dimension to the offense could be this season. Texas has never had an offense designed to use spread formations and tempo to generate space and options for their quarterback to distribute the ball to playmakers with room to make something happen. There are diminishing returns against top defenses with time to gameplan all your favorite “touchdown plays” but then Texas can fall back on the pro-spread, “isolate the top receiver” schemes they’ve been uniquely good at in recent seasons.

As for receivers, there are a few obvious options for getting looks on third-and-six. Tarik Black had a fantastic opening game, catching a few shallow crosses and hitch passes while narrowly missing a touchdown when Ehlinger slightly overthrew him on a post. Brenden Schooler hasn’t done much yet, except demonstrate great technique on his two hitch route catches and break tackles in both instances (one captured above). After another two weeks he might be able to greatly expand his role. Josh Moore is not only blazing fast but also went up for a catch in the seam on a four-verticals play and accepted the punishment that came from exposing his small body. Very promising showing from Moore. We’ve still yet to even see Jake Smith, who was reportedly developing a great connection with Ehlinger before the injury.

Brennan Eagles made a fantastic touchdown catch but also struggled with his assignments and once ran into another receiver while trying to run a snag route. Texas notably diminished their emphasis on RPOs when Eagles replaced Collin Johnson at the X a year ago. If he’s still not reliably in the right spots there’s more competition to keep him on the bench this year.

Texas also made some use of 12 personnel. This time instead of using it as a way to guarantee enough hats in the box to run the ball regardless of what the defense did, Ehlinger was empowered to throw the ball outside when the defense loaded the box and gave him 1-on-1 matchups outside.

There was very much a 2017 Oklahoma vibe to the Longhorn offense against UTEP. Those Sooners also had a senior quarterback executing a wide array of schemes designed to help inexperienced wideouts. Texas will need to find 1-2 players who can beat man coverage against top defenders and command extra attention to reach their ceiling as an offense, but I think the days of Texas struggling to blow away weaker Big 12 opponents are over.

Really the only significant concerns from this game were on the offensive line, where Texas wasn’t able to consistently impose their will against a loaded box. This offense isn’t necessarily designed to do that, which should be seen as a mercy for Texas fans, and the run blocking wasn’t really so bad anyways. Some of it was even a touch different than a year go. It seems Yurcich didn’t allow a pandemic to stop him from putting more emphasis on outside zone blocking like he had at Oklahoma State and Ohio State:

Texas’ lighter offensive line looked pretty comfortable moving laterally, was that the plan all along? At 6-foot-5, 310 pounds with enough athleticism to stick at tackle, Derek Kerstetter is a center in the mold of a Barrett Jones or Ryan Kelly who powered some terrific stretch blocking schemes at Alabama, or Josh Myers who did so a year ago at Ohio State. Denzel Okafor and Junior Angilau are also quick laterally and Texas’ tackles are much more athletic and powerful than two years ago when their quarterback stretch play with an extra lead blocker was the only way they could count on winning the edge. Outside zone is also a more effective way to run zone-read and Texas mixed in some midline reads (leave an interior D-lineman unblocked and release the tackle) on the play for their younger quarterbacks and ran it as a triple option scheme with the pitch/toss to the tight end twice.

On rewatch Christian Jones was better than it appeared live, most of the issues to his side related to Texas losing hard-charging defenders while trying to trade off blocks on these zone concepts. When you load the box you can cause problems for zone schemes with aggressive linebacker play, but you also might see your opponent house hitch routes. Wait and see how this looks against a team that prioritizes stopping Ehlinger and the passing game before getting overly fretful. Isaiah Hookfin was terrific off the bench. When he hit people there was a noticeable shock and displacement. Andrej Karic looked like the premier athlete Texas needs in the tackle pipeline.

It doesn’t appear Texas will lack for quality athletes on the line this season. Stay tuned for how well they can handle stunts and inside pressure.

