Feeler on Ole Miss Game plan/ play calling.

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

Hey Family. I am late to the party. I didn't get to see the game really until today. I caught the last 8 minutes of the game last night, but re-watched the whole thing tonight. I just want to get everyone's opinion on the game plan (regardless of the opponent being a weaker SEC foe) and playcalling and give my 2 cents worth. I am still done with Gus, but I do still give credit where credit is due.

My observations/takes from the game:

1.) I am actually pleased with the play-calling and game plan the staff put forth. I like the idea of getting guys in space. Schwartz had 11 targets. That should continue every week. 

2.) Rhythm and timing throws- I like putting Bo in a position to gain confidence throughout the game with easy rhythm and timing throws. We did a great job of that this week.

3.) RB utilization- DJ is clear cut #1 IMO even when B-Whitlow returns. I like that he gave Worm touches on normal running plays and not just gadgets or sweeps. Kam seems to do well on perimeter runs ( i know its Ole Piss)

4.) TE/HB sightings and even targets and even more so completions across the middle. This has been building all season and that is one good thing Gus has done this season is use more slants/posts/ and crossing routes. Still not enough but I am in shock we targeted Wilson 3 times across the middle. 

5.) I think this is the formula moving forward this season. Spread them out and use our weapons. I know we are supposed to be a run-playaction team, but you got to play around your strengths right? Our OL is not great in run blocking. We have to pass to open up the run. I think if we attack UGA like we did Ole Miss, and Bo and OL play the same, I think we have a decent shot. )

6.) This one is a negative. I still hate seeing 3rd and short and we throw a homerun. We need 4 yards. Hit the easy hitch,slant, out or whatever it is but get the first then take your shot. 

7.) Leave Brahms in. Nuff said.

8.) Jay Jay Wilson needs to be on the field as much as anybody. Dude is a Dude...can be great in blocking and a deadly receiving threat across the middle and RZ.

Those are the biggest things I took away but overall I was happy with the play-calling. I obviously acknowledge this was not an A+ game by any stretch but I expected based off the score to be vastly disappointed again after watching. Not so much for me. A few miscues....a few calls I would have done different, Kicker struggled but I would rather not have to kick that many times period. So what do you all think of the gameplan? What should we do differently against UGA. I know some of you are going to just come on and say "Fire Gus" and I want him gone too, but I am trying to get some real Xs and Os expert knowledge from those that have it and just opinion on the topic of everyone else. War Damn Eagle. 

[Farmer Brown 2,391]

1 minute ago, Tigerpro2a said:

This one is a negative. I still hate seeing 3rd and short and we throw a homerun. We need 4 yards. Hit the easy hitch,slant, out or whatever it is but get the first then take your shot. 

This is the biggest head shaker, for sure. He has done that for years.

[CameronCrazy 1,059]

The game plan in the 1st half was refreshing - that game plan would have won at Florida & LSU. I think it’ll give us a great shot against UGA if we stay with that identity. The problem is that Gus’ offense does not have a true identity this year. But, this is exactly the type of game plan that we need.

We need to get the ball to Schwartz, Wilson, Joiner, Stove, and Shivers. If we do, then that will open the field up for bigger plays with DJ Williams running the football and Seth Williams getting one-on-one opportunities. 

My problem with the game plan was the 3rd down play-calls and the typical Gus taking his foot off the gas with 10+ minutes left to go in the game. He simply wanted to run out the clock and play “not to lose”. This allowed Ole Miss to get back in the game and have a chance to win it at the end.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

We move up and down the field between the 30s. Play calling was good, 
then we bog down time and time again. It was odd. 500+ yards and 20 points is rare. 
... it just feels discombobulated.  The rhythm is just off somewhere once we hit the 30. 

[leglessdan 1,934]

13 minutes ago, Tigerpro2a said:

6.) This one is a negative. I still hate seeing 3rd and short and we throw a homerun. We need 4 yards. Hit the easy hitch,slant, out or whatever it is but get the first then take your shot. 

I absolutely loathe these calls. We stalled offensively more than and other scenario by doing this. 

I completely agree about JayJay, I hate we only get him for one year.

I liked the rythm stuff, but it tends to disappear when we play a quality opponent. It's a must that we continue to build off things like that instead of stale and conservative. We've seen so many teams going towards the dink and dunk philosophy and letting their playmakers make plays once they touch the ball, with our speed and talent we should be doing the same thing. We don't have a power run game OL this year. That helps offset some of the pressure. 

[kevon67 2,368]

I thought the play called in the red zone where Bo rushed for a TD was one of the best plays called all season.......Ole Miss D bit on the fake.

[auburnphan 6,050]

I hope to see an offense that exploits the weaknesses of the Georgia defense with sustained drives.  Limit the three and outs.  Call plays that help your quarterback settle in.

[alexava 6,973]

I’m also disappointed in third downs. We should have some go to plays that gets a guy a chance to be open and gives bo a second option. Not cram all your eggs in one basket on a deep fade.

[wildlife alumni 304]

I was at the game and have not watched it on TV but it looked like some big mistakes in the red zone led to no points. The fumble was a good example. They don’t fumble, hit one of the field goals and do not give up the long punt return before the half and you are probably looking at a blow out.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,666]

1 hour ago, gr82b4au said:

We move up and down the field between the 30s. Play calling was good, 
then we bog down time and time again. It was odd. 500+ yards and 20 points is rare. 
... it just feels discombobulated.  The rhythm is just off somewhere once we hit the 30. 

Guy's passing sheet revolves around throws that have a low percentage to be picked, even if you messed up...there's just not many throws like that in the red zone outside of crossers and slants, which there seems to still be some cap on how many of those he likes to run.

[The Freak 2,528]

11 hours ago, Tigerpro2a said:

6.) This one is a negative. I still hate seeing 3rd and short and we throw a homerun. We need 4 yards. Hit the easy hitch,slant, out or whatever it is but get the first then take your shot. 

That's okay, we make up for it when we throw behind the line of scrimmage on 3rd and long.

[Sizzle 3,912]

Basically we did to ole miss what LSU did to us. Throw everything underneath and let the pass open up the run. It worked, the guys just didn’t finish in the end zone. That should be the thing in November.

Bo had put a nice pass in jay jay’s hands that would’ve been a TD but he dropped it. Man I wished he caught that. WR’s gone have to make tough catches for us to win these games. 

Also we spreaded the ball out with the pass. How many different guys got a catch? Had to be close to 10 different guys

[shabby 1,958]

There really were a lot of positives in this game. Nix looked more adept when the line protects. I prey they are up to the challenge in the Georgia game. Nx made quick passes. This will be crucial in two weeks.  Running game was aces. Ole Miss has better run defense than pass defense so i'm gad to see we had some success here. Consistency is the problem. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

14 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

Also we spreaded the ball out with the pass. How many different guys got a catch? Had to be close to 10 different guys

And that's been the case against bad teams. Just never seems to happen against good ones. 

[Linayus 676]

I was and still am seriously frustrated with what I saw against Ole Miss. First half wasn't that bad, IMO, but boy it was hard to watch the second half.

But before I dive in.. hats off to the Ole Miss players and that coaching staff (minus Rich Rod - seriously get rid of that guy). They are playing a TON of freshmen right now and are fighting hard every game. This game will not be an "easy win" going forward.

As for our own game plan/calls:
Gus decided way too early to try and "run out the clock". We had almost a full quarter and a half to play when he threw out the offensive game plan and said "RUN DA BAWL!!" against an Ole Miss defense that has defended the run better than most this season. I'd have been more okay with this decision if our defense wasn't struggling to contain Plumlee and if we had actually scored another TD.

Asking Anders Carlson to attempt 3 FGs beyond 40 (42, 49, and 49) is just stupid. Anders is not Daniel and I told y'all back when Anders was a freshman that he was not accurate that far out and he still isn't. For his career he is 50% from 40-49 and barely 22% from beyond 50 (which we thankfully haven't made him attempt this season). If we needed a FG to tie/win from that far out - sure, send him in. But we're better off pinning our opponents inside the 20 than we are "maybe" getting 3 pts. Especially if we're trying to run the clock out faster and your guy has already missed two!

And this one.. will probably get me some hate.. but we're trying TOO HARD to get Flash the football. Defenses are keying in hard on him because they know he's a threat but he's really only a threat when he has space (hitting the outside sweep if we've blocked well and beating guys deep). Those WR screens aren't working with him and that super shallow drag route for him is terrible unless the LBs lose him. What really frustrates me about that particular play is that he appears to be the ONLY option. The other "receivers" are just running downfield and never look back at Bo.

Lastly, as someone else mentioned, stop forcing the deep balls and just get 1st downs. Also don't target a well defended Hastings in the end zone and then also under throw it.

Overall, clean up that first half and the score would've looked better and most of us wouldn't be as salty as we are. We got the W and we have a week off but Georgia's defense is a lot better than Ole Miss. I think this team can legit be 10-2 but not if we play like we did on Saturday. That team will be 8-4 again.

[CleCoTiger 1,957]

12 hours ago, auburnphan said:

I hope to see an offense that exploits the weaknesses of the Georgia defense with sustained drives.  Limit the three and outs.  Call plays that help your quarterback settle in.

In college football these days things like "sustained drives" (or matriculating the ball down the field as some used to say) seems to be no longer in style.  Statisticians have examined the numbers and these days it apparently all revolves around "explosive plays."  (Changes to the rules have something to do with that also.) Then again I could be wrong...

[Eagle-1 3,821]

Game plan was really good, save for some brain dead calls in the red zone, and third, and short. Passing to open up the run is at least on the right track given where our talent lies. I will say however that it is about two seasons late. 

