Tretola TD Pass

Sebastian Tretola 6'5 350lbs.

A few plays from the Alabama game and the last two minutes of the fourth quarter.

Breakdown of what should have been off setting penalty and another personal foul for Bama.

Walker Fumble.

Skipper offsetting penalty:



Last 2:30 of Fourth Quarter:

Skipper Trip:

Defense versus Texas A&M

Drop a NT into coverage, looks like Arkansas has some tricks up its sleeve for the Aggies.

Skipper Pancake vs NIU

And the one arm slam from the TTech game.

Q&A with Warroomeagle from College and Magnolia

Its game week! Arkansas travels to Auburn this weekend, and we will get to write and pick apart some real plays and not just the what if scenarios. Warroomeagle who is a contributor at the SB Nation College and Magnolia site answered a few questions for me about the upcoming matchup. 

The Johnson Package And The Arkansas vs Auburn Gameplan

Over at Arkansas Fight my article is up on what backup QB Jeremy Johnson brings to the Arkansas at Auburn matchup. 

Defensive Coordinator Robb Smith spoke to the media about what they were doing to prepare.  

"We're preparing for Auburn in general," Smith said. "Nobody knows how that (quarterback) will turn out. I'm sure we will see [Marshall] at some point and time and we've got to be ready for it. They've got two great quarterbacks and great personnel across the board on offense."Robb Smith 8/21

I've written previously about Robb Smith's lack of experience against the HUNH and Spread to run style teams. Louisville in 2012 was probably the closest thing that he has faced to what Auburn does and they used more 1 back under center sets.

Malzahn also had some comments to the media at the end of this week,  still not saying who will start.

Here are a few more plays from Jeremy Johnson and Auburn against Texas A&M. 

Tries a back shoulder stop fade at the sticks but the timing is off and throws behind.  

Lets see how long he is actually in the game, and if he makes some mistakes like these against the Razorbacks. 

Talking to the Enemy: Q&A with "Fly War Eagle"

Answered a few questions over at the Fansided site for the Auburn Tigers 'Fly War Eagle".

Here is an exerpt, read the entire thing at flywareagle.com

FWE: Of course, 2014 is a new season. Looking at the current roster, what players are fans most excited to see on the field this season? Are there any under the radar players you expect to make a big impact this year?

JG: Korliss Marshall at the running back position is one that everyone is excited to see. In the return game he has the potential to be a big play threat as well. One of the new wide receivers will be a breakout player this year that are flying under the radar. Cody Hollister, Jojo Robinson, Kendrick Edwards: one of those guys will make a huge impact in the wide receiver corps this fall. Cody Hollister has been getting a lot of work in these first few weeks of fall camp, and would be a great target for Brandon Allen. Hollister has the size and speed to get open and improve the passing game. 

FWE: You’ve done some great work at Arkansas Fight, particularly when it comes to X’s and O’s. What are the most important schematic matchups you will be watching on August 30?

Nov 2, 2013; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Brandon Allen (10) looks to pass against the Auburn Tigers during the first quarter at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

JG: It will be interesting to see how defensive coordinator Robb Smith plays Auburn. He does not have a wealth of experience defending either the Spread play-action style, or the HUNH that Auburn runs. While he was at Rutgers they played a few teams that ran various versions but not much up-tempo stuff like Malzahn. The most important matchups schematically will involve containing the Inside Zone.

Will he do it with outside pressure like FSU was able to do in the National Championship game? Also what will be Malzahns response to some safety and corner blitzes off the edge early? I am of the opinion that he knows Smith will be calling a lot of Fire Zone blitzes from the field on first downs early in the game, and will have several tunnel screen/bubble screen plays ready. If Arkansas is able to play tight coverage and send pressure then Smith will have success, but if they have to back off and give up those easier 5-8 yard gains then it will be tough for the Arkansas secondary. 

 If he mirrors what FSU did last season I’m not sure Arkansas has the same athletes that can contain Marshall or Johnson on the outside when they call the Inside Zone Read. The other area to watch is the one-on-one coverage against Sammie Coates, and D’haquille Williams in passing situations where Smith favors playing tight in your face press coverage.

In 2012 when he was the DC at Rutgers and they played in Fayetteville, Cobi Hamilton had a huge game in similar situations. He was able to beat press coverage on inside routes and Tyler Wilson was able to hit him to pick up big chunks of yardage. I look for Auburn to run a lot of four verticals, and shallow crossers early to beat that press coverage, we will see if Johnson and Marshall can stand in and complete those throws.

Again check out the entire piece at "Fly War Eagle".      

Week 1 Fall Camp Depth Chart

After the first week of practices here is what the offensive depth chart looks like right now.

There are some intense position battles going on at the offensive line spots. Ragnow is pushing for playing time at center while transfer Cam Jefferson is competing with Charpentier at left guard. 

