Top Drives SEC Games in 2013

In the middle of the off-season what else can we do but look optimistically toward the next season? Going 0 for 8 in Conference play last year did not give many reasons for positive expectations, but looking closer there were a few small peeks at what this team can be on offense. Several times last season we caught a view of a small spark of a successful drive only to be stamped out by the cold blowing wind of a turnover, defensive miscue or untimely injury.

"Where we are at as a program right now we have to be opportunistic and create some first downs and some bonus possessions. We are 50/50 on that stuff... its very frustrating." Bret Bielema 11/2/13 Auburn Post Game Press Conference

That pretty much summed up the offense last season. Jim Chaney as the play caller had to implement as many ways to out scheme each opponent as he could in 2013. They had to take chances on reverses, HB passes, deep balls that are 50/50 at best, and the occasional fake punt. Amongst all this there were some examples of drives where every thing worked smoothly, and both the rushing game,  and passing game clicked together.

#3 Top Offensive Drive 2013

Arkansas vs Texas A&M 4:42 3rd Quarter

1st Play:

1st and 10 at ARK 35

Keon Hatcher rush for 9 yards to the Ark 44.

From the midpoint of the season on a big part of the Arkansas offense was the WR reverse. So much attention was being placed on the inside running game by the defense that the best way to get outside was with this play.
2nd Play:

2nd and 1 at ARK 44

Kiero Small rush for 3 yards to the Ark 47 for a 1ST down.

Kiero Small out of the Wildcat/Wildhog/Heavy Hog whatever you want to call it, gets enough for the 1st down.

3rd Play:

1st and 10 at ARK 47

Brandon Allen pass incomplete to Javontee Herndon.

Chaney calls a deep shot to Herndon where Allen forces into double coverage. Not the best play of this drive, but it forces A&Ms already struggling Defense to play deeper coverage.
4th Play:

2nd and 10 at ARK 47

Brandon Allen pass complete to Keon Hatcher for 15 yards to the TexAM 38 for a 1ST down.

5th Play, 6th, 7th  Plays:

1st and 10 at TA&M 38		TEXAS A&M penalty 15 yard Pass Interference on De'Vante Harris accepted.
1st and 10 at TA&M 23		Alex Collins rush for 2 yards to the TexAM 21.
2nd and 8 at TA&M 21		Alex Collins rush for 2 yards to the TexAM 19.

Henry is able to draw a pass interference penalty off of a play action pass down the sideline. After the penalty Collins is given two consecutive runs inside the tackles with only short gains.

8th Play:

3rd and 6 at TA&M 19

Brandon Allen pass complete to Jonathan Williams for 19 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.

38

33

Arkansas lines up in an offset I with Hunter Henry at TE to the short side and the two WRs stacked tight on the hash mark to the wide side. Texas A&M sends a blitz off the corner which leaves no one to cover the back on the swing route. Williams makes some impressive moves and manages to get in the End Zone bringing Arkansas with 5 points of the Aggies. The extra pass protection from FB Kiero Small and Henry gave Brandon Allen plenty of time to find Williams and give him the opportunity to make a big play. The Texas A&M poor tackling and defense as a whole were on exhibit for this drive but it was a good example of quality play calling and good decision making at the QB position. Brandon Allen was able to march down the field with the help of some playmakers out in the open.

In 2014 a more drives like this on a consistent basis will be needed to erase the memory of last season.

Check back for Drive #2 of the Top 3 Offensive Drives of 2013 (There were more successful drives than these 3 but it takes a lot of work to break down more than that number!)

Also take a look at my other articles over at the Razorback SB Nation Site: ARKANSASFIGHT.com

Robb Smith Defense: Part 3 of Defending Auburn

In the final part I will look at what experience Robb Smith has in defending the Inside Zone Read and what schemes he may employ.

Robb Smith took over for Chris Ash at Arkansas after working as the linebackers coach for Greg Schiano with the Tampa Bay Bucs. Prior to that he was the Defensive Coordinator with Schiano at Rutgers in 2012 where his defense was 4th in the nation only allowing 14.2 points per game. During his time with the Scarlet Knights they did not play a lot of Spread to run teams like Auburn so there is not a wealth of information on what kind of game plan he has put together in the past. 

Here are a few games that may give a picture of what he and Bielema will throw at the Tigers this fall.

Rutgers Vs Louisville (Broken Wrist Teddy Bridgewater Version)
Louisville: Bridgewater was not a threat to run and the backup Will Stein picked up a few yards by taking off but they did not run any Read concepts. They did however run the inside zone some with not much success. 

Rutgers front was too much for the Louisville oline, but Bridgewater was able to stand in against pressure on a few occasions and complete passes down field against single coverage. 

On this play Louisville runs the Inside Zone, and Rutgers has the perfect blitz call, somehow the back escapes to pick up a short gain but with three tacklers.  The Louisville Oline is completely confused because the DE to the play side and the 3 tech both slant one gap inside and the safety replaces his outside gap but is untouched into the backfield.



Overall Smith D contained the Louisville rushing attack, caused turnovers and limited big plays. Without the play of Bridgewater this game would not have been nearly as close. 

Syracuse and QB Ryan Nassib vs Rutgers (More of a Spread to throw offense than run)
Syracuse: Rutgers only gave up 62 yards rushing on 32 carries, but gave up almost 400 yds passing to Ryan Nassib. Smiths defense was able to pressure Syracuse and cause them to turn the ball over. Specifically in the run game Rutgers sent edge blitzers from the field and boundary to disrupt the Zone Running game. The problem areas came in a similar fashion to the Arkansas vs Rutgers game in 2012. Man to man coverage over the middle.

Here is an example below where Smith calls a base defense on 1st down.

Pre Snap Alignment:

He has his front aligned in the usual odd front with a 1 and 3 tech tackles. His DE is in a 5 technique to the boundary and a 4 to the TE side. Corners are in press bail technique and what looks to be a Man Cover 1. 

Able to get pressure on the QB and played a physical style that left the Syracuse Oline dazed and confused at times. 



Keys to defending the Auburn version of Inside Zone:


Playing the Crack Block:

"Anytime you play a defensive structure where your force player is a second, or more importantly third level player (like a Safety) it’s important to train your players to identify crack blocks on the perimeter. Once an offense knows you’re supporting the run with a third level player (which will be the case with Robb Smiths Quarters Coverage Safety) they will do their best to try and block him with a receiver.The way to keep that from happening, defensive coaches work hard on identifying and playing crack blocks. Most teams run a "Crack/Replace" drill. It then becomes the Corners job to set the edge while the Safety runs the alley. Its predominately used against perimeter run oriented teams that utilize fast flow schemes like flash or jet sweep." (Auburn) xandolabs.com

Auburn likes to do this when teams are packing 8 and 9 players in the box. 

Auburn combines these concepts: Inside Zone, Read, and the jet sweep/ Buck Sweep to take advantage of the over pursuit of the linebackers. Throw in the quick bubble and other less used plays, and it is apparent why teams have such a hard time.

Outline of my opinion of what the Bret Bielema and Robb Smith game plan will be this fall. 

Emphasis #1: Send pressure off the edge to disrupt the timing of the mesh point and create fewer outlets for the back. 

Emphasis #2: Play outside linebackers close to the line of scrimmage where they can bounce all inside runs to the safety who is responsible for contain along with the corner. 

Emphasis #3: Use slants and twists with the front 4 to disrupt the zone blocking scheme and have opportunities to make tackles in the backfield. 



Many defensive coordinators have a false belief that they can stop it with a base defense. Auburn always seems to have an answer to your game plan…a chess match of sorts with Malzahn; five, six moves ahead eyeing checkmate before you realize your king is in check. He takes the play calling to a point where he and his staff are matching up against the ability of the defense to adjust on the fly.

The offensive line is as good as any in the country and hold the key to beating Auburn. Florida St. was able to defeat double teams at the point of attack with their DTs at times causing havoc in the backfield. That still left them with a last second TD for the win. 

This is what I believe the Arkansas Defense will put on field on Aug 30th.