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.

2014 NFL Draft Preview with some cut ups of Chris Smith and Kiero Small.

The NFL pushed the draft so far back it seems like it will be time for the first kickoff before the #1 pick is announced. Most of the Mel Kipers, and other pro draft guys have Chris Smith going somewhere in the third or fourth round. 

Chris Smith vs Southern Miss 2013

Draft Profile on Chris Smith at Arkansas Fight. You can check it out here. 

Small is not likely to be drafted, but will find an opportunity in preseason camp to prove he can play. Fullbacks in the NFL are less and less common, but he has the specialty skills to make it if the situation is right. His tough bowling ball style should catch the attention of a two back team out there who needs that 1st and 2nd down lead blocker/ special teams guy. 

Kiero Small vs ULL 2013

A few weeks ago I put together a piece for Arkansas Fight on the 2014 Spring game. That piece focused on the first interception by Brandon Allen and the improved play of the cornerbacks and some changes in their technique.

Here is an exerpt:

"The 2014 spring game gave fans a very small picture of what to expect next season. Several new players in different roles and different schemes had impressive performances. Many of the biggest plays came from Korliss Marshall and the defense. Marshall lived up to Bret Bielema's continuous description of him as "freakish". Cody Hollister, and Eric Hawkins on offense made some big plays. On the defense Alan Turner, Deatrich Wise Jr. , and Darius Philon made several tackles for loss and harassed the 2nd team quarterbacks."

Hatcher at the top of the screen is the primary reciever with a quick look to Henry in the middle. His route is designed to pull the LBs to the middle of the field and does that successfully. Derby runs a quick flat route that brings the OLB toward the sideline.

Click Here to read the full article and check out everything else at Arkansas Fight.

Blame Cathy and Cleo for losing the game vs LSU!

Final game of the 2013 season: Arkansas ahead of LSU 24-21 with 1:22 remaining in the game. Injured starting QB Mettenberger has been replaced by Freshmen Anthony Jennings.

Many fans are more than happy that Chris Ash is no longer the defensive coordinator, and have high hopes for a turn around next season. As a whole the terrible performance in 2013 was not solely his fault. There are a million excuses, not enough talent, lack of depth, struggling offense, etc. The defense struggled in all facets of the game, and one area that has been repeated in the months since the season ended has been lack of communication. Coach Bielema made it a focus to mention that communication break downs were a big part of the problem. Most would take that as a direct indictment of the coach in charge of communication by the defensive backs.

So here is one costly example of that breakdown. You can blame Cathy and Cleo, they screwed up and let a Fresh LSU QB drive 99 yards down the field and score the go ahead TD.

CATHY is the call that Ash used for his pattern reading Cover 4 "Quarters" zone. This coverage is made specifically to stop the vertical pass play that LSU called on this 3rd and 10. Here are the responsibilities involved for the Corners: