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09-18-2012, 01:35 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-18-2012, 01:37 AM by
fullmetal.)
My take on the last drive (comments welcome)--
First play:
First and ten, U$C Right tackle #77 Kevin Graf blows it completely, whiffing a block as Stanford #42 Alex Debniak lines up outside of him and jukes past him inside to get to Draco. Wow. Sure, Debniak is lined up covering the tight end, and maybe the tight end was supposed to block him, but both tight end and split end (WR) release downfield immediately. Malfoy is taken down by Debniak, but the pass is complete to Telfer for a gain of 1 as the Stanford secondary comes in immediately and tackles.
There was just a lot of space between the RG and RT in the SC line. Stanford #90, DE Josh Mauro, is lined up over the RG and moves to his right, which caused the RG to move with him, which created that space. Debniak takes two steps towards Graf, freezing Graf, and then moves laterally while out of Graf's arms' reach. Barkley was under center and made the throw falling backward, which was good since it would have been a safety otherwise. Never had a chance, as he was backpedaling the whole play. I feel like Graf thought the TE was going to block Debniak.
Second play:
Second and nine, Barkley in the shotgun, one back and tight end to his left, two receivers wide left, one wide right. Freshman U$C receiver #15 Nelson Agholor from the right runs a ~16-yd crossing route and catches the ball right just outside the right hash mark (beating Terrence Brown in man), but #29 Ed Reynolds is there to lay a hit that separates the ball from Nelson, who is 6'1" 185 lbs. Reynolds, a junior, is 6'2" 207 lbs and running in at an angle to meet Nelson. Pop. Oh also, Debniak lines up with a hand in the dirt in the same place covering the TE, who makes momentary contact with Debniak before releasing. Graf picks up Debniak as he backpedals, and they move past Barkley before Debniak ducks under Graf to the right and lays hands on Barkley just enough to knock him sideways a bit. The pressure is there Matt. You can sense it through the Force, can't you?
Ed Reynolds is the man here.
Third play:
Third and nine, five wide, three left and two right, with Draco under center. Stanford has five men on the defensive line (it's AJ Tarpley lined up over the center, ha). Skov is lined up over the right tackle behind the line, while Debniak is on the line but standing up, over to the right tackle's right (at that 4-technique spot that apparently he owns this drive). Curtis McNeal is lined up in the slot to the right, and way off to the right is Robert Woods. At the snap, Debniak drops back into coverage, while Skov abuses the right tackle, again moving into space to the tackle's left. The rest of the offensive line has shifted way left to deal with the three rushers on the line and a fourth blitzer from the defensive backfield (yeah, Stanford rushed five). Skov was held by our friend Graf and did not reach Barkley (I think he could have sacked him!), but he sure reminded Barkley that the ball needed to be gone, pronto.
Debniak drops back into coverage, and McNeal runs right at him before veering a bit right downfield. Debniak stays home in his shallow zone and doesn't bite as Terrence Brown picks up coverage on McNeal (well, I think he would have if the ball had gone to McNeal). Woods, from outside, drives an underneath shallow slant route and catches the ball just left of the right hashmark, but Debniak is there to drag him down. How shallow was the route? $C gains five yards on the play when they needed nine. Well, this is four-down territory anyway. Good assignment football. No way Terrence Brown, who was playing with a 5-yd cushion, could have covered that himself, but Debniak was there to cover the underneath routes.
Fourth play:
Fourth and four, Barkley under center, two wide left and one wide right, TE to the right, and one in the backfield. Stanford rushes five again. Agholor, the far left receiver, takes a five-yard out route, forcing CB Barry Browning to stay with him. The inside left receiver runs outside #15 Amanam and then drifts toward the sideline to make that one-foot-inbounds catch. Sophomore safety #8 Jordan Richards was lined up 18 yards from the LOS on that side and backpedaled to start the play, which meant Amanam was left in one-on-one coverage for the intermediate out route. Great play by Marqise Lee. Whichever Stanford outside rusher who picked up the left tackle absolutely abused the left tackle and nearly got to Barkley in time before the LT just fell on him. First down, $C.
Fifth play:
First and ten, Barkley under center at the left hash, one wide left, a slot receiver right, wideout on the right, and Silas Redd offset to the left in the backfield. Stanford shows four men not named Skov on the line and rushes a slightly different set of four that does include Skov, who was lined up 3-4 yards back from the LOS just about covering the tight end. But there was another down lineman to Skov's right--the tight end's left (the other 4-tech spot). Both the down lineman and Skov rush. The tight end releases past Skov (always a bad idea), looking like a hot route, but Silas Redd also wheels out left in a hot route. The left tackle backpedals and picks up the yet-unidentified Stanford down lineman, leaving Skov an interstate-wide path to Barkley. Just like before, the other Stanford pass rushers move the other way, which helps create that open lane. Barkley backpedals the whole way for his life and throws to Redd, but the pass is behind Redd for an incomplete. Skov does not knock down Barkley, for which Skov will curse Crom's name momentarily.
