Upon further review: Tennessee offense v. Florida defense

by Joel on Sep 25, 2008 7:31 AM EDT in Tennessee Volunteer Football Comment 5 comments

With a major chest bump to Brian at MGoBlog, I decided to try my hand at an Upon Further Review for Tennessee's offense against Florida last week. Because I'm already stealing the idea, I figured I might as well steal the disclaimer as well:

Hello! If you’re new here, UFR is a play by play breakdown of [games]. I try to grade out players, give an overall impression of their performance, and tell you just what happened on that play or that other play. As always, this is the work of a dedicated amateur, may occasionally be flat wrong, and does not constitute legal advice.

Strike "dedicated" and "occasionally" and we have it. Onward. The chart is after the jump, but first the observations.

Observations

A plethora of anathema. We killed our offensive drives in a variety of ways. How many ways? Let me count the ways:

Bad down and distance, courtesy of a personal foul penalty.
Decided to pass on 3rd and 2. Three offensive linemen on one side had no one to block. Pressure came from -- surprise! -- the other side. Crompton had no time and threw to a covered receiver. Resulted in punt to Brandon James for a TD.
Fumble at the one yard line.
Interception at the one yard line on 4th and 1 after poor clock management necessitated a passing play on 3rd and 1.
Poor throw on 2nd and 6. Everybody covered on 3rd and 6.
Holding penalty, which put us in 2nd and 21 and 3rd and 17.
Poor pass on 4th and 2.
Good defense.

Spread the misery. Tally chart:

Player	+	-	Total
Jonathan Crompton	3	6	-3
Arian Foster	0	2	-2
Coaching	0	2	-2
Offensive line	0	1	-1
Ramon Foster	0	1	-1
Chris Scott	0	1	-1
Josh McNeil	0	1	-1
Montario Hardesty	1	1	0
Gerald Jones	3	1	2
Luke Stocker	2	0	2

Jonathan Crompon did some good things, including (1) making good reads and getting the ball out quickly and on target in the face of pressure, (2) sneaking for a TD with a nice, twisting second effort, and (3) checking down his receivers and dumping off to running backs when a play broke down. Unfortunately, this good was outweighed by a fumble, an interception, and four poor throws.
Arian Foster killed the first drive with his 15-yard personal foul penalty and later put the team in poor down and distance by whiffing on a block for Jones out of the G-Gun.
Coaching probably killed the second TD opportunity with poor clock management and was probably the culprit for James' punt return for a TD. Either make sure the ball is kicked out of bounds or teach at least one guy to tackle on punt returns.
The o-line was disappointing, considering their experience. On one single play, Scott got beat by the DE and Crompton's pass up the middle went off the helmet of a leaping defender who probably should have been cut. To make matters worse, Crompton was hit hard up the middle as he was releasing. The fact that nobody helped him up was very disconcerting. Add to that play a false start by Ramon Foster, Scott's drive-killing holding penalty, and McNeil's holding penalty that probably killed another drive, and this unit was disappointing.

More observations

Gerald Jones and Luke Stocker were the offensive players of the game. Stocker is a weapon in the red zone. He can catch the ball and drag multiple defenders around. Jones is, of course, Jones. He appears to be the only truly dynamic playmaker on offense. Note, though, that even he makes mistakes (delay of game).
Note early in the game that Jones handed off to Foster out of the G-Gun for five and the next he kept it for nine. We tried the same combination later in the game for one and zero yards. A third wrinkle is called for, don't you think?
Goals for Saturday: eliminate the fumbles, interceptions, penalties. We can probably live with a few poor throws here and there, but it would be nice to get rid of those as well. Didn't somebody once say "the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win?" Seems I've heard that somewhere before. Anyway, do that and we could be just fine.

Full play by play after the jump because the chart just don't fit here, k?

Down	Distance	Line	Play	Results	Tally
1	10	UT28	Crompton pass to Stocker	9
Play action, nice fake by JC, nice catch by Stocker
2	1	UT37	Foster run to the right	Penalty	Foster -1
Foster stopped for no gain on a run to the right. Three defenders linger on top of him, and he pushes one of them when he gets up.
3	16	UT23	Crompton pass to Hardesty	Fumble	Hardesty -1
Screen pass to Hardesty, who gets rocked as soon as he turns up field and fumbles the ball.
DRIVE: 3 plays, -5 yards, 1:29 TOP
Down	Distance	Line	Play	Results	Tally
1	10	UT21	Foster run to the right	9
Crompton hands off to Foster who goes off tackle to the right and gets ankle tackled 9 yards later. Gary Danielson gushes sarcastically about the length of the run. -1 for him. ;-)
2	1	UT30	Foster run to the left	4
Same play to the left for a first down.
1	10	UT34	Crompton pass to Jones	9	Jones +1
Crompton quick pass to Jones in the right flat. Jones +1 for juking a defender. He also got another two yards after the eventual tackler got hold of him.
2	1	UT43	Foster run to the right	-1
Same play as above, but FL LB Spikes sniffs it out and catches Foster by the ankles from behind before he can get through the line.
3	2	UT42	Crompton pass to Stocker	Inc.	Crompton -1
Crompton tries to force one in to Stocker in the middle of the field despite the defender having perfect position. Crompton pressured by DL barely impeded. 3OL on left side left w/ no one to block. Can't tell from camera angle whether anyone else was open, but Danielson says no, and Crompton really had no time.
4	2	UT42	PUNT TO B. JAMES	Opp. TD
Six missed tackles, but it's all a blur so I don't know who to knock. Coaching staff -1. How's that?
DRIVE: 5 plays, 21 yards, 2:48 TOP
Down	Distance	Line	Play	Results	Tally
1	10	UT26	Foster run to the left	0:00
Single back, Foster darts around looking for a hole, finds a bit of one to the left.
2	8	UT28	Foster run up the middle	5
G-Gun, handoff to Foster up the middle for a nice run.
3	3	UT33	Crompton pass to Jones	5
Good protection, good quick pass by Crompton, nice grab by Jones.
1	10	UT38	Crompton pass to Warren	11	Crompton +1
Left guard gets absolutely bull-rushed by a blitzing LB, giving up great pressure on Crompton, who still got it out quick to Warren running across the middle in the space vacated by the LB. +1 for Crompton for picking up the read and getting it out quick.
1	10	UF48	Crompton screen pass to Warren	Opp. Penalty
The Gator offsides got great pressure on Crompton, who still got a nice, quick pass off to Warren, who got almost five anyway.
1	5	UF46	Foster run to the left	0
Foster tried to get around the edge to the left, but three defenders corralled him.
2	5	UF46	Jones run to the left	9	Jones +1
G-Gun, Jones keeps, runs left. Shoestring tackle from behind kept him from getting much, much more as he still had two blockers in front of him.
1	10	UF37	Crompton pass to Moore	13
Great protection, nice quick on target pass from Crompton. Nice YAC after the catch.
1	10	UF24	Hardesty rush to the right	9
Nice play. Well blocked, nice burst and reads by Hardesty.
2	1	UF15	Hardesty rush up the middle	2	Hardesty +1
Hardesty stopped behind the line of scrimmage, spun out and gained an eventual two for the first down.
1	10	UF13	Hardesty rush up the middle	0
Similar, but without the opportunity for second effort due to good tackle by Gator defender.
2	10	UF13	Opp. Penalty	5
Ooh, penalties! Good!
2	5	UF8	Foster toss sweep right	0
Three guys whiffed on blocks. Nice.
3	5	UF8	Crompton pass to Stocker	6	Stocker +1
On target pass by Crompton to Stocker, who was first hit behind the first down line, but got across despite three would-be thwarters.
1	0	UF2	Foster rush up the middle	1
Not much there. Foster dove and gained one.
2	0	UF1	Foster rush	Fumble	Crompton -1
Crompton pulled back and hit the ball on the fullback's butt while preparing to get it to Foster, fumbling.
DRIVE: 14 plays, 72 yards, 8:00 TOP
Down	Distance	Line	Play	Results	Tally
1	10	UT39	Foter rush to the left	6
Crompton hands off to Foster who makes a guy miss, jukes inside and gets 6 yards.
2	4	UT45	Penalty	-5	Jones -1
G-Gun, Jones and McNeil go through the motions too long for a delay of game.
2	9	UT40	Jones run to the left	10	Jones +1
G-Gun, Jones fakes a handoff to Foster right and runs left. Two guys are there, but he splits the tackle, darts another seven yards or so, and drags a tackler across the first down line from there.
1	10	50	Jones run to the left	-1	Foster -1
G-Gun, same play, it looks like. Would have been a good spot for a wrinkle, perhaps of the throwing kind. Still, somebody (Foster, I think) whiffed on the lead block is what gave Jones nowhere to go.
2	11	UT49	Crompton pass to Briscoe	Inc.	o-line -1
The left end beat Chris Scott and pressured Crompton. Crompton also got popped up the middle as he was releasing. The ball hit a tall, leaping defender in the head and was almost intercepted, but fault the line for the pressure and the failure to cut, not Crompton. Also, -1 for the o-line who didn't help Crompton up.
3	11	UT49	Crompton pass to Taylor	Opp. penalty
Nice protection this time, poor throw, but probably catchable if Florida hadn't pass interfered.
1	10	UF46	Crompton pass to Foster	4
Crompton checked down to Foster and dumped it off, saving four yards.
2	6	UF42	Crompton pass deep to ???	Opp. penalty	Crompton -1
Good protection, terrible throw. The receiver (Taylor, I think) was open, but the ball was underthrown and picked off. FL had 12 men on the field, though, so no play.
1	10	UF27	Crompton pass deep to Taylor	Inc.	Crompton -1
Good protection, bad read, horribly overthrown ball.
2	10	UF27	Crompton pass to Briscoe	22
Good protection, nice throw, nice YAC by Briscoe.
1	G	UF5	Hardesty rush up the middle	4
"That's the way to run it," says Danielson. I concur. Nice, tough run with his head down and ball covered up.
2	G	UF1	Hardesty run up the middle	0	Coaching -1
No gain for Hardesty, courtesy of a speedy DE running down the play from behind, but the real problem came after the run. There were 31-32 seconds left when the play ended. They decided not to use their final timeout. For 14-15 seconds, at which time they took it. 16 seconds left now and no timeouts. Can't run. FL knows.
3	G	UF1	Crompton to Stocker	Inc.
Just a good play by the FL defender knocking the ball away from Stocker in the end zone.
4	G	UF1	Crompton pass to ???	INT
Both RBs release their rushers but both are covered after doing so and Crompton's faced with much pressure. No deductions for Crompton b/c there was nothing there, it was fourth down, and it was worth a shot with time running out.
DRIVE: 11 plays, 60 yards, 4:36 TOP
Down	Distance	Line	Play	Results	Tally
1	10	UT43	Creer run to the right	4
Creer jukes a guy behind the line of scrimmage and gets a quick four.
2	6	UT47	Crompton pass to Warren	Inc.	Crompton -1
Poor throw by Crompton to an open Warren. Almost picked off.
3	6	UT47	Crompton pass to ???	0
Crompton, apparently nothing there. Tucked it and got back to the LOS.
DRIVE: 3 plays, 4 yards, 1:09 TOP
Down	Distance	Line	Play	Results	Tally
1	10	UT26	False start	-5	R. Foster -1
Ramon Foster picked up his hand and got flagged for a false start. Fulmer goes ballistic.
1	15	UT21	Crompton scramble	5
Crompton drops back, nothing there apparently, scrambles to the left. Gets hit high as he doesn't lower his shoulder or slide.
2	10	UT26	Foster run to the left	penalty	Scott -1
That Foster play. He makes a couple of really nice cuts and breaks a tackle for a 26-yard run. All brought back due to Scott's holding.
2	21	UT15	Foster run to the right	4
No hole ever really opens as the defenders hold up their blocks.
3	17	UT19	Crompton scramble	5
Apparently nothing there, but can't really tell. Crompton tucks and gets 5.
DRIVE: 3 plays, -2 yards, 2:55 TOP
Down	Distance	Line	Play	Results	Tally
1	10	UT37	Crompton screen to Taylor	2
Not blocked particularly well.
2	8	UT39	Foster rush up the middle	1
G-Gun. Jones hands off to Foster.
3	7	UT40	Crompton pass to Briscoe	opp. penalty
Crompton throws a nice ball to Briscoe, who's interfered with.
1	10	UT47	Crompton pass to Taylor	22
Really nice pass by Crompton fairly deep to Lucas Taylor.
1	10	UF31	Crompton pass to Jones	4
Good play. Jones gets a couple of yards while being tackled.
2	6	UF27	Jones run to the right	0
G-Gun. Note that this is the same set up that worked in the 1st half. A good fake to Foster with a keeper for Jones later. Neither worked as well the second time, as the defense was ready. Wrinkles aren't wrinkles the second time, I guess.
3	16	UF27	Crompton scramble	12
Pretty nice run by Crompton until the end, when he again neither slid nor lowered his shoulder. Took a wicked hit from the defender.
1	10	UF15	Crompton pass to Warren	Inc.
Crompton pressured. Not a good pass, but that could have been by design as nothing was open.
2	10	UF15	Foster run to the left	4
Foster's favorite. Holding on UT not called.
3	6	UF11	Crompton to Stocker	10	Stocker +1
Nice pass from Crompton, grab by Stocker. Fantastic work after the catch with guys hanging all over him to almost get in the end zone before his knee was down.
1	G	UF1	Crompton sneak	0
Big pile of nothing.
2	G	UF1	Crompton sneak	TD	Crompton +1
Crompton's second effort, twisting around the pile gets the TD. Two-point conversion attempt failed.
DRIVE: 11 plays, 63 yards, 5:04 TOP
Down	Distance	Line	Play	Results	Tally
1	10	UT27	Crompton pass to Warren	1
Warren open over the middle, and Crompton hits him. Not much there, though.
2	9	UT28	Crompton pass to Jones	19
Ball in perfect position for Jones. Good thing, too, because there were three defenders there.
1	10	UT47	Crompton pass to Hardesty	Penalty	McNeil -1
Crompton looks down field, finds nothing, and dumps off to Hardesy in the right flat. Hardesty goes for 13, but it's called back for the holding penalty on McNeil.
1	20	UT37	Crompton pass to Jones	3
Crompton's pass high, but Jones brings it down. Two defenders right there, so only three yards.
2	17	UT40	Crompton pass to Foster	15	Crompton +1
Crompton looks down field, finds nothing, pocket collapses, and as he's going down, he finds Foster in the flat. Foster goes for 15.
3	2	UF45	Crompton pass to Jones	Inc.
Shotgun on 3rd and 2. Huh. Pass was on target to the right guy, but well-defended. The Gator got a hand on it and knocked it out before Jones could really secure it.
4	2	UF45	Crompton pass to Taylor	Inc.	Crompton -1
Shotgun on 4th and 2. Huh. Crompton looked downfield. Nothing. Flushed from pocket, rolled out left, with Taylor mirroring him. Taylor was open, but the pass was to the defender trailing, not Taylor. Bad pass, and could have been picked off if not for Taylor.
DRIVE: 6 plays, 28 yards, 2:01 TOP
Down	Distance	Line	Play	Results	Tally
1	10	UT9	Foster run to the right	2
Slow developing play out of the I. Foster caught from behind by unblocked blitzing blindside 'backer.
2	8	UT12	Crompton pass to Hardesty	6
Crompton looks downfield, finds nothing, dumps off to Hardesty, who spins away from two defenders and gets 6
3	2	UT18	Crompton pass to Jones	Inc.
Quick pass to Jones. Covered.
4	2	UT18	Punt
DRIVE: 3 plays, 9 yards, 1:18 TOP

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Comments

Awesome

I like this type of analysis. It has confirmed some of my thoughts regarding the offense, but changed others.

Crompton: For the most part, it does appear that he is playing well. He’s definitely more of a Brett Favre type than an Erik Ainge type. Ainge likes to punt, Favre likes to try to make things happen. Seems like Crompton is more of a risk taker. At first I thought he was making poor decisions most of the time, but a lot of those dump off passes went for big yards. His bad (in terms of throwing to the wrong guy… the passes that sail over receivers’ heads or go into the dirt are another issue) seem to occur when he’s just trying to make something happen. He’s much, much better than he was against UCLA, but he’s still taking a lot of the flak for the team’s performance. He’s got the athletic ability to be great, so once the coaches can get him to stop doing some of his heroics when they aren’t needed, I think he’s going to be a great QB.

Foster: I was very disappointed with him in this game. Anytime he had a good play, it was always called back (not necessarily his fault). He didn’t seem to have the same spirit as a lot of the rest of the offense. Again, that could be more my perception than actual reality. But, what is up with the missed blocks out of the G-Gun? Is that normal? Do we have a back who’s willing to block when he doesn’t get the ball? More thoughts/info on that from someone would be appreciated.

O-Line: Is picking up your hand usually grounds for a false start? Well, I know it is if it’s your down hand, but I don’t think you specified that in your analysis. By far the biggest disappointment on the team (for me). Did they get worse in the off season, or did Erik Ainge make them look so good last year? Hard to tell.

On the play where three of the O-Line had no one to block, how do you counter this? I’m guessing you want to coach your quarterback (or call in an audible) to roll to the opposite side. Sounds like that play falls on the coaches, but I don’t really know.

Thanks again for the analysis. It’s given me something to think about and look for on Saturday.

by rblakeh on Sep 25, 2008 10:49 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A couple quick answers:

Picking up your down hand isn’t always a false start; in fact, Hal Mumme’s O-line in Kentucky never had a down hand. However, picking it up after getting set will almost always end up in a false start. Either the linemen won’t be set for the full second before the snap, or the defense will jump in response to the motion and an inducement penalty will be called.

The counter to the hugely offset defense is either an audible or (as you said) a QB rollout. The O-linemen can’t adjust before the snap unless the QB cues them. Unfortunately, Crompton has done extremely little moving around – by design and by choice. Defense know exactly where he’ll be in the pocket, and the offset defense took advantage of UT’s inability to adjust. Right now, I’m leaning more toward that play falling on Crompton’s decisions than the coaches, but I’m dwelling on it.

by Hooper on Sep 25, 2008 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have been jealous of this on MGoBlog and I hope you continue doing it

I am sure it is a lot of work, but this feature is great.

Lou Brock loves Lamp.

by birdjam on Sep 25, 2008 12:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I hope

It is a lot of work, but as hooper mentioned when he did it two weeks ago, it’s a great learning experience. I noticed many things I didn’t catch the first time around. It really brings a better perspective of what really happened.

Hmm. Beginning to wonder about Fulmer’s “have to see the film” comments. Huh.

Anyway, I hope to continue to do it as time permits.

Go Vols!

by Joel on Sep 25, 2008 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs