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Rice Football Film Room 2019: Previewing UTSA

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The Rice Football Film Room is back after a bye to preview the Owls’ upcoming game against a UTSA offense led by Lowell Narcisse.

Hey y’all, welcome back to the Rice Football Film Room. Hope y’all are as ready for Rice to get back to it after a bye week, especially since they’re a favorite—for the first time this year!—at UTSA this weekend.

UTSA, like Rice, has had a tough year, but thanks to a considerably easier schedule, they’re sitting at 2-4 with wins over Incarnate Word and UTEP. The outlook just got worse for them with the announcement that dual-threat QB Frank Harris is out for the rest of the season.

Harris will be replaced by Lowell Narcisse, the former 4-star LSU transfer (by way of a junior college), who packs a similar running threat in his large, athletic frame but is a considerably worse passer than Harris. Let’s talk a look at two plays that illuminate Narcisse’s game, both from the Roadrunners’ win over UTEP a couple weeks ago.

A Dangerous Runner

Setup

It’s first and goal for UTSA at the UTEP 9. UTSA is in 12 personnel with Narcisse in the shotgun, a TE and H-back to the right of the formation, and a running back behind and to the left of Narcisse. UTEP has nine guys in the box, with five on the line, and they’re playing off on both receivers.

The Play

It’s an inside zone read, with the H-back coming across the formation to fake a slice block (to make the end man on the line think it’s a split zone handoff) before slipping out to arc block if Narcisse pulls the ball. This has the effect of simplifying Narcisse’s read on the play: if the defender that he’s reading slips inside of the H-back’s fake, he can pull the ball. If the defender tries to go wide or engages with the H-back to set the edge, he can hand it off. In a sense it takes away the defender’s ability to muddle the read by “slow-playing” it, which is a common tactic against zone read plays.

Here, it’s a simple enough read: the defender slips inside the H-back to play the running back, and Narcisse pulls it. They’re fortunate that’s the read, because the defender lined up over the UTSA’s right tackle has beaten him inside and probably would have made the play if the ball had been handed to the back.

From there, it’s all about execution. The optioned defender actually does a pretty good job recovering to go after the QB, but he doesn’t have the angle to catch Narcisse, who shows impressive burst to the edge relative to his 6-foot-3, 230-pound frame. The H-back gets an excellent downfield block on the linebacker, and the wide receiver fakes a fade route to draw away the corner. Touchdown, UTSA.

A . . . Risky Passer

Setup

It’s early in the third quarter, with UTSA holding a 10-3 lead in El Paso. UTSA has the ball on the UTEP 18, third and six. They’re in a four-wide set (I can’t tell for sure if it’s 10 or 11 personnel, but it looks like the biggest guy out there is No. 83 Dorian Clark, a receiver, so I think it’s 10), with trips (three receivers) in a bunch formation to the left. It looks like UTEP is in nickel personnel, and at the snap they bring the house and play man coverage.

The Play

It’s a rollout to the trips side, which simplifies things for Narcisse by only requiring him to read half the field. It’s hard to tell what routes the receivers are running because of the camera, but it looks like the No. 3 receiver (the innermost receiver) runs a short out-breaking route, while the other two release vertically. The coverage is pretty good, it seems, because Narcisse doesn’t seem to have anywhere to go with the ball.

UTEP gets two good shots at Narcisse but can’t bring him down. LB Sione Tupou barrels unblocked through the line to start, but gets tripped when No. 74 for UTSA wrestles his man to the ground and can’t bring down Narcisse by the ankles. DB Michael Lewis looks to initially be playing man on the running back, but comes for the QB when the back stays in to block. He takes a bad angle, though, and Narcisse shrugs him off.

At this point, though, Narcisse is stumbling toward the sideline, with four UTEP defenders converging on him. As he falls out of bounds, he appears to throw the ball away . . . except he doesn’t. He’s tossed a wobbly duck of a pass to receiver Blaze Moorhead in the end zone, who miraculously makes a diving grab for a UTSA touchdown. It works out for the Roadrunners here, but just about anyone could have told you that pass was, uh, ill-advised.

More: Rice Football at UTSA game preview

So that’s what you’re getting in Narcisse and the UTSA offense. They’ll run the ball a ton with him and spectacularly-named freshman RB Sincere McCormick, while only asking Narcisse to pass when they absolutely have to (he’s completing 42.1 percent of his passes for a positively ghoulish 3.6 yards per attempt, nearly two yards less than his per-carry rushing average). If the Rice defense can continue their stellar run defense coming out of the bye week, they’ll have a great chance at shutting down this UTSA offense completely.

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Rice Football Film Room 2019: Breaking down the UAB game

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The first half of the Rice football season is complete, but before we turn the page, we take one last look at the UAB game in this week’s film room.

It’s time for another edition of the Rice Football Film Room, as we head into a bye week coming off the Owls’ loss in a weird, waterlogged, lightning-delayed game against UAB at Legion Field. Just a couple plays this week, since we’ll have a separate column to look at UTSA next week.

I(-formation) Have the Power! (Toss)

Rice Football

I am so sorry for that heading.

Actually I’m not sorry at all. Anyway! This is Aston Walter’s long touchdown run from the first drive, giving us another example of what it looks like when everything goes to form for the Rice running game. The concept is the same as the power toss Rice ran for a Walter touchdown last week against LA Tech, but the look upfront is different. This shows how you can add variety to a running game just by tweaking formations and personnel but keeping the base concept the same.

Setup

It’s the game’s second play from scrimmage, after a one-yard Walter run. It’s 2nd and 9 at the Rice 36. Rice is in a 12-personnel I-formation (Brendan Suckley is the FB), with a wrinkle. Take a look at the ends of the line. That’s not Clay Servin at left tackle—it’s freshman TE Jack Bradley. It’s an unbalanced look, with Servin instead lined up at right tackle, with Justin Gooseberry kicking out to “tight end”*. UAB has 7 in the box to Rice’s 7 blockers, so the nickel DB (lined up on the seam as the “overhang” defender) could give UAB a numbers advantage in the run game here.

The Play

It’s power toss to the right, with LG Nick Leverett pulling and lead blocking for Walter and Suckley kicking out from his fullback spot to wall the nickel off outside and keep the gap open. With Leverett pulling and No. 14 for UAB, who was lined up outside Bradley, left unblocked, Rice neutralizes UAB’s numbers advantage and is able to get a hat on a hat to the play side.

It’s a slow enough developing play that Leverett can’t get to his man (he wraps around the TE, in this case Gooseberry, and blocks the first guy he sees, inside to out), the SAM linebacker, in time to seal him inside and keep the outside gap open. Instead, he walls him off to the sideline. Now let’s check a still here to see what Aston sees:

Rice Football

The biggest hole here is between Servin and center Brian Chaffin, but if Walter runs there, No. 12 for UAB is going to fill the gap and probably make the tackle for a short gain. Instead, Aston displays stellar vision by choosing the gap between Leverett and Gooseberry, which widens into a chasm as Gooseberry drives his man to the sideline. Walter’s through the hole in a flash, and the routes by Rozner and Austin Trammell have cleared out the DBs to the play side. Walter bends his run to the other side of the field and uses his speed to take it all the way to the house for an early Rice football lead.

Thiiiiiis close

Rice Football, film room

The Setup

It’s the beginning of the second quarter, with Rice still up 7-0. UAB has the ball 3rd and 10 on the Rice 46.

UAB is in a 10 personnel look, with two receivers to each side and the back to Tyler Johnston’s right. Rice is in dime personnel, with three down linemen and Blaze Alldredge and Anthony Ekpe lined up as off-ball linebackers. They’re showing a 1 high look, with Naeem Smith as the deep safety and George Nyakwol lined up just six yards off the ball. This could be a disguise for the coverage, but even before the snap Nyakwol is already moving towards the line, so it looks like this is going to be a single-high coverage.

The Play

It’s Cover 1 Man, with Smith deep and the other DBs playing man on their receivers. Ekpe, Alldredge, and Nyakwol are all blitzing. Ekpe and Alldredge exchange gaps as they close to the line, and the right guard chooses to let Nyakwol by and block Ekpe. This leaves the RB to block Nyakwol, and he manages to hit George just in time to knock him off his trajectory and give Johnston time to make a throw. If he’s a split second later (or if Johnston isn’t as poised), it’s a sack or an incompletion and Rice will have made the stop. But Johnston gets the ball out clean.

