Oklahoma vs. Texas (Oct. 10, 2015) Film Review

[Ryan Bridges]

We've gone over Split Zone Read before, but I just wanted to show how they could layer another option onto it with Marcus Johnson out wide, similar to what they tried against Cal where Heard threw to Bluiett but was past the line of scrimmage. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

This is pretty cool — a redshirt senior and a true freshman working together to make a play. 

Oklahoma tries a swing screen. Hill could have chased the WR inside, but he recognizes the screen and stays home. Meanwhile, Desmond Jackson sees the screen developing and runs it down. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Sack #3 for Texas.

I don't even know what Oklahoma is doing in protection here, but yeah, that's not going to work.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

This touchdown is so frustrating. Dylan Haines knew exactly what the route was going to be, he just had bad technique in my opinion.

Agreed

He hesitated when the ball wasn't released by Mayfield immediately rather than jumping the route to prevent a throw. We know he wasn't gonna make the tackle on Mayfield if he decided to keep it. Already out of position with man coverage on the RB.

 

[tejasrulz]

This touchdown is so frustrating. Dylan Haines knew exactly what the route was going to be, he just had bad technique in my opinion.

Maybe he needs to study more film? 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Desmond Jackson drives the center back and disrupts this play. I always enjoy watching Tank's punch when he's in the game; no one else on the team comes close. Naashon Hughes comes off the edge and makes the tackle.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

John Bonney has to force the ball back inside here.

Oklahoma is running outside lead read, with Malik as the read. Texas is bringing a fire zone blitz on the backside. (It's been almost exclusively man coverage to this point.) Bonney has to attack the outside of the slot and essentially build a wall, forcing the ballcarrier to cut back into Malik's pursuit. This shouldn't be occurring 10 yards downfield.

To say Bonney has been struggling would be an understatement. 

 

[bcherry168]

Great work. Thanks.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

This play was negated by a holding call on Bonney (ahem), but it would have been Texas' fourth sack.

Trying to block Ridgeway with a fullback — that's a bold strategy. But it's actually Bryce Cottrell who gets this party started. He's been a pretty good pass rusher; he had a couple of hurries coming into this game, so it was nice to see his efforts finally pay off, even if it was wiped off the board by the penalty. Redshirt freshman Chris Nelson is in there at nose, for anyone who's interested. 

The other part of this play that I thought was noteworthy was that Mayfield wanted to target the boundary-side receiver, who was matched up one-on-one with Hill. Maybe Duke is still the best corner on the team, but I have my doubts. 

 

[tejasrulz]

They never did show Bonney's hold on that play or if they did, I missed it.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

I made this gif earlier but forgot to post it. It's from the first drive of the game.

I included the pre-snap stuff because if you heard Vance Bedford's press conference on Wednesday, you know he talked about how they were going to emphasize disguising the defensive look in practice all week. Look at that and try to figure out who's blitzing and where.

They actually rush only five, and Mayfield didn't have to pull the ball down as quickly as he did, but when you think the defense is bringing the house that can happen.

And that's good for Texas, because there's a coverage bust. Both Peter Jinkens and Duke chase the under route and leave the tight end uncovered on the dig. More likely than not, Duke was supposed to stick with the tight end. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Texas brought a lot of edge pressure before this game, but in this game they frequently kept the end outside and blitzed the outside linebacker through the B gap.

A drawback is that players like Ridgeway aren't used to being in this position where they're the read in inside zone read. Ridgeway rushes upfield and doesn't squeeze, so there's a huge cutback lane for the back. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Jinkens overpursued here.

This is pretty much the same as the outside zone read player we looked at a little bit ago except the read is the defensive end. Nelson is the nose — he gives ground and misses the tackle — but it's Jinkens who really screwed up. 

I also wanted to highlight the effort by Hill. Although he missed the tackle, he's very quick to stick his nose in there and lay the wood. I like that.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Cottrell may have saved a touchdown.

Oklahoma is running inside lead zone, the play Texas ran with so much success earlier this year. Shepard crack blocks Haines and the lead back blocks the playside linebacker (probably Jinkens). The crack block on the safety means the corner would have to replace him — not really a role I want for Duke. But Cottrell undercut the left tackle and tripped up the ballcarrier in the backfield. 

This wasn't about coaching; it was a junior defensive end making a play.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Look, I get that OU thought Shepard > Duke, but Jinkens vs. Mixon > Shepard vs. Duke.

It's the right route concept for the coverage (Cover 0 — if you don't have a receiver to cover man-to-man, rush the passer). And I know Shepard got inside of Duke, but come on — whip that ball out to Mixon and let him race Jinkens to the pylon.

 

[Ryan Bridges]

I'm being excessively critical of Mayfield on this series, but dude ... 

Hall collisions the under route by the slot, which means the back is basically uncovered in the flat. He could have walked into the end zone. 

That said, Texas had been getting after Mayfield (officially sacked three times at this point, four times total), so he was trying to get the ball out. And like the previous play, this wasn't a bad decision; there was just a better decision available. More accurate throws on either of these plays and it's a touchdown. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Here's the fourth sack by Texas.

#81 Mark Andrews is going to come open but not in time for Mayfield to get the ball to him, and that's with a four-man rush. Paul Boyette totally abuses the left guard; the center seems distracted by (I assume) Ridgeway. 

I think it's worth mentioning OU put Shepard in the slot here and got him matched up with Bonney. And notice that Texas isn't passing off receivers who switch release (Shepard and Andrews here). This could be problematic at some point — they avoid the pick here but do have to play at different levels to do so, and Hall overruns Andrews. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

They never did show Bonney's hold on that play or if they did, I missed it.

Sorry, just saw this. You're right. They didn't show it. 

 

[Ryan Bridges]

Here's one of only three deep shots I can recall Texas taking.

Texas puts three receivers to the left and wants to target the lone receiver on the other side, John Burt, on a "sluggo" (slant-and-go) route against Zack Sanchez. Right off the bat, the jam on Burt disrupts the timing of the play. 

But the other issue is that Oklahoma's double eagle front forces the O-line into one-on-one blocks, and they can't handle the inside stunt. I checked with former Texas OL Chris Hall on this one, and his answer for how Texas should have handled it is what I drew up in the gif, not what happened. Left guard Sedrick Flowers should have delivered #91 to Doyle instead of just assuming he'd be blocked. Meanwhile, Vahe should be yelling "OVER" and should be working through to the nose lined up over Doyle.

 

[Irish1234]

Now that's a team with some heart. Thanks for making my Saturday morning guys. Keep it rolling now, we'll see you next year.