OK it's pretty obvious that there are a lot of guys on here who criticize Rahne's playcalling, when the fact of the matter is that they don't even understand WHY certain plays are called and how the plays are set up. So I looked at the 1st 4 drives this past Saturday and I saw some eye-opening stuff as far as sequencing plays and complementary plays (plays that look identical but aren't).
Drive #1 - Just as they did vs MD, PSU starts the game by running KJ in pre-snap motion but simply as "eye candy" for the Defense. At midfield they started off using the exact same play they used vs MD on their first score vs the Twerps, the fake Jet to Hamler and Clifford keeps for good yardage.
Then after getting the 1st Down they ran a Crossing Route to George, and he is wide open but Cliff panics a bit, doesn't see him, and throws the ball away in the direction of Brown. On 3rd and 8, just two plays later, Rahne calls the EXACT same crossing route to George, the EXACT same play! This time Cliff hits him, and its a 9 yard gain for 1st Down. Why did Rahne call it again so soon? Because it was WIDE OPEN, so why wouldn't he run it again from the exact same formation vs the exact same Defense?
On the next play PSU got one of their favorite matchups that they set up by placing Hamler in the Slot to the short side of the field. They knew Purdue would be in Cover 1 Man, and have a Safety playing KJ...bad move obviously. KJ runs the Slot Fade for a TD. Did that look familiar? Should have, because it's the play the PSU TORTURED Michigan with in 2017 with Hamilton torching their Safeties time after time.
Drive #2 - They start out running the ball with success, and Cliff gets that targeting call. From the 11 yardline they go into their new favorite Redzone formation, the 2 TE/Tight Wing set with Bowers in-line and Pat at H-Back right off his hip. First they start off by pulling Pat towards the Center and Trap Blocking on a run. THEN they do the same thing BUT this time Pat runs right by the DE, faking the block, and catches a little flip pass for 7 or 8 yards.
A roughing penalty later they end up with 3rd and 2. NOW they get creative and go to a interesting formation. It's 2 SEs, and 2 H-Backs, both Bowers and Freiermuth in the game, lined up tight off of the OTs on each side. On the snap Cliff fakes right to Brown, as Fries pulls LEFT and engages the DE, the last man on the LOS. Bowers steps down and seals off where Fries had come from.
NOW Cliff is NOT reading the last man on the LOS as some guys think he always does. He is in fact reading the OLB to his left, where Freiermuth is lined up. Pat fakes a block and moves inside for a potential Pop Pass. But the OLB that Cliff is reading moves with him to cover him. BUT...Fries has begun driving HIS man, the DE and last man on the LOS, back into the endzone. So Cliff reads all this, fakes the Pop Pass, and walks into the endzone following Fries' block.
If you were under the impression that this TD was a "scramble" by Clifford on a broken play, think again. It is a carefully schemed play, and what tells you that is the Fries pull. He wipes out the DE and that leaves only the OLB there alone. If the OLB follows Pat, Cliff walks in as he did. If the OLB holds his ground, Cliff flips the ball to Pat on that Pop Pass. Can you say, "RPO?"
Drive #3 - Not much of a drive. PSU runs one play, Purdue blitzes it and stops it, so PSU shows them the EXACT same look and this time Slade picks up the blitzer and Dotson is off to the races. BTW Dotson's DB who had him in Man Coverage completely blew his assignment and ended up at LB Depth, lost and confused.
Drive #4 - More eye-candy motion, and also a handoff to Dotson. On 3rd and 2 PSU goes with Bowers in-line to the right, and 3 WRs to the left. Cliff fakes the handoff on a Read Option, Bowers fakes a block on the LB, then peels off on a short Flag Route and is WIDE OPEN. FWIW it is the exact same play that O$U used later on Sat. night when they hit the long TD pass to Benjimin. The only difference is that Victor is a WR and is a lot faster than Bowers.
Now on the 10 yardline, PSU goes back to that 2 TE look, with Bowers in-line and Pat at H-Back in a Tight Wing off Bowers' hip. So they run the same LOOK they have previously run...Pat comes across the formation and trap blocks...handoff to Slade, and nothing's happening. But that's perfectly OK...they are using complementary plays that all look exactly the same, but aren't.
Eventually Pat comes across the formation, fakes the trap block, and Cliff flips him a little pass. KJ and Dotson block their asses off and Pat's in for another TD.
The whole point? The plays are called in certain sequences, and they look exactly alike in certain packages of plays...run, pass, Option, RPO, 2 TEs, Trips to the Boundary, etc. they all look the same to the Defense. Fans have to accept the fact that every single play isn't going to succeed, BUT every play has a complementary play off of it that CAN succeed eventually. It takes patience to set it all up and show the Defense what they THINK they see...then give them something they don't expect or can't react to.