He’s looking for slot receiver Kendall Parham, who stems his route vertical before running a fade to the sideline. It’s nothing fancy, but Parham is blazing (pun intended, don’t @ me) fast and Prudy Calderon loses a step as he flips his hips to run with the receiver. Naeem Smith can’t get over the top of the route from the middle of the field (perhaps he initially stepped toward the slot WR from the other side, who fakes a post before breaking into a dig route, but it’s hard to tell from the broadcast view). It’s a well-thrown ball under pressure by Johnston, and a touchdown for UAB.

This play shows the high-risk/high-reward nature of both Rice’s defensive schemes, which require either the pressure to get home or the DBs to hold up in tight man coverage down the field. It also shows the same for UAB’s aggressive downfield passing; this one could have been intercepted if it had been underthrown (by Calderon) or late (by Smith). But this time it’s UAB that executes, and it’s a touchdown for the Blazers.

Notes

*Note that Gooseberry is not actually an eligible receiver on this play because he’s “covered up”—i.e., notice that to the top of the screen Brad Rozner is lined up on the line of scrimmage. Only players lined up in the backfield or as the end man on the line of scrimmage are eligible. An unbalanced look like this could be used for a trick play (a throw to the tackle in the end zone, perhaps), if Rozner just takes a step back off the line. Only time will tell if the Rice coaches love us enough to run such a glorious play. a

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Rice Football Film Room: LA Tech review and UAB preview

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The Week 5 edition of the Rice Football film room centers on Rice’s overtime loss to Louisiana Tech and their upcoming Week 6 opponent, UAB.

Hey y’all, Carter here, and welcome back the Rice Football Film Room. This week, we’ll take a quick look back at the heartbreaker against Louisiana Tech, before moving on to a couple plays from UAB quarterback Tyler Johnston III to get an idea of what the Owls will face in my hometown of Birmingham this week.

LA Tech

How the Rice Offense Should Look!

Rice’s offense, unfortunately, couldn’t get the job done Saturday night despite a stellar effort from the defense. That seems to be a theme this season. Still, in the first two drives we saw an extended glimpse of what the staff wants this offense to look like, and they were extremely effective in executing on those drives. Let’s take a look at Aston Walter’s first touchdown run.

Rice Football

Setup

We’re less than five minutes into the first quarter, and Rice has marched the ball downfield to the LA Tech 16-yard line on its opening drive. The Owls are in 22 personnel, with both Jaeger Bull and Jordan Myers on the left side of the line, Wiley Green under center, and FB Brendan Suckley and Walter in the I formation. LA Tech has three down linemen, three more guys walked up to the line, and four other guys in or close to the box to match Rice’s heavy personnel.

The Play

It’s a power toss, with Suckley kicking out the edge defender and RG Shea Baker pulling to lead the way for Walter. The OL do their jobs well. LG Nick Leverett does get driven back, but he stays engaged long enough to keep his man from blowing up the play (it’s not how you start a block—it’s how you finish it!). Suckley seals his man outside, Bull drives his two yards deep, Myers redirects his inside, and the gap is there for Baker to lead Walter through.

Amusingly, the LB that would’ve been Baker’s responsibility gets caught in the wash, and he never ends up having to block anyone at all. Bull’s man eventually manages to disengage, but only after he’s several yards downfield. At that point, Walter has built up too much speed for him to make the tackle. It’s a touchdown for Rice.

Great run blocking doesn’t mean every defender gets pancaked, especially when there are as many bodies involved as there are on this play. A lot of times it’s just about everybody doing their job just long enough to give the ballcarrier a chance to make the play. If Rice’s linemen, fullbacks, and tight ends can have the level of execution play in and play out that they did on these first two drives, they’ll be tough for C-USA teams to stop.

UAB

UAB’s defense has led the way for them so far, with the Blazers in the top 15 in the country in both total and scoring defense thus far. Those measures aren’t opponent- or tempo-adjusted (UAB hasn’t played any Power 5 opponents so far as compared to Rice’s three), but it’s safe to say they’re playing well on that side of the ball. The offense has lagged behind some—RB Spencer Brown (19.5 carries a game) and QB Tyler Johnston III (10.5 carries a game) are averaging a combined 3.4 yards per carry.