The schedule sets up quite favorably for Texas. Texas Tech will test the defense with run/pass conflicts and outside receivers matched up on the cornerbacks, but their own defense will leave them overmatched against the Longhorns. Then TCU will stress test Texas’ offense and their ability to beat good coverage outside or handle well executed pressures. But the Frogs don’t have the offense to really challenge Texas. The upshot is a series of useful tuneups before round one in Dallas. This time Texas will be bringing more firepower into the shootout.

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

Thanks @satyanash 

Humidor:

Grad transfer wide receiver Brenden Schooler turned heads in his first outing. He’s quickly becoming both a fan and coach favorite, and the same goes for Tarik Black. Both of these guys come equipped with a maturity the position was needing. With Black and Schooler being a tad redundant at X, the staff has worked Schooler at H. @Hookah Horns beat us to the punch on mentioning it, but we had heard it as well. The staff loves both Schooler’s toughness and intelligence but are pleasantly surprised by just how athletic he is. With Whittington missing time, and Jake Smith just returning from injury, this could be a big move for the program. Schooler’s blocking will be an addition as well, but they’re moving him there for more than grunt work.

Sticking with wide receiver, we’ve heard from multiple people who have interacted with that group who say Andre Coleman is a game changer for them. They say it’s a night and day difference. Given the youth and inexperience of the group, it seems Herman made a great hire. Not having a spring to showcase Coleman’s teaching hurt recruiting, but once recruits are able to interact with players, we think it’s going to make a big difference. It will also help when Coleman can sit down and talk to recruits one on one about the finer points.

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

[bigcigar 1164]

On 9/17/2020 at 2:32 PM, LTtxfan said:

They’re also running inside zone and it’s right on the edge of being called for “ineligible man downfield” (Kerstetter)

The first touchdown had a similar issue. I bet it gets called on us more than ou sucks.

[LTtxfan 49141]

Thx to @satyanash

Nahlin:

What’s different about wide receiver this year? “The first thing is, they’re not coddled. Negative attitudes don’t work with Andre Coleman.” Last week we mentioned the group as a whole feels much better coached. That’s going to become evident the further UT gets into the season. Who is the best receiver right now? It depends on the route. If it’s a contested catch, it’s Tarik Black because he uses his body so well. Jake Smith was also mentioned because of his explosiveness. Josh Moore garnered a mention as best receiver, though this source rated him third.

If Tom Herman rates Smith’s availability for Saturday, it would likely be “questionable.” Smith’s hamstring is progressing well but those are fickle injuries. And Tech isn’t good. Given Smith’s issues, as well as Jordan Whittington’s, the staff moved grad transfer vibe god Brenden Schooler to slot. How did he look? “Like he’s been doing it for a long time.” Best surfootball player this side of Utah, imo. Schooler has savvy and toughness that will translate to slot, but disregard his speed at your own peril. They think they’ll catch some people napping here.

We may get to see freshman wide receiver Kelvontay Dixon this week. He’s turned heads with his ability to change gears and separate. 

On the other side of the 7-on-7 aspects of this particular game, look for a big day from the UT wide receivers. The Tech defensive backs are bad and there’s no attempt to pump them up as anything else.

 

And for @jinx 

 

Edited September 21, 2020 by LTtxfan

[jinx 2635]

6 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Thx to @satyanash

Nahlin:

What’s different about wide receiver this year? “The first thing is, they’re not coddled. Negative attitudes don’t work with Andre Coleman.” Last week we mentioned the group as a whole feels much better coached. That’s going to become evident the further UT gets into the season. Who is the best receiver right now? It depends on the route. If it’s a contested catch, it’s Tarik Black because he uses his body so well. Jake Smith was also mentioned because of his explosiveness. Josh Moore garnered a mention as best receiver, though this source rated him third.

If Tom Herman rates Smith’s availability for Saturday, it would likely be “questionable.” Smith’s hamstring is progressing well but those are fickle injuries. And Tech isn’t good. Given Smith’s issues, as well as Jordan Whittington’s, the staff moved grad transfer vibe god Brenden Schooler to slot. How did he look? “Like he’s been doing it for a long time.” Best surfootball player this side of Utah, imo. Schooler has savvy and toughness that will translate to slot, but disregard his speed at your own peril. They think they’ll catch some people napping here.

We may get to see freshman wide receiver Kelvontay Dixon this week. He’s turned heads with his ability to change gears and separate. 

 

And for @jinx 

 

Thank you sir.  I rarely wander into recruiting.

[LTtxfan 49141]

Nice...🤘

 

[Doc Reeves 6434]

Seems about right. 5 TDS in the first half will do that. 
I’m getting excited to see what happens this week.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Doc Reeves

[LTtxfan 49141]

14 minutes ago, Doc Reeves said:

Seems about right. 5 TDS in the first half will do that. 
I’m getting excited to see what happens this week.

Yeah... I'm anxious to see a lot better blocking by the WRs which helps with more YAC and explosive plays...

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

Includes passing concepts...

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

247 Jeff Howe:  WR/TE Depth Chart for Tech 

X Receiver

1. Tarik Black (Sr.-TR)

2. Brennan Eagles (Jr.)

Z Receiver

1. Joshua Moore (Soph.)

2. Al'Vonte Woodard (Soph.)

H Receiver (Slot)

1. Jake Smith (Soph.)

2. Kai Money (Soph.) — OR — Brenden Schooler (Sr.-TR)

Key Quote: "He kept his head down, his mouth shut and he came to work every day. He was the best player on our scout team offense all year last year and did it with a smile on his face. I think that the biggest thing with him in his return was his attitude. Yeah, did he make everything that he was supposed to make in terms of being where he was supposed to be for everything that was mandatory? Sure, he did that. But that's the easy part. The hard part is doing it with a smile on your face and going down to the scout team every day for 13 weeks and getting pushed around, hit around a little bit by our defense and still coming back stronger and with an even better attitude the next day. I think that was the biggest thing was not just what he did, which was, again, be present and accounted for at everything that we told him he needed to be, but it was just the way that he did it and the attitude he had." — Herman on Moore's return to the field following a season-long suspension from game action

Tight Ends

1. Cade Brewer (Sr.)

2. Jared Wiley (Soph.)

3. Malcolm Epps (Soph.) — OR — Brayden Liebrock (RS-Fr.)

Key Quote: I thought they graded out really well. I think three out of four graded a champion. I think we had three out of four catch a ball. I know Malcolm's (40-yard gain) was a lateral that counted as a rush. We had a touchdown catch in that group (a 20-yard touchdown reception by Brewer), so I feel really good about the four guys we have there and they've stayed relatively healthy. Brayden Liebrock rolled his ankle last week and in practice early in the week, but he'll be back today. I do think, especially with J-Whitt out and Jake kind of on the mend, you'll see more and more 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) and our guys are versatile enough to do it. They can run and catch, but they can also stick their face on people and block them in the run game, too. — Herman on the performance of the tight ends in the UTEP game and the usage of 12 personnel

[LTtxfan 49141]

Notes for Tech thanks to @satyanash

Humidor

WRs: Tarik Black is probably the best at X but don’t be surprised if Marcus Washington gets the start. Who starts at wide receiver doesn’t really matter. Jake Smith is the best H and likely the most difficult receiver in the program to cover. We have downgraded him to doubtful, however, which is unfortunate because we likely won’t see the full offense until he’s healthy. He’s been limited in practice this week. They should have enough ammo for Tech, especially after moving Brenden Schooler to slot. Schooler has been a revelation. There was some definite skepticism when he showed up but he quickly proved he belonged athletically. He’s viewed as well-rounded, not a possession guy or speed threat, though he’s a solid mix of both. We’re expecting Kelvontay Dixon to not only suit up and make the trip, but also play at Z behind Josh “Herman” Moore.

Reminder: to see the full offense, Texas needs a healthy Jake Smith and/or Jordan Whittington. There are plays that are specific to their skill sets.

TE: We’re expecting a fair amount of 12 personnel but that shouldn’t be too surprising because it will feature prominently this season. Jared Wiley is the most physical of the bunch but others are ahead of him as a receiver. There’s a lot of excitement in the group because they’re all playing and getting targets in the passing game. To the competitors go the spoils.

