Nixon first play of ot | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

Nixon first play of ot

You know it’s wild…. I left the Pitt game and I said man I’m not sure Nixon knows What he is doing.

I left the Dome on Saturday and said wow Nixon impressed me with the change of game plan.

I still don’t know what we have with Nixon which is wild to me

No way I put what happened at Pitt on Nixon. It was all on a line that couldn't hold up against the pressure and McCord trying to fit the ball into too small of a window, several times. His game planning has been solid all year.
 
Great play call, but man, our two tight ends basically made no contact on their blocks.
that play really would take some practice for the D to play it well.

if you over play it the WR gets a free release

if the trailing DB doesnt follow the RB he is toast

if the DB does follow the RB then the shortside WR has 1x1 with no safety

the DB with Meeks is also trying to watch the RB. Meeks would have free outside release over the top


if the oline guys stay in to block the D has all sorts of windows that might be throwable.

I wonder how many plays we run off it other than straight runs


but imagine you do this play on 3rd and short.

the D would have to play it tight and the Screen to Allen is there, but that also allows the OG/Valari free release throws.
Meeks doesn't run much of a fade, as shown in the diagram.
 
No way I put what happened at Pitt on Nixon. It was all on a line that couldn't hold up against the pressure and McCord trying to fit the ball into too small of a window, several times. His game planning has been solid all year.
So what did SMU do differently?
 
So what did SMU do differently?
They ran the ball and used their superior speed to take advantage of the 1-1 situations that we could not make Pitt pay for. I was very impressed with SMU's speed.
 
So what did SMU do differently?
They didn't do what exactly I said McCord did. McCord takes a lot of chances with his throws. He's been pretty spot on most of the time. However, the Pitt game, he either read the CB's wrong or thought he could squeeze it in. Plus, the one interception that was caught by the guy lying on his stomach was fluky as all get out.
 
McCord made the quick throws into tight coverage

The one in the flat was just a poor decision he didnt see

He forced the one to the TE

A couple were bad luck

even with no blocking and all that still got 330 yds out of an offense that had no rushing game

The question is , did the new less RPO scheme make a difference that we will see going forward or was it just a one time thing vs VT.,
 
Yes, popcorn pass.
I wondered why it seemed like McCord's passing yardage went up. That was a reception. Watching it on TV since it cut in to him running I figured it was just a handoff out of a weird formation.
 
Thanks for pointing that out, must have missed the other 10 posts saying that and my own post acknowledging my error.
2 of the VT players are smudged together since they’re wearing all whites.
 
2 of the VT players are smudged together since they’re wearing all whites.
Are you sure? Maybe it's a Siamese twin situation.

Stuck-on-You-football-photo.png
 
One thing that I have come to realize, and many will dispute (which is fine), is that play calling, while important, is actually overrated.

Here’s my hierarchy:
  1. Talent (how good are we, and are we facing Bama, Wake or Wagner?)
  2. Execution
  3. Play Calling
(Similar/identical on the defensive side of the ball)

There are terrific play calls that get blown up by one missed assignment (happpens way, way, way more than anyone thinks, especially at the college level).

And, conversely, there are ‘meh’ play calls that hit big. Most often due to lack of execution on the defensive front.

And really, only the coaches themselves know, because they know the call and the assignments. This is the fatal flaw of PFF.

My takeaway, execution > play calls.

Football is a fascinating sport.
I would respectfully disagree a little bit with this take. Take a look at Florida State/ USC/ Auburn etc. There are plenty of teams with lots of talent that underachieve because of bad coaching. Look how Marrone succeed with the (supposedly poor) talent he inherited. He succeeded with good coaching/execution/play calling. As long as there’s not a huge difference in talent, talent is probably the third most important thing. Ohio State, Georgia, Texas are teams with excellent talent that are well coached, Florida State is a team with excellent talent that is poorly coached. I would bet anything if Lane Kiffin or Rhett Lashley were the offensive coordinator for Florida State, (calling the plays), they would not be 1-7.

In my opinion, no matter what offense you run, no matter the skill (athleticism) of the players, and no matter who your offensive coordinator is, execution is usually the most important thing. The service academies who excel at this are a great example. On paper, they are the LEAST talented teams, but great execution and discipline are equalizers. Very rarely on a play do you actually get 11 players doing everything they can do to make the play succeed. They get that effort more than most teams. Look at the play that started this discussion. We had four blockers with 10 yards of open field in front of them, maybe the greatest “convoy” we ever had, and NOT ONE of them made a block. at least Gadsden “tried”. If Reed and Villari actually blocked the guys that made the tackle, Laquint probably scores.

We destroyed a good Georgia Tech team because we executed that day, we lost to a bad Stanford team because we did not execute that day. The talent on our team was the same both days.

Right behind execution, (because it’s the foundation for everything) ,would be playcalling. Being an offensive coordinator/play caller is the single hardest coaching job in any sport at any level. understanding different defensive formations, and their weaknesses, at game speed, and dialing up plays quickly and effectively is HARD. With our team and our talent, what do you think our record would be if our offensive coordinator/play caller was George McDonald?

but if the disparity in talent is too great, then that is the most important thing.
 
Last edited:
VT HAD 12 ON THE FIELD!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
170,560
Messages
4,899,541
Members
6,004
Latest member
fsaracene

Online statistics

Members online
347
Guests online
1,610
Total visitors
1,957


...
Top Bottom