The Blazers use that ground game to set up aggressive play-action shots from Johnston. They’re at the best when he’s executing those, as he did in their 35-3 victory over South Alabama, when he threw for 313 yards and 3 TDs. But if he’s not on his game, that aggression can backfire, as it did in his 4-INT performance in their 20-13 loss to WKU last week. Let’s take a look at a play from each game to show the good and the bad for Johnston.

You Win Some . . .

Rice Football

Setup

It’s early in the first quarter against South Alabama (no score yet), and UAB has the ball 1st and 10 on their own 33. UAB’s in 12 personnel, with an inline TE to the boundary and an H-back, the RB, and two receivers to the field. USA’s in nickel personnel, showing a split safety look.

The Play

It’s a play-action rollout, cutting the field in half for Johnston. As the camera pans to Johnston, we lose sight of the receivers and DBs, but UAB looks to be running some form of the smash concept, with the outside receiver’s underneath route drawing the corner in to let the inside receiver Kendall Parham isolate on a safety with his corner route. This is exactly what happens, and Parham beats the safety cleanly. Johnston hits him over the top, and it’s a long touchdown for UAB.

Notice that Johnston hesitates a bit before throwing the ball once he finishes his rollout, but he drives the ball well enough that Parham only has to slow a little bit to catch it. The safety almost catches him afterwards, but Parham slips through his diving tackle attempt. It didn’t hurt Johnston here, but that hesitation can be costly for quarterbacks, as we’ll see in the next clip.

. . . You Lose Some

Rice football, film room

Setup

We’re about halfway through the 1st quarter of what will eventually be a tight loss for UAB. The Blazers have the ball 1st and 10 at about their own 38, up 3-0. They’re in 11 personnel, with two receivers to the field and a single receiver, the back, and an H-back to the boundary. WKU’s in nickel personnel with a split safety look.

The Play

It’s play action again, and Johnston is looking to hit the post route by the #2 receiver (the slot) to the field side. WKU drops into what looks to be Cover 4, commonly known as Quarters. It’s a 4-deep, 3-under look which is a very common way of defending spread offenses (which most college football offenses are now, of course) in today’s game. It’s predicated on having safeties who can read their keys quickly and flow downhill against the run, while also being athletic enough to play man on vertical routes by the inside receivers.

Here, the outside receivers release vertically, so the corners play man on them. The safeties read the releases of the No. 2 receivers (the slot and the H-back). If they go vertical up the seams, the safeties have them in man. The slot does so, so the free safety bails deep to stay over the top of his route. The H-back stays in to block, so the strong safety stays put and reads the QB. Meanwhile, the nickelback and the SAM (strongside) linebacker head to their zones in the flats. The MIKE, No. 36 Kyle Bailey, sinks back into the shallow middle (the “middle hook”) zone.

More: Why Intellectual Brutality remains a staple of the Rice offense

Johnston wants the slot receiver on the post route. Neither of the safeties have really bit on the play action and there are no, so he needs to throw it in front of the sinking free safety, but away from the strong safety, who’s read his eyes and is breaking hard underneath the route. Bailey, the MLB, takes a few steps forward on the run action, and I think that’s what keys Johnston to make the pass. Here’s what he sees as he reaches the end of his dropback.

Decision time

Rice Football, film room

The slot hasn’t made his cut yet, but the ball has to come out now. This is what we mean when we talk about throwing with anticipation. A great QB has to know when the ball needs to get to a receiver and trust that his guy will be there when it does. If Johnstown throws now and is accurate, the ball will get to his receiver right after he’s broken toward the middle of the field, with space to run away from the FS, who is still sinking to keep from getting beat. Neither the MIKE nor the SS will have time to get under the throw before it arrives.

But Johnston hesitates at the top of his drop, and that makes the difference. Bailey, who does a great job of recovering, has time to drop back into his zone and turn his eyes back to the QB in time to snag the ball.. Additionally, the SS has had time to break under the throw and probably would have made the pick if Bailey hadn’t. If Johnston releases the ball on time, he has space to fit this throw in. As it is, the receiver is essentially triple-covered by the time the ball arrives. It’s the first of four picks on the day for UAB’s QB.

