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Spotlight on Creating Mismatches


StatTiger

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The name of the game in pass-offense is placing the defense in situations, which result in mismatches on the field. One of the reasons why Duke Williams has been so successful this season is the ability of Auburn to set him up for success. Though the running game is not playing at the level of last season (very few have), it still remains the primary component opposing teams must control to have defensive success against the Tigers. By lining Williams up in the slot, it is an almost given he will be covered by a LB or safety, especially on first-down. In obvious passing situations, opposing teams can bring an extra CB on the field but on first-down, opposing teams must respect the threat of the run within their base defense.

The play...

MSU-Duke29pass_zps85c5eb9e.jpg

On this play Auburn is 1st & 10 from the MSU 36-yard line. Auburn comes out in a 4-WR set with trips to the wide-side of the field. Before the snap, Nick Marshall can see the safeties will be locked onto the boundary WR and the inside slot-receiver (Marcus Davis). This will leave Duke Williams 1 on 1 with the OLB, the match up favoring the Tigers.

At the snap Nick Marshall play-actions with CAP. As Marshall drops his initial read on the safeties is correct and he knows he will have Williams 1 on 1 with the OLB. When Williams comes off the line, he will cut inside the OLB, running a seam route down the middle of the field. Marshall delivers his pass to the inside shoulder of Williams, away from the OLB. Duke Williams leaps to haul in the pass at the highest point, away from the defender.

The play nets 29-yards and a first down for the Tigers inside the MSU 8-yard line. Through 6 games Duke Williams has recorded 17 impact plays in the passing game.

WR Impact-plays of note:

1993: Frank Sanders (21)

1994: Frank Sanders (23)

1996: Tyrone Goodson (22)

1997: Tyrone Goodson (29)

1999: Ronney Daniels (21)

2004: Courtney Taylor (26)

2006: Courtney Taylor (21)

2009: Darvin Adams (29)

2010: Darvin Adams (23)

2012: Emory Blake (27)

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Man... before Duke the team was great at WR and I saw that having him would just send that position over the top since our other receivers are so great....but he's been the only one that's been consistent in all games, dude there's no tellin how that scoreboard would have been lookin if it wasn't for duke in that miss st. game...crazy catches he's been making when nick has thrown crazy passes, I love having him on the team because it helps us out a lot but dang... i know some others are playing pretty good but just haven't had the passes thrown to them really like melvin ray and quan bray, but ricardo....i thought he would be doing much better this season and coates is getting there but i'm not even gonna go there based on the aforementioned in previous threads...

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So, if I understand correctly, this play illustrates why we shouldn't be too upset about the plays where CAP runs for 2-3 yards up the middle on first down. Seen in isolation, they don't seem productive. Seen in comparison to last year, they seem pitiful. But seen in the context of setting up impact plays such as the one illustrated, they may well be worth it.

This also seems to tie in with the change in the way the coaches are evaluating Nick. Before the season, we were looking for increased completion percentage. Now, it seems, we are looking for more impact plays from the passing game. This strikes me as a good idea. If coaches were too focused on completion percentage, Nick could probably up that just by going to the checkdown on every play. Instead, he's remained aggressive and tried to exploit the mismatches for big gains.

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So, if I understand correctly, this play illustrates why we shouldn't be too upset about the plays where CAP runs for 2-3 yards up the middle on first down. Seen in isolation, they don't seem productive. Seen in comparison to last year, they seem pitiful. But seen in the context of setting up impact plays such as the one illustrated, they may well be worth it.

This also seems to tie in with the change in the way the coaches are evaluating Nick. Before the season, we were looking for increased completion percentage. Now, it seems, we are looking for more impact plays from the passing game. This strikes me as a good idea. If coaches were too focused on completion percentage, Nick could probably up that just by going to the checkdown on every play. Instead, he's remained aggressive and tried to exploit the mismatches for big gains.

Quality over quantity.

Reminds me of the ol Oakland Raiders, with Plunkett at qb. If it he wasn't completing a 50 yard pass he wasn't completing any pass.

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So, if I understand correctly, this play illustrates why we shouldn't be too upset about the plays where CAP runs for 2-3 yards up the middle on first down. Seen in isolation, they don't seem productive. Seen in comparison to last year, they seem pitiful. But seen in the context of setting up impact plays such as the one illustrated, they may well be worth it.

This also seems to tie in with the change in the way the coaches are evaluating Nick. Before the season, we were looking for increased completion percentage. Now, it seems, we are looking for more impact plays from the passing game. This strikes me as a good idea. If coaches were too focused on completion percentage, Nick could probably up that just by going to the checkdown on every play. Instead, he's remained aggressive and tried to exploit the mismatches for big gains.

Quality over quantity.

Reminds me of the ol Oakland Raiders, with Plunkett at qb. If it he wasn't completing a 50 yard pass he wasn't completing any pass.

Bingo. Some of the run plays are to setup for passing plays

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