What I'll miss about Tech football … and what I hope to see

[knoxjacket]

Bolded parts are mine.

[Edit: In case the point isn't clear, advantage from the viewpoint of X with respect to Y usually means X>Y, not X=Y or X<Y]

A runner with no one unblocked at the point of attack is a +1 advantage for the offense. That is the way every running play in the history of football has been designed.

 

[Bibb Stinger]

The level of understanding this board has for other offenses is shockingly low.[/QUOTE]

A runner with no one unblocked at the point of attack is a +1 advantage for the offense. That is the way every running play in the history of football has been designed.

Always looking for a greater level of understanding. Dallas Cowboys run zone blocking all the time. Hat on a hat, push 'em down field, Zeke picks a hole. Works like a champ if your hats are better than their hats.
Not sure how that equals this:
Clemson had a nose tackle blowing up every play we ran for first several possessions. He was killing us. (their hat was killing our hat) Johnson starting to option the nose tackle (their hat). As in, don't block him go block somebody else.
Tech beats ranked Clemson. Dabo is dumfounded. Yes, not much success against Clemson lately. Tech and the rest of the D1 football teams.

 

[Skeptic]

The level of understanding this board has for other offenses is shockingly low.

Always looking for a greater level of understanding. Dallas Cowboys run zone blocking all the time. Hat on a hat, push 'em down field, Zeke picks a hole. Works like a champ if your hats are better than their hats.
Not sure how that equals this:
Clemson had a nose tackle blowing up every play we ran for first several possessions. He was killing us. (their hat was killing our hat) Johnson starting to option the nose tackle (their hat). As in, don't block him go block somebody else.
Tech beats ranked Clemson. Dabo is dumfounded. Yes, not much success against Clemson lately. Tech and the rest of the D1 football teams.[/QUOTE]
That was 2011 in Atlanta. I think the nose tackle was Grady Jarrett, who as you say was killing us. Johnson changed some assignments and Tevin Washington wound up with more than 200 yards rushing on a bajllion carries I think. You are right, Johnson made Jarrett the option man and Washington feasted on the midline option. My most vivid memory is from inside the five and Washington pulled the ball and Jarrett absolutely leveled David Sims, as in just blew him up. Washington stepped around the crash scene into the end zone. I've always wanted a picture of Jarrett face down, pounding both hands on the turf in frustration. Sims was just glad to leave the scene of the accident on his own.

 

[Troutbum]

Skeptic - I remember that goal line play as well. It was Brandon Thompson. Were from Thomasville and were watching him the whole game. Kudos to Johnson for being able to change it mid-stream. Remarkable.

 

[IEEEWreck]

The history of offense is trying to get numbers advantages and there are multiple ways to do so. Do you guys seriously think old style pro running teams were just leaving a DT or ILB unblocked and telling their RB to beat them?

Not trying to be difficult, but leaving a man in the path of the play unblocked is creating a numbers disadvantage. Blocking him creates even numbers. Many, but not all, offenses, perhaps starting with the buck lateral, seek to create a numbers advantage, but doing so necessarily implies using the momentum of one or more defensive players to leave them unblocked and yet still not relevant to the play.

 

[ibeattetris]

The history of offense is trying to get numbers advantages and there are multiple ways to do so. Do you guys seriously think old style pro running teams were just leaving a DT or ILB unblocked and telling their RB to beat them?

Backside DT, definitely. ILB yes. Safeties or nickels yes.

Here is an example of the bubble screen. What it creates is a 2v2 situation where you have a runner and a blocker against two defenders. It allows you to get playmakers in space to beat the unblocked player. Watch the play, if 19 is slower, he get caught for a 1 yard gain. If the safety is faster or takes a better angle, its a one yard gain. But the play here was not about creating a numbers advantage, it was about having a single player beat someone in a 1v1 which happened.
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-NS...e/9448567/Cyclone_PA_bubble_TD_vs_OU_base.gif

Here is a 3v3 bubble that the defender wins.
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/laf.../9448671/Stanford_good_D_on_Oregon_bubble.gif

 

[southernhive]

No disrespect to CPJ, but Andy Demetra’s Job is going to be 1,000 times easier with CGC! He probably doesn’t know what to do with a football coach who is engaged in an interview and happy to be in front of a camera.

I am so glad we hired CGC!! I was really concerned about Andy Demetra!!

 

[southernhive]

• I'll miss watching an offensive that was actually deceptive and required an investment of time to learn to watch. Watching our games was an analytical as well as an emotional experience. The way people around here would complain about what a play on film actually was and the analysis provided by Longest, in particular, made watching Tech play really engaging. (Btw, I think this is 0ne reason some around here didn't like the TO. Most fanbases can simply gloat about how good or lament about how bad their players are without having to think about it much. The much anticipated "sidewalk fans" are like this, of course.)

I agree with 99.9% of your post, but I am a sidewalk fan that really enjoyed CPJ's spread option offense. Even the X's and O's breakdowns posted by Longestday. So, I will let you slide.

