Run, Run, Pass mentality

[StatTiger 3,146]

I'm not advocating for Auburn to literally run 2 times and then pass but for there to be a ratio of 2-runs to 1 pass against Ole Miss.

If Auburn is to find it's offensive identity this Saturday against Ole Miss, it will have to start up front with the offensive line and through the running game. It would be great if the Auburn running backs alone had 35 carries against the Rebels. I personally would like to see Tre Mason with 15, Mike Blakely with 10 and Onterio McCalebb with 10. As I previously noted, the stretch play has been Auburn's most effective run play this season and Scot Loeffler has designed it through various formations, which allows all 3 running backs to execute this play.

The stretch play...

In this cut up, Auburn runs the stretch play in a 1-back set with 2 TE's to balance the line. It reminded me of the 2000 season with Rudi Johnson and Tuberville's 2-TE sets running the football to spread the defense out across the line. During this play Auburn has a 1st & 10 from their own 20-yard line and Mike Blakely is the lone RB in the backfield.

At the snap, Reese Dismukes releases off the line to take out the MLB running laterally with the flow of the Auburn offensive line. John Sullen goes 1 on 1 with a DT, preventing the DT from the point of attack. Brandon Fulse drives the DE outside as Greg Robinson manhandles the DE outside to open up the running lane for Mike Blakely through the "B" gap. Blakely is able to zip through the hole and outside to the sideline for a 20-yard gain and an Auburn first down.

The play-action off the stretch play...

On this play, Auburn will fake the stretch play from an Ace Formation and Kiehl Frazier will roll right to pass. At the snap, Frazier will slide to his left to fake the stretch-give to Mike Blakely. Philip Lutzenkirchen pulls to his right and will take out the OLB on the backside of the play. It was perhaps the best block of the season for Lutz as he took the LB off his feet and to the ground.

The 2nd TE (Brandon Fulse) releases off the left side of the formation to run a shallow crossing route to the backside. As Frazier rolls to his right after the play-action, he will have 3 targets in Fulse, Emory Blake and Travante Stallworth. Frazier knows from his pre-snap look, the CB is playing way off Stallworth and Blake will draw the safety over the middle, so Stallworth is drawing man coverage.

Stallworth runs a deep comeback route and Frazier fires his pass to Stallworth for a 22-yard gain and an Auburn first down. If all routes are covered, Frazier has the option of turning up the field with the football to gain as many yards as he can off the boot. This play becomes more effective the more Auburn runs the football.

The goal this week must be eliminating the negative plays and turnovers, while establishing a solid running game to keep the Ole Miss offense off the field.

[johnjacob 33]

Good stuff Stat. I've noticed that AU has had success out of the 2 TE and I formations doing just what you said. I wish Spoon-boy (OC) would see it too.

[juscAUse 1]

Good stuff Stat. I've noticed that AU has had success out of the 2 TE and I formations doing just what you said. I wish Spoon-boy (OC) would see it too.

Also this is one of the ONLY sets where the play action actually looks like a running play that AU has run against the team thay are playing. Way too often,the personnel groupings and formations we run tell the D what is coming,and where.

[DivisionN 102]

I'm not advocating for Auburn to literally run 2 times and then pass but for there to be a ratio of 2-runs to 1 pass against Ole Miss.

If Auburn is to find it's offensive identity this Saturday against Ole Miss, it will have to start up front with the offensive line and through the running game. It would be great if the Auburn running backs alone had 35 carries against the Rebels. I personally would like to see Tre Mason with 15, Mike Blakely with 10 and Onterio McCalebb with 10. As I previously noted, the stretch play has been Auburn's most effective run play this season and Scot Loeffler has designed it through various formations, which allows all 3 running backs to execute this play.

The stretch play...

In this cut up, Auburn runs the stretch play in a 1-back set with 2 TE's to balance the line. It reminded me of the 2000 season with Rudi Johnson and Tuberville's 2-TE sets running the football to spread the defense out across the line. During this play Auburn has a 1st & 10 from their own 20-yard line and Mike Blakely is the lone RB in the backfield.

At the snap, Reese Dismukes releases off the line to take out the MLB running laterally with the flow of the Auburn offensive line. John Sullen goes 1 on 1 with a DT, preventing the DT from the point of attack. Brandon Fulse drives the DE outside as Greg Robinson manhandles the DE outside to open up the running lane for Mike Blakely through the "B" gap. Blakely is able to zip through the hole and outside to the sideline for a 20-yard gain and an Auburn first down.

The play-action off the stretch play...

On this play, Auburn will fake the stretch play from an Ace Formation and Kiehl Frazier will roll right to pass. At the snap, Frazier will slide to his left to fake the stretch-give to Mike Blakely. Philip Lutzenkirchen pulls to his right and will take out the OLB on the backside of the play. It was perhaps the best block of the season for Lutz as he took the LB off his feet and to the ground.

The 2nd TE (Brandon Fulse) releases off the left side of the formation to run a shallow crossing route to the backside. As Frazier rolls to his right after the play-action, he will have 3 targets in Fulse, Emory Blake and Travante Stallworth. Frazier knows from his pre-snap look, the CB is playing way off Stallworth and Blake will draw the safety over the middle, so Stallworth is drawing man coverage.

Stallworth runs a deep comeback route and Frazier fires his pass to Stallworth for a 22-yard gain and an Auburn first down. If all routes are covered, Frazier has the option of turning up the field with the football to gain as many yards as he can off the boot. This play becomes more effective the more Auburn runs the football.

The goal this week must be eliminating the negative plays and turnovers, while establishing a solid running game to keep the Ole Miss offense off the field.

With this young offensive line, I believe you are on the money with the 2-run, 1-pass ratio. It's time for the coaches to narrow down to the plays that work and use them more often. I really appreciate the time and attention you put into your posts. I learn a lot from you.

[StatTiger 3,146]

With this young offensive line, I believe you are on the money with the 2-run, 1-pass ratio. It's time for the coaches to narrow down to the plays that work and use them more often. I really appreciate the time and attention you put into your posts. I learn a lot from you.

If I were Loeffler, I would print out all the plays run through 5 games ranking them from most successful to least. I then take the bottom 10-15% and take those out of the playbook until this team finds consistency and you feel comfortable going back to them down the road. I take the top 25% and build my game plans around them. In a perfect world, it would be nice to scheme to exploit the opponent's weaknesses but this offense needs a foundation. It's time to simply look at what we can do well and build from there. I'm hoping this happens this week, win or lose. Loeffler is a really bright mind when it comes to football. He did an exceptional job breaking down defenses during his extensive interview, which is what sold him to Chizik. The interview was a similar process to how Tuberville hired Borges. I do believe Lefty has been trying to do too much too soon.

[tbon986 1]

With this young offensive line, I believe you are on the money with the 2-run, 1-pass ratio. It's time for the coaches to narrow down to the plays that work and use them more often. I really appreciate the time and attention you put into your posts. I learn a lot from you.

If I were Loeffler, I would print out all the plays run through 5 games ranking them from most successful to least. I then take the bottom 10-15% and take those out of the playbook until this team finds consistency and you feel comfortable going back to them down the road. I take the top 25% and build my game plans around them. In a perfect world, it would be nice to scheme to exploit the opponent's weaknesses but this offense needs a foundation. It's time to simply look at what we can do well and build from there. I'm hoping this happens this week, win or lose. Loeffler is a really bright mind when it comes to football. He did an exceptional job breaking down defenses during his extensive interview, which is what sold him to Chizik. The interview was a similar process to how Tuberville hired Borges. I do believe Lefty has been trying to do too much too soon.

It seems Kiehl passes much better when he rolls out.

[EagleReedle 14]

He did an exceptional job breaking down defenses during his extensive interview, which is what sold him to Chizik. The interview was a similar process to how Tuberville hired Borges. I do believe Lefty has been trying to do too much too soon.

Stat, can you elaborate on the interview process? Is it basically just a sit down and share your vision and philosophy with the Coach and make a pitch as to why you are the man for the job or is Chizik / Tubs making the pitch?

[TeBoneAU 87]

I love the idea of running down their throat!

[keesler 5,814]

With this young offensive line, I believe you are on the money with the 2-run, 1-pass ratio. It's time for the coaches to narrow down to the plays that work and use them more often. I really appreciate the time and attention you put into your posts. I learn a lot from you.

If I were Loeffler, I would print out all the plays run through 5 games ranking them from most successful to least. I then take the bottom 10-15% and take those out of the playbook until this team finds consistency and you feel comfortable going back to them down the road. I take the top 25% and build my game plans around them. In a perfect world, it would be nice to scheme to exploit the opponent's weaknesses but this offense needs a foundation. It's time to simply look at what we can do well and build from there. I'm hoping this happens this week, win or lose. Loeffler is a really bright mind when it comes to football. He did an exceptional job breaking down defenses during his extensive interview, which is what sold him to Chizik. The interview was a similar process to how Tuberville hired Borges. I do believe Lefty has been trying to do too much too soon.