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

1 hour ago, Linayus said:

And this one.. will probably get me some hate.. but we're trying TOO HARD to get Flash the football. Defenses are keying in hard on him because they know he's a threat but he's really only a threat when he has space (hitting the outside sweep if we've blocked well and beating guys deep). Those WR screens aren't working with him and that super shallow drag route for him is terrible unless the LBs lose him. What really frustrates me about that particular play is that he appears to be the ONLY option. The other "receivers" are just running downfield and never look back at Bo.

 

I agree on part and disagree with the rest. As far as Flash getting targeted....I am all for that. I think that is a great improvement. He needs 10 touches a game. I agree about the screens. I do not think Flash has the shiftiness required to be successful on the screens, but on the drag routes I think with a little tweaking those could be deadly. Also, even if he is keyed on with double coverage he can always take the top off. So I think you pointed out somethings in your post that were definitely true, but I have to disagree on the utilization of Flash. Get him the ball. I know that some of these aren;t working great, but with him it only takes one at any point and he can break it. It;s a numbers game. JMO

[auburnphan 6,050]

1 hour ago, CleCoTiger said:

In college football these days things like "sustained drives" (or matriculating the ball down the field as some used to say) seems to be no longer in style.  Statisticians have examined the numbers and these days it apparently all revolves around "explosive plays."  (Changes to the rules have something to do with that also.) Then again I could be wrong...

Agree, I am just hoping for drives  that are long enough to give our defense a rest, I should have been more precise.

[Sizzle 3,912]

3 hours ago, McLoofus said:

And that's been the case against bad teams. Just never seems to happen against good ones. 

Yep. We’ve all seen this before but the way they spread it around last game SEEMS like they might be headed in the right direction. Now I just want to see more passes to the RB’s. It’s time for Shivers to finally break one.

Every RB who’s played this year has broke a long play this year but him. No more getting tackled by the shoestrings 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Just now, Sizzle said:

Yep. We’ve all seen this before but the way they spread it around last game SEEMS like they might be headed in the right direction. Now I just want to see more passes to the RB’s. It’s time for Shivers to finally break one.

Every RB who’s played this year has broke a long play this year but him. No more getting tackled by the shoestrings 

A lot of bad timing, that's for sure. Worm would've turned those 2 long Williams runs to end the 1st half and start the 2nd one a couple weeks ago into TDs. Those holes were wide enough for Prince Tega to run through. But there have also been some times I would've liked to see him pick his feet up. Agreed there. 

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

Was watching Stat's Ole Miss Highlight....and I was happy to see some decent passing concepts in the first half. Is Gus learning to develop route tress? He did a nice play on the deep cross to Jay Jay with scheming him open, and the deep route to Flash acually had Williams wide open across the middle. I hope he is learning to utilize the middle of the field....although I still have no trust. 

 

[AUFriction 1,179]

40 minutes ago, Tigerpro2a said:

Was watching Stat's Ole Miss Highlight....and I was happy to see some decent passing concepts in the first half. Is Gus learning to develop route tress? He did a nice play on the deep cross to Jay Jay with scheming him open, and the deep route to Flash acually had Williams wide open across the middle. I hope he is learning to utilize the middle of the field....although I still have no trust. 

 

He's been running these kinds of passing concepts all season. A lot of people just haven't noticed because receivers are either dropping the ball or Bo is missing them. 

[LKEEL75 2,566]

Maybe somebody mentioned this elsewhere, but can I just say the #1 best decision so far of the year for this team...  Welcome to the field Brahms!!!!  He went 1 on 1 several times with a NG that will be in the NFL and did not get beat much.  Yeah he had some help and yeah he lost a battle or 2 but all in all he did a great job.  And no snaps over the QB head.

[Linayus 676]

2 hours ago, Tigerpro2a said:

I agree on part and disagree with the rest. As far as Flash getting targeted....I am all for that. I think that is a great improvement. He needs 10 touches a game. I agree about the screens. I do not think Flash has the shiftiness required to be successful on the screens, but on the drag routes I think with a little tweaking those could be deadly. Also, even if he is keyed on with double coverage he can always take the top off. So I think you pointed out somethings in your post that were definitely true, but I have to disagree on the utilization of Flash. Get him the ball. I know that some of these aren;t working great, but with him it only takes one at any point and he can break it. It;s a numbers game. JMO

I guess I can clarify a little more on my stance - I definitely don't mind him getting the touches. He's explosive and one of our best weapons but it's the way we've been trying to use him that bothers me. I think defenses are paying more attention to where Flash is than Seth Williams so plays that take too long to get going (like those screens) just aren't working well. I also don't mind that drag route so much (it worked well the first time we got it to him) but I think we did it on a 3rd and long if I'm not mistaken and it went no where because the LB was all over it. I guess my frustration with that one was that I don't think Bo had a second option to go to (or he never considered going to it) so it was another wasted play.

I'm going to go back at some point and try to watch it all again. Hopefully, I won't get so frustrated watching it a second time since I know the outcome. LOL