The CheckerBoard

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CrockettTM said...

I love you guys and your overly optimistic views.

Much of what Chaney called last night will be destroyed by a good SEC defense.

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hounddog said...

Just for the record, I'm not downvoting you, but you will surely get some for saying that!...seriously though, what is your reasoning?

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CrockettTM said...

There's a lot, actually. I re-watched the game on offense twice afterward on DVR.

I spelled some of it out last night, but the basics are this:

1) In the SEC, you cannot be "cute" on short yardage. Does Tennessee have a big, mauling back? Maybe not, but you cannot try to get 3rd/4th and 1 by going off tackle in the SEC. EVER.

2) Chaney does not run a pro-style offense, no matter what any of you say. You will not be able to run the ball in the SEC from the pistol formation. The athletes on the DL and LB for every team are simply too good. Did anyone else notice the vast improvement from the running game once Bray finally went under center? Well, Chaney only did that in the 2nd half after repeatedly failing from the pistol.

3) By the way the blockers moved, at least 2/3 of the called running plays were to the outside. Now, in Jim's defense, maybe he was trying to take advantage of Neal's speed. But, typically, plays designed to the outside are MOST effective after an interior run game is not only attempted, but established. Jim did it backwards, and that'll be destroyed by a front seven like Florida or Georgia.

4) The two long touchdowns will never occur in the same fashion vs. an SEC defense. Both TDs came in "zero deep" or "one deep" situations where there was no safety help or the safety was on the other side of the field. Consider Florida and Georgia and 'Bama will be perfectly comfortable trying to get pressure with 4 or five at the most, that means there will likely always be 2 deep in those personnel situations. Cordarelle is a freak athlete, and so is Hunter and that will help save Chaney, but please don't expect those type of results against SEC-level athletic defenses.

5) In his heart, Chaney still wants to throw 50+ times a game. It's just who he is. Look back in his career...when was the last time he called plays for a team that was really, really good at running the ball? You can say some of his Purdue teams had good running stats...a few did...but 95% of those runs were draws and tosses from the shotgun. He's never done, and he's yet to prove that he can coordinate an SEC-level run game...or anything close. The "regression" of the OL last year in the run game is, to me, 80% the type of run plays called against SEC-caliber defenses. Look where 'Bama and LSU make their money in the run game. BETWEEN THE FREAKIN' TACKLES. I'd love it if someone could break down how many runs Tennessee had between vs outside the tackles last year. I think it would be vastly different than those other offenses.

I realize I'll get trashed for this, and today is supposed to be happy. But after watching the 2nd replay, it became very clear that for every good athlete NC St had on the field last night, Tennessee had 2...or even 3. In the SEC, that's not going to be the case and Bray won't be picking apart secondaries with all day to throw against the Gators, Bulldogs, and Tide.

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CrockettTM said...

There's a lot, actually. I re-watched the game on offense twice afterward on DVR.

I spelled some of it out last night, but the basics are this:

1) In the SEC, you cannot be "cute" on short yardage. Does Tennessee have a big, mauling back? Maybe not, but you cannot try to get 3rd/4th and 1 by going off tackle in the SEC. EVER.

2) Chaney does not run a pro-style offense, no matter what any of you say. You will not be able to run the ball in the SEC from the pistol formation. The athletes on the DL and LB for every team are simply too good. Did anyone else notice the vast improvement from the running game once Bray finally went under center? Well, Chaney only did that in the 2nd half after repeatedly failing from the pistol.

3) By the way the blockers moved, at least 2/3 of the called running plays were to the outside. Now, in Jim's defense, maybe he was trying to take advantage of Neal's speed. But, typically, plays designed to the outside are MOST effective after an interior run game is not only attempted, but established. Jim did it backwards, and that'll be destroyed by a front seven like Florida or Georgia.

4) The two long touchdowns will never occur in the same fashion vs. an SEC defense. Both TDs came in "zero deep" or "one deep" situations where there was no safety help or the safety was on the other side of the field. Consider Florida and Georgia and 'Bama will be perfectly comfortable trying to get pressure with 4 or five at the most, that means there will likely always be 2 deep in those personnel situations. Cordarelle is a freak athlete, and so is Hunter and that will help save Chaney, but please don't expect those type of results against SEC-level athletic defenses.

5) In his heart, Chaney still wants to throw 50+ times a game. It's just who he is. Look back in his career...when was the last time he called plays for a team that was really, really good at running the ball? You can say some of his Purdue teams had good running stats...a few did...but 95% of those runs were draws and tosses from the shotgun. He's never done, and he's yet to prove that he can coordinate an SEC-level run game...or anything close. The "regression" of the OL last year in the run game is, to me, 80% the type of run plays called against SEC-caliber defenses. Look where 'Bama and LSU make their money in the run game. BETWEEN THE FREAKIN' TACKLES. I'd love it if someone could break down how many runs Tennessee had between vs outside the tackles last year. I think it would be vastly different than those other offenses.

I realize I'll get trashed for this, and today is supposed to be happy. But after watching the 2nd replay, it became very clear that for every good athlete NC St had on the field last night, Tennessee had 2...or even 3. In the SEC, that's not going to be the case and Bray won't be picking apart secondaries with all day to throw against the Gators, Bulldogs, and Tide.