If "Lefty" could have the benefit of his offense going a full series or two without the stupid penalties and allowing sacks, we might see a completly different/more productive offense. It's gotta be frustrating as a new OC to draw up a play and it gets squashed because of a penalty or your QB gets planted.

[jw 4 au 511]

With this young offensive line, I believe you are on the money with the 2-run, 1-pass ratio. It's time for the coaches to narrow down to the plays that work and use them more often. I really appreciate the time and attention you put into your posts. I learn a lot from you.

If I were Loeffler, I would print out all the plays run through 5 games ranking them from most successful to least. I then take the bottom 10-15% and take those out of the playbook until this team finds consistency and you feel comfortable going back to them down the road. I take the top 25% and build my game plans around them. In a perfect world, it would be nice to scheme to exploit the opponent's weaknesses but this offense needs a foundation. It's time to simply look at what we can do well and build from there. I'm hoping this happens this week, win or lose. Loeffler is a really bright mind when it comes to football. He did an exceptional job breaking down defenses during his extensive interview, which is what sold him to Chizik. The interview was a similar process to how Tuberville hired Borges. I do believe Lefty has been trying to do too much too soon.

Stat, I have a question just out of curiousity. Does CSL (of college fotball coordinatiors in general) have staff that breaks down plays for him? He's not sitting at the computer ranking and printing plays is he? Just curiouos. He needs someone good breaking down the plays like you have in detail so he can make these decisions and game plans.

[StatTiger 3,146]

Stat, I have a question just out of curiousity. Does CSL (of college fotball coordinatiors in general) have staff that breaks down plays for him? He's not sitting at the computer ranking and printing plays is he? Just curiouos. He needs someone good breaking down the plays like you have in detail so he can make these decisions and game plans.

Yes, they have a support staff that does the grunt work but film study for coaches is very common and essential. The support staff might arrange certain footage for the coaches to review and evaluate.

[corchjay 5,311]

I like the sound of ranking the plays. My problem with CSL started back in the fall, he and others commented after practices that they were working from a playbook of about 300 plays. No wonder the guys don't know the plays. I've always taught and been successful teaching about 12-15 plays and everyone knowing exactly what to do on those plays no matter what the defense does on each of those plays whether it be zone, man, blitz, etc. From that you come up with about 15 more plays that work off of your base. That builds your offense to where the guys know what their responsibility is on each play and know it well enough to be successful. I'm not sure sometimes if our OL knows if say on a pass play if it's a 3, 5, or 7 step drop. So I kind of like the idea of coach Chizik "simplifying" the offense. Hopefully that's the goal to get some plays that can be successful whether the defense knows we are running it or not. That's the principle behind the triple option. The teams that run it, they run it so much that everyone knows their job inside and out they are rarely behind the chains so to speak. Our problem has definitely been negative plays. Hope those end on saturday. War Eagle!

[mcgufcm 3,984]

They have really, really cool programs that speed the process as well. I used to know a few guys on the staff so I got to sit around while they broke down film a time or two. They had every play that an opponent (or Auburn if you're scouting yourself) ran catelogued in different ways. For example, you could call up every play that Ole Miss has run at 3rd and 7 or 2nd and 10 or whatever. Or you could break it down based on personnel groupings. It was so freaking cool and FAST. The support staff is the one that has to go through the tape and catelogue it, and sometimes, they would put together spliced film of say 3rd and longs so the coach didn't have to manipulate anything.

[StatTiger 3,146]

I like the sound of ranking the plays. My problem with CSL started back in the fall, he and others commented after practices that they were working from a playbook of about 300 plays. No wonder the guys don't know the plays. I've always taught and been successful teaching about 12-15 plays and everyone knowing exactly what to do on those plays no matter what the defense does on each of those plays whether it be zone, man, blitz, etc. From that you come up with about 15 more plays that work off of your base. That builds your offense to where the guys know what their responsibility is on each play and know it well enough to be successful. I'm not sure sometimes if our OL knows if say on a pass play if it's a 3, 5, or 7 step drop. So I kind of like the idea of coach Chizik "simplifying" the offense. Hopefully that's the goal to get some plays that can be successful whether the defense knows we are running it or not. That's the principle behind the triple option. The teams that run it, they run it so much that everyone knows their job inside and out they are rarely behind the chains so to speak. Our problem has definitely been negative plays. Hope those end on saturday. War Eagle!

Very sound comments. I wish Loeffler would look at a highlight video of the 1993 Auburn offense. As you suggested, the offensive play calling was fairly basic but the team was sound in execution. You basically saw...