More: Check out the game preview for Rice vs UAB

Now, I don’t mean to pick on Johnston here. Even very very talented QBs can take a long time to develop the skill to make anticipatory throws—Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts, who’s putting up superhuman stats so far this year, struggled to get the ball out on time during his first two years at Alabama. And UAB’s offense has him making very aggressive throws, which means that his INT numbers are going to be higher than they would in a safer system.

My point though, is I think Rice football has a really good shot of nabbing their first interception (maybe more) on Saturday. If the Owls’ DBs can be in tight coverage as they have most of the year, UAB’s aggressive throws and Johnston’s slow trigger will give them some opportunities to turn the ball over and maybe spark some life into their offense as well.

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Rice Football Film Room: Baylor review and LA Tech preview

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Rice football embarks on conference play this week, but first, there’s some film break down. This week Carter tackles three key plays.

Hey y’all, it’s time for the Rice Football Film Room again! This week we’re gonna look at a couple plays from Rice’s game last week against Baylor, breaking down an early defensive highlight from Blaze Alldredge (of course) and then Tom Stewart’s late touchdown run to put Rice within a score. Then we’ll look at an early play from Louisiana Tech’s win over FIU in Week 4, to show the improvement in their run game, spearheaded by RB Justin Henderson.

BAYLOR

Blaze Alldredge—Defensive End?

Rice Football

Setup

It’s Baylor ball, 4:36 left in the first quarter, 1st and 10 on the Rice 23, no score. Baylor is in 12 personnel, with the QB in the gun and the back behind and to his right. There’s an inline TE on each side of the line, with the one on the right being No. 91 Rob Saulin, a 6-foot-5, 302-pound behemoth whom Baylor lists as a “TE/DT” on their roster.

Notice, though, that Saulin is “covered up”—the wide receiver to the boundary is also on the line of scrimmage. That means that Saulin is not an eligible receiver; only players on the ends of the line of scrimmage and in the backfield are eligible on passing plays. So if this ends up being a pass, Saulin cannot get more than three yards down the field; the formation (and indeed his very presence on the field) suggests that this is probably going to be a run play.

Rice has a normal group of personnel out there, but as is DC Brian Smith’s wont, they’re in some unusual spots. Anthony Ekpe is playing the Viper position instead of his usual Rush OLB. Typical starting Viper Treshawn Chamberlain is standing directly behind MLB Antonio Montero at the snap. And WLB Blaze Alldredge is on the boundary side of the defensive line with his hand in the dirt as a defensive end.

The Play

It is indeed a running play, and in fact, it’s GT Counter, the same play I highlighted for Baylor in last week’s Film Room. The only difference is that they’re in 12 personnel instead of 11, with a backside TE (Saulin) to help seal off the DE (in this case Alldredge).

But the 302-pound Saulin isn’t nearly fast enough to block Blaze Alldredge, who knifes inside through the C-gap at the snap and meets the back five yards behind the line of scrimmage for a TFL. Even if Saulin manages to slow him down or block him completely, this play was probably doomed for Baylor regardless. Take a look at the pullers: the guard gets his block on Rice DE Jacob Doddridge, but Antonio Montero slips by the tackle, who lunges for him and falls. Maybe the RB would have managed to reverse direction, but in that case, one of Alldredge, Myles Adams, or Isaiah Richardson (No. 23 for Rice) would have probably made the play.

Ramblin’ Tom Scores Again!

Rice Football

Setup

Rice ball, 8:49 to go in the fourth quarter, 1st and 10 from the Baylor 21, Baylor leading 21-6. Rice is in 12 personnel, with Stewart in the pistol, Jaeger Bull and Jordan Myers lined up at H-back, Austin Trammell and Brad Rozner split wide, and Austin Walter as the RB.

Baylor is in 3-3-5 personnel, with all three linebackers bunched up close to the line. Note that Rice has numbers in the run game: seven blockers to six in the box. If Rice can get a hat on a hat, Baylor will need its DBs to play extremely aggressively in run support to stop this play.

The Play

The play is meant to look like split zone—a running play that’s similar to inside zone, except that the frontside H-back (in this case, Myers) runs parallel to the line for what’s called a slice block to help seal off the backside. Right tackle Brandt Peterson climbs to the second level, chipping a linebacker before passing him off to Bull and heading further downfield. Bull engages with that linebacker, leaving the defensive end unblocked initially. The end, thinking it’s split zone, slips inside of Myers to make the tackle on Walter (if it were actually split zone, the end would be Myers’s responsibility on the slice block).

Except it’s not split zone—it’s good ol’ inside zone read, with the added wrinkle that Myers is actually doing an arc block instead of a slice block. The end crashes inside to go for Walter, and it’s an easy read for Tom Stewart to pull the ball, with Myers now essentially lead-blocking for him. Myers, seeing that the linebacker has pushed his way past Bull, moves in to double team him, clearing the way for Stewart to get the edge.

More: The Roost Podcast Ep 9 – Baylor Review and LA Tech Preview

Now it’s up to one of Baylor’s three interior DBs to make the play, since Rozner’s vertical route has cleared the cornerback. No. 1 and No. 8 take themselves out of the play because they don’t realize that Stewart has the ball and not Walter! The man in the middle, No. 3, correctly diagnoses the play but Peterson does an excellent job to square him up in the open field, and by the time he disengages Stewart is already past him.

I think the only players on the field Tom Stewart is faster than is his own offensive line, but this is now his second 10-plus yard zone read touchdown on the year. RUN IT TILL THEY FEAR YOU, TOM.

LOUISIANA TECH

Henderson Off to the Races

Rice Football

The Setup

9:36 left in the first half and FIU and Louisiana Tech are locked in a 3-3 tie. It’s Tech ball at the FIU 29, 2nd and 5. The Bulldogs are in 10 personnel, with two receivers split wide to either side and QB J’Mar Smith in the shotgun with RB Justin Henderson. FIU is showing a 4-2-5 look, with a single high safety out of view (looks like they’re in Cover 3).

The Play

It’s a tackle-lead option run, though not one I’m familiar enough with to know of a universally-accepted name for. It’s not exactly zone read because the tackle pulls, but it’s maybe closer to that than tackle-power read, because power read usually involves reading the edge defender on the front side of the line of scrimmage (that is, the side that the puller is heading for).

Names aside, it’s easy to see how the play works. The tackle pulls to lead the way if it’s a handoff, leaving his defender unblocked for the QB to read. For the QB, then, it’s exactly like zone read: if the end stays home, hand it off. If he crashes, pull the ball.

In this case, the end does what’s called “slow playing” the option. He doesn’t exactly crash, but he sort of shuffles his feet while keeping his shoulders parallel to the line. The idea is to muddle the QB’s read, slow his decision-making, and be in a position to make the tackle regardless of who gets the ball. Normally a QB should react to this by handing the ball off, because that’s the quicker-hitting play. That’s what Smith does, although the end gets so far inside by the time they’re at the mesh point that a more athletic QB (no offense to Smith, but his career YPC is 2.6) probably could have pulled it and beaten him around the backside.

More: Check out the game preview for Rice vs Louisiana Tech

The OL has done its job (the LG, in particular, does a stellar job of getting leverage and turning his man toward the sideline), and there’s a big hole for Henderson to run through. But in this case, the end’s slow play has worked to perfection and he’s there to make the play. One of FIU’s DTs, who’s engaged with the RG, also manages to free an arm in time to grab Henderson as he runs through the hole.

Justin Henderson has other ideas, however. He simultaneously breaks free of both the end (who should have him dead to rights) and the DT’s attempted arm tackle, stiff arms another defender, accelerates, bounces the run outside, and scores to give Tech the lead.

No doubt Louisiana Tech’s offense will run primarily on the arm of Smith, but Henderson’s emergence in the run game gives them a new tool to maintain balance on offense. Rice’s front seven will need to continue to wrap up and gang tackle as well as they did in nonconference play to keep the Bulldogs off schedule and behind the chains.

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Rice Football Film Room: Texas review and Baylor preview

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Rice football has three games in the books and a lot of film to look through. This week Carter reviews Texas and previews Baylor.

Hey everyone! Welcome back to the film room. Not a lot of positives to take out of that Texas game, sadly, but I do want to highlight one play that shows some great work by the Rice football front seven on defense. Then we’ll switch things up and make this a preview column by looking at a particularly illustrative play from Baylor’s offense in their win against UTSA, so y’all can get an idea of what to expect from them on Saturday.