 

[iceeater1969]

Always looking for a greater level of understanding. Dallas Cowboys run zone blocking all the time. Hat on a hat, push 'em down field, Zeke picks a hole. Works like a champ if your hats are better than their hats.
Not sure how that equals this:
Clemson had a nose tackle blowing up every play we ran for first several possessions. He was killing us. (their hat was killing our hat) Johnson starting to option the nose tackle (their hat). As in, don't block him go block somebody else.
Tech beats ranked Clemson. Dabo is dumfounded. Yes, not much success against Clemson lately. Tech and the rest of the D1 football teams.

That was 2011 in Atlanta. I think the nose tackle was Grady Jarrett, who as you say was killing us. Johnson changed some assignments and Tevin Washington wound up with more than 200 yards rushing on a bajllion carries I think. You are right, Johnson made Jarrett the option man and Washington feasted on the midline option. My most vivid memory is from inside the five and Washington pulled the ball and Jarrett absolutely leveled David Sims, as in just blew him up. Washington stepped around the crash scene into the end zone. I've always wanted a picture of Jarrett face down, pounding both hands on the turf in frustration. Sims was just glad to leave the scene of the accident on his own.[/QUOTE]
It seems like some defenses are telling their defenders to bust through but dont kill the guy u think has the ball. Get in there, stop , and be able to get a piece of the one w the ball. Duke, uva did this. Miami lost the game because the defender was trying to blow up his guy and he guessed wrong.

One of my favorite plays was at ND when they were killing us due to ineffective blocking. Coach had qb roll left looking to pass. All the pursuit took off as usual. Then the bb reversed to away side for wide open td pass.


.

 

[takethepoints]

I agree with 99.9% of your post, but I am a sidewalk fan that really enjoyed CPJ's spread option offense. Even the X's and O's breakdowns posted by Longestday. So, I will let you slide.

Yes, my bad. But that's the way a lot of the sidewalk fans are. Ours are different. How do I know?

I'm a sidewalk fan too. I didn't go to Tech. My uncle did. When my dad was killed when I was very young, my uncle, a certified Tech BMOC, bought me a rat cap and started taking me to Tech games. I have been a fan ever since.

 

[knoxjacket]

Not trying to be difficult, but leaving a man in the path of the play unblocked is creating a numbers disadvantage. Blocking him creates even numbers. Many, but not all, offenses, perhaps starting with the buck lateral, seek to create a numbers advantage, but doing so necessarily implies using the momentum of one or more defensive players to leave them unblocked and yet still not relevant to the play.

1 free runner and 1 free tackler is even numbers. 1 free runner and all tacklers blocked is a numbers advantage.

Optioning a man is basically blocking them mentally. Having a lead blocker on that man creates the same numbers situation.

 

[g0lftime]

I will miss his play calling and how he adjusted the blocking assignments. One of the very best in college football at it.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

No disrespect to CPJ, but Andy Demetra’s Job is going to be 1,000 times easier with CGC! He probably doesn’t know what to do with a football coach who is engaged in an interview and happy to be in front of a camera.

He really reminds me so much of Butch Jones. His looks, mannerisms, enthusiasm, tough guy persona, etc. Here's hoping that he will have much more success than Butch.

 

[TampaGT]

He really reminds me so much of Butch Jones. His looks, mannerisms, enthusiasm, tough guy persona, etc. Here's hoping that he will have much more success than Butch.

Lol.... I thought the same thing, but didn’t want to say anything. I even went back and watched BJ pc.

 

[IEEEWreck]

1 free runner and 1 free tackler is even numbers. 1 free runner and all tacklers blocked is a numbers advantage.

Optioning a man is basically blocking them mentally. Having a lead blocker on that man creates the same numbers situation.

OK, I get what you're saying from a definitions perspective.

But from the perspective of matchups of athletic ability, I'm not sure that works as well. 1 free runner and 1 free blocker may create a match-up of athletic ability, or it may create a situation where it's impossible for the runner to gain yardage without something extraordinary happening. It's a question of velocity and position. Well, and comparative athletic ability, I guess. But 11 kindergarteners and 1 free runner is a numbers advantage for the runner.

everyone blocked and 1 free runner is a numbers advantage IF every single blocker manages to block for the time they're needed. That's why you want a really fast runner, so that the smallest possible number of defenders can get to him, and then you try to match your best blockers with the tacklers most able to tackle the runner if they get free. You select those match-ups so that you're most likely to win. Every one of those critical match-ups is one on one.

Using a numbers advantage, I would argue, means having more than one person contesting the athletic ability of a tackler. That can mean a double-team on the line- if the defensive lineman is the incredible hulk, well, then you make him overpower two people instead of one. Or, in an option situation you have one tackler attacking two runners. He can be NFL hall of fame material but as long as the runners maintain good position he can't get both runners or prevent them from exchanging the ball.

That's what I was thinking in terms of a numbers advantage.