Theories Re: 2016's Big Plays?

[InsideLB]

I'm wondering about all the big plays we hit. TOP was way down and big plays were way up.

How do you explain it?

I am wondering if after 2015, a season in which defenses got very aggressive with us and we couldn't make them pay, defenses elected to go with more this kind of aggressive strategy. Perhaps this year--with seasoned receivers, A backs, B backs, and better pass protection for Justin--we were able to hit more plays both running and passing. In the run game our WRs seemed to be very active downfield getting bodies on people.

Or is it chance? Last year we struggled mightily to hit the big play and this year when it rained it poured?

Any theories or observations out there?

 

[biojacket06]

I think we had more experienced players that knew where to go and who to block compared to 2015.

 

[furant]

I have to think your guess is the most likely scenario. The pass protection and JT as a senior allowed us to make defenses pay. It might be a pendulum swing that allows us to open up the death marches a bit more when Ds drop back their LBs.

 

[Dustman]

It's hard for me to compare anything to last season because I've tried to forget most of it. I think you're right that DCs were more aggressive and we made them pay. Maybe we spent a little extra time on that - who knows. But it was obvious watching the games from our seats that defenses weren't respecting our ability to throw it and on several occasions my buddy and I would say we are going over the top here and sure enough...

 

[InsideLB]

I think we had more experienced players that knew where to go and who to block compared to 2015.

I'll buy this. The only thing is that we were not able to mount death marches consistently. One would expect having the more experienced guys who know who to block would also produce death marches.

Maybe it's that the skill guys were much more consistent while the newer OL were hit-or-miss. On some of the perimeter plays it didn't matter because we get wide so fast whereas running right at folks it would matter a lot.

 

[Dustman]

Also it seemed Brad improved at getting open this year. It seemed to me that Ugag wasn't as aggressive defensively but just blew some assignments and let guys go. But for the most part it seemed that defenses were going with what seemed to work against us in 2015.

 

[InsideLB]

Maybe we spent a little extra time on that - who knows.

Didn't CPJ bring in the new OL coach expressly to work on our pass protection? Seems like he recognized the current scheme was a problem with how defenses were attacking us and found a guy who could execute the changes. At the start of the year our tackles were giving him good reviews. Interestingly this coach (whose name escapes me at the moment) had previously been mostly a defensive coach his career and knows pressure schemes well.

Now that I think about it, in general our tackle play on the OL has been vastly improved. Cutting off defenders on the second level and keeping pass rushing DBs at bay had to help us hit many of the big plays. I do recall seeing Klock and Fromayan downfield creating havoc at times, as well as Jahaziel.

 

[SolicitorJacket]

Pass pro and WR who could make plays. JT had to run for his life on every pass situation last year.

Analysts rarely mention it but,in my opinion it is the pass threat that opens this offense up against more skilled, more experienced defenses. Once they get burned for a long gain they have to account for the threat instead of stacking numbers and speed toward the line.

 

[InsideLB]

Also got some bonafide big play type guys in Lynch, Searcy, & Marshall. I do believe some of it is seeing dividends from incrementally better skill position recruiting.

Hate that Marshall left but if Mills can stop breaking rules I'm confident Benson can come in and fill the Marshall role.

Gotta tip one's hat to the playmakers we had....including of course Justin Thomas. That's part of the equation.

 

[Dustman]

Didn't CPJ bring in the new OL coach expressly to work on our pass protection? Seems like he recognized the current scheme was a problem with how defenses were attacking us and found a guy who could execute the changes. At the start of the year our tackles were giving him good reviews. Interestingly this coach (whose name escapes me at the moment) had previously been mostly a defensive coach his career and knows pressure schemes well.

Now that I think about it, in general our tackle play on the OL has been vastly improved. Cutting off defenders on the second level and keeping pass rushing DBs at bay had to help us hit many of the big plays. I do recall seeing Klock and Fromayan downfield creating havoc at times, as well as Jahaziel.

West? Yes you're right. Our big plays don't take long to develop, but last year they were blown up at the snap.

 

[Yaller Jacket]

Inside, I think what you said just above is a big part of it. Faster, more athletic skill players. In some years we got nice gains with good blocking; this year we often turned a well blocked play into a touchdown.

The pass protection turnaround was something close to miraculous. We went from years of awfulness to pretty good in a single season. If the new line coach was responsible for that, I hope he is given money and a thousand attaboys. Add to that many of our A backs are really good pass receivers, something which hasn't always been the case.

 

[Dustman]

Also oddly enough it seemed we got the most big plays last year in our worst loss at Clemson. Maybe that had something to do with CLs development and recognition.

 

[InsideLB]

The pass protection turnaround was something close to miraculous. We went from years of awfulness to pretty good in a single season. If the new line coach was responsible for that, I hope he is given money and a thousand attaboys. Add to that many of our A backs are really good pass receivers, something which hasn't always been the case.

Good points about Coach West (thanks for the name Dustman) and A back receiving prowess. To complete a big play you have to catch the ball first. Only bad drop I recall was Stewart's one wide open drop. Beyond we seemed to catch the catchable balls. Justin had 4 bonafide weapons in Jeune, Lynch, Searcy, and Stewart (all of whom return!).

 

[cuttysark]

@Dustman: That's a great Avatar!

As for the big plays, apparently the experts who all have the blue print for stopping this offense didn't share it with anyone else who played GT this year.

Because the narrative has always been: "This isn't a come from behind offense as it can't pass." Bozo's! The TO is the most difficult offense to match up against. As CPJ has said numerous times, defenses like Iowa in 2009 and LSU in 2008 can make any offense look bad. This offense is perfect for the Institute!

 

[MidtownJacket]

I think, if you look at it, we saw a lot of Ds selling out to cover the middle of the field (in addition to bringing more aggressive heat to the LoS). We saw last year the new kids couldn't quite execute how they needed to for CPJ to take advantage of the tidechange in pressure and saw a bunch of on field adjustments crumble under the lack of maturity/experience we fielded.

Fast forward to this season with a better set of blocking packages and more experienced skill players to compliment JeT's talent in the backfield and all of a sudden the edges and deeper balls open up. Happy to see JeT have the chance to show out a little bit, and hoping he can crush the next game against "u"K

 

[takethepoints]

Well … if I recall correctly, we are #9 right now in yards rushing in the FBS so it isn't as if the entire running game went south all of a sudden. We are spoiled on that; if we aren't in the top 3 in rushing yards we tend to think something is wrong. Most teams would kill to run the ball as well as we have this year.

I think that the uptick in passing big plays is largely due to a) both starting WRs playing a good deal better this year and b) much better pass blocking schemes. Mainly, I think, the latter. It isn't as if we didn't have people open in 2015, but JT hardly got any time to throw. For the run, I think it is a matter of better blocking, especially on the edge. Last year, the big questions on the TO and toss sweeps were whether anybody would hit the right guy and whether it would do any good if they did. Not so much this year. I put this down to the ABs getting more experience and the OLs working on their conditioning. Combine all that with JT's ability to milk plays at the edge so that explosion plays are more common and there you are.

Not next year, however, I think. In 2017 the Death March returns.

 

[InsideLB]

In 2017 the Death March returns.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

I think opposing Ds played us pretty much the same as last year. Crashed the box bringing 8-9 selling out to stop the run. We should have, but failed to make em pay for that last year. For a variety of perplexing reasons best summed up as inconsistent play across the board.

This year we got some guys, like Qua, back and others benefited from more experience. The inconsistent play showed up at the start of the year but was less bad than 15 and improved as the year wore on. WR play took a huge leap forward Imo as well as Oline. All of this played a part, duh.....stating the obvious.

The big difference though IMO....we had more quality big play athletes in the skill positions than anytime since Dwyer, DT, Roddy, and AA. Good luck stopping a single facet of our O without getting burned big in other areas.

 

[Fatmike91]

I think we hit most of the factors but I'll add our time of possession is down in part because our D can't get off the field consistently.

We'd rush for more yards, and probably also make more big plays if our offense got to touch the ball more...

Have we compared our big play numbers this year to other seasons like 2014 and 2009?

/

 

[Yaller Jacket]

One other thing -- Justin through the ball extremely well this year. Almost certainly because of the better pass blocking. But he still had to make the throws.