GNFP Missouri Offense

• By end of film, James feels there were 5ish possible TD's left on the field.
• Immediate rope first play, about 1/5 of the day's passing yards on that play.
• Back-to-field PA (a trend we've been watching all year with AR). AR throws it directly to a CB playing underneath. Shorter hero plays a breakup. Zip also gets beat and AR is rushed, check downs were available, but not time to get through them.
• Late S blitz comes unblocked, AR wants Pearsall but can't load for it, checks down that gets stopped short. Barber didn't see the late S.
• NW just not good in the zone game. Completely whiffs on a monster gap inside. There was MAYBE one guy left in the back end there. Gets two instead bouncing it outside.
• TE runs uncovered deep on the WR swing that was incomplete. Perhaps a trial run for later in the year. AR also doesn't throw these balls accurately. Typically leads it too much.
• Mesh routes and pseduo-mesh routes are common now. Virtually non-existent early in the year.
• AR needs to learn to abandon PA in certain cases. Some plays the PA is useless and actually destructive. Weird wounded duck AR threw into the ground was after a rushed PA the was unnecessary because the guy the PA was designed for was already committed to being out of position.
• AR does just that later, ditches the PA and just throws the quick pass, first down.
• AR throws perfect TD pass, but Fraziers runs probably the most uninspired post route of all time. Not even a discernible break, it is just a rounded line deep. DB holds him, prevents him from being the extra six inches he needed to run into the ball. But Fraziers needs to create separation to make the holding fruitless anyway. Multiple penalties on the play, so called back even if caught, but that will be important someday.
• Hopper blows up plays routinely. He is in gaps before blockers.
• Counter from the 35 is a TD except MO DE makes a hero play. Torrence is pulling to seal him, but DE has already gotten almost all the way to the exchange. Torrence needs to still be able to make that adjustment, but it is rare that a DE will have been where that one was.
• AR underthrows Pearsall on corner, but TE had run that corner into coverage. Also had some tight line fighting, couldn't really rip it. But it was one on one with a little room if he had placed it further.
• Gouraige gets beat on AR fumble. Pearsall is open, AR trying to get it there, but just doesn't have the room. AR has to learn to take the small losses instead of game-changers.
• MJ gets through a gap that is almost hard to believe. He is an absolute monster at the zone run. Both AR and NW do not trust in the zone blocking. AR misses a monster hole like NW earlier, runs to open grass, which is quickly swarmed. Hopper gets him.
• MO is legitimately good at beating zone teams to the zone. FLA counters with split-zones, Zip coming the other way to seal. LB plays it wall, one on one with Etienne. But Etienne dispenses with him and chunks.
• Split-zone again, Barber misses combo block, that was the last unblocked guy on the field. Etienne stopped.
• James calls Etienne "absolute unit." He is stacked up on 3rd and 10, stays alive, finds six yards, stays in bounds, fights for two more.
• On big AR run, he is out of sorts for the whole play until he takes off. Has an open guy early, but just can't pull the trigger. But he turns it into something good.
• MJ muscles through Hopper for TD.
• Late mesh routes still less than smooth, need to be run more efficiently.
• Another big MJ run, hole is almost unbelievably big. Given circumstances (good run D), this was FLA's best running game of the season.
• Pearsall gets the step he needs on TD catch at snap. AR insane laser is still required to fit it in. That's the arm talent everyone overreacts to.
• Another two great zone/split-zone gashes for Etienne.
• RPO blatantly missed by AR. A keep and he probably scores. He shows that he knows it with frustrated mini-leap while Etienne is being dropped for loss of two.
• On INT, there is NO ONE open, until AR moves coverage with a pump. Pearsall then flashes open, AR throw is high. But the pass is actually catchable, and Pearsall basically does indeed catch it. And the bounce was just cruel. In reality, that was a good play by AR. Normally the worst case would be an incompletion, not a ball bouncing off of guys on the ground to others guys on the ground.
• Lingard in the game, which is a good sign, because typically he's only in for the victory formation.

Only 66 yards passing, but upon further review it wasn't the disaster that that sounds like. A long TD pass was dropped (and penalized away from the play), the INT was actually a solid play, another long ball was off by a couple of yards, and rando fails by one guy at a time here and there stopped others. The run game continues to be stellar, and if anything, is also being reduced by AR and NW not being on board with the zone blocking yet. At least three monster gaps just run away from, and another handful of near-misses that could've gone big. But much like the D film, this one shows progress and improvement in areas that need it.

 

True, but I would call this line nearly miraculous. I suppose the OL wasn't horrid last year, but it was just a little before that. I doubt it was because personnel was that bad. Our best is a Sun Belt transfer (and he appears to be legit NFL good, so I'm not trying to be smarmy) but others are holdovers or younguns like Barber. Even on plays that make a lot of us couch coaches criticize play-calling, you can see that more often than not there was either a bad decision by the ball carrier, especially when it isn't MJ or Etienne, AR gets a little antsy in a good pocket (and I don't blame him if he has flashbacks of carnage from last year), or a single defensive guy making his one genius play of the day. And there is really no weak spot. All five spots are solid as rocks, including well into the 2's. They are uniformly good, weekly. There is no individual who loses much. And I can't imagine they'll get worse as they play together more or (hopefully) more focused recruiting brings in studs.

That alone is a tremendous advancement for the program going forward, IMO.

 

He is undoubtedly a true master at the college zone blocking scheme. And IMO the lead RB as of now. He gets yards that are barely there that no one else has access to.

We may have seen the end of the 1/3 splits this week. If MJ gets pilfered by Etienne, that isn't egregious. Because he's gonna be something special also.

There may also be a bit an effort not to beat the brakes off of MJ and TE this year also. That wouldn't be the craziest idea, IMO. Year 2 of a legit rebuild should see a team that can actually compete, even if they lose some games. Those two are going to be maniacs once a passing game is developed. Experienced but not worn out is ideal for September next year. I'd even like to see Lingard in some non-mop up duty to see what that looks like.

It's frustrating when 90% of the carries aren't those two, but it would be a huge setback to lose one on a 25th carry during a five loss season. I have no info suggesting preservation is a priority, but not the worst thing if that's how it works out.

 

Addendums per the muuuch longer companion podcast:

• We are likely the best split-zone team in the nation.
• Running game scheme is 2030’s. Passing game is 1980’s.
• Part is just no Dudes at WR. But design just not modern either.
• WR’s are ridiculous blockers.
• Winning a game against a team with a pulse with 66 yards passing is next to impossible. Think that one through.
• Consider the AR ball to Fraziers that was essentially perfect. Incomplete. Why?
• UL’s just meh QB routinely had 10 YPC games. We get one during an eclipse. UL’s WR’s were detailed. Our guys are certainly UL WR talent level at least. We need that pronto.
• AR still simply not right with back-to-the-field PA. However, the Fraziers dime was exactly that. Also, a no-brainer read. Still, perhaps progress.
• AR had only one truly bad play, the hero-attempt fumble when the LT got beat. (All me: threw one straight to a DB early, soooo…Shorter saves the day going Full DBU. I am now a HUGE Shorter fan, he will be an unsung hero in turning this aircraft carrier, IMO. Getting better himself and ALL THE YOU KNOW WHAT IN on the nasty work it takes to bring real change.)
• Film says NFL talent is evident, arm and reads, also says AR is WIP, not draft ready.
• Fraziers play and the bad throw to Hendo on the screen could have made passing numbers go from “66???” to “Great day.”
• Too much “safe ball” in the passing game. We are basically wedging Hendo into a spot that should be, say, KTone. Imagine the difference.
• James very big on “conflict defender” concept. We aren’t stressing that as a scheme, perhaps because of lack of confidence in personnel top to bottom. We are one step away at critical spots from being bold.
  
• BN refreshingly alert to deficiencies and it seems sincere. He has a true vision and is trying to achieve it. Not just soundbite nothingness coach speak in his own analyses.
  
• 10 YPC is a must with the BN idea.
  
• Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a “power-running” scheme. Recall BN was a QB. They all love throwing. Even the run game is not “power.” It is nuanced and about angles and execution.
• LSU: UT torched them just throwing at their soul. Let AR drop and read and eat. Given the sitch, abandon the “development” idea and beat them. Time for development later.