Oklahoma Scouting Report 2000

 

Welcome back, Sooners. Has it really been ten years since you last pulled your Sooner Magic act on the Big Red? And I thought the six seasons between 1971 and 1978 were an eternity!

 

In 1971 it was Oklahoma's Unstoppable Force against Nebraska's Immovable Object. Now, at the Dawn of the Game of the Next Century, it is Cornhuskers' Un-satisfiable Monster of a football program against the Sooners' upstart Uncontainable Air Circus. Let the best team win, I say. I have selfish reasons for that; I think the Huskers are that team.

 

OU on Offense

 

Running game: Sooner style

 

The media has it all wrong. The Sooners' aren't re-inventing the passing game; they are re-inventing the running game, with very long hand-offs. How do you run up and down the field against undefeated Kansas State in Manhattan while rushing for only 11 yards? If you're Oklahoma you use several short passing plays that are running plays in disguise.

 

The first is a little shovel pass that works very much like a draw, attacking an area vacated by a blitzer. It becomes a combination of shovel pass and screen. Unlike the Huskers' shovel pass where the receiver and the QB move in one direction, the Sooner RB (usually Griffin) finds an open area vacated by a blitzer and stops and turns to face the QB. Heupel flips the ball forward while backpeddling to escape the rush. They may refer to this as a "shuffle pass".

It is a tough play to defend because the RB heads for a blitzer like he is going to block and then slips by him for the quick pass. It was very successful against the K-State blitz, but fizzled when no stunt was called. Texas Tech tried the same play against NU with little success. NU seemed to have linebackers on the lookout, much like a LB sometimes is used as a spy on a scrambling quarterback.

 

OU combines that play with quick screens to wide receivers and swing passes to HB Griffin to supplement their traditional rushing attempts. Add those high-percentage passing plays to the Sooner rushing stats and you see that there is more balance in Norman than is apparent on the surface.

 

NU's scheme will have to account for these quick passes in order to establish pressure on Heupel. OU used the halfback as their dump off when Heupel for most of the game at KSU. In the second half K-State adjusted and took this away. OU really only had one scoring drive in the second half, the one that set up the field goal. Their second-half TD was a short pass to a wide-out on third-and-twenty-six where KSU missed six tackles.

 

OU used their wide outs as the dump off option on that last drive. Heupel deployed those receivers much tighter to his offensive line on that drive so that they could get into the linebacker drop areas quickly for those dump-off passes. NU will have to find an answer to this that KSU did not.

 

In the end, NU can't stop all of these dump-offs, but they must tackle well when catches are made.

 

Running Game: more traditional

 

Of course, OU runs regular running plays also, both out of traditional and shotgun QB formations. They are primarily a zone blocking team, which is to be expected of a passing offense, but mix in some other schemes as well.

 

Out of a two-back (shotgun or normal) set an outside zone play is their best running play. Because of their passing focus they can block the playside defensive end like a draw. That end is almost always rushing hard, and the OU tackle can just ride him out of the play. The halfback often cuts under this block, but can take the play outside behind his fullback. NU's rush ends have been skillful in the past of breaking off their pass rush to attack such plays. They will need to do so again Saturday.

When Heupel is under center they like to run crossing actions with the backs with zone blocking. They will even cross the backs from their off-set I formation.

OU also had a success with a counter trap play for a touchdown against Kansas State. Later in the game, the Wildcats shut this down. OU also ran off-tackle isolation plays, especially at the goalline.

 

 

Oklahoma did not show a great amount of motion against Texas and Kansas State. This surprised me, as passing teams often run motion to get a pre-snap read on the coverage. When OU used flanker motion it was almost always related to the quick flanker reverse where the ball is snapped as the receiver nears the QB, and the WR is given a quick handoff. OU blocks this with outside zone blocking and relies on the OLB and CB on that side to be playing pass first.

They ran two companion plays with this motion, faking the handoff to the WR and running a zone play and a quick pitch back to where the motion started. Neither was extremely successful, but the reverse itself has provided big plays. I would guess that OU has a pass play companion for this as well.

 

Another nice looking reverse they ran looked like a Husker shovel pass with Heupel and a slot receiver moving right and the right flanker coming left for the reverse.

 

OU in the Red Zone

 

They used an interesting unbalanced formation with bunched receivers near the goalline. The alignment has one-back (sometimes with a shotgun) and a slot back just inside a flexed tight end and a flanker all to the same side with a split end on the weakside.

 

When the stongside flanker motions into the formation, watch for a crossing pattern among the three receivers to cross up man-to-man coverage.

OU has run strongside iso and zone play in this set, and scored against Texas with a weakside option. (Yes, option.) They have also taken out the flanker and put in a second back (needed for the iso play mentioned).

 

The Oklahoma Spread: Passing Fancy

 

Against Texas and K-State, Oklahoma has thrown primarily dropback passing. Even their playaction passes have created a pocket directly behind center. Heupel does have decent movement in the backfield and OU has rollout and moving pocket schemes, but these are not their first choice. If the NU pressure can force them to use these, that is a small victory for the Blackshirts.

 

Heupel loses a third of the field when he rolls to one side. Heupel's mobility is mainly an advantage in avoiding sacks and throwing the ball away, rather than running. The Blackshirts will have to contain him in order to get sacks instead of just incompletions.

 

The Spread attack seems to operate on the basic tenant of using two receivers on each side and running them on combination patterns: one in/one out, one short/one long, etc... I would presume that they will use lots of crossing when they see man coverage, trying to pick off Husker DB's. I'm a novice at passing attacks, but their receivers seem very good at recognizing coverages and adjusting routes. They will complete passes. Again that brings us to tackling.

The did run some trips sets with three receivers to one side, but they are primarily a balanced, two-each-side, team. It is important to note that one of the slot receivers is a TE in a flex position. They will use his size in pass patterns just as Nebraska uses its TEs. In that flex position he is not a great factor in the running game (when they do bring him to a more traditional alignment, it is often to pass block), they do have a tight end passing game that many wide-open teams lack. I would suppose these tight ends are good to have blocking at the perimeter.

 

Oklahoma on Defense

 

Against both Texas and Kansas State, the OU defense surprised me with its patience. I expected a Stoops defense to be looking for ways to attack, even against Kansas State. Instead, they sat back and waited for K-State to make mistakes. The Wildcats fit into this plan well. The only thing I can't decide is whether KSU exploded or imploded.

 

OU did not crowd the box against Kansas State, playing with only seven up most of the time. Their safeties are athletic and still made plays in the running game, but I expect they will have to play closer to the line against NU. Against both KSU and Texas, they played their strong side backer up on the line, giving a 5-2 look.

 

As with most defenses, OU wants its linebackers to make as many plays as possible. Texas never figured out how to get its zone schemes to take care of those backers. They gave up trying before the fifth playing of Boomer Sooner.

 

KSU on the other hand had success running the football; they just wouldn't stick with it. In the second quarter, K-State scored on a run-based drive. Instead of following that up with more ground attack, KSU threw an interception on a first-down pass, chose to run its two-minute offense with 3:00 left in the half on the next drive, and then threw more than ran on its opening drive of the second half. By the time they returned to the run, OU had a big lead and the Purple offensive line had to re-establish its rhythm. And.... it still worked! They still ran the ball with success.

 

Nebraska will show more patience with the running game. They will force OU to crowd the box or attack aggressively before they go to the pass in any great amount. Sometimes NU fans get frustrated until Nebraska waits until they really get stuffed on a series before they open up a bit, but this is what separates NU and Kansas State. If KSU had stuck with the run they would have forced change by OU.

 

Strangely OU felt a need to gamble late, a CB blitz, and paid for it with a big pass play touchdown. Perhaps the Stoops brothers were going for the kill? I expect OU to crowd the box, but the KSU game gives me no clue on how they will do it. The Wildcats simply did not force them to do it.

 

A key, as always with NU, is can OU get lined up correctly at the variety of formations the Huskers will show. Most fans outside of Nebraska would be shocked to find out that Nebraska will run many more formations than 'wide-open', 'modern' Oklahoma.

 

Oklahoma likes to move specific linebackers and even defensive tackles to strong and weak sides, even when K-State swapped a tight end right before the snap. I think NU might use motion and TE shifts to get OU into some alignments that can be attacked, or perhaps even to confuse them.

 

A couple other interesting observations on the Oklahoma defense:

 

* Kansas State opened the second half using a hard snap count that drew OU offside on two straight plays. My assumption is that KSU felt OU had been anticipating snap counts and gaining an advantage. Those two plays may have had a lot to do with some of KSU's offensive success in the second half.

 

* In the third quarter KSU quarterback Jonathan Beasley audibled to an off-tackle isolation play. After he made his audible and started the snap count, OU moved TWO linebackers into the hole that the play was run to. It was not a successful play. That may be an example of knowledge that the former KSU coaches on the OU staff used in the game. Or maybe it was coincidence.

 

Special Teams

 

Oklahoma's big play kickoff return was a huge play in its win over Kansas State. The return started left and then crossed the field to the right. Nebraska's recent success in kicking the ball into end zone needs to continue Saturday to avoid this threat.

 

On the other hand KSU had some nice punt and kick returns against the Sooners. The potential for big plays goes both ways.

 

Oklahoma ran a funky punt formation early in the game with four wide outs, three to one side. Interestingly, OU had gone to a more traditional punt set when Kansas State climbed back in the game with a punt block for a TD.

 

Overall

 

Oklahoma's offense is capable of both big plays and sustained drives, and that is rare in passing offenses. Nebraska will attack them from the beginning though, much more than Kansas State or Texas did. With both teams attacking from the start, it is the response moves by both teams that may decide this part of the game. Can OU stay one step ahead in how they dump off the ball to avoid the rush, or can NU sniff out those outlets and create big plays on the defensive side.

 

Offensively, I will be very surprised if NU doesn't move the ball consistently. I think NU's offensive line can not only get a hat on OU linebackers, but doing it play after play. I look for a few new wrinkles and hope one or two will turn into big Bobby Newcombe plays.

 

Special teams would have worried me three weeks ago, but I think a lot of progress has been made there. Once again the Husker coaching staff's work is seen.

 

I like the Huskers, but keep having bad dreams about Buster Rhymes. Keep the faith.