Time for Midline Madness

[Longestday]

 

[BUZZ NATION]

As always great job.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Some observations / questions for you to get your insights.

On first tape, JT does not run to the hole (which looks like the more guaranteed gain) but bounces it outside. Is this a case of his athleticism getting him yardage that he might not have gotten if the cornerback and OLB had been playing for, say, Notre Dame?

On second tape the fact that the defender overruns the play pretty much gives away the touchdown. Do you think the defender was influenced from previous plays seeing JT bounce it outside?

On last tape do you think someone like MM would have scored a touchdown or is there still enough traffic that a slower but stronger B-back is what makes this play work?

Great job as always.

 

[Ash]

Is this a case of his athleticism getting him yardage that he might not have gotten if the cornerback and OLB had been playing for, say, Notre Dame?

I think so.

 

[4shotB]

thanks for the videos. this looks like simple play that is dependent on making the right read of the DT. It seems (in retrospect anyways) that we could not get the BBack dive established last year.On film (for those of you who do look at it), were people defending us differently than what MSU did in the OB?

 

[Fatmike91]

I keep saying the same thing:

When we run mid-line we win.

There is a very high correlation.

It might be because of mid-line's awesomeness... Or it might be that we only run mid-line against poorly aligned defenses (so we were going to win anyway)

Either way, I hope to see more mid-line.

/

 

[SidewalkJacket]

I keep saying the same thing:

When we run mid-line we win.

There is a very high correlation.

It might be because of mid-line's awesomeness... Or it might be that we only run mid-line against poorly aligned defenses (so we were going to win anyway)

Either way, I hope to see more mid-line.

/

I love the midline.

Of course, FB and SD could be bulldozing so many DTs this year that we never have to worry about optioning them!

 

[4shotB]

I keep saying the same thing:

When we run mid-line we win.

There is a very high correlation.

It might be because of mid-line's awesomeness... Or it might be that we only run mid-line against poorly aligned defenses (so we were going to win anyway)

Either way, I hope to see more mid-line.

/

this goes back to my previous ? What can a D do differently in regards to alignment to take away the mid-line?

 

[Fatmike91]

this goes back to my previous ? What can a D do differently in regards to alignment to take away the mid-line?

Defense can stay at home in the middle - which means you aren't on the edge.

Mid-line worked well against a very potent Miss St defense that was over-playing the option at the edge.

We ran mid-line a lot with JFN. I remember we beat Clemson one year and they couldn't stop the mid-line.

Then we went away from it TW.

More mid-line please.

/

 

[King2b]

Did we not run this last year because our guards couldn't get to mlb? Seems like this is the appropriate counter to the teams blitzing the mlb to the edge like notre dame.

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[Boomergump]

The mid-line saved our bacon against Climpsum that year at home where we got up 21 zip (Nesbitt) only to see them come back. In QTR 3&4 we really got the mid-line going and moved the ball after being stagnated otherwise, winning by a FG. This was the game with the infamous orange clad fan crying and slamming his hat down on ESPN while the guys in the booth had their precious moments (and commentary) during the the TV timeout. The mid-line is like having a great off speed pitch in baseball. You really need it to complement your bread and butter. We need to run this play well. In the JT era, there has been less and less of this play. I don't know why. Possibly it is because the interior running is more for the big guys. There is less risk running it in the bowl game (orange bowl) because there are no games left to play afterwards. In any case, it is my opinion that the mid-line really needs to be used throughout the year if we are to be successful.

I challenge the notion that we didn't run this with TW. I felt like we ran it a good bit and TW was really good at executing it. The game against Climpsum (again) on Halloween with TW at QB and them highly ranked where we won big, it was used quite a bit to great effect. They had a great DT (as usual) who we couldn't seem to block. Hey, if you can't block them, option them off instead, right? When you are playing an opponent with great DTs, this is the play to use.

 

[iceeater1969]

The mid-line saved our bacon against Climpsum that year at home where we got up 21 zip (Nesbitt) only to see them come back. In QTR 3&4 we really got the mid-line going and moved the ball after being stagnated otherwise, winning by a FG. This was the game with the infamous orange clad fan crying and slamming his hat down on ESPN while the guys in the booth had their precious moments (and commentary) during the the TV timeout. The mid-line is like having a great off speed pitch in baseball. You really need it to complement your bread and butter. We need to run this play well. In the JT era, there has been less and less of this play. I don't know why. Possibly it is because the interior running is more for the big guys. There is less risk running it in the bowl game (orange bowl) because there are no games left to play afterwards. In any case, it is my opinion that the mid-line really needs to be used throughout the year if we are to be successful.