Who will be the starter? Not a best case scenario going into an opener on the road against the defending SEC West Champs.

After a few scrimmages and film grading sessions those spots will sort themselves out.  

At the skill positions it will be interesting to see if Cody Hollister and Jared Cornelius can push their way into a consistent role in the offense. 

Check out all the practice reports at the SB Nation Arkansas Fight Website. 8/7/14  8/6/14 8/5/14 

Update with Defense Depth Chart!

What they decide to do at the LB spot will depend on the opponent each week, but it looks like Ellis may be moved to a role at Will. In the Secondary Mitchell, Gaines and Turner have solid spots and there is a battle for the boundary corner spot. 

Malzahn Play Calling

So you can pretty much find anything on the internet these days. Some documents, articles and pics are put there intentionally, others not so much. (Johnny Manziel?) At some point between Auburn Head Coach Gus Malzahns time at Tulsa in 2009 and now, one of his play call sheets made its way out there. The call sheet was attributed to Herb Hand, who is now the Oline/Run game coordinator at Penn State. It gives a look at his playcalling style and the process involved in game planning.

Basically Malzahn breaks it up in to several color coded categories. The usual first, second and third down areas with specific plays for each, and special trick plays to throw off the defense with specific personnel (WIldcat for example). He also breaks his play calling down in to series openers, and shots. The first of the two, series openers, is an important aspect that he uses, and defenses must be prepared to counter. For each gameplan, these are the plays that can pick up 5-6 yards on a consistent basis with the least amount of risk involved. Very rarely will a Malzahn team come out on a series opener and run a play that is a gamble or deep ball down the field.

The other aspect that is evident in the result on the field but is highlighted in red on this card would be the "shots". These are used at various opportune times throughout a game and are set up by other plays. Many are playaction and can be called on 2nd and 3rd downs from multiple down and distances. Here is an example from the BCS National Championship.

During his time at Shiloh Christian High School the process of signalling play calls was slightly different than what he uses at Auburn now.

Update:  Here is the Install playbook from when Malzahn was at Tulsa. Shows the process that he uses and most of the formations that Auburn used last season. 

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. 

 

Arkansas Defending Auburn Inside Zone Part 2

At the end of the first half Arkansas brought in #34 Braylon Mitchell at the outside linebacker position to replace #26 SS Rohan Gaines in run support to stop the Inside Zone. This gave another linebacker in run support and slowed down Mason on the Indy both between the tackles and on the bounce that he had been successful with earlier. 

Both the SS Alan Turner on the boundary side and Mitchell had a good angle on the Inside Zone variations that were giving Arkansas trouble early. 

1st and 10 at AUB 13

Tre Mason rush for 4 yards to the Aub 17.

Here Mitchell is able to close down the C Gap that Mason was able to make his cut in to earlier in the game. 


The response from Auburn to this adjustment to start the 2nd half was to throw the quick bubble screen to the slot receiver. This attempted to stretch the defense horizontally and forced the LB Mitchell into a one on one match up in the open field with a quicker WR. 

Kentucky Wildcats Head Coach Mark Stoops on defending the IZR: "We do not want to bring the Will linebacker back inside because the bubble screen is a part of the zone read play. He has to stay in position to support and attack the bubble to his side. That is the first thing the offense wants to see. They want to know if you are respecting the bubble screen. That is the reason for the strong safety's alignment on the slot receiver to his side."

2nd and 7 at AUB 38

Nick Marshall pass complete to Ricardo Louis for 11 yards to the Aub 49 for a 1ST down.

On this play Mitchell is cheating inside the box to play the run as he did on the previous play, which allows the uncovered Slot to get outside easily. 

In the fourth quarter it was the keep side of the Inside Zone read that put Auburn up 35-17 and effectively ended any thoughts of a comeback for Arkansas. The use of the extra LB crashing inside allowed Marshall more room to get outside. 

This is where defending the IZR gets difficult with a dangerous runner like Marshall. If you send a defender after him on every play the numbers dictate that it will be easier to run inside the tackles on either the IZR give, the trap, or the power. The key is in having both personnel who can tackle in space, and having leverage to contain the QB keep. On this play Arkansas had neither of those, and gave up a costly big gain. (Although Marshall recovered his own fumble)

1st and 10 at AUB 25

Nick Marshall rush for 22 yards, fumbled, recovered by Aub Nick Marshall at the Ark 47 for a 1ST down.

Rich Rodriguez: "The backside defenders ran as fast as they could to the ball and watched for the cutback.” In other words, the defense cared only about the running back and essentially ignored the quarterback. The only job of the defensive players away from the run’s initial path was to stop the back from escaping out the back side. “That has all changed,” Rodriguez said. “Defenses fit the front side of the defense one way and fit the back side another way because the quarterback is a threat to run the ball.”

More after the jump on how Miss. St. defended these plays.

How will Arkansas approach defending Auburn this time around?

All-22 Film and Cut-ups from 2013 Arkansas vs Auburn 

Part 1: Inside Zone

When Auburn rolled in to Arkansas last season no one could predict that the Tigers would go on to play in the BCS National Championsip Game. It took several unbelievable plays to get there, but nonetheless the engine behind their success was the run game. Against Arkansas one individual concept plus  a few variations proved to be enough on the road at DWRRS. The Inside Zone play, and the use of Nick Marshall as a run threat on the Inside Zone Read amounted for a majority of their 233 yards rushing.

The Razorbacks actually did a decent job slowing Auburn down overall offensively. That number of 233 yds was fourth lowest of the season with Florida St. at 232 yds (Auburn Loss) , LSU 213yds (Auburn Loss), and Mississippi St with the fewest at 120yds. (Bulldogs Lost 24-20 on go ahead TD pass with 10 sec left)

Obviously without the three offensive turnovers Arkansas would have had a much better chance of winning the game. This season at Auburn will not be any easier than it was last year if the Razorbacks are not able to slow down the Indy, Indy Read, and Indy Back plays. I was able to get some ALL 22 Film to break down exactly where the 2013 Defense struggled, and I will also show what new DC Robb Smith's approach might be to stopping the Auburn Inside Zone/Read.

1st and 10 at AUB 19

Tre Mason rush for 15 yards to the Aub 34 for a 1ST down.

Auburn busted a few big runs on the very first drive that set the tone. 

Wide View:



Mason and the other Auburn running backs used this play to gash the Arkansas defense throughout the first half. The defensive tackles for Arkansas both see double teams, and do a good job of holding ground and fighting through the blocks. The problem occurs in the design of the play which brings the linebackers away from their gap responsibilities.




Nick Marshall is sort of reading #42 Chris Smith, but it is all for show. The play is intended to bounce away from the direction of the FB Jay Prosch and off of LT Greg Robinsons block. It is a called give all the way like a majority of Malzahns Zone Read plays.

Arkansas Linebackers post snap:

The biggest issue for the Linebackers on this play involves reading the QB Mesh while simultaneously reading the blocks of the offensive lineman.

At the mesh point in the pic above, you can see the threat of the QB to pull on the backside causes Ellis #51 to fill the C Gap to his left along with DE #42 Smith. This allows the QB to essentially block 2 defenders himself and keeps them from pursuing from the backside.

Also #39 Lake has moved to the play side A gap directly across from Mason and Marshall. Due to the double teams up front on the defensive tackles there is no path for Lake to take in order to gain ground on the RB. At this point he is beat, but the defense is designed for Lake to spill the back outside where the SS and Corner should have an angle.

But there is another problem on this particular play in that the DE #86 crashes inside and leaves an easy bounce to the outside. Normally this tactic of a scrape exchange would work, but the SS is not able to contain Mason due to the crack block (gets in the way) of the WR.  In the pic below you can see the WR who is blocking down on the SS Turner. If the WR would have made a better block on this play it would have been a TD instead of a 15 yd gain.

 Mason has open grass from the hash marks to the sideline to make a move 1 on 1 with the Corner, which was a bad matchup for the defense.

The SS Alan Turner uses a good angle and has the speed to keep the RB from getting up the sideline but the end result is a huge gain.

Window Dressing:

1st and 10 at AUB 34

Tre Mason rush for 9 yards to the Aub 43.

Malzahn then followed it up with the same play just with different "window" dressing. He had Mason line up in the slot and motioned into the backfield for the mesh with the QB.

As you can see here it is the same exact play, but this time the DE stays outside and makes Mason take the inside path instead of breaking to the outside as he did on the previous play.

The result is still a 9 yd gain but the LB missed Mason in the hole at the LOS, and the WR doesn't get much of a block again and actually trips Mason in the process. This is a more sound approach to stopping the play with mistakes not occurring in alignment or technique as much as over pursuit.

Mistakes by the Defense on this series:
1. Linebackers being over aggressive in flowing toward the read side of the play
2. DE crashing inside to chase the QB mesh instead of slow playing and forcing ball carrier inside.

These two plays set the stage for the rest of the cat and mouse game that goes on in adjustments. Arkansas changed personnel and went to a slightly different scheme in the 2nd half.

In part 2 I will look at how Arkansas played the Indy Read (designated keep by Marshall), and Indy Slice plays later in the game with different adjustments. Also will look at what Mississippi St. was able to do to hold the Auburn rushing attack to 120yds. Then in the final part I will attempt to put together what Robb Smith will have in store for Auburn.