Edited September 25, 2020 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

 

Edited September 28, 2020 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

[LTtxfan 49141]

Scipio Tex notes Tech Game       (Thanks @satyanash  )

WR/TE

Josh Moore played lights out as mentioned above and Brenden Schooler gave us some nice plays - most notably his 27 yard catch on an Ehlinger strike late. 7 catches, 58 yards, 1 touchdown. Good blocker as well. Eagles gave a much better effort than against UTEP both as a receiver and blocker, but he was sluggish trying to accelerate into a couple of deep routes and his route running is still poor. 3-31- 1 touchdown and a gimme slant on the 2 point conversion in single coverage where the poor corner never had a chance. Eagles probably needs to be reimagined as a big possession WR. Not an X Deep threat. So far, he just can’t separate. Tarik Black was a no-show. Kai Money was solid on some underneath stuff (4-39) but he’s a poor blocker. Just not strong enough. Marcus Washington allowed a PBU on a well thrown TD pass.

We featured the tight ends by personnel grouping and they did very little. Brewer had a nice 3rd down conversion against a soft zone, but was out-competed on two other targets and a negligible blocker. Wiley was not targeted. He also let a free defender run by him on pass pro. If we’re going to split out a TE, put in Liebrock. He has some elusiveness and he’ll block smalls on the perimeter.

 

 

Edited September 28, 2020 by LTtxfan

[Doc Reeves 6434]

That’s being kind

 

those drops were inexcusable 

[LTtxfan 49141]

Additional Scipio Tex Notes Pass Offense vs Tech    (Thx @satyanash  )

What went well:

The early quick game. Texas counted up Tech's D and threw it out wide when the numbers favored. The receivers blocked hard for each other. This was a good approach and taking early candy is never a bad thing, but the failure to have much opponent specific game plan beyond that on a two week break is odd.

Josh Moore. I don't know if he has the size and durability to be a #1 wide receiver, but #1.5 will do. 5 catches, 73 yards, 3 tds. He was shaken up a bit, but returned to the game and provided several big catches. His early 31 yard touchdown catch was a tremendous example of pure ball skills between two Tech defenders.

Winnerness. Sam stuck with a tough game (and game plan) and rallied his teammates to a huge, improbable win. Late game script dictated that Texas had to run its best tactical approach - spread 'em out, speed it up, let Sam make plays - and that he did. Why being down 15 deep in the 4th quarter dictated what seemed fairly clear coming in is odd, but nonetheless, Ehlinger engineered the sixth game winning drive of his career. Props to #11 and his teammates for playing until the final gun and then one overtime beyond.

What did not go as well:

In the second half, the offensive staff wanted it one way, but it’s the other way.

Loss of tempo/aggression. Much of the second half featured tepid offensive play calling and an unwillingness to press the Red Raiders defense. No vertical stretch and a complete neglect to attack the middle of the field on play action, despite Tech safety Thomas Leggett sprinting up in run support like he was shot out of a cannon, and the Red Raiders playing as many of their 240+ pound linebackers on the field as possible. Early on, it looked like a bleed 'em underneath and tire 'em out attack that we'd exploit later with bigger plays down the field. That didn't happen until 3:13 was on the clock. Then we saw what an exhausted Tech front looked like pass rushing with some of their best LBs on the sideline. When the field got big, Tech got small.

Stubborn 12 personnel. Started manageably with what Tech was allowing, but Wiley and Brewer were non factors for most of the game and the 1st half RB Texas running game featured 21 carries for 66 yards running the same two runs. I’m not sure why we’d expect any DC to honor our TEs as threats. The best attribute of Tech's defense is good LB play and decent run stopping big bodies inside. Why allow Tech to keep those linebackers on the field or in the box where they’re comfortable? Even without Smith and Whittington, the match ups dictated making the field bigger, not smaller. Anyone see the HBU game? Texas actually ran the ball better from 2x2 or 3x1 split wide by forcing a lighter box.

RPOs & Misdirection. The RPO - at least true RPO reads - went through long stretches of absence. Misdirection was also notably missing, unless you're counting the Josh Moore throwback pass that was nearly intercepted going the other way. What happened to all of the window dressing and eye candy that characterized the UTEP game plan to freeze linebackers and make safeties doubt their eyes?

 

Edited September 28, 2020 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

[jinx 2635]

4 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

 

We featured the tight ends by personnel grouping and they did very little. Brewer had a nice 3rd down conversion against a soft zone, but was out-competed on two other targets and a negligible blocker. Wiley was not targeted. He also let a free defender run by him on pass pro. If we’re going to split out a TE, put in Liebrock. He has some elusiveness and he’ll block smalls on the perimeter.

 

In our fourth year with Herman, who seemingly HAS to have at least one TE on the field for every single play, and I wouldn’t call any of the four TEs we have much better than average.  Nowhere close to a true difference maker.  Amazing.  

[LTtxfan 49141]

https://247sports.com/college/texas/board/21/Contents/live-by-4-verticals-die-by-4-verticals-152153494/

From 247... Chris Osgood

Live by 4 Verticals, Die by 4 Verticals

4-Verts or All-Verticals is a low floor, high ceiling deep shot play.  I broke down the overall design using UTEP clips here

Texas brought a big All-Verticals emphasis to the Texas Tech game, calling it on 20 of its 88 snaps. While I just described Verts as a high risk, high reward concept: it performed very well and efficiently at the bottom line against the Red Raiders. If we bifurcate all of the Longhorn's 88 snaps into Verts vs Not Verts, you'll see how sustainably Verts performed this week. (8.3 Yards-Per-Play at an astonishing 55% Success Rate).

The really interesting thing about Verts against Texas Tech is that it contributed to the 3rd/4th quarter lull, and had _everything_ to do with the furious comeback. The below chart shows Verts play yards gained in orange triangles with not Verts plays in grey triangles. The orange line is the Verts YPP average, while the grey line is the not-Verts average. We can see there were only two plays resulting in more than 12 yards that weren't Verts (a QB Draw, and an Inside Zone). The other six plays that gained more than 12 yards were Verts. The explosive portion of the Texas offense is almost purely the Verts call.

In the chart we can see that the Verticals play went dead in the 3rd quarter / early 4th with a sequence of six zero or negative plays out of seven calls. And then Texas went into hurry up Verts spam to save the day.

The below video has all 20 Verts snaps against Texas tech (plus a called-back penalty rep) in sequential order. Watch it through once zoning on the defender's center of mass, then loop it back and go through to see the way Texas dresses it up. You can see how the Tech defense slowly starts dropping back, and back, and into a perfectly matched quarters defense as the game progresses. They kinda know Texas isn't calling much else from the drop-back passing menu. From the Texas perspective you can see lots of formations, different guys hanging back as the one shallow option, play action, and screen fakes.

It's hard to argue with 8.3 YPP and a 55% Success Rate, but one has to wonder if the Longhorns should diversify their deep passing attack...

[BrazilHorn 6586]

10 hours ago, jinx said:

In our fourth year with Herman, who seemingly HAS to have at least one TE on the field for every single play, and I wouldn’t call any of the four TEs we have much better than average.  Nowhere close to a true difference maker.  Amazing.  

This to me is just another sign of Herman's stubbornness. The Texas TEs are all just JAGs. They cannot block well, they do not catch well. They just leave more talented receivers on the sidelines. Maybe Herman is used to AA TEs at OSU but the ones Texas has just are not anywhere near that level. I had a professor in grad school that said "if half of the people want ice tea and half want hot tea, you don't give them all warm tea"

We have a bunch of "warm tea" TEs. Guys that cannot really block well, and they cannot really catch well. Every now and then they get lucky but this hybrid TE he insists on trotting out there isn't working. They are given ZERO respect as a threat and DEs/LBs can just blow by them to the QB all fucking day.

[BabaYaga 15286]

13 minutes ago, BrazilHorn said:

This to me is just another sign of Herman's stubbornness. The Texas TEs are all just JAGs. They cannot block well, they do not catch well. They just leave more talented receivers on the sidelines. Maybe Herman is used to AA TEs at OSU but the ones Texas has just are not anywhere near that level. I had a professor in grad school that said "if half of the people want ice tea and half want hot tea, you don't give them all warm tea"

We have a bunch of "warm tea" TEs. Guys that cannot really block well, and they cannot really catch well. Every now and then they get lucky but this hybrid TE he insists on trotting out there isn't working. They are given ZERO respect as a threat and DEs/LBs can just blow by them to the QB all fucking day.

At this point, give me a Geoff Swaim clone with stone hands that only lives to block your very soul and make you want to quit the game of football.

[jinx 2635]

1 hour ago, BrazilHorn said:

This to me is just another sign of Herman's stubbornness. The Texas TEs are all just JAGs. They cannot block well, they do not catch well. They just leave more talented receivers on the sidelines. Maybe Herman is used to AA TEs at OSU but the ones Texas has just are not anywhere near that level. I had a professor in grad school that said "if half of the people want ice tea and half want hot tea, you don't give them all warm tea"

We have a bunch of "warm tea" TEs. Guys that cannot really block well, and they cannot really catch well. Every now and then they get lucky but this hybrid TE he insists on trotting out there isn't working. They are given ZERO respect as a threat and DEs/LBs can just blow by them to the QB all fucking day.

It is just one data point in a long list of things that infuriate me about Turtle Tom.  But to see other teams actually have difference makers while we trot out the JAGs we have on our roster really pisses me off.  To watch these guys miss blocks and drop passes over and over again, while teams like OU field actual difference makers is unreal.

I would kill to have a guy like Kyle Pitts from UF on our roster.  We have no one even close.  How is that not a priority in recruiting?  Or does Tom just suck at that like he does at so much else at this job?

[LTtxfan 49141]

 

[taybo20 2825]

Agree with the TE talk. It’s especially frustrating when we continually see great TE play at ousux and we can’t get our shit together for that position. Especially when 11 personnel is such a focal point from Herman.

in regards to 4 verts...Maybe it’s more dynamic with a Jake smith or Jordan Whittington. Idk, but to me the great thing about stretching the defense is the ability to get a guy streaking in space across the field, much the way ousux has done with their WRs on drags and whatnot. 

[BabaYaga 15286]

25 minutes ago, taybo20 said:

Agree with the TE talk. It’s especially frustrating when we continually see great TE play at ousux and we can’t get our shit together for that position. Especially when 11 personnel is such a focal point from Herman.

in regards to 4 verts...Maybe it’s more dynamic with a Jake smith or Jordan Whittington. Idk, but to me the great thing about stretching the defense is the ability to get a guy streaking in space across the field, much the way ousux has done with their WRs on drags and whatnot. 

I just want to see some attitude and imposing of our will on teams.  Tired of seeing this pussy-footing around with lesser teams.

How I feel many teams view this program

How they fucking should be feeling after the game

 

[Burt Macklin 19019]

33 minutes ago, taybo20 said:

It’s especially frustrating when we continually see great TE play at ousux and we can’t get our shit together for that position.

Huh? They’ve had like one good season from a TE in the last ten years. 
 

35 minutes ago, taybo20 said:

n regards to 4 verts...Maybe it’s more dynamic with a Jake smith or Jordan Whittington. Idk, but to me the great thing about stretching the defense is the ability to get a guy streaking in space across the field, much the way ousux has done with their WRs on drags and whatnot. 

Patrick Mahomes, Kliff Kingsbury, and Lincoln Riley would all disagree with you. Four verts is a staple of their offense and they then build a lot of the other stuff off of it. 

[JFKFC 4878]

Have you seen the TE at Florida? Sam would be targeting him 10+ times a game. Why can't we find someone like that? Can one of you guys pull off an Inception on a Florida team flight and plant the idea in his head to transfer? Didn't one of you guys major in that stuff?