Football Articles
Kansas Post-Mortem: Deddy Gets a New Defense
Posted by dedfischer on November 1st, 2009 under Football
Writing a football blog about your home team sometimes feels like owning a Genie lamp when things you wish to happen do and then they work. Plus, it establishes credibility with the reader when I point it out, so you’ll basically believe anything I tell you. Let’s get started. Lots to discuss this week as it was indeed an interesting week for avid Raider fans. Or, at least it should be.
Todd Reesing plays exactly like what he looks like in the program. Force him to make tough throws and he doesn’t have the arm to get it there. Not quite fast enough to beat you, but has to be contained. After watching Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael leave jock straps on the Jones last week, Jake Sharp wasn’t and Topen Operum looked slow as well. While we suffered a major setback facing Jerrod Johnson, we may thank him this week for exposing some flaws in our defense. I think Johnson is a better QB than Zac Robinson, but Gundy will watch the A&M tape and run with empty sets and QB draws until we stop it. Robinson is good enough to beat you doing that without the appropriate schematics. This was a little better week for us.
Player of the Game
When a high effort guy like Marlon Williams is allowed to roam free as an extra man in the box his stat line looks like this after the 1st Quarter: 4 Tackles, 1 Sack, 2 TFLs. This was the best game of Marlon’s career, and in his new capacity, he served as an asset to this defense.
Marlon gets a Flex Pass for making more tackles behind the line than beyond.
Offense
I still can’t decide if we are good, average, or serviceable at run blocking, but any game we’ve been patient or stuck with it, Baron Batch has paid dividends every time. I am more convinced than ever that Leach provides his QBs with gratuitious latitude in determining this process. I want the 4th Quarter Red Raider offense all game for my next wish.
QB
Minus the horrible start, this was Taylor Potts best game of his career against a real scholarship football program. He was patient with the run game, and once Batch inflicted some damage, the Kansas pass rush was neutralized and easy/safe throws were to be found in the short range. His stat line for the 4th quarter: 4-5 for 46 yards. Of the 18 offensive plays we ran, 13 were on the ground. For a shit-ton of yards and 3 TDs. Yeah, it’s that easy. In the North.
Seth Doege couldn’t hit Mark Mangino with a harpoon, if you had him haltered and staked out to a wind farm tower. That sentence gets a little confusing at the end. So for clarification purposes, no, I don’t know how we’re going to get a halter on Mangino, but we may have to jack up a leg to do it and shit can get pretty serious at that point. I’m thinking we’re going to need a hotshot, 2 good horses, a couple of solid picking strings, a 6-foot wide gooseneck w/1 ton and about 70 feet of nylon in case we get in over our heads here. You’ll want to go ahead and cinch up for this affair. I mean don’t be scared to cut that son-of-a-bitch in two because you don’t want your saddle sliding around with a Mangino on the end. Plus, it’s a good way to make your horse’s back sore and he might be apt to quit pulling. I made it 5 paragraphs without a Mangino fat joke and that should speak volumes about my character. Either good or bad.
Easy Mangino, it only gets worse from here, if you fight it.
RB
Baron Batch is the man. I think Retro/Kung-Fu/Ninja/Disco Fighter every time he takes off his helmet.
OL
I kind want to choke Marlon Winn instead of talk about him. We’re better with him on the right in his lazy comfort zone against the 2nd Tier pass rushers, who take more plays off. Jeremy Beal will be the next TD he gives up. While Brandon Carter isn’t bullet proof as a run blocker, he can move his feet just enough to provide a threatening obstacle when yielded leverage at the snap and has a slim chance of getting his paws on a LB at the 2nd level. Mickey Okafor just doesn’t possess that type of physical talent, and for that reason, we haven’t been able to run the ball all year when he is in the game. That was the biggest difference in our running success from the 1st to 2nd half, and thus, I note it. If Matt Moore follows predictable tendencies, he’ll try to find someone to pass Okafor on the depth chart in the spring. He’s not the type of athlete Moore wants long-term at the position, so he’ll give Deveric Gallington or Chris Olson every opportunity to win the job. If it doesn’t play out that way and Okafor is the starter next season, don’t come around here complaining when Batch isn’t getting untracked.
Defense
If you’re naive enough to believe that the only difference in our defense this week was Ruff got his boys fired up and preached about pride, then you’re not going to enjoy this little spot on the interweb. Bront Bird apparently provided an emotional pre-game speech, and went the extra step of sacrificing his playing time to get D.J. Johnson on the field. We rolled with our 4-2-5/Nickel package on all but about 10 or 12 snaps in this game. Containment and coverage duties are shifted to fast, quick guys. We seem to have learned something about run defense by playing with 6 in the box against 4 wide sets under those likely scenarios. I’ll again point to Marlon Williams as a beneficiary.
DT
Whitlock and Jones provided the typical solid play they’ve been giving us for the last 2 seasons.
DE
Brandon Sharpe is competing with Suh for Big 12 North Defensive MVP. It will be cool when he shows up for a South opponent. Rajon Henley and Daniel Howard were much improved and they played like they had their asses appropriately chewed for their A&M performance. Of course, that extra dude and speed helps out right here, too. They don’t look near as bad when they’re not serving as last resort on the perimeter. Gundy will be throwing Toston in this general vacinity early and often to test our faith in sound schematics.
LB
The Duncan Policy stays in place this week and Marlon graded out in the strength department. I’m not sure whether to be extremely pleased or pissed off. We re-inserted Bront Bird for a series, gave up Kansas’ only honest TD, and put him back on the bench.
CB
It’s funny how when you shift various responsibilities to a lot faster guys you find yourself becoming one of those teams who make teams pay for doing stupid shit like fumbling snaps. I’ve been cool with Jamar Wall and Laron Moore all season and I still am. They’ll stack up well against a non-Dez Bryant unit. There are some run defense contingencies in place with that statement, so upon request, I’ll provide the fine print.
Safety
D.J. Johnson is the new Will Ford is the new Bront Bird. Good call. Kid can play. Both of them and I sure hope Ford is ready to roll for Stillwater. Cody Davis was back laying wood and I’m starting to appreciate the healthy Frank Mitchem in run support. Briscoe made a couple of plays, but our strategy was worth the risk.
Overall
We’re still on the one game at a time policy around here, but I’ve got us down as a preliminary 3 TD favorite over the bye week given Potts starts. Doege will be canning blubber until the spring, if he ever hits home with that harpoon.
Share This
17 Responses
Leave a Reply
Related Articles
-
8
Kansas State Post-Mortem: Gettin’ Right
By dedfischer on October 11th, 2009 -
10
Texas Tech Post-Mortem: Kansas – So You Wanna Be a Football School?
By dedfischer on October 26th, 2008 -
3
Kansas Prediction
By dedfischer on October 24th, 2008 -
1
Scouting the Kansas Defense
By dedfischer on October 23rd, 2008
elcapitan said:
November 1st, 2009 at 7:18 pm
What did you think of Olson at LT? What did you think of Waddle in the 1st half? I’m just an arm chair QB but it seems to me that the line just plays better with Olson in, regardless where. Since you know the OL stuff, thought I’d ask.
dedfischer said:
November 1st, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Olson or McDaniel/Edwards/Byrnes or Keown/Carter/Winn are our best run blocking unit from left to right.
t1climb1 said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:07 pm
OK, that Mangino halter paragraph is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen you write Ded. What made that so great was your level of commitment. You hunkered down and drove that baby all the home and out the other side.
Gold I tell you, Gold!
Knostrathomas said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:22 pm
The defense looked tough all day. I had a bad angle on the play where Wall destroyed the KU tailback on the sideline. The chain-gang was in the way. I saw the players go behind the orange sticks, then I saw arms and legs flying all over the place. I thought the poor kid blew up.
dedfischer said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Yeah, that was straight up Bar None Rodeo style.
dedfischer said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:36 pm
t1, that pic was actually kind of hard to find. You don’t want to know what I had to wade through to find it. That was commitment.
Tim said:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:58 pm
We have already tried the Olsen at LT experiment and it didn’t go well. Tech has tried Carter/Olsen/Winn/McDaniels and someone I’m forgetting and the only one who has held his own has been Terry McDaniels, but he is gone for the year. Winn is getting abused at LT, and has been below average at RT this year. I don’t know what’s up with this guy but he went form a probable first day pick last year, to a questionable second day pick this year. His lazy efforts have probably cost him millions this year. Like Ded already pointed out Jeremy Beil will probably be the next to get a free shot at Potts/Sheffield, if Chinsa doesn’t beat him to it. It would be nice to see a younger guy step up and claim the LT spot for years to come, but I think that guy is already done for the year.
On to the game, regrettably I am not eating crow today, Potts was the better field general Saturday. I thought Doege had some nice throws, he’s just not ready from a “field general” standpoint, and I question whether he will ever be. He miss read some blitz pick-ups, didn’t check down when he needed to and threw into double coverage too often. Even though he is young, I’m going to call it now, if Doege starts again for this program we’re in trouble. He doesn’t have the size, moxie or the arm strength to make Leach’s offense run, he needs to be a perennial back-up. Harsh, but this program has risen to the point where they don’t have to settle for a smaller, slower, weaker version of Cody Hodges to lead them. Let’s see what a healthy Sheffield can do against some Big 12 South teams, and hope that Scotty Young is a lethal combination of Graham Harrell and B.J. Symons.
I liked what Ruffin did with the D-line Saturday, and we’re just better when Rajon Henley is getting more snaps. Ruffin’s D held Kansas to their second lowest scoring output of the season, 2nd only to OU, and held one the nation’s better passing teams in check most of the game. I thought before the game that Kerry Meier would be a key, and if Ruffin gave him the 10 yard curl route all game, Tech would probably lose. Tech held Meier in check, and he was a non factor, except for a 3rd down conversion and a fumble. Our secondary can flat out play football, and there is not a glaring weakness out there. For a very young group they have been a strength and have allowed Ruffin to roll the dice a lot more. We are still not blitzing or pressing much, but we’re doing it more than we ever have before and I think the speed and skill level of our secondary is why. We’ll miss Wall a little bit next year, but D.J. Johnson and Will Ford have got to have Raider fans excited about the talent upgrade on defense. Let’s see what we have in guys like Bullit and the Dallas Carter kid next year.
I realize that how a guy performs in practice that week dictates how much playing time he’ll get, but Jeffers has to get the ball more, bad practices or not. Yeah, he had a bad game against A&M, but he is just too good not to get the ball, feed that boy the rock.
When Tech got the ball back with a minute something let in the half up 14-7 I turned to the guy next to me in the stands and said, “Let’s run the ball and take a 7 point lead into the half, we don’t need to risk another turnover or a quick 3 and out”. 30 seconds later, Doege scrambles out of the pocket and KU gets the ball with a 1st and goal. Of course they punch it in and get momentum going into the half. I realize that as a fan you take the good with the bad when Leach is your coach, and in different circumstances I probably want Leach to go for a quick score before half. When you have a freshman in his first start backed-up next to your goal line, you do not have him come out from under center and run play action, that’s just stupid football.
Tech outplayed Kansas in this game, but Tech still got some much needed help from Kansas turnovers. Nice comeback for Ruffin’s group, Leach had a decent game, I thought he still had some questionable calls, and decisions throughout but his QB play didn’t help. I just didn’t get what Kansas was trying to do offensively all game, Tech played a good game defensively but Kansas just never figured out what they wanted to do and Mangino had some really poor play choices I thought. I was surprised to see Reesing get the bench after a botched snap on 4th and 1. What happened to that guy?
Outside of Sheffield the quarterback play has ranged from decent to very bad this year. I put a lot on the inconsistency in the offensive line, too many injuries to get a line gelled this year, and I wonder if Graham Harrell had gotten another year of eligibility and suited up this year if this team would really be any better off. We might not have dropped the Houston game, but could he have played better than Pott’s in Austin, and would he have won a shootout against Jerrod Johnson last week, given our O-line play?
Here’s to a much needed bye week, let’s get Will Ford back, put a boot up Marlon Winn’s ass in film room this week, get Carter off his feet for a while, and get the boot off of Sheffield at least by next Monday. This team needs to finish up strong, going up to Stillwater and coming away with a win would do a lot for this programs future. Gundy looks ripe for the picking, if we play defense against Oklahoma State like we have against the Big 12 North, and Sheffield get’s back in time for game week we have a great shot.
dhamalrdr said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:06 pm
I don’t think Sharpe has played a Big 12 South opponent, but I may not have understood your sentence completely.
dedfischer said:
November 1st, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Outstanding post, Tim, and no matter how much shit they give you over at BC, your contributions are always quality and appreciated around here. Thanks for sharing.
jrad115 said:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:29 pm
I wonder what the chances Sheffield is able to start against OSU? Since Leach is so nebulous with his injury updates it’s hard to say, but I’d take Sheff with a gimp foot over Potts and Doege at this point.
mojave_reject said:
November 1st, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Just from casual observation, Sheffield is more mobile on his crutches than Potts is under normal circumstances. Glad you’re not at dog-kicking levels of pissed off this week, dedfischer, your writing is more enjoyable when I’m not getting the vibe that you want to cut someone.
Tim said:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:32 pm
That’s some funny shit mojave. I’m just not getting Pott’s, he had something like 1000 yards rushing in high school, and I’m willing to bet $100 that he would beat Graham Harrell in a foot race. I’m at a loss, maybe Leach is to blame.
dedfischer said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 6:29 am
I would pay $50 to see Ruffin and Mangino try to chest bump at midfield.
pcraw said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:03 am
I heard that if this game were to go to overtime, they had a couple cranes on-hand to plop down Ruff and the Mangino in the South Plains Mall Luby’s to settle the game with a good old-fashioned eating contest.
mikecrabtree said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:19 am
I’ve watched J. Wall blow up Jake Sharp about 45 times already. damn
HPRaider said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Ded,
Don’t you think one of the reasons KU looked so confused on offense was because they were so unprepared for us to do ANYTHING differently on defense? It’s too bad I had to spend $600 taking my daughter to her first Tech game last week vs. A&M so that Ruff could execute his strategy of lulling the Jayhawks coaches into complacency.
Regardless, it’s certainly a change for the better. I hope Ruffin (or Leach) is willing to stick with it.
Spencer said:
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I do not think Sharpe has played in a South game has he? I guess that is why you say show up.