Jim Knowles Ohio State New Defense-part 2 3rd down package

 Jim knowles defense was top 5 in the country in 2021 in numerous offensive categories One of the areas they excelled in was 3rd down defense.  He brings some mug looks, 3-2 fronts and sprinkle in some 3 safety looks as part of the package.

Oklahoma State was  #2 behind Houston at 28% efficiency and had an excellent 3rd down package. They caused confusion with their pre snap looks and disguises and rotated into different coverages from their 2 deep shell.

One  of the aspects you will see from Knowles is some mug pressures. He loves to walk LB's  up into the gaps and show pressure. You will see him bring man pressures and then drop and play 8. He definitely keeps offenses on their toes with the different ways he can get into coverage from different looks. It can cause some confusion in protection as well as coverage and make life difficult for young qb.

presnap cover look cover 0

post snap cover 2 hole (2 with a 3 read concept on #3 in trips)

That was a disguise but the next time they show pressure and bring it.

next possession

3rd and 8

presnap cover 0

postsnap mug double a and bring 2 ILB and the safety. They play cover 0.

 Boise sees the pressure and throws quick for a 6 yard gain, not enough for a 1st down.

3rd and 5 vs West Virginia

presnap-cover 0

post snap cover 3 or 2 hole depending on how you look at it. Depth of the OLB makes it look like 3 but cb playing outside leverage so I call it 2 hole.  Either way have a middle of field defender to take away the dig/in breaking routes.

see the 3 safeties get deep 1/3  and 2 OLB bail to the curl. 

mesh is covered by the CB up top. Sit route is open late but pressure disrupts it. 

Vs Texas Tech

3rd and 5

presnap cover 0 mug pressure look

post snap cover 0 but only blitz 4. The LB have zone underneath help as DB forcing everything to the inside.  Most college teams will play with a free safety with this kind of look but Knowles is aggressive and plays it with zero middle of the field safety help.

3rd and 8  vs Texas Tech 

Later in the game, they show the same look and bring 7. Texas Tech only has 6 blockers and tries to throw the fade to #1 to the boundary. The pressure forces a quick throw and incompletion.

He will also work out of his dime 3-2 package which he ran vs. Texas Tech.

They went 3-2 with some man concepts on a few occasions. They only rushed 3 and played man with a spy on the QB.  The coverage was man free from a 2 high shell with a middle of the field defender. The safety drops to the middle hook area and the other safety plays deep 1/3. 

3rd and 9

Knowles goes man free hole with a 3 man rush and spy on the qb. Nice design. QB tries to take off but no place to go as the LB is waiting for him. 

Here are 2 clips of the coverage discussed above.

Here's an amoeba look with only 1 def lineman with his hand in the ground. The look causes confusion and they bring the safety from depth. The confusion messes up the TCU protection allowing the FS to come clean. 

3rd and 10 (man free coverage)

 

These are just a few of the concepts Coach Knowles will bring to the Ohio State defense this year.

Joe Moorhead Duo Run Scheme.

 DUO.

Oregon ran duo over the past few years under Joe Moorhead.

There are several ways to run duo from 11 and 12 personnel to get good double teams at the point of attack.Duo is a gap scheme play that can be run from under center, pistol, or gun. It also can be run out of 11, 12, and 22 personnel. WFT runs this every week to compliment their wide zone game. Simply put, the OL is blocking on gap scheme angles in one direction and the RB is running the opposite direction. We will dissect the RB read in the diagrams.

Most teams will have at least 2 double teams with sometimes 3 depending on the front. 

Some teams like to block the h back on the sided of the play like the WFT Below

Option #1

The first play was vs DAL on Thanksgiving 2020 in the  4th Quarter to ice the game. 23 yard statement play and run! Duo is a physical play! Vertical double teams right at the DL and LBs! 

This is how you block it the same side without bringing the h back across the formation. The Chiefs block it in a similar way.

Option #2 is Ogegon's Variation

One of the ways Oregon did it was to slice block it with 2 double teams and the h back coming across the formation to block the Defensive end. This is different from other teams.

In  the next example they run it with Jet Motion and the jet man blocks the def end.The on the ball tight end has a def end outside so he blocks it one on one. The tackle doubles with the Guard because there are 2 3 tecnhiques pre snap.

Here are 2 clips of the play and how it develops.

Example #3 

Vs Ohio State 

Oregon is in 12 personnel. They run duo with 2 double teams vs Ohio State's front. They get a nice combo with the on the ball tight end and the left tackle and the right guard and right tackle. 

You will see the DE wrong arm it and the ILB get caught inside which allows the Rb to make a nice cut for a nice 12 yard gain. You can see #35 on the film get caught inside which allows the RB to read it for a nice 12 yard gain.

These are just some of Coach Moorhead's run game schemes.

Joe Moorhead Offense-part 1 pin and pull concepts

 Joe Moorhead was the offensive coordinator at Oregon in 2020 and 2021 and his offense had great success.  He also has had an excellent offense at other places he went, including Penn State in 2016 and 2017. That is part of the reason he has been hired as the new head coach at Akron.

Joe Moorhead Offensive Principles:

Joe Moorhead has been running his system for a long time.

1. QB Run Game-QB Pin and Pull, some power and various read draw components.
2. RPO Game, He has some great RPO's and answers. You will see some creative RPO's to the boundary and off a very solid run game.
3. Run Game
    A. DUO
    B. Pin and Pull
4.  Vertical and horizontal pass concepts that stress 1 defender.
5. Using the RB in creative pass plays and heavily in the pass game.
    A. Mesh wheel play is a staple in his offense and they love to use the RB in the passing game.

PIN AND PULL(Read)

He uses a few concepts with pin and pull to attack the edge. At times he will run crack toss and at others he will read it and block the 2nd level with the crack block. 

The first play is the outside zone read with a pull component. I know some people call it a different play but to me it's Pin and Pull with a read component.

Let's look at the pin and pull to start. After we discuss the play you will see 5 clips on it.
They run it quite a bit to the boundary, with a crack block. It is highly effective vs man to man coverage as you will get some 2 for 1 at times with the crack block by the Tight end.

They had great success with the scheme against Ohio State.

 11 personnel

They knew they were getting cover 1 so they run it to the boundary. They get nice 2 for 1 with the WR cracking on the LB. They also know Ohio State was trying to spill and sending the DE down hard. It allowed the guard to not even block him(read key) and get on the edge. 

12 personnel- TOSS PLAY

Play variation, they toss it and block pin and pull.

Motion man cracks on the de

On ball TE blocks and cracks 2nd level. 

LT and Center pull after TE seals the edge

The 2nd time they run it they do it out of 12 personnel with a flexed TE and off ball TE in twins. They get man coverage. Hard to crack replace when in man coverage. 

11 personnel.

Same play as earlier. This time with the H Back in motion. Nice design, different look, but pre snap motion tells the offense it's man coverage. They get a 2 for 1 on the Edge with the crack vs man coverage.

Here are 5 versions of how they attack the boundary with their pin and pull blocking scheme.

They design a nice QB pin and pull off of motion. They get both the LB and CB to react and get a nice surface with the 6i to the tight end. Stanford OLB cuts the guard and does a decent job but the QB makes a nice run for a 12 yard gain.

This is part 1 of the Moorhead offense.  Next up Part 2 RPO Game