Here's a highlight video and I'll point out a few really cool things that PSU did vs Auburn...and some damn dumb things that Auburn did and how Yurcich set them up.
I'll start by saying I truly believe that MY's Gameplan MIGHT have been based on exploiting the dumbