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Film Study with Teq
Tequilla
Member Posts: 19,890
So I hear a lot about how Oregon is just so much better than UW and the UW offense is struggling and blah blah blah ...
I think it's probably fair to say that UW hasn't executed well over the last couple of weeks but it ignores the fact that there are some very fundamental things that UW does offensively that really messes with Oregon defensively.
At it's core, Oregon wants to ATTACK defensively ... they aren't wanting to play dropped coverages keeping things in front of them (in contrast that's often when UW plays its best defense). Ideally they want to bring pressure and force quick throws where they can play downhill and keep their DBs off of islands (it's probably the overall weakness of their defense).
In the video below, fast forward to the 2:38 mark which is where Polk scored the TD on a corner route against Oregon. This play is highly illustrative of the problems that UW forces on Oregon's defensive identity:
https://youtu.be/EvwGGmb9El0?si=AmnxuSRhlJCkp_fe&t=158
Pre-snap, you have 3 receiving options on the top end of the formation including Rome and Westover. I think at this point it goes without saying that more often than not you're going to try to put safety help over the top of Rome to help against the explosive plays. At the bottom of the formation, you have Polk lined up on the line of scrimmage in a stacked alignment.
What you need to pay attention to pre-snap with Oregon is the 2 LBs ... both are in theory protecting against the inside slant routes from the top/bottom of the formation. But as we all should know, most defensive alignments aren't necessarily straightforward.
The key to this alignment is the bottom side of the formation. The CB on Rome is in a press situation. The WR behind Polk is in a spot where any outside release creates massive leverage in any man relationship with the LB. With the S over the top at 10 yards, you're either getting a zone coverage with Polk against the S (likely a win) OR a man coverage with no deep help as the S is playing man and is protecting against any outside route by the slot WR behind. Also important to note here is that the opposite S is highly favoring giving over the top help in a man situation with the LB taking on Westover or is likewise going to be playing man with the LB focused on inside help. In either event, there's absolutely zero help against Polk on any deep route from the hashes to the sideline ... that's a TON of space.
If you run the play a few seconds you see a few things:
The LB and S on Polk's side are effectively bracketing the slot WR to take away any quick throw and leaving Polk 1 on 1
The DB on Polk actually does a decent job but he's put in a terrible situation because Rule #1 in that situation is to not allow yourself to get beat to the middle ... which helps to create additional separation for Polk on the corner route
The opposite S is actually playing CF on that side of the ball protecting against any deep throw to Rome ...
If you look at Westover against the LB ... watch Westy turn him inside out ... there's a big play there as well if Penix threw it
This is a great example of how UW can scheme against Oregon in the passing game and how Oregon's desire to attack can really be used against themselves.
I think it's probably fair to say that UW hasn't executed well over the last couple of weeks but it ignores the fact that there are some very fundamental things that UW does offensively that really messes with Oregon defensively.
At it's core, Oregon wants to ATTACK defensively ... they aren't wanting to play dropped coverages keeping things in front of them (in contrast that's often when UW plays its best defense). Ideally they want to bring pressure and force quick throws where they can play downhill and keep their DBs off of islands (it's probably the overall weakness of their defense).
In the video below, fast forward to the 2:38 mark which is where Polk scored the TD on a corner route against Oregon. This play is highly illustrative of the problems that UW forces on Oregon's defensive identity:
https://youtu.be/EvwGGmb9El0?si=AmnxuSRhlJCkp_fe&t=158Pre-snap, you have 3 receiving options on the top end of the formation including Rome and Westover. I think at this point it goes without saying that more often than not you're going to try to put safety help over the top of Rome to help against the explosive plays. At the bottom of the formation, you have Polk lined up on the line of scrimmage in a stacked alignment.
What you need to pay attention to pre-snap with Oregon is the 2 LBs ... both are in theory protecting against the inside slant routes from the top/bottom of the formation. But as we all should know, most defensive alignments aren't necessarily straightforward.
The key to this alignment is the bottom side of the formation. The CB on Rome is in a press situation. The WR behind Polk is in a spot where any outside release creates massive leverage in any man relationship with the LB. With the S over the top at 10 yards, you're either getting a zone coverage with Polk against the S (likely a win) OR a man coverage with no deep help as the S is playing man and is protecting against any outside route by the slot WR behind. Also important to note here is that the opposite S is highly favoring giving over the top help in a man situation with the LB taking on Westover or is likewise going to be playing man with the LB focused on inside help. In either event, there's absolutely zero help against Polk on any deep route from the hashes to the sideline ... that's a TON of space.
If you run the play a few seconds you see a few things:
The LB and S on Polk's side are effectively bracketing the slot WR to take away any quick throw and leaving Polk 1 on 1
The DB on Polk actually does a decent job but he's put in a terrible situation because Rule #1 in that situation is to not allow yourself to get beat to the middle ... which helps to create additional separation for Polk on the corner route
The opposite S is actually playing CF on that side of the ball protecting against any deep throw to Rome ...
If you look at Westover against the LB ... watch Westy turn him inside out ... there's a big play there as well if Penix threw it
This is a great example of how UW can scheme against Oregon in the passing game and how Oregon's desire to attack can really be used against themselves.
Comments
Here's a situation where Oregon is showing pressure with one of their ILBs in a balanced 2x2 formation with a RB
Oregon's playing softer coverage at the top of the screen which is signaling that there's likely pressure coming and playing a zone behind it for safety ... BTW, it's not a given in Oregon's defense that they are playing coverages on both sides of the field that are supportive of each other (see the Polk TD above)
What stands out in this play is how both CBs at the line of scrimmage do a pretty bad job of disguising man versus zone ... at the top he's not showing any kind of press coverage leading up the snap and while the CB at the bottom of the formation does show press to start he can be seen bailing out right before the snap
This is a HUGE indicator of zone coverage coming BEHIND a blitz ...
And as promised, right before the snap the ILB off the LOS starts to declare his intention of coming and leaves any slant behind him WIDE open
That's an EASY pitch and catch to Rome for 15
Could be Bernard (who I think has a chance to have a huge game)
Giles who burned them for a TD early
McMillan
Speaking of the Giles TD (at 1:26) ...
Another great example of finding the right mix of play call against what the defense is showing ...
Oregon's showing pressure here with all of the LBs showing blitz options
Polk's motion here brings eye candy down to a quick throw in either the WR game or flat in a situation where there's a chance to outnumber Oregon's defense ... particularly against a blitz
Oregon's not going to give up those easy throws/gains so this becomes the biggest risk to them and you're going to get safety rotation towards that threat ...
At this point, Giles SHOULD NOT be a major threat as you've got a zone look behind with a CB with outside leverage and a S in the middle ... on the surface Oregon is in good shape here
At the snap you see the Oregon S walk down to take Polk's motion and by default that's going to draw the opposing S more towards the middle of the field
What makes this play is obviously Giles pushing the CBs leverage TOWARDS the boundary by running straight at the CB creating additional width in the throwing lane to the safety ...
But just as critical to this play is Westover running a post route forcing the attention of the S towards him ... that attention combined with Giles creating that width creates a pretty clean alley for Penix to make a relatively easy throw for him
BTW, this concept of leveraging 2 routes against a single safety and forcing the S to declare his coverage and Penix throwing to the opposite one also showed itself in the Utah game on Rome's TD where Penix effectively threw it flat footed. From my vantage point in the end zone in the football ops section with the play right in front of me it was very easy to see in real time in what effectively an All 22 view the complex positions that the passing game can cause against opposing DBs by manipulating coverages and responsibilities. It's not uncommon for them to be unable to make a correct decision when things are firing correctly.
I'd be much more concerned if I couldn't explain it
He has broken it down and analyzed it. I go from the gut
Washington wins this game
Our shifting and motion really causes them problems and you can see over and over how it forces them to think through their assignments and often leaves them out of position
Playing zone coverages is really against their DNA and there are some massive gaps when they play off
This is obviously just one side of the ball ... but anybody that thinks that UW can't move and score effectively on Oregon hasn't watched the last 2 games at all
It's why I've said on Twitter/X that I'm fascinated in trying to understand what Oregon changes up coming in ... my sense is that they think they've been unlucky when it comes to the last 2 losses and they just need to clean up what they can control and they win. I'm not sure that it's that easy because it completely glosses over that there are a number of things Washington can look at and say they would like to clean up as well.
Like Oregon's
Even bigger, this is my 14 yr olds first dawg game. Win and you have a fan for life who will spawn other dawg fans.
Just win!
Oregon didn’t get out leveraged here due to philosophy.
The 3x2 set by Oregon was a mirage based on the positioning
The LB was protecting against any inside route over the middle ... you're crazy if you think that the LB has responsibility for a WR to the outside in that formation
Regardless of whether or not you want to say that the CB at the LOS had underneath responsibilities OR the S had that ... the reality was that it was going to be 1 on 1 to any deep route there and the question was who was going to be responsible for covering it
What Oregon was banking on in that situation was taking away any short and intermediate routes and forcing UW to beat them over the top ... which on that day and last year they did often.
Now, on Friday, Oregon will likely again be faced with choosing coverages that keeps the ball in front of them or forces UW to beat them over the top. Given the "struggles" of Penix as of late I suspect that Oregon will ask Penix to once again beat him over the top.
The point of these views is to highlight how UW can leverage formation, motion, and execution to create angles and easier throws against Oregon based on the coverages that Oregon provides.
That's Tysheem at the linebacker spot, which is a safety.