In 2018, Mississippi State was #2 in the country in defense. They were led by Coach Joe Moorhead and the defensive coordinator was Bob Shoop.
KEY STATS
They only allowed 13.8 points per game and were 2nd to only Clemson in 2018.
They were also #1 in yards allowed per game at 263 yards
#4 in 3rd down conversion percentage at 27%.
The defense was primarily a 4-2-5 but for this article I want to look at some of his unique and designed blitzes.
Lets look at both base calls and blitzes and then we can look at some of the blitzes and looks on third down.
Base Blitzes- 2 base blitzes on the early downs are shown.
Blitz #1
Sam and SS off the edge
Coverage 3 under 3 deep
great job everyone in there gap no place to run.
Heres the stunt vs Ole Miss and Steven Austin
#2 same stunt. Ole Miss runs a nice rpo, if they hand it off its an easy tackle for a loss. Offense runs a nice play against it. Slant route on the backside. Nice play call on offense.
rpo vs the blitz pressure below
You can see the de drop vs pass and how it becomes 3 under 3 deep.
Base Blitz #2
they bring the sam and go man free
They combo to the te side with the LB and the CB vs 3x1 with the tight end backside.
Nice pressure and disguise as they show 2 deep pre snap.
film clip
3RD DOWN PRESSURES
3rd down fronts they would use which they could pressure out of all of them. Here's an example of a pressure from each front.
Double Mug
3rd and 8
5 man pressure
Cover 3
They go double mug and bring the sam b gap. They also run a game with the mike and dt. A 3 under 3 deep with the DE dropping. Nice design
They run a draw that easily defended.
Video Clip:
3-3 stack
3rd and 8
vs LA Tech, La Tech goes empty.
They run a 3 lb dog with all 3 lb going.
They play cover o
LA tech throws to #2 on the out(hot read) which causes a quick throw and tackle for a 1 yard gain
Load Front
You will often see some 5 man pressures out of the load front.
Here they run a 5 man rush with a 3 man game inside with the lb adding in late.The lb becomes a 6th rusher. On the back end they play man free with no underneath help.
video clip
traditional 4 hands fronts
They will bring the mike in this and play man free or 3 under 3 deep.
These are just some of the clips of the Mississippi State defense under Bob Shoops that year. More will be added.
Morgan Scalley runs a very effective scheme at Utah.
In his 15th year overall as a Utah assistant coach, Morgan Scalley is in his seventh season as the defensive coordinator in 2022. His best year was in 2019 as the defense was tremendous. This year they are #1 again. They are #1 in the pac 10 this year in points allowed. They have allowed 20 points per game. They won the pac 12 championship in 2021 and 2022, and his defense had a ton to do with it.
Here's some stats about his defense:
Utah has led the Pac-12 five times in his six seasons as defensive coordinator in rushing defense (2016, '18, '19, ’20 and ‘21) —ranking third in the nation in 2019 after ranking fifth in in 2018.
The Utes have finished in the top-three in the conference in sacks and tackles for loss three times under Scalley, leading the league in both in 2021 and 2016, while finishing the 2018 season ranked 11th nationally and first in the Pac-12 in sacks.
Utah has finished in the top-half of the Pac-12 in total defense five times in the past six seasons, ranking second nationally and first in the league in 2019.
Over the past four seasons, Scalley's defense has held opponents to 15 points or fewer 20 times, third most in all of FBS.
I took a close look at his 2019 defense, breaking down a few games. Some of the schemes include some fire zone pressures and normal cover 2 as well as man free at time..
FRONTS
They bounce between their 4-2-5 and bear/odd front. They utilize both dependant on who they played and the situation they were int.
Here they are in man coverage in the 4-2 front so you see the safeties down and alignment. But again they set the front to the side of the rb.
The 3 technique is to the side of the back. Everyone has a primary gap based on the alignment.
In odd, they played it 2 ways. At times a 4i and others a 3. The LB will be to the side of the back if it's man coverage but opposite if it's zone.
Here they are in man coverage vs Arizona, as the LB is to the side of the back and the stacked safety has #9 the h back.
zone again with the lb opposite the rb. The nose will play half man behind weakside A gap with the Mike #30 responsible for the playside a gap.
Coverage schemes
Base Downs (1st and 2nd down)
Man Free
They are. my type of defense as they love to play press man free coverage and challenge offenses. They have had great success being a man free team on early downs.
You will see Utah play man free coverage vs various formations on early downs.
In the diagram below Arizona comes out in 12 personnel. They play man free with the LB's combo on the rb.(03)
They at times sprinkle in some man and bring the free safety into the box. He will play the rb man for man or get into the run fit. In the example below, they play it with their bear front.
vs Arizona
Another example of bear cover 1 vs 11 personnel. The Safety comes down to play the h back with the Mike Lb responsible for the RB. Easy for him as he goes where the rb goes. They play press to the single side and on the #2 wr to the passing strength.
The one thing you will notice is the alignment of their db as they like to press the man on the line of scrimmage regardless of if he is the #1 or #2 wr. (see below)
Fire Zone pressures
Bear Strike Cover 3 , They send the sam to the field in the bear look and drop the olb to the boundary. They play cover 3 and slant the whole defensive front.
Odd Pressure vs BYU
Similar concept 3 under 3 deep with a defensive lineman playing the hook. They will often have the de drop to the hook as opposed to the flat like several 3 under 3 deep teams when they blitz off the edge.
Another pressure from the bear front. They bring the cb to the bottom of the screen and the mike to the boundary vs the closed set. They get a 2x1 on the tackle as the tackle blocks the LB. In the rpo game that leaves the cb unblocked, qb does a nice job getting the throw off.
You can see here as the guard takes the blitzing inside linebacker the cb has a nice free run at the qb. Qb does a great job reading it and is well. coached to get the ball out. The safety does a nice job tackling the wr at 5 yards.
Clip with it.
America's blitz
Here they run America's blitz to the field and get home except the qb Zach Wilson avoids the rush. He does a nice job escaping a well designed pressure.
CHANGEUP
They did do some unique things when playing against Wash St who was air raid. They got away from their 4-2-5 and played a ton of odd.
Utah run fits vs the Air Raid
In the run game, you can do a couple things. Utah liked to use the Safety as a c gap player which makes things difficult. How do you account for him in the run game.
There are certain fits in the run game. It often depends on whether your ends are 4i b gap players. In the example below, it looks like Utah has the de in 4i and the middle safety is responsible for c gap.
Utah run fit film
Utah
Utah runs it vs cover 2 with a 3 man rush on 1st down. Wash State is 2x2 and the back is strong. The mike opens to the side of the rb. Since it's 2x2 their is no carry so the 3rd safety just plays the deep middle hook.
The cb does a nice job getting under the post corner route so the qb checks it down to the spot route.
Here is the film with the clip
Cover 2 hole
Utah will run some cover 2 hole which is a cover 2 with a low hole and middle hole defender. It is very effective in taking away the middle of the field, dig and deep post routes.
Utah version:
On 3rd and 15 Utah plays a soft cover 2 hole look. They use the safety in the middle of the field and take away all vertical routes and windows. They dare Washington state to check it down.
The left cb does an excellent job sinking and knowing where the sticks are.
Here are the clips that go with it:
This is part 1 of his defensive scheme. Next up is his defense on 3rd down. Stay tuned for more!
Here's some additional clips of the game vs use last night.
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