1) FB belly play

2) Off tackle play by RB

3) Iso play with RB

4) Toss sweep to RB

5) WR reverse.

Passing game was set up primarily off of play-action

1) 3 step drop outs and slants

2) 5-7 drop play-action post pattern and comeback routes

3) screens to the RB's

4) flat and wheel routes to the FB

Obviously there were other formations involving 3-4 WR looks but primarily everything was executed from the I-formation with 2 WR's, TE, FB and TB.

I remember Terry Bowden stating the 1992 team should have been 8-3 or 9-2 had they simply executed properly.

[AUbritt 606]

Stat, Aaron Brenner over at War Eagle Extra has an interview with an Ole Miss beat writer today here, and something the guy said raises a question for me.

Here's the relevant Q&A:

AB: Texas and Texas A&M combined for 640 rushing yards. Conversely, Alabama had just 125 yards, and UTEP and Tulane combined for a paltry 51. Is that simply a product of opponents, or is this rush defense merely inconsistent?

Kellenberger: My theory is that it is all about formation. Texas was almost exclusively in the spread, and Texas A&M throws five wide receiver sets at you all day long. That spread out Ole Miss’ defense, and both of those teams were able to gash the huge open holes for big gains. They exposed Ole Miss’ relative lack of lateral speed and not great pursuit angles to the ball, and the front didn’t get off the blockers fast enough to make the tackle at the line of scrimmage. Alabama and UTEP mostly lined up in the box and ran right at you, and Ole Miss was able to scheme to that (using a 4-3 against Bama, for instance). Unworried about the deep pass, they walked up Cody Prewitt into the box and he was relentless (13 tackles in Tuscaloosa). As far as Tulane, that’s just a terrible football team and, as I wrote after the game, an offensive line that would have trouble keeping drunks in a bar.

Read more here: http://www.wareagleextra.com/2012/10/11/behind-enemy-lines-qa-with-ole-miss-beat-writer-hugh-kellenberger/#storylink=cpy

My question for you is this: If Kellenberger is right in his analysis, how does our stretch play fit into attacking Ole Miss on the ground? Does it spread people out enough that Ole Miss won't be able to use its defense the way it did against Alabama?

[StatTiger 3,146]

My question for you is this: If Kellenberger is right in his analysis, how does our stretch play fit into attacking Ole Miss on the ground? Does it spread people out enough that Ole Miss won't be able to use its defense the way it did against Alabama?

We run the stretch play from the I-formation, Ace Formation and single-back set with 2 TE's and there is a play-action off all three set ups.

The above example is the Ace-Formation with a TE lined up in the backfield like a FB. The stretch portion of the play, line moving laterally and the QB & RB exchange forces the defense to flow to what appears to be the point of the attack. The RB makes the read, which could be the "B" gap or outside on the "C" gap. The final option is the cutback, which is almost like a counter play. The above photo is a play, Blakely cuts the play back against the flow of the defense. The TE (Fulse) in the backfield has pulled right and will take out the OLB and the RT will crush the safety to give Blakely a backside running lane.

Even if the opposing defense has 8-9 men in the box, the key is to get them to over pursue and to break the play back against the flow of the play. If 6-7 defenders get caught up in the wash, then it actually comes down to a 2 on 2 blocking situation on the backside as we see above. Of the 8-9 men in the box, 2-3 won't even need to be blocked if the back cuts the play back likely Blakely did above.

Don't get me wrong, it won't be easy running against the Rebels, which is why the play-action portion will be key. If they run a lot of zone, that's a good thing for Auburn's QB's. Ole Miss is quick and fast on defense but they are undersized too. They have one DE that checks in at 231 and a DT that checks in above 270. They have 1 LB under 2010 and 1 under 200.

I also like to the 2 TE set. Look to the cut up I did on the Blakely 20-yard run. A TE on both ends of the tackles stretches a defense out and balances out the line to where they cannot overstack one side. I just hope Loeffler is patient and consistent with the running game because we are toast if we get into a 44-21 pass to run ratio like we did against Arkansas.

Here is the Blakely run from the 2-TE and 1 back set...

[AUbritt 606]

Thanks, Stat -- I was hoping you'd say something like that!

I'm looking for two things this weekend out of the offense: (1) patience from Lefty to establish our identity as a run/play-action team, and (2) execution and a lack of errors from the players.

If we can accomplish both, as well as getting a turnover or two from our D, then I feel pretty good about the game.

War Eagle!