TEXAS: UT Ball, 2nd and 3, 8:04 3rd quarter

Setup

Texas is in an 11 personnel shotgun spread set. The back is behind Ehlinger and to his right and an H-back to that side of the line. Rice is showing a three man front, with JaVante Hubbard at a 0-tech nose and Myles Adams and Kenneth Orji as stand-up defensive ends.

Prudy Calderon is off the line to the strong side, ready to either cover the H-back or contain a backside QB run. Blaze Alldredge and Anthony Ekpe are at off-ball linebacker, and George Nyakwol has crept up in between the two and is already blitzing into the A-gap at the snap.

The Play

It looks like this is a zone read, because Ehlinger appears to be focusing on Myles Adams at the snap. Since Adams has to go around the H-back, he doesn’t crash quickly enough to tackle the back, and so Ehlinger makes the right read and hands it off. It could be that it’s a called hand-off, with the H chipping Adams long enough to keep him from making the play, but it looks more like he’s trying to get to Prudy Calderon in case Ehlinger keeps it.

Blaze Alldredge’s is the star here. He flows to the B gap, stacks and sheds the right guard, and slides into the backfield to make the tackle. But the rest of the Rice front is great on this play as well. The right tackle can’t stay engaged with Ekpe, who might have managed to stop the play for no gain had the back gotten by Alldredge.

Hubbard backs the reaching right guard two yards into the backfield, as does the 182-lb Nyakwol with UT’s 300-pound center (!!). Both are eventually overpowered, but not till after they’ve clogged up the interior gaps. Orji turns the left tackle perpendicular to the line to seal the edge, preventing the back from bouncing the play outside (which is critical—if Orji doesn’t hold the edge, the back is gone by the time Alldredge sheds his blocker). Even Adams stays in pursuit long enough to have chased down the back if Alldredge had merely plugged his gap instead. It’s a loss of one.

BAYLOR: BU Ball, 1st and 10, 9:45 1st Quarter

Rice Football

Setup

Here’s a play from early in Baylor’s win over UTSA in Week 2. I picked it to illustrate the kind of headaches an aggressive spread run scheme like Baylor’s can cause. Baylor’s in 11 personnel, with all three receivers and the back to the right and the TE to the left. UTSA is in a basic 4-man front nickel package.

The Play

The base run play here is called GT Counter, in which both the backside guard and tackle pull to clear the way for the running back. It’s a popular play these days, in particular being the staple of Oklahoma’s run game. It can be run out of a number of variations and with a variety of options built into it, so it’s a versatile play to have in your book.

Here, it starts with a basic spread option read. The backside defensive end is left unblocked, and the QB will read him, exactly like zone read. If he stays wide, the QB hands it off. If he crashes inside, the QB keeps. Here the DE does what’s called “attacking the mesh”—he sprints upfield to the mesh point, hoping the QB won’t make the read quickly enough and that he’ll be able to make the play no matter who has the ball. It’s a good way to defend these plays if you’ve got a really athletic end, but it’s risky because if the QB decides quickly you can get burned.

Here, Charlie Brewer does what every QB should in this situation (handoff as quickly as possible), and the end takes himself out of the play. From there, UTSA has clogged the middle enough to force Trestan Ebner to cut it back, but once he does there’s nobody in between him and the first down marker, and it’s a big play all the way to the red zone.

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But this isn’t just a basic option run play—it’s an RPO. Take a look at the innermost slot receiver (what the defense would mark as the No. 3 receiver). As the outer two receivers clear out and set up to block, he goes out for a screen. So actually Brewer’s read here is probably that if the end doesn’t crash inside (or attack the mesh), he pulls the ball out and throws the screen. Some teams, Oklahoma included, will run plays like this but keep the QB run option, making it a true triple option with the screen replacing the pitch.

That play pretty well encapsulates the basic idea of Baylor’s offense. They’re built around a couple of core run concepts, which they use to build out a playbook filled with option runs, play-action and RPOs.

I made the Oklahoma comparison a couple of times, and it’s similar to what they do in their run/option/RPO packages, but without the Air Raid passing roots of Lincoln Riley. It’s more wide open than the old school offense Matt Rhule ran as the head coach at Temple, but it’s still built on running the football. It’s relatively simple for the offensive players to run but deceptively difficult for defensive players to recognize and stay disciplined on the plays. Hopefully Rice football is up to the challenge.

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