I Heart the Sagarin Rankings
Over at USAToday Sports, they have the latest Sagarin Rankings for College Football. Interestingly, the rankings come 2 ways: By Team and by Conference.
Some notes on the rankings:
Quality wins are represented in the rankings with a weight given to Top 15 wins and Top 30 wins.
Strength of current schedule is a contributor. So, if a team beats #1 in week 1, and that #1 team falls to #45 over the season, that win won’t matter come the end of the season.
ALL teams are ranked to compute these rankings.
Home field advantage is part of the rankings and predictions for the following week’s games.
Margin of victory is unimportant in one measure, and points scored are all that matters in another measure. These 2 measures combine to make the final rating.
Over the course of the season, all teams willl be connected by who they have played and who has played them- giving a ranking based solely on points scored and win-loss outcomes on the field.
The results as of week 2?
1 USC
2 BYU
3 Boise State
4 Alabama
5 Ohio State
6 LSU
7 California
8 Oklahoma
9 Texas
10 Virginia Tech
11 Florida
12 TCU
13 Missouri
14 Oregon
15 Miami-Florida
16 Utah
17 Penn State
18 Oklahoma State
19 Houston
20 Michigan
21 Georgia
22 UCLA
23 Iowa
24 North Carolina
25 Clemson
1) It pays to play against good competition, win or lose
2) It pays to score points
3) Every team will be connected by performance and success
For the doubters, the conference rankings may or may not give you some comfort. Looking inside the conferences is interesting as well. Florida sits at #3 within the SEC.
It will be interesting to follow these rankings throughout the year and see how they predict outcomes.
New Playbook for Ohio State
Note to Jim Tressell:
Here is your new playbook for your all-world sophmore QB, Terrell Pryor. I know you are a throwback, tough football kind of coach, so I have put together a power offense in shotgun formations to utilize the QB as a backfield running threat.
Start with the BASICS:
Zone Read
This play is run from the trey formation. We keep a tight end on the line to maintain a strong zone run threat with the extra blocker. The two receivers split out to the tight end side spread the defensive secondary and shift defensive strength away from the side the QB has the option of running to. On the snap, the line blocks for standard zone running. The back either takes a handoff and hits the hole or the QB keeps it and runs around the weak side. This is the exact play Vince Young beat both Michigan and USC with in the Rose Bowl in consecutive years.
Play Action
A simple play action off the zone play. A simple High-Low read for Pryor to make, or he can run.
Another play action pass with Pryor reading the Will linebacker. The run fake brings the linebackers up hard to stop both the running back and the QB. A quick post by the slot receiver over the Will linebacker will get 8-12 yards easily. Again, a simple read and throw. Urban Meyer’s Utah team ran this play repeatedly in 2004 on their way to a perfect season and a BCS-busting fiesta bowl win.
The final play action pass. Everyone has this in the playbook. Fake run, quick pass to a swinging receiver. This would have crushed USC- no one covered the slot receiver all game.
POWER
The power play made for the shotgun. See the New York Giants’ 2007 championship season for this play. Spread the field, power the ball.
POWER misdirection
Florida’s 2008 championship season featured this power play with Tim Tebow in the backfield. Fake zone one way and the QB follows lead blocking through the hole for solid yards.
Basically, let Terrell Pryor run. Let him get hit. Make his reads easy and use misdirection and play action to facilitate open looks. Make your spread package a power package- the reflection of your 2002 National Championship offense.
BCS Championship Review
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Chris Brown, over at Smart Football, reviewed the BCS Championship game. His second point is what really stuck out to me during the game. I watch a lot of PAC 10 ball, so I was really amazed at how Chip Kelly called the game.
Really, I think both coaches outschemed themselves.
First, Chip Kelly. His modus operandi this year has been:
1. Zone read and variations
2. Play action/Screens
3. under 15 seconds between plays
I’m not sure coach Kelly has these defined like this, but maybe he should.
The first two points are what many teams do frequently. The third point is Oregon’s strength. When I Tevo an Oregon game, I cannot skip ahead 30 seconds between plays. When a play ends for Oregon, I have to rewind 20 to 30 seconds, and then skip 30 seconds forward so that I don’t miss a play.
In the BCS Championship Game, Oregon started out with spread passing. 3-and-out. Then there were 2 drives that Oregon operated under the afore-mentioned parameters. Oregon 1)ran the ball effectively (3+ yards per) and 2)mixed in screens and play action, while 3)maintaining their usual pace. In fact, their pace was incredible- I had to rewind a full 30 seconds then skip 30 second in order to catch the next play. They were spending less than 10 seconds resetting and snapping the football. Auburn was gassed- evidenced by a 12 men on the field penalty and DL player taking a knee on the sideline. You weren’t hearing Nick Fairley’s name, except when a 15 yard penalty was involved.
Oregon got out in front and got a 2-point conversion. It felt like Oregon football. It was tough going, but it was fast-paced and methodical.
And then Kelly came out 1&2)throwing, going 3-and-out, especially in the second half, and 3)letting the play clock roll down into the 10 second area- unheard of. A lot of gadgets and misuse of the field (bunching to the boundary which naturally limits available grass) and Fairley and Co. get a second wind and tee off on Oregon.
Oregon’s offense was generally ineffective and overschemed. The ball was not put into the playmakers’ hands enough and the fundamentals of the system were ignored.
Auburn took advantage and held Oregon to 19 points.
Auburn’s offense is based on misdirection power football. They are dependent on a bigger line that can pull and lead, and a big QB to pick up 2-3 yards when needed. Passing is based on man routes, and this game showcased double-moves and formations creating natural mis-matches in coverage. The Auburn OL was impressive in protecting Newton, who I think is overrated at QB, but indispensable to the scheme in picking up the 2-3 yards sometimes needed (like Tebow).
Auburn’s running game became effective in the 3rd and 4th quarter, when they leaned on it more. Dyer picked up chunks, it fed the play action, and Newton himself converted 3rd down and short a number of times.
Auburn’s passing game with man routes counted on wide open receivers or throwing the ball up and counting on bigger, better receivers to get it. Auburn had both, and Cam Newton found those well. And when coverage was good, he found yardage with his legs.
Oregon was generally effective in limiting Newton’s big plays, limiting the Auburn run game, and limiting big plays. Auburn’s most effective offensive plays seemed to be bubble screens, flat throws, and out-and-up patterns.
Auburn’s offense was not dominant, nor was it particularly effective. 22 points would be a goal for any defense to be proud of holding Auburn to.
Overall, I think I learned some limits to the Spread Running game. Urban Meyer made a good comment post-game: the spread option offense has the need for a big back or QB to get the yardage in the red zone/GL+5 (Oregon lacked this, Auburn had this) and reinforced the importance of sticking to what one does best.
I thought it was a sloppy, unintelligent game overall, with both coaching staffs overscheming. In the end, Auburn settled into their bread and butter first (out of necessity to run the clock) and came out on top. There is a certain strength in knowing what you do best and doing best what you do best.
In the end, the defenses get the game ball, for making plays and capitalizing on offensive wonkiness. For the game ball, I would give it to Nick Fairley, if he wasn’t such a dishonorable player, so I give it to Auburn’s #5 Michael Dyer, who made tough, determined yards and won the game for Auburn.
If Oregon wins, the ball goes to Casey Mathews, who caused a game-changing fumble out of Cam Newton’s hands as well as being in the thick of the Auburn offense all evening. Yet another underrated Matthews. (I coached his older brother Bryce in High School- nowhere near the motor/determination of Clay jr. and Casey).
For me, the game was a snoozer- Two struggling running offenses trying to do too much outside of what they do best and man passing routes that ended up looking and feeling clumsy an simplistic. Not a great offensive game, regardless of the yards earned an not an interesting game, really.
Written by Jon Ellsworth
January 11, 2011 at 1:15 pm
Posted in Commentary, Defense Articles, Offense Articles, Uncategorized