Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted
  On 6/22/2021 at 2:28 AM, Machinator said:

It's perfectly reasonable to be skeptical of Sark as a head coach, but his bona fides as an offensive mind and QB developer are pretty unassailable at this point.

Expand  

What makes me ill at ease is that Sark's bona fides are as a guy who coaches players. I've come to believe that, especially at a place like Texas, a head coach has to excel at the CEO stuff - having the overall vision for the direction of the organization, attracting and retaining the best staff, mentoring and managing his people and getting them what they need to succeed, handling the politics of it all. However good he is as an X's and O's coach, it's a big question mark as to whether he can do that successfully. And I worry that an X's and O's coach is at a disadvantage here if that means they're trying to micromanage things down at the player level.

Working with Saban should be a master class in keeping an organization humming, and hopefully Sark learned a lot there, but a lot of Saban assistants have gone on to less-than-illustrious careers. I also wouldn't be surprised if a guy as pathologically competitive as Saban sees all his assistants as potential future competition and doesn't go out of his way to teach them how to do his job.

Posted
  On 6/22/2021 at 1:06 PM, Eskimohorn said:

Is Joshua Moore’s 30 catches that much better than Washington? He disappeared in long stretches. Moore has much to prove. As does our #2, Troy Omeire coming off ACL surgery set to play college football for the first time ever.

And Kai Money was getting significant time in the Spring game. Not just with the scrubs. He looked like our best slot receiver. Or maybe thats Jordan Whittington, who looks Ok.

And our oline may have 3 new starters, as we shuffle around people. We return exactly zero All-Big 12 linemen, unless you count honorable mention Kerstetter who may reclaim a spot after a catastrophic leg injury.

And we bring in a QB with 50 snaps under his belt and another one with a dozen or so. All in a new, more complicated system.

What are we really debating here? My point is that Sark has had the success we desire when he’s had clearly superior players. I’m also claiming our talent is mostly unproven and not close to what Sark had last year in Bama. Is that even indisputable?
If Kai Money can run better routes and catch the ball more often and gain more yards than a 4* reciever who develops stone hands once he reaches the 40 I'm ok with it...production is production no matter what name is on the jersey. Everyone forget Hunter Renfrow at Clemson? He didnt play because they lacked highly rated recievers on the roster..

Having said that, I'd be very surprised if he sees any significant playing time once the games matter.
Posted
  On 6/22/2021 at 3:14 PM, Eskimohorn said:

 


I’m honored. CTJ believes Greg Davis got a bad rap for getting shut out by OU and that Sam Ehlinger was a retard, laughing with buddies when Sam got concussed against Okie Lite. His takes are usually in lock step with aggy about Texas players and coaches.

And now he believes that Tom Herman stockpiled talent so dominant that if Sark doesn’t immediately have success at Texas he should be fired.

CTJ uses terms like “I digress” and “rue the day”. Who talks like that?

He is the common denominator in a bunch of pointless feuds because he’s a common asshole.

 

Expand  


I just watched you soil yourself and wipe your feces all over this board with your idiotic takes on Texas football. You should not feel honored at all. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Like 1
Posted
  On 6/22/2021 at 8:48 PM, Newy25 said:

I just watched you soil yourself and wipe your feces all over this board with your idiotic takes on Texas football. You should not feel honored at all. 

You a CTJ sock or just a cum-guzzling sycophant?

But do you mean my hot takes that our talent level on offense is nowhere close to Alabama’s was?

Or that Sark should have more than a single season before passing judgement?

That there are unknowns and holes on this team?

That Sark getting fired after less than 2 years in the NFL is a cause for concern?

Real fucking controversial opinions, here. That I dont know how next year will play out, but slightly less optimistic than some. Thats sarcasm. Also, I was not literally honored that an asshole like CTJ insulted me in case you’re lost.
  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
  On 6/22/2021 at 9:05 PM, Eskimohorn said:


You a CTJ sock or just a cum-guzzling sycophant?

But do you mean my hot takes that our talent level on offense is nowhere close to Alabama’s was?

Or that Sark should have more than a single season before passing judgement?

That there are unknowns and holes on this team?

That Sark getting fired after less than 2 years in the NFL is a cause for concern?

Real fucking controversial opinions, here. That I dont know how next year will play out, but slightly less optimistic than some. Thats sarcasm. Also, I was not literally honored that an asshole like CTJ insulted me in case you’re lost.

Expand  


It must be tough to bring your takes to the free market place of ideas only to watch them get completely dismantled. Your lashing out is not surprising in the least. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Haha 2
  • Drool 1
Posted

This has kind of been covered up thread, but what a bizarre turn of events for Smith.

At least from what I've read/followed, seems like he was injured a lot here and also was one of the receivers who got the most fed up with Herman and Meh and their treatment of wrs.

So, you're going to be healthy going into the season, the coaches you hated are gone, and you've been gifted a coach who just helped a wr win the Heisman. That feels like the opportune moment to portal?

Posted

He’s threatened to transfer on at least one other occasion. He’s had two significant injuries already and he’s battling two other players for reps in the slot. On top of that, he has serious development work to do in route running and catching. I’m sure the fact that Davis and Worthy are really showing up already as freshman is not helping.  Whittington, Worthy and Dixon are probably ahead of him at this moment (obviously that could have been subject to change in fall camp). It was unlikely that he was seen as so good by the staff that they moved him outside to get him on the field. The broken foot on the first day of spring camp was just so unfortunate for him. 

  • Hook 'Em 3
Posted
  On 6/23/2021 at 2:36 PM, CastHorn said:

https://www.espn.com/college-football/fpi

How does ESPN determine this metric? They have 7 Big12 teams in the top 25. I could see TCU being a really good squad, they’re loaded, they just need consistent QB play. I’m not sold on Oklahoma State. Baylor has a some nice pieces but no QB. I don’t know what they see in Tech.

Expand  

The same way they justify QBR, make up metrics and formulas to justify their beliefs.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
  On 6/23/2021 at 2:36 PM, CastHorn said:

https://www.espn.com/college-football/fpi

How does ESPN determine this metric? They have 7 Big12 teams in the top 25. I could see TCU being a really good squad, they’re loaded, they just need consistent QB play. I’m not sold on Oklahoma State. Baylor has a some nice pieces but no QB. I don’t know what they see in Tech.

Expand  

https://www.espn.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/122612/an-inside-look-at-college-fpi

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted

https://theathletic.com/2664654/2021/06/23/texas-embraces-steve-sarkisians-all-gas-no-brakes-m-o-in-the-horns-latest-go-at-restoring-the-programs-glory/

  Reveal hidden contents

For the "Kai Money is one of our best players, we can expect to win more than 7 games" crowd:

  Quote

Texas’ lack of significant success is not for a lack of talent, at least according to an opposing Big 12 coach.

“To me, there’s not a talent issue there,” the coach said. “I think they’re extremely talented.”

“If you look at what they have up front on both sides, that gives them a chance,”

“Oklahoma has the best returning talent in the Big 12,” the coach said, “but Texas is close.”

Expand  

 

Posted
  On 6/23/2021 at 2:36 PM, CastHorn said:
https://www.espn.com/college-football/fpi
How does ESPN determine this metric? They have 7 Big12 teams in the top 25. I could see TCU being a really good squad, they’re loaded, they just need consistent QB play. I’m not sold on Oklahoma State. Baylor has a some nice pieces but no QB. I don’t know what they see in Tech.

Iowa State having a better chance at winning the NC than Ohio State, or a 40 percent chance of making the playoff, is laughable. That’s a good team but let’s not pretend everything didn’t go right for them in 2020.
Posted

Apologies if this has already been discussed in this thread, but can anyone explain what is going on with our Vegas win prediction of 7.5/8? If the Kansas game wasn’t cancelled last season, we’d have had 7 in the shortened season (and losses of 2pts, 3pts and in 4OT)… and now we are adding 2 more games yet the predictions are about the same?

I get not buying us as national title contenders. But are people really putting that much value in losing Ehlinger?

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
  On 6/23/2021 at 9:36 PM, Chuckie Finster said:

Apologies if this has already been discussed in this thread, but can anyone explain what is going on with our Vegas win prediction of 7.5/8? If the Kansas game wasn’t cancelled last season, we’d have had 7 in the shortened season (and losses of 2pts, 3pts and in 4OT)… and now we are adding 2 more games yet the predictions are about the same?

I get not buying us as national title contenders. But are people really putting that much value in losing Ehlinger?

Expand  

They remember the Ehlinger comebacks but forget his shitty play for long stretches that made the offense inconsistent. QB will decide between 7 and 10 wins, though, I think it will be less of a determination because of the potential of the OL and the RBs to put up close to 200 yards per game, if they can move that number closer to 250+, then QB play will be largely negated. Sarkisian had good QB and WR play his 2 years at Bama, and Harris still had 2600+ and 39 TDs just from rushing. From scrimmage it was 3400 and 50 TDs.

Posted (edited)

I hope Sark is in the lab devising some nut busting RPO concepts because this WR group doesn’t look like the the kind that will be creating a bunch of separation. 

Edited by CastHorn
  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
  On 6/23/2021 at 10:51 PM, CastHorn said:

I hope Sark is in the lab devising some nut busting RPO concepts because this WR group doesn’t look like the the kind that will be creating a bunch of separation. 

Expand  

Because you've seen a healthy TO, Whittington, Moore, Dixon, and Worthy rotated in the same game? Relax. Our WR corps is really fucking good with the right scheme and a smart QB. 

Posted
  On 6/22/2021 at 1:50 AM, Machinator said:

Saban has had five stars on offense forever. The Bama offenses were not nearly as explosive before Kiffin/Sark.

Expand  

Some of that is due to Saban coming to terms with the fact that his preferred method of Jurassic football wasn’t going to cut it against quality spread attacks stocked with peer level talent in the playoffs and beyond. And also that the SEC has advanced it’s average offensive competency and schemes to something past turn of the millennia Big XII levels. 

He’d much rather punt a lot and beat opponents up with his defense.  

Posted
  On 6/24/2021 at 1:25 AM, Eggo said:

Because you've seen a healthy TO, Whittington, Moore, Dixon, and Worthy rotated in the same game? Relax. Our WR corps is really fucking good with the right scheme and a smart QB. 

Expand  

Plus what should be the best running attack since 2005.

Posted
  On 6/23/2021 at 9:36 PM, Chuckie Finster said:

Apologies if this has already been discussed in this thread, but can anyone explain what is going on with our Vegas win prediction of 7.5/8? If the Kansas game wasn’t cancelled last season, we’d have had 7 in the shortened season (and losses of 2pts, 3pts and in 4OT)… and now we are adding 2 more games yet the predictions are about the same?

I get not buying us as national title contenders. But are people really putting that much value in losing Ehlinger?

Expand  

I am surprised our O/U isn’t closer to 8.5 or 9. One of the 8 lines I saw had negative odds on the under, so that seems less than ideal for us if you think Vegas knows what they’re doing. 

I think it has less to do with us as a team and more with our schedule. Most of the Big 12 teams return a ton of production. ISU returns close to everyone, OU returns a ton, so does KSU and they get Skylar Thompson back healthy who was looking very good before his injury. There’s no doubt the Big 12 we face this year will be much better than last year, but it does still seem like they’re underrating us at 7.5/8. 

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
  On 6/24/2021 at 3:05 AM, Burt Macklin said:

I am surprised our O/U isn’t closer to 8.5 or 9. One of the 8 lines I saw had negative odds on the under, so that seems less than ideal for us if you think Vegas knows what they’re doing. 

I think it has less to do with us as a team and more with our schedule. Most of the Big 12 teams return a ton of production. ISU returns close to everyone, OU returns a ton, so does KSU and they get Skylar Thompson back healthy who was looking very good before his injury. There’s no doubt the Big 12 we face this year will be much better than last year, but it does still seem like they’re underrating us at 7.5/8. 

Expand  

I think it has more to do with the team. From the outsider's perspective, our QB, WR, and OL are unknowns and we're breaking in a new staff. 

Personally I think we're going to kick ass and play for the Big 12 championship,  but I can see why some people would be skeptical. 

Edited by Bevo14
  • Hook 'Em 3
Posted
  On 6/24/2021 at 1:25 AM, Eggo said:

Because you've seen a healthy TO, Whittington, Moore, Dixon, and Worthy rotated in the same game? Relax. Our WR corps is really fucking good with the right scheme and a smart QB. 

Expand  

That’s a lot of wishful thinking. TO is coming off a major injury. The spring game is the most consecutive snaps I’ve ever seen Whitt take. Moore’s another guy who hasn’t played a complete season. Dixon looks explosive but he’s just not very proven, neither is Worthy. There’s literally like three guys on the offensive side of the ball you can point to as sure fire dependable contributors. Two in the RB room & the other is coming off a significant ankle injury.  I think there’s alot of pressure on Andre Coleman, if that group doesn’t show up, he’s likely gone. 

  • Like 1
Posted

 

By: Ian Boyd

After a recruiting visit in Austin, 2023 defensive back Jamel Johnson revealed an interesting nugget of information he’d received from defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski.

“He said I fit good into his defense. Sometime they run seven-man DB, so you’re going to play here if you like that.”

A seven-defensive back personnel set is quite the package and certainly one solution for making the most of a deep group of defensive backs. It’s also a good recruiting pitch to be able to explain to young defensive backs why they could have confidence in playing early. Rather than a general, “everyone has a chance to compete here!” or the true but perhaps not particularly exciting, “come play early on special teams!” you can point to real playing time for freshmen on important downs.

You don’t just use those packages for recruiting though, they have real value in attacking offenses. The Longhorns changed their season in 2017 with the “lightning package,” a 3-2-6 lineup they could play on 1st and 10 as easily as on 3rd and 9. Texas’ “.38 special” package in early 2019 was another gamechanger before it was tragically undone by a rash of injuries in the secondary.

Defenses can erase opportunities for spread offenses to easily find matchups and space to throw the ball into by flooding the field with defensive backs. Then there’s a flip side to this coin as well. A defense can also apply pressure up front with packages stocking the field with bigger, explosive guys at defensive line or linebacker. Will Muschamp introduced Texas to the world of modern defense in 2008 by moving running back Henry Melton and linebacker Sergio Kindle to the defensive line while spinning down big defensive end Lamarr Houston into a tackle, then playing with five defensive backs behind them. To spread out the Longhorns, offenses had to be able to handle Houston, Brian Orakpo, Kindle, et al. with just five or six blockers and still be able to find space and matchups with three corners and Earl Thomas on the field.

Today we’re going to look at a few packages Kwiatkowski may have in mind for dictating terms to Big 12 offenses.

Return of the .38 special?

The .38 special package was a short-lived experiment in 2019 designed to maximize Texas’ overabundance of good safeties. The set-up was unreal, it was a collection of speed and athletic talent unlike any you’ve ever seen take the field for a defense.
 
Original .38 special.jpg


The three-down “3” in the 3-8 (.38 special) included outside linebackers Jeff McCulloch and Joseph Ossai as stand-up defensive ends and Malcolm Roach in the nose as the zero-technique. Then Texas had eight off-ball defenders who were all defensive backs (although technically DeMarvion Overshown was playing his current position of middle linebacker) with three cornerbacks and five safeties.

This unit picked off Joe Burrow when he was backed up on his own goal line early in the game against LSU but was compromised by injuries even before the end of the game. Texas was unable to play the .38 on the fateful “3rd and 17” moment where the game was lost. They were also done in throughout the game by the lack of skill out at cornerback. Todd Orlando’s exotic pressures drawn up with all the big, explosive defensive backs hanging around the box couldn’t make up for an inability to cover the Tigers 1-on-1 down the field.

If you glance at the 2021 Texas defensive roster, you’ll notice they again have a large number of solid defensive backs and many of them are holdovers from the days of Orlando’s “lightning” and “.38 special” packages. If we were to take Kwiatkowksi’s words to Johnson as indicative of what’s in the playbook for Texas in 2021, it’s not hard to imagine a seven-DB package from the current roster make-up.

It could look something like this:
 
Revived .38 special.jpg


Texas could flank Ojomo (or the best interior rusher) with outside linebackers like Ray Thornton and the next best of Jacoby Jones, Ben Davis, or Ovie Oghoufo. Behind them you have DeMarvion Overshown, Brenden Schooler, and B.J. Foster around the box. All of those guys can play in the box and blitz and everyone but Ojomo could potentially drop into coverage. Back in coverage Texas could play three cornerbacks and then a pair of safeties.

This would very much be a passing downs package, you wouldn’t ask this crew to hold up on 1st and 10 against anyone in the Big 12, but a dominant third down package is immensely valuable.

If there was a contest where Kwiatkowski wanted an every down, base package with multiple defensive backs, like Orlando’s 3-2-6, he could try something with slightly bigger personnel as he did at Washington against Mike Leach. His base dime look for the Apple Cup would play the Jack with two defensive linemen in a 2-3-6 package.

Something along the lines of this...
 
PK Texas 2-3-6.jpg


...basically a 2-2-7. You get Foster as the “Joker” safety where he excelled as a freshman, replacing the X-backer in the 2-4-5. In this set Texas has some more size on the line to hold up if an opponent runs the football, but they have more flexibility and fewer holes in coverage than in the base 2-4-5. Or they could sub out the nickel and move Schooler back to safety to make a 2-3-6 if keeping David Gbenda or another true linebacker on the field makes the unit stronger overall.

There’s several different configurations Kwiatkowski could concoct against offenses trying to substitute for extra receivers on 3rd down or otherwise trying to win by spreading Texas out and throwing it 50 times. If you don’t disincentive him from sticking with the same 11 players every snap he’s not going to do so.

You couldn’t play these games against Tom Herman’s Longhorns because they stayed in 11 personnel and could run power run sets or empty spread sets without substituting. Many Big 12 teams don’t have flexible, hybrid personnel to allow them to mimic this approach. They will substitute in receivers or blockers and make plain their intentions, usually on downs where the situation (3rd and 8, or 3rd and 1) already makes their intentions obvious. If you have a multi-defensive back package you can deny those offenses a chance to find any easy matchups.

Texas once again has depth in the secondary to build something like the .38 special, which if it hadn’t fallen apart due to injuries might have made for a wildly different season in 2019. A base dime defense is less likely due to Kwiatkowski’s emphasis on match coverage and having a guy like Overshown at linebacker, both of which already make the 2-4-5 pretty flexible. So the Longhorns don’t really need anything like Orlando’s 3-2-6, but something like the .38 special could be immensely valuable.

Getting big in the red zone

Texas doesn’t just have a plethora of solid defensive backs to rotate or sub into the game. They also have several big, athletic options along the defensive line. In fact, they are facing a potential dilemma come fall if sophomore Alfred Collins flips a switch and consistently reveals the NFL 3-technique he’s shown flashes of becoming. Moro Ojomo is already putting together a “draft me!” skill set at the same position and Keondre Coburn and T’Vondre Sweat give the Longhorns two more huge assets at nose tackle.

Kwiatkowski has a few good blitzing athletes at linebacker who can bring some size and explosiveness off the perimeter along with bigger box safeties in Schooler and Foster. Plus he has
the scheme to help put it all together. Here’s a set he would utilize in the red zone or against teams playing with bigger personnel at Washington, drawn up with Texas defenders:
 
DMO 46 nickel.jpg

Shark = Jamison, Black Panther = Ojomo

There’s a million ways to draw this one up as well. It’s a 46 front, which Kwiatkowski showed from his nickel package in the spring game. In the spring game he’d slide the jack inside to a 4i or 3-technique and drop one of the linebackers down on the edge like a second X-backer opposite the normal X-backer. The design of the 46 is basically to have a defensive lineman over all five offensive linemen, making it difficult to double team anyone and applying pressure across the entire front.

With the abundance of defensive tackle talent, Texas could sub out the Jack (or bump him outside where I have drawn DMO) to get whichever of Collins or Ojomo is on the bench onto the field. The priority is to get five guys on the line of scrimmage who are major problems for the offensive line. Texas could play with the Jack and X-backer outside of the three defensive linemen with Overshown and another linebacker at their normal inside positions. Or they could bring Overshown on the edge rather than a Jack or X and use a third linebacker or one of the safeties as an inside linebacker. All of those variables can change in accordance with the relative strengths of the roster in a given year. The constants are creating a 5-2 front before the snap.

The foundational contest of offense versus defense between the tackles is a three-on-three battle between the guards and center for the offense and the nose tackle, 3-technique, and inside linebacker on defense. Either side can bring in more players but doing so incurs a bill which will inevitably come due. To win on offense you need to be able to control the point against the two defensive tackles and release someone up to hit the inside linebacker before he’s diagnosed the play and comes flying through the running back’s best window.

A good nose tackle complicates the situation by commanding a double team which frees up the inside linebacker. A great linebacker serves you by arriving too quickly and precisely for the line to have time to make any headway on the tackles, and a great tackle serves you by whipping the guard and forcing the offense to bring a tackle into the fray to avoid a negative play. Now it’s 4-on-3 for the offense but you’re playing short-manned somewhere else.

The 46 front brings in an extra tackle and creates two problems. It becomes extremely hard to double-team the nose and you are really in a numbers crunch on offense if one of your guards can’t reliably hold up 1-on-1 against one of the defensive tackles. It’s not enough to be good at center or guard, you need to be pretty good at all three spots or you can get into trouble in a hurry.

So if both Alfred Collins and Moro Ojomo should end up putting together draftable play at defensive tackle, this set becomes a total nightmare for offenses. You wouldn’t use it between the 20s because you’re giving up some speed and flexibility in coverage to bring another defensive tackle into the interior. In the red zone where the offense runs out of space and needs to overpower you either in coverage or at the line of scrimmage, it becomes a fantastic way to make the line of scrimmage a hellscape for Big 12 offenses.

Trying to overpower this front is not going to be easy. Here’s a double-tackle version of 46 defense against “the touchdown play” Texas used for four years under Tom Herman to pile up scores in the red zone.
 
Touchdown play vs 46 front on goal line.jpg


The offense can only double-team one of the three defensive tackles and the tight end better be able to block DeMarvion Overshown (or whomever is lined up at outside linebacker) 1-on-1. In this example the offense double-teams Coburn and the left tackle and right guard have to win 1-on-1 against Collins and Ojomo. Even if this doesn’t result in Longhorn defenders shooting into the backfield, the odds of clearing out a lane for the running back which can’t quickly be filled by free flowing off-ball defenders is very low.

Even in a quarterback run scheme where the offense can get a numbers advantage, the angles don’t make it easy to keep Coburn or a 3-technique from winning a 1-on-1 and wrecking the play before it starts.

Outside the defense is relying on man coverage, but this is already typically the case in the red zone. In this set at least you get more bang for your buck inside. If the offense is a greater threat to beat man coverage than to power it in with the run game you can drop the outside backers into passing lanes now and again or just not use this package unless they commit to playing extra blockers. Against spread teams with a power run game you can deny them access with a set like this and/or apply a lot of pressure in the pass rush if they want to try and throw it in.

Packaging the Big 12 into a box

Two problems Big 12 teams aren’t well equipped to solve, 1) when they can’t hunt a slower defender in space and 2) when they can’t protect a slower offensive lineman from facing a top athlete 1-on-1.

The dime (and smaller) sub-packages can present the first problem to opponents, the 46 fronts with extra defensive linemen and/or linebackers on the field is useful for bringing the second challenge.

Most Big 12 teams aren’t loaded with high quality talent at every position. If you’ve watched Oklahoma in the Lincoln Riley era you’ll have seen them dominate games in three fashions. First of all, with a perennially fantastic offensive line featuring future pros at three or more positions. Teams don’t really attack them up front, they are just hoping to survive.

Secondly, with elite wide receivers Riley will move around and match up on overwhelmed defensive backs, or attacking run/pass conflicts, or working against defensive coverage rules to run free into the secondary.

Finally, their recent success has owed a lot to putting a pair of linebackers and three defensive linemen on the field together who can run some 46-style fronts of their own and obliterate blocking schemes by always having a 1-on-1 matchup in which their athlete is positioned to blow by some poor sap.

One of Kansas State’s great tricks under Bill Snyder, other than the quarterback run game, was having a million schemes under their belts to enable them to always get help against an opponent’s best players while creating space and matchups for their own top athletes.

Big 12 offenses in general have the Kansas State approach and use spread formations and run/pass conflict to set up their best players to look great while minimizing the exposure of the more limited athletes on the team. Save for against the teams which use tempo to protect themselves, which are less common now Texas Tech has fired David Yost, eliminating or exacerbating matchups is potential kryptonite for Big 12 offenses.

Texas is a bit short on really savvy, inside linebackers who can split the difference between serving as frontline warriors against the run and also being present in the passing game. This needn’t necessarily matter though because they can overwhelm Big 12 offenses before they get started by packing top defensive linemen into the box or erasing any matchups on the back end with extra defensive backs as the situation requires. Kwiatkowski has shown a knack for both of these tricks and it’s a good bet he’ll be putting together some packages in the fall to achieve this result.
  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
  On 6/24/2021 at 3:12 PM, BurntOrange&White said:

 

By: Ian Boyd

After a recruiting visit in Austin, 2023 defensive back Jamel Johnson revealed an interesting nugget of information he’d received from defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski.

“He said I fit good into his defense. Sometime they run seven-man DB, so you’re going to play here if you like that.”

A seven-defensive back personnel set is quite the package and certainly one solution for making the most of a deep group of defensive backs. It’s also a good recruiting pitch to be able to explain to young defensive backs why they could have confidence in playing early. Rather than a general, “everyone has a chance to compete here!” or the true but perhaps not particularly exciting, “come play early on special teams!” you can point to real playing time for freshmen on important downs.

You don’t just use those packages for recruiting though, they have real value in attacking offenses. The Longhorns changed their season in 2017 with the “lightning package,” a 3-2-6 lineup they could play on 1st and 10 as easily as on 3rd and 9. Texas’ “.38 special” package in early 2019 was another gamechanger before it was tragically undone by a rash of injuries in the secondary.

Defenses can erase opportunities for spread offenses to easily find matchups and space to throw the ball into by flooding the field with defensive backs. Then there’s a flip side to this coin as well. A defense can also apply pressure up front with packages stocking the field with bigger, explosive guys at defensive line or linebacker. Will Muschamp introduced Texas to the world of modern defense in 2008 by moving running back Henry Melton and linebacker Sergio Kindle to the defensive line while spinning down big defensive end Lamarr Houston into a tackle, then playing with five defensive backs behind them. To spread out the Longhorns, offenses had to be able to handle Houston, Brian Orakpo, Kindle, et al. with just five or six blockers and still be able to find space and matchups with three corners and Earl Thomas on the field.

Today we’re going to look at a few packages Kwiatkowski may have in mind for dictating terms to Big 12 offenses.

Return of the .38 special?

The .38 special package was a short-lived experiment in 2019 designed to maximize Texas’ overabundance of good safeties. The set-up was unreal, it was a collection of speed and athletic talent unlike any you’ve ever seen take the field for a defense.
 
Original .38 special.jpg


The three-down “3” in the 3-8 (.38 special) included outside linebackers Jeff McCulloch and Joseph Ossai as stand-up defensive ends and Malcolm Roach in the nose as the zero-technique. Then Texas had eight off-ball defenders who were all defensive backs (although technically DeMarvion Overshown was playing his current position of middle linebacker) with three cornerbacks and five safeties.

This unit picked off Joe Burrow when he was backed up on his own goal line early in the game against LSU but was compromised by injuries even before the end of the game. Texas was unable to play the .38 on the fateful “3rd and 17” moment where the game was lost. They were also done in throughout the game by the lack of skill out at cornerback. Todd Orlando’s exotic pressures drawn up with all the big, explosive defensive backs hanging around the box couldn’t make up for an inability to cover the Tigers 1-on-1 down the field.

If you glance at the 2021 Texas defensive roster, you’ll notice they again have a large number of solid defensive backs and many of them are holdovers from the days of Orlando’s “lightning” and “.38 special” packages. If we were to take Kwiatkowksi’s words to Johnson as indicative of what’s in the playbook for Texas in 2021, it’s not hard to imagine a seven-DB package from the current roster make-up.

It could look something like this:
 
Revived .38 special.jpg


Texas could flank Ojomo (or the best interior rusher) with outside linebackers like Ray Thornton and the next best of Jacoby Jones, Ben Davis, or Ovie Oghoufo. Behind them you have DeMarvion Overshown, Brenden Schooler, and B.J. Foster around the box. All of those guys can play in the box and blitz and everyone but Ojomo could potentially drop into coverage. Back in coverage Texas could play three cornerbacks and then a pair of safeties.

This would very much be a passing downs package, you wouldn’t ask this crew to hold up on 1st and 10 against anyone in the Big 12, but a dominant third down package is immensely valuable.

If there was a contest where Kwiatkowski wanted an every down, base package with multiple defensive backs, like Orlando’s 3-2-6, he could try something with slightly bigger personnel as he did at Washington against Mike Leach. His base dime look for the Apple Cup would play the Jack with two defensive linemen in a 2-3-6 package.

Something along the lines of this...
 
PK Texas 2-3-6.jpg


...basically a 2-2-7. You get Foster as the “Joker” safety where he excelled as a freshman, replacing the X-backer in the 2-4-5. In this set Texas has some more size on the line to hold up if an opponent runs the football, but they have more flexibility and fewer holes in coverage than in the base 2-4-5. Or they could sub out the nickel and move Schooler back to safety to make a 2-3-6 if keeping David Gbenda or another true linebacker on the field makes the unit stronger overall.

There’s several different configurations Kwiatkowski could concoct against offenses trying to substitute for extra receivers on 3rd down or otherwise trying to win by spreading Texas out and throwing it 50 times. If you don’t disincentive him from sticking with the same 11 players every snap he’s not going to do so.

You couldn’t play these games against Tom Herman’s Longhorns because they stayed in 11 personnel and could run power run sets or empty spread sets without substituting. Many Big 12 teams don’t have flexible, hybrid personnel to allow them to mimic this approach. They will substitute in receivers or blockers and make plain their intentions, usually on downs where the situation (3rd and 8, or 3rd and 1) already makes their intentions obvious. If you have a multi-defensive back package you can deny those offenses a chance to find any easy matchups.

Texas once again has depth in the secondary to build something like the .38 special, which if it hadn’t fallen apart due to injuries might have made for a wildly different season in 2019. A base dime defense is less likely due to Kwiatkowski’s emphasis on match coverage and having a guy like Overshown at linebacker, both of which already make the 2-4-5 pretty flexible. So the Longhorns don’t really need anything like Orlando’s 3-2-6, but something like the .38 special could be immensely valuable.

Getting big in the red zone

Texas doesn’t just have a plethora of solid defensive backs to rotate or sub into the game. They also have several big, athletic options along the defensive line. In fact, they are facing a potential dilemma come fall if sophomore Alfred Collins flips a switch and consistently reveals the NFL 3-technique he’s shown flashes of becoming. Moro Ojomo is already putting together a “draft me!” skill set at the same position and Keondre Coburn and T’Vondre Sweat give the Longhorns two more huge assets at nose tackle.

Kwiatkowski has a few good blitzing athletes at linebacker who can bring some size and explosiveness off the perimeter along with bigger box safeties in Schooler and Foster. Plus he has
the scheme to help put it all together. Here’s a set he would utilize in the red zone or against teams playing with bigger personnel at Washington, drawn up with Texas defenders:
 
DMO 46 nickel.jpg

Shark = Jamison, Black Panther = Ojomo

There’s a million ways to draw this one up as well. It’s a 46 front, which Kwiatkowski showed from his nickel package in the spring game. In the spring game he’d slide the jack inside to a 4i or 3-technique and drop one of the linebackers down on the edge like a second X-backer opposite the normal X-backer. The design of the 46 is basically to have a defensive lineman over all five offensive linemen, making it difficult to double team anyone and applying pressure across the entire front.

With the abundance of defensive tackle talent, Texas could sub out the Jack (or bump him outside where I have drawn DMO) to get whichever of Collins or Ojomo is on the bench onto the field. The priority is to get five guys on the line of scrimmage who are major problems for the offensive line. Texas could play with the Jack and X-backer outside of the three defensive linemen with Overshown and another linebacker at their normal inside positions. Or they could bring Overshown on the edge rather than a Jack or X and use a third linebacker or one of the safeties as an inside linebacker. All of those variables can change in accordance with the relative strengths of the roster in a given year. The constants are creating a 5-2 front before the snap.

The foundational contest of offense versus defense between the tackles is a three-on-three battle between the guards and center for the offense and the nose tackle, 3-technique, and inside linebacker on defense. Either side can bring in more players but doing so incurs a bill which will inevitably come due. To win on offense you need to be able to control the point against the two defensive tackles and release someone up to hit the inside linebacker before he’s diagnosed the play and comes flying through the running back’s best window.

A good nose tackle complicates the situation by commanding a double team which frees up the inside linebacker. A great linebacker serves you by arriving too quickly and precisely for the line to have time to make any headway on the tackles, and a great tackle serves you by whipping the guard and forcing the offense to bring a tackle into the fray to avoid a negative play. Now it’s 4-on-3 for the offense but you’re playing short-manned somewhere else.

The 46 front brings in an extra tackle and creates two problems. It becomes extremely hard to double-team the nose and you are really in a numbers crunch on offense if one of your guards can’t reliably hold up 1-on-1 against one of the defensive tackles. It’s not enough to be good at center or guard, you need to be pretty good at all three spots or you can get into trouble in a hurry.

So if both Alfred Collins and Moro Ojomo should end up putting together draftable play at defensive tackle, this set becomes a total nightmare for offenses. You wouldn’t use it between the 20s because you’re giving up some speed and flexibility in coverage to bring another defensive tackle into the interior. In the red zone where the offense runs out of space and needs to overpower you either in coverage or at the line of scrimmage, it becomes a fantastic way to make the line of scrimmage a hellscape for Big 12 offenses.

Trying to overpower this front is not going to be easy. Here’s a double-tackle version of 46 defense against “the touchdown play” Texas used for four years under Tom Herman to pile up scores in the red zone.
 
Touchdown play vs 46 front on goal line.jpg


The offense can only double-team one of the three defensive tackles and the tight end better be able to block DeMarvion Overshown (or whomever is lined up at outside linebacker) 1-on-1. In this example the offense double-teams Coburn and the left tackle and right guard have to win 1-on-1 against Collins and Ojomo. Even if this doesn’t result in Longhorn defenders shooting into the backfield, the odds of clearing out a lane for the running back which can’t quickly be filled by free flowing off-ball defenders is very low.

Even in a quarterback run scheme where the offense can get a numbers advantage, the angles don’t make it easy to keep Coburn or a 3-technique from winning a 1-on-1 and wrecking the play before it starts.

Outside the defense is relying on man coverage, but this is already typically the case in the red zone. In this set at least you get more bang for your buck inside. If the offense is a greater threat to beat man coverage than to power it in with the run game you can drop the outside backers into passing lanes now and again or just not use this package unless they commit to playing extra blockers. Against spread teams with a power run game you can deny them access with a set like this and/or apply a lot of pressure in the pass rush if they want to try and throw it in.

Packaging the Big 12 into a box

Two problems Big 12 teams aren’t well equipped to solve, 1) when they can’t hunt a slower defender in space and 2) when they can’t protect a slower offensive lineman from facing a top athlete 1-on-1.

The dime (and smaller) sub-packages can present the first problem to opponents, the 46 fronts with extra defensive linemen and/or linebackers on the field is useful for bringing the second challenge.

Most Big 12 teams aren’t loaded with high quality talent at every position. If you’ve watched Oklahoma in the Lincoln Riley era you’ll have seen them dominate games in three fashions. First of all, with a perennially fantastic offensive line featuring future pros at three or more positions. Teams don’t really attack them up front, they are just hoping to survive.

Secondly, with elite wide receivers Riley will move around and match up on overwhelmed defensive backs, or attacking run/pass conflicts, or working against defensive coverage rules to run free into the secondary.

Finally, their recent success has owed a lot to putting a pair of linebackers and three defensive linemen on the field together who can run some 46-style fronts of their own and obliterate blocking schemes by always having a 1-on-1 matchup in which their athlete is positioned to blow by some poor sap.

One of Kansas State’s great tricks under Bill Snyder, other than the quarterback run game, was having a million schemes under their belts to enable them to always get help against an opponent’s best players while creating space and matchups for their own top athletes.

Big 12 offenses in general have the Kansas State approach and use spread formations and run/pass conflict to set up their best players to look great while minimizing the exposure of the more limited athletes on the team. Save for against the teams which use tempo to protect themselves, which are less common now Texas Tech has fired David Yost, eliminating or exacerbating matchups is potential kryptonite for Big 12 offenses.

Texas is a bit short on really savvy, inside linebackers who can split the difference between serving as frontline warriors against the run and also being present in the passing game. This needn’t necessarily matter though because they can overwhelm Big 12 offenses before they get started by packing top defensive linemen into the box or erasing any matchups on the back end with extra defensive backs as the situation requires. Kwiatkowski has shown a knack for both of these tricks and it’s a good bet he’ll be putting together some packages in the fall to achieve this result.
Expand  

Alright I made a mistake

  • Haha 5
  • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
Posted

Some team notes from Darius Terrell

  Reveal hidden contents

 

  • Hook 'Em 4

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...