So, it's not surprising that the man's personality matches his philosophy when it comes to dual reads in offensive football. All original material and images are copyrighted by TechSideline.com and may not be reused or reprinted without permission. Watkins is usually Fieldside. This "Field G" is mostly what Virginia Tech is in nowadays. Not every coach could do that. "That kid you're talking to right there, I think he played his nuts off! If our defense is designed to "funnel" the ball carrier to certain positions I could see some recruits not liking that. So, I don't think having our DL being smallish gives us a good advantage to counter the GT offense (a la moving our DE in as a DT and then replacing the DE with T. Wilson), since Miami has prototypical NFL DT's and absolutely mauled them at the LOS. Five star get after it 100 percent Juice Key-Playing. "-John Blutarsky, Small, and generally stout defensive tackles certainly seem to be the Bud Foster model. Each player in the front 7 has a certain gap responsibility, but unlike other 4-3 and 3-4 base defenses, the defenders often stunt to a gap and hold their position rather than pursuit to the ball. For this example, here is a pre-snap diagram of a likely defensive set against a 12 personnel group (one RB, two TEs, two WRs). It was a very clever scheme because it could be adjusted to a pass oriented defense by slipping the two outside linebackers (the Whip and Rover) into coverage as defensive backs. The doubles on the interior also give the ends more flexibility to get upfield and rush the passer. For example, a corner will not follow a motioning receiver across the field, even if it is man coverage. Hosley was excellent enough to execute the design up there with the very best ball hawk the Hokies have had. against Stanford in the OB? All Hokie, All the Time. Yeah Hosley getting knocked out screwed the rest of the defense off. Thekeyplay.com is not affiliated with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Not adjusted to the offensive formation. getting after it down the LOS once it was clear the RB was not going for his gap. This allows the players to react instinctively and play with more confidence. Based on the film that I have watched, either Bud Foster calls more middle linebacker run blitzes than any coach in the country, or the mike backer has almost zero pass responsibility. Remember getting gashed repeatedly by just about everybody we played? It depends on which version of the 4-3. Even if they win, guys like Hopkins and Collins were just not the same after the GT game last year. I would argue we had bad match-ups of speed vs. speed. That gives up some of the flat zone coverage, so watch for more WR screens this week if they show us C4. Hop, Bruce, and JGW) and as possibly causing fatigue later in the year if the guys aren't in shape? When the WR's sets up to run block (the WR's total lack of effort is a complete "UVA move"), he immediately comes up in run support. I'm sure Nick Saban said the very same thing to him hence his "I don't believe I could achieve my goals at VT" comment. The Gap Defense is grounded in a simple concept. While the 8 man front may be gone, the blitz pressures and coverages remain imbedded in today's Hokie D. The "Field Strong" basically is a 4 man defensive line, two middle linebackers, and the whip linebacker playing outside as a hybrid linebacker/safety almost exclusively to the boundary side of the field. In his walked out spot, he is reading the backfield triangle to the #2/#3 receiver and has the flat zone weak. Note that with no receivers split to the boundary, the Rover will rotate up to the line of scrimmage and align as a linebacker on the boundary side. OT: "The Mandalorian" S3 discussion thread (feat. When the 8th man entered the box, the passing game opened up. A "Bear" front covers both OGs and the Center, making it an Odd front. Virginia Tech's defense is in good hands with Bud Foster at the controls Skip to main . What's considered non-radical? An example are the Virginia Tech teams of Frank Beamer and Justin Fuente, with Bud Foster serving as defensive coordinator under both. James Anderson is the only Hokie alumni who is a starter in the front 7 of an NFL team. Adobe d C Meanwhile, the defensive linemen must be quick enough and flexible enough to slant heavily (sometimes 2 gaps) each way, which lends itself to short, stocky defensive tackles whocan get to a spot then hold their gap responsibility. UNC had those guys, FSU has those guys, and that is about it in the SEC. He started 79 games over an 8 year career. Gambling problem? When they face 21/22/12 personnel, theyll set up in the G front or Bear front most of the time. Los Angeles is launching a guaranteed income pilot program, set to be the biggest in the US so far. In addition to these types of coverage adjustments, there may be front and pressure adjustments made by the defense as well. MAN. This is absolutely an attacking defense where every player is expected to #1 maintain leverage/control their gap responsibility and #2 attack attack attack the ball carrier. TSL) is an independent publication that is in no way affiliated with or sponsored by Virginia Tech or the Virginia Tech Athletic Department. I still worry about the whip (watching film of the Stanford game will do that to a guy) and Maddy and Marshall have to take the next step. The Whip blitzes hard from the 7 gap to fly through the 5 gap space. With a 2-high safety base set, the Hokies can play a lot of different zone coverages (while still playing man coverage when they want), preventing offenses from dictating match-ups with their personnel groups and formations. Registered users can participate in the forum, post and vote on comments. -- French. Thekeyplay.com is not affiliated with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Game situation includes things like score, wind / weather conditions and time remaining on the clock. There are a ton of details that are critical for the defense to execute properly. And you can quote me on that shit!" Based on what you guys are saying those type of players wouldn't fit into BF's scheme unless he's going to go to a more traditional 4-3. Other teams began to use a lot of quick passes and/or maximum protection blocking schemes to counter Techs blitz tendencies. Even the best (Brown- moved to LB, Worilds- moved to LB, Tapp- non-descript backup, Engleberger-bust, Moore- bust, Price- nada) didn't make an impact. All of those adjustments are made in real time by the players on the field. Virginia Tech Hokies football, basketball, athletics blog and forum featuring: unique columns, breaking news, film studies, in-depth analysis, recruiting, videos and jokes. And this. ]~ .O}_JG7mn0 1.Wvn;m,Fv i>TFis endstream endobj 11 0 obj 433 endobj 17 0 obj << /Length 18 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream The 6 comes from the switches called between the LBs and the backfield. The Rover was a strong side outside linebacker in the 8-man front that would slide out as an additional corner / defensive back against 3-4 wide receiver formations. A student manager then uses the sign board to communicate the personnel group to the players on the field. The defense was predicated on putting 8 men in the box, and bringing a wide variety of unique blitzes to confuse and outman the offensive line, while in the secondary attempting to hide coverages and trick the defense into throwing into their quick blitz read, where a Hokie defensive back sat waiting to take the ball the other way. It was a pro-style system and designed to work against pro-style offenses, which is precisely what the Hokies system is. Ive said it before but Im super serious this timethis is a must win game for Clemsons NCAA tournament resume. Unlike the old 4-4, I think Foster and Gray want the free and rover to essentially be interchangable with the only exception being that the free makes the defensive secondary calls and audibles. Clemson and Duke are really the only teams I can remember that have attacked Hokie corners and been successful. If you can stop the run with six, the whip or backside safety doesn't have to commit so quickly. Most would call that 6 years. Instead of slanting as much (because his DL had a tendency to lose gap control and his backer couldn't figure out how to be in the correct place), Bud reverted back to shooting gaps. In addition, they know the personnel group and the pre-snap formation. From the coaches in the booth, to the coaches on the sideline, to the players on the field, to the pre-snap adjustments; that is a lot of communication and it is pretty much non-stop in those 20-30 seconds between each play. If you compare how offensive schemes don't really hurt a recruits ability to make it to the NFL, why should a defensive scheme hurt us too? The first number reflects the number of running backs and the second number reflects the number of tight ends. In th defense now, the free safety and the whip are essentially interchangable. Foster used a simple solution. The 8-man front, aggressive blitzing style of defense often forced the Hokies to play man coverage across the board with little or no deep help. The stud end is outside eye of the tackle strong side, and the end is outside eye of the tackle on the weakside. It wasn't a great "instinctual play" by Hosley, but a calculated play call and design by Foster. but as mentioned, the type of dt's vt uses are small, quick guys so some guys that might be more nfl types wouldn't fit what bud is asking his guys to do. In combination, these adjustments resulted in more big plays against the Tech defense, both in the running game as well as the passing game. Free Safety: Free safety starts in a deep third lined up 12 yards off the ball directly behind the mike. Accordingly, Bud Foster abandoned the 8 man front look, and turned to the "Field Strong" formation described in the link as their base defense. Without the post-2003 adjustments, there would have been many plays where Rouse would have been isolated in man coverage against the slot receiver. Ball position refers to the position of the ball relative to the hash marks. Guys like Acree don't fit, and I do not think for a second that the "four defensive end" alignment that we heard about in the spring will be used at any time other than on passing down and distance plays.Guys like Zach McCray and JR Collins, while big enough to play DT in a pinch, are too long to really be effective on those interior stunts (that is one of the reasons that Nick Acree was never a favorite of Charley Wiles.). We play three different packages: G, T u f f and FD/ST-G. Our G package is our base defense. An 11 personnel group is one running back, one tight end, and three wide receivers. The defensive linemen get into the neutral zone, engage their blocker, secures their gap, and sheds the blocking using a "violent hand motion" (rip, swim, push-pull, or 45 technique). Shop fresh Hokies gear at TKP sponsor Homefield. Registered users can participate in the forum, post and vote on comments. Prior to 2004, the alignment of the linebackers and safeties was based more on the strong side / weak side of the offensive formation. The singular thing that can derail their run defense is getting chewed up physically against Georgia Tech. Youll see how they get away with that in coverage later. His upside is higher than Collins, but Collins is a much more instinctual player at this point. For #3, I think this defense actually makes the corners look better than they really are. For that reason, some teams found success by running weak side out of those spread formations. So we have a basic definition for each of the eleven puzzle pieces. A "gap" is an area of space on the field that the defensive player is responsible to "control." This often creates the illusion to the running back that there isn't backside pursuit, making the backside cutback to the 1 gap the logical place to go. He retained the terminology and many of the blitz schemes of the Attack Defense, and then moved the rover position back to that of a traditional strong safety. In that case, both Rover and WHIP will show blitzes naturally. Backer: The Backer (Tariq Edwards) lines at the same depth as the mike but in the guard tackle gap. They have to get Maddy, Marshall, and McCray in there to dominate rather than having read and react play from Wilson and Collins (at tackle.). In a robber coverage, the safeties actually come forward at the snap while the corners bail out to a deep third. Nose Tackle: The Nose (Luther Maddy): The nose will line up as a 1 technique, on the inside eye of the play-side guard. As for NFL caliber lineman. Shop fresh Hokies gear at TKP sponsor Homefield. I will touch on this more when I write my column on the secondary play, but I think because Hokies safeties have been victimized in man coverage so much, that Foster is looking at his safeties having less run support responsibility and being better at coverage, hence the change of putting converted corners at safety. Basically, it requires two defensive tackles who can each command double teams. BTW, I dont think I've ever seen a gif used as a legit educational tool and not just an lol. Young guy like Ekanem and Farley, based on film, are perfect fits. When things went well, a Hokie game featured numerous sacks, tackles for losses, interceptions, and the band wearing out the theme from Empire Strikes Back. 2) This defense also seems to point out a weakness for a athletic, good hands tight end (ex. Wiley, Brown, Russell, Drakeford, Gray, Banks, Prioleau, Charleton, Midget, Bird, McCadam, Pile, Hall, Green, Fuller, Williams, Hamilton, Rouse, Flowers, Harris, Chancellor, Carmichael, Hosley, Fuller, Exum, Jarrett. * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). Anytime you see the mike backer dropping back, it is change up defense hoping the QB throws to a spot without seeing the mike. f endstream endobj 9 0 obj 55 endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Name /I1 /Filter /DCTDecode /Width 32 /Height 27 /BitsPerComponent 8 /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /Length 7 0 R >> stream Frenchgreat new addition to TKP! The diagram below uses numbers to identify each gap. Hell Charley Wiles even stated that one thing he was challenging Antoine Hopkins on last August was making plays out of his alignment, i.e. MIKE is the same type of player as MIKE in a 4-3 defense, but Backer is more like a SAM LB in a 4-3, and often gets the RB or TE to the passing strength. What VT plays most against pro-style teams is Inverted Cover 2 Robber, but the deep cover guys are the Cornerbacks, not the safeties. While the nose sometimes gets unblocked and can get upfield, more often than not he will make contact with the guard and tackle. This column was more about the run defense, so I can work on drawing up some plays and video that shows how Clemson neutralized the Hokies in a future piece. What do you mean by "radical stunting"? End: The End (J.R. Collins) will stunt to the 7 gap, maintaining contain on any reverse, bootleg, or play-action. Stanford presents the most unique formula. He must maintain gap control on the 6 gap and not allow the running back to get outside his outside shoulder. 20102023, Orange and Maroon Media, LLC. To counter these offensive trends, Bud Foster made some adjustments to the base defense after the 2003 season. Gap fit means when the defensive player hits the assigned gap, he must hold that gap maintaining the proper leverage in order to get off a block and make a tackle. Meanwhile, Dwayne Allen would come BEHIND the line against the grain of the play and pop out the weak side. By keeping the tight ends and running backs in to block, offenses could buy additional time to go to their wide receivers running down the field against single, man-to-man coverage. Looking forward to future articles. Its a bit like a Tampa 2 defense, where the MLB drops back deeper in zone over the middle with 2 safeties behind, except that here youre dropping the FS down instead of backing up the MLB. http://www.orangeandwhite.com/news/2012/jan/21/swinney-hired-venables-br OT: "The Mandalorian" S3 discussion thread (feat. Access Exclusive Content and Financially Support The Key Play. The transition from James Anderson to Brenden Hill without skipping a beat showed two things (1) the coaches know how to put different type players in a position to succeed and (2) while better defined to defend against todays offensive systems, the Whip still is a hybrid position. In an 8-man front, the Rover will rotate up closer to the line of scrimmage and align as the fourth linebacker. Nuk Hopkins is usually a Boundary-side WR, so he gets the Boundary CB most of the time. Exactly like Clemson this year. Registering for an account is free and easy. They are looking at the QB and reading his actions without letting the #1 outside WR get past. "-John Blutarsky. The Hokie Gap defense rose from the ashes of the famed "Hokie Attack" 8 man front of the 1990's. That would have been tough duty for a guy like Rouse, who was much better suited for the current responsibilities assigned to the Rover (1) back as a deep safety to the boundary side or (2) up at the line of scrimmage as an outside linebacker playing boundary run containment or picking up a tight end in man coverage. Whether you've been running the 4-2-5 defense for years or you're looking to implement the scheme for the first time, . From there, Tech held Miami to 10, Kent State to 0, #14 Wake Forest to 6, and Virginia to 0 to finish 10-2. . What's so radical about it? The alignment is a disguise, as he has no pass coverage responsibility. Jack Tyler can't cover a rock, so CBF adjusts his schemes and defensive calls to account for that. The movement ideally allows three Hokies to be unblocked, versus depending on the physical ability of the defensive line to beat each of their blocks at the point of attack. While it's currently a knock that VT hasn't developed NFL linemen, it's more of an inability to recruit them onto campus than anything else. Sadly, the wide tackle six approach saw it's end as the Hokies were decimated by sophisticated passing attacks from the 2002 Gator Bowl through Aaron Rodgers legalized murder of the secondary in the 2004 Insight Bowl. In passing situations, the Hokies use more defensive backs than the old days, but Foster's mentality hasn't changed. A similar thing happened with the game against Miami, where LM just gashed us in the second half. The coaches helped by putting him in positions where he could be successful. To make that work, you still need to get pressure from the DL, and I think this has been one of VTs biggest issues on defense over the last few years. The defensive calls will be different on 2nd and three versus 3rd and nine. Darryl Tapp has been a career backup. 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