Reviewing the Running Plays

by Vol Navy on Oct 16, 2008 10:19 PM EDT Comment 9 comments

With all the struggles Tennessee had running the ball on Georgia, I decided to see if I could figure out where everything went wrong. All of the yards gained on the play-by-play stats is taken directly from the game log. Below is the video of all the running plays and each run is tagged.

LN	Dn	Ds	Form	Def	Player	Yards	Brief
T45	1	10	Ace 4-Wide	4-3	Foster	1	Toss
Cottam (-1) is split out wide and comes in motion. He whiffs on his block of the DE. Jones (+1) makes a good block on the linebacker. McClendon and R. Foster are pulling on the play. McClendon (-1) completely misses the MLB which does not allow Foster to cut up the field. R. Foster (-1) cannot make the block on the corner back who makes the tackle.
T20	1	10	Strong - Twins	4-3	Hardesty	7	Off-tackle
Georgia has 8 men in the box on this play. McClendon (-2) gets pushed 3 yards back causing Hardesty to have to cut inside as soon as he gets the ball. Parker (+1) does a good job coming back and sealing off the DE. Hardesty (+1) pushes the pile forward for 3 yards after contact.
T24	1	10	Ace	4-3	Creer	0	Zone right
One of the TE goes into motion to the fullback position. Georgia has nine in the box on this play. Richard, who is in for McClendon (-2) gets pushed from the left side all the way to other side into Creer's path to blow the play up.
T24	2	10	Strong - Twins	4-3	Creer	2	Toss
The R. Foster (-1) and Richard (-1) pull and both make bad blocks never allowing Creer to cut upfield.
T49	1	10	Strong - Twins	4-3	Foster	3	Zone Right
UGA again has eight guys in the box. Parker (-1) gets pushed back causing Foster to cut before he can get to where the hole will be. Stocker (+1) does a good job of blocking the DE but for some reason Cooper (-1) comes to double instead of going to block the safety. Foster (+1) does good to get three out of this.
T23	1	10	Weak	4-3	Hardesty	2	Iso
Cooper goes in motion to make this an I-Form before the snap. None of the line really pushes anyone back, but finally none of the O-line gets pushed into the runner. If Hardesty (-1) cuts this to the right there is plenty of room because as soon as the UGA defense sees it going towards the middle everyone sells out and the corner is sealed.
T30	2	3	Strong	4-3	Hardesty	6	Dive
Parker pulls around on this play and chips on the DE who Stocker is blocking but needs help because he has a horrible angle to make the block. McClendon (+1) seals the DT and R. Foster (+1) goes and blocks the MLB. Hardesty (+1) does a good job of hitting the whole fast and getting as much as possible on the play.
G4	2	G	I - Big	Goalline	Hardesty	2	Toss left
Hancock misses two blocks on the play first he barely touches Allen (-1) and then gets to the safety and misses him as well (-1). Foster pulls around the TE and blocks Allen who Cooper then blocks. If either Foster or Cooper cut upfield and block, Hardesty might have a chance to get in the endzone.
LN	Dn	Ds	Form	Def	Player	Yards	Brief
T14	1	10	Strong - Twins	4-3	Foster	-1	Zone - left
Cooper goes in motion to make this an I-Form. UGA has eight in the box on this play. Josh McNeil (-1) gets pushed straight back into A. Foster as does McClendon (-1). Parker (-1) heads for the MLB and completely misses him as does R. Foster (-1) on the SLB. Jones (+1) does a good job of locking up the WLB. A. Foster does good to get back to the line of scrimmage.
G30	2	10	Strong - Twins	4-3	Hardesty	1	Toss left
TN pulls the guard and tackle on the play side as they have for the other tosses. I think if Hardesty cuts up at the numbers he may have enough blocking to get a few more yards.
G14	1	10	Ace - Twins	4-3	Hardesty	2	Iso
Cottam goes into motion to make this an I-Form. UGA has eight in the box on this play. McNeil (+1) does good going out and blocking the blitzing MLB. There is a decent hole here but as soon as Hardesty gets past the line of scrimmage it closes.
T25	2	10	Strong	4-3	Jones	-8	End around
Jones comes in motion towards the ball before the snap. Allen sees this and comes on a blitz to make the tackle. With the corner blitzing from the direction the play was going gave this play no chance of working.

+/- Totals

Player	Totals
R. Foster	-3
Parker	0
McNeil	0
McClendon	-5
Scott	0
Richard	-1
Cottam	-1
Stocker	1
Cooper	-1
Foster	1
Jones	2
Hardesty	1
Hancock	-1

WOW, that was horrible to watch.

After reviewing the film we are lucky to have as many rushing yards as we did. It is hard to believe that our O-line was supposed to be a strength coming into the season. I don't think I saw a play where a UT lineman pushed a UGA defender down the field. Whenever an interior Georgia player was lined straight up on a UT lineman, the Tennessee lineman was pushed back. After watching the first two series I was wondering why McClendon was even on the field, but then as soon as they substituted for him with Richard he screwed up as well. If we were just being overpowered up the middle it would be one thing, however the lineman are also so lumbering that they cannot get outside fast enough to block on the tosses. None of our problems rushing are with the running backs. There was not a play where the running back made a horrible decision and missed an obvious hole. Hardesty missed one play where he could have cut it outside, but from his view it would have been tough to see.

For the future

We do not need to run anymore tosses. Against a fast defense our O-linemen are not quick enough to get to the edge and make a definitive block. Also we need to stop using twin formations as much. It was allowing Georgia to easily slip an eighth defender into the box and still have three defensive backs to cover our two receivers. The only players who looked like competent blockers were our receivers and Stocker. They were consistently able to lock up defenders other than the one time when Hancock tried to block on the goal line.

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Sweet!

Now to go back, watch the tape, and read the comments.

Thanks, man! This is awesome!

by Hooper on Oct 16, 2008 10:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

First observation:

I watched the linebackers on those plays. They were very quick to read the plays. The two who lined up middle-ish consistently flow together, right to the spot the carrier eventually goes. When Stephens audibles, the LBs audible and adjust – right to the point of the play.

The UGA-can-read-our-signals theory is really believable.

by Hooper on Oct 16, 2008 10:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Strong side

We definitely ran more plays toward the strong side of the formation. However, I would guess that most teams usually run to that side due that being where the TE is lined up. Probably the most disturbing aspect is that Foster and McClendon were the strong side linemen and they seemed to be the weakest links of the line.

by Vol Navy on Oct 16, 2008 11:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

BTW, you did a fantastic job on the chart.

You seem to have a very nice system down.

by Hooper on Oct 16, 2008 11:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

I just tried to make it look like Brian’s.

by Vol Navy on Oct 16, 2008 11:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It'd be hard to do much better.

by Hooper on Oct 16, 2008 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

How do you get it to work like that? Mine doesn't come out as smooth, and really screws up in narrow mode. Hmmm.

Tomahawk Nation: No-Holds-Barred Nole Analysis

by FSUncensored on Oct 21, 2008 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think I answered your question.

Did the email help?

by Hooper on Oct 22, 2008 6:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

8 or 9 in the box!

It is amazing to me that Clawson’s comments when he first took the job was “I’m going to get the ball in the play makers’ hands.” That is not happening. For one, we are running the ball in very specific situations. That is evident because of how many defenders are in the box. 8-9 in the box and we are running it right at them. Stephens obviously is playing better at QB, so let him throw the ball down the field. I know we have to get a running game going, but everyone is going to force us to put the game on the QB and WR, rather than Hardesty and Creer. (Foster gets zero respect points from me). So they need to mix it up.

by USMarineVol on Oct 18, 2008 1:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs