JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
FILM ROOM: Iowa v Penn State. still hurts..but so much good from Iowa defense & offense can get there. 48 clips https://www.hawkeyenation.com/football/film-room-iowa-vs-penn-state
FILM ROOM: Iowa v PSU
- Thread starter JonDMiller
- Start date
hawkfan2679
Well-Known Member
Regarding the safety, there are 2 main issues I have with things completely unrelated to the play call (which, given the field position, was questionable...it's a high risk for potentially high reward type of play and in that spot on the field, not sure that's where you take that chance).
1. The "sell"
2. The formation
The sell - This one was twofold. I feel like Stanley could done a slightly better job selling the FB dive fake. If he would have done a full reverse pivot, it might have given the play the extra tenth of a second Wadley could have used to get outside DE (remember, he just barely held onto the thigh pad and it ruined the play). Also, the 1 tech was aligned to the play side, so I would have liked to see our PST climb to the LB since our influence pull (Render pulling left to indicate power left) temporarily gave a false read to the PSU LB's. He stepped down and doubled a 1 tech...if he releases inside and immediately climbs, it creates a bigger hole that the DE has to think about filling.
The formation - This one is more damning. I don't know why we put the TE to the play side of this formation, lengthening the end and elongating the time the DE has to read the play. Fant arc releases to block the corner (and not very well in this case)...why not just put him out there to start the play and let him manhandle the CB? Reason being: The DE is a C gap defender. With the TE to his side, the DE aligns in a 6 technique (could have been a 6i), which means he's essentially lined up on the TE. If Fant is wide on that play (think near the bottom of the numbers), the DE slims his alignment down by a foot, maybe 2, to get into a true 5 technique. Then when he sees Welsh release inside, his rule is that if his man steps down, he has to step down to close C gap. This speaks to my above point about climbing...if Welsh climbs, then our C blocking back on the PS 1 tech is the only "mess" to the PS, which means there are essentially two gaps to account for, which might lead him to step down an extra half step. All of these things (aligning more inside by a foot, an extra half step down to close C gap, Stanley hesitating an extra tenth) lead to a play that doesn't end in a safety. By Fant being there, it not only changed his alignment slightly (with no WR to his side, he knows he has the CB as secondary force) but it altered his post snap reaction...it appeared he almost performed a read step for his first half step or so, which essentially allowed him to slow play the misdirection and be there when Wadley got the pitch. Without the threat of being pinned by a TE (which could have altered his get-off), perhaps that release is more inside to account for Welsh stepping down and he doesn't have the angle to run Wadley down.
Finally, up to that point I'm not sure if PSU was aggressively playing the boot game or not. But if they were, that makes the play call even sillier. Because even if the action is going away, #19 isn't going to be flying down the line trying to make a play on Wadley...he's going to be sitting there waiting for him on the backside. So there's that...for me this goes back to Stanzi vs. Northwestern in 2009. Either shorten the edge (no TE) or block the DE...in 2009 we to TE's to the boot side and blocked for about a 1/4 of a second and then released, which allowed Wooten to be sitting there (from memory that's what I recall anyway). This year, we put 1 TE over there and hoped that the action away would be enough. Unfortunately, with the slightly wider edge, it wasn't.
1. The "sell"
2. The formation
The sell - This one was twofold. I feel like Stanley could done a slightly better job selling the FB dive fake. If he would have done a full reverse pivot, it might have given the play the extra tenth of a second Wadley could have used to get outside DE (remember, he just barely held onto the thigh pad and it ruined the play). Also, the 1 tech was aligned to the play side, so I would have liked to see our PST climb to the LB since our influence pull (Render pulling left to indicate power left) temporarily gave a false read to the PSU LB's. He stepped down and doubled a 1 tech...if he releases inside and immediately climbs, it creates a bigger hole that the DE has to think about filling.
The formation - This one is more damning. I don't know why we put the TE to the play side of this formation, lengthening the end and elongating the time the DE has to read the play. Fant arc releases to block the corner (and not very well in this case)...why not just put him out there to start the play and let him manhandle the CB? Reason being: The DE is a C gap defender. With the TE to his side, the DE aligns in a 6 technique (could have been a 6i), which means he's essentially lined up on the TE. If Fant is wide on that play (think near the bottom of the numbers), the DE slims his alignment down by a foot, maybe 2, to get into a true 5 technique. Then when he sees Welsh release inside, his rule is that if his man steps down, he has to step down to close C gap. This speaks to my above point about climbing...if Welsh climbs, then our C blocking back on the PS 1 tech is the only "mess" to the PS, which means there are essentially two gaps to account for, which might lead him to step down an extra half step. All of these things (aligning more inside by a foot, an extra half step down to close C gap, Stanley hesitating an extra tenth) lead to a play that doesn't end in a safety. By Fant being there, it not only changed his alignment slightly (with no WR to his side, he knows he has the CB as secondary force) but it altered his post snap reaction...it appeared he almost performed a read step for his first half step or so, which essentially allowed him to slow play the misdirection and be there when Wadley got the pitch. Without the threat of being pinned by a TE (which could have altered his get-off), perhaps that release is more inside to account for Welsh stepping down and he doesn't have the angle to run Wadley down.
Finally, up to that point I'm not sure if PSU was aggressively playing the boot game or not. But if they were, that makes the play call even sillier. Because even if the action is going away, #19 isn't going to be flying down the line trying to make a play on Wadley...he's going to be sitting there waiting for him on the backside. So there's that...for me this goes back to Stanzi vs. Northwestern in 2009. Either shorten the edge (no TE) or block the DE...in 2009 we to TE's to the boot side and blocked for about a 1/4 of a second and then released, which allowed Wooten to be sitting there (from memory that's what I recall anyway). This year, we put 1 TE over there and hoped that the action away would be enough. Unfortunately, with the slightly wider edge, it wasn't.