I challenge the notion that we didn't run this with TW. I felt like we ran it a good bit and TW was really good at executing it. The game against Climpsum (again) on Halloween with TW at QB and them highly ranked where we won big, it was used quite a bit to great effect. They had a great DT (as usual) who we couldn't seem to block. Hey, if you can't block them, option them off instead, right? When you are playing an opponent with great DTs, this is the play to use.

Just a note.
The orange bowl was the first and last game for the msu defensive coordinator. The msu dc who coached them when they were #1 in nation for 5 weeks took a new job before the bowl game. We were good but they were great athletes who were not well coached. 15 we played young kids and we faced very good dc.
Bring on 16

 

[deeeznutz]

Just a note.
The orange bowl was the first and last game for the msu defensive coordinator. The msu dc who coached them when they were #1 in nation for 5 weeks took a new job before the bowl game. We were good but they were great athletes who were not well coached. 15 we played young kids and we faced very good dc.
Bring on 16

Absolutely that played a part, I remember hearing before the game when their coordinator got hired away thinking they were in trouble, and they looked like a team that had no idea how to adjust to our changes (basically exactly what you'd expect with a completely green DC). I still feel confident we would have won if their DC didn't get poached, but I knew we had that game when he did.

 

[iceeater1969]

Absolutely that played a part, I remember hearing before the game when their coordinator got hired away thinking they were in trouble, and they looked like a team that had no idea how to adjust to our changes (basically exactly what you'd expect with a completely green DC). I still feel confident we would have won if their DC didn't get poached, but I knew we had that game when he did.

Watching it up close it was clear we stomped them.

 

[JacketFromUGA]

Watching it up close it was clear we stomped them.

And yet like a true Tech fan I didn't let myself believe we actually had it in the bag till like 75% through the 4th quarter.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

One other thing to note from the film is that Missy State is clearly respecting the threat of our wide receivers. Very little cheating toward the line or peaking in to see what the line play looks like.

 

[InsideLB]

I'd guess success running wide on the triple first opens up the midline 2nd. You get overpursuit to the edge from the D looking to stop the pitch but your two a backs attack between guard and tackle instead of going wide. Creates numbers mismatch inside.

And if you've been gashing them with the BB all night you get overcommitment there too. It's the parting of the red sea.

Good reason for when we run the midline we win....because the other plays have set it up.

 

[4shotB]

I'd guess success running wide on the triple first opens up the midline 2nd. You get overpursuit to the edge from the D looking to stop the pitch but your two a backs attack between guard and tackle instead of going wide. Creates numbers mismatch inside.


Good reason for when we run the midline we win....because the other plays have set it up.

This, plus NE Stinger's post, makes more sense to me than simply saying that we win by running midline. The midline works well when the D is trying to stop the WR's and Abacks (i.e cannot "cheat" to the middle). I suppose though the converse would be true. With dominant G-C-G combo AND a great B-Back, you could set up the outside stuff and passing game with the midline.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Thanks LD. These vids really underscore the complexity of the AB position. Many think all they do is take pitches and lead block the edge. Not so. On this play, two very well coordinated interior blocks are required by Abacks in order for the play to succeed. Maybe this is why we did not see this play so much last year, we didn't have the Abacks for it?

You also see how the Bback has to hit the hole with complete decisiveness and speed. There's no time to dance around or look for the crease, you have to know it will be where it's supposed to be. Laskey was a master at this and Days eventually got there, too.

 

[Boomergump]

One of the reasons I like the mid-line is that it confuses the playside DLs. The DE, who has been left unblocked much of the time, starts to feel like he can run free and read plays. Then, all of a sudden, on the mid-line, he has a face full of OT by surprise and gets driven out of the play more than he normally would otherwise. By the same token, the DT, who has been doubled much of the time (with one in his face and other guys chipping and releasing), all of a sudden gets turned loose and can't control himself with his unexpected freedom.

If you watch the vids closely, the play where JT turns it up into the hole for a TD on the interior highlights why experience matters at AB. Watch Bostic, who was the playside AB. When he fills the gap as a lead blocker, it would have been real easy to chip the DE, who was engaged with our OT in pretty much a stalemate, and plug things up a little. Instead, he read the play really well, slipped through, and picked up the LB at the second level who was kind of hidden from his line of sight. That cut block on the interior sprung the play. (my apologies if this was was already covered by Longest Day verbally. When I watched the film I had the volume off and couldn't listen)