It's much, MUCH more well-thought out than randomly "grab bagging" plays out of thin air because "Well Clemson uses it and it always works for them so we should put it in our Offense." Guys who install plays in that manner are the guys who aren't successful. The PSU Staff really, REALLY know what they are doing.
Drive #1 - Just as they did vs MD, PSU starts the game by running KJ in pre-snap motion but simply as "eye candy" for the Defense. At midfield they started off using the exact same play they used vs MD on their first score vs the Twerps, the fake Jet to Hamler and Clifford keeps for good yardage.
Then after getting the 1st Down they ran a Crossing Route to George, and he is wide open but Cliff panics a bit, doesn't see him, and throws the ball away in the direction of Brown. On 3rd and 8, just two plays later, Rahne calls the EXACT same crossing route to George, the EXACT same play! This time Cliff hits him, and its a 9 yard gain for 1st Down. Why did Rahne call it again so soon? Because it was WIDE OPEN, so why wouldn't he run it again from the exact same formation vs the exact same Defense?
On the next play PSU got one of their favorite matchups that they set up by placing Hamler in the Slot to the short side of the field. They knew Purdue would be in Cover 1 Man, and have a Safety playing KJ...bad move obviously. KJ runs the Slot Fade for a TD. Did that look familiar? Should have, because it's the play the PSU TORTURED Michigan with in 2017 with Hamilton torching their Safeties time after time.
Drive #2 - They start out running the ball with success, and Cliff gets that targeting call. From the 11 yardline they go into their new favorite Redzone formation, the 2 TE/Tight Wing set with Bowers in-line and Pat at H-Back right off his hip. First they start off by pulling Pat towards the Center and Trap Blocking on a run. THEN they do the same thing BUT this time Pat runs right by the DE, faking the block, and catches a little flip pass for 7 or 8 yards.
A roughing penalty later they end up with 3rd and 2. NOW they get creative and go to a interesting formation. It's 2 SEs, and 2 H-Backs, both Bowers and Freiermuth in the game, lined up tight off of the OTs on each side. On the snap Cliff fakes right to Brown, as Fries pulls LEFT and engages the DE, the last man on the LOS. Bowers steps down and seals off where Fries had come from.
NOW Cliff is NOT reading the last man on the LOS as some guys think he always does. He is in fact reading the OLB to his left, where Freiermuth is lined up. Pat fakes a block and moves inside for a potential Pop Pass. But the OLB that Cliff is reading moves with him to cover him. BUT...Fries has begun driving HIS man, the DE and last man on the LOS, back into the endzone. So Cliff reads all this, fakes the Pop Pass, and walks into the endzone following Fries' block.
If you were under the impression that this TD was a "scramble" by Clifford on a broken play, think again. It is a carefully schemed play, and what tells you that is the Fries pull. He wipes out the DE and that leaves only the OLB there alone. If the OLB follows Pat, Cliff walks in as he did. If the OLB holds his ground, Cliff flips the ball to Pat on that Pop Pass. Can you say, "RPO?"
Drive #3 - Not much of a drive. PSU runs one play, Purdue blitzes it and stops it, so PSU shows them the EXACT same look and this time Slade picks up the blitzer and Dotson is off to the races. BTW Dotson's DB who had him in Man Coverage completely blew his assignment and ended up at LB Depth, lost and confused.
Drive #4 - More eye-candy motion, and also a handoff to Dotson. On 3rd and 2 PSU goes with Bowers in-line to the right, and 3 WRs to the left. Cliff fakes the handoff on a Read Option, Bowers fakes a block on the LB, then peels off on a short Flag Route and is WIDE OPEN. FWIW it is the exact same play that O$U used later on Sat. night when they hit the long TD pass to Benjimin. The only difference is that Victor is a WR and is a lot faster than Bowers.
Now on the 10 yardline, PSU goes back to that 2 TE look, with Bowers in-line and Pat at H-Back in a Tight Wing off Bowers' hip. So they run the same LOOK they have previously run...Pat comes across the formation and trap blocks...handoff to Slade, and nothing's happening. But that's perfectly OK...they are using complementary plays that all look exactly the same, but aren't.
Eventually Pat comes across the formation, fakes the trap block, and Cliff flips him a little pass. KJ and Dotson block their asses off and Pat's in for another TD.
The whole point? The plays are called in certain sequences, and they look exactly alike in certain packages of plays...run, pass, Option, RPO, 2 TEs, Trips to the Boundary, etc. they all look the same to the Defense. Fans have to accept the fact that every single play isn't going to succeed, BUT every play has a complementary play off of it that CAN succeed eventually. It takes patience to set it all up and show the Defense what they THINK they see...then give them something they don't expect or can't react to.
It's much, MUCH more well-thought out than randomly "grab bagging" plays out of thin air because "Well Clemson uses it and it always works for them so we should put it in our Offense." Guys who install plays in that manner are the guys who aren't successful. The PSU Staff really, REALLY know what they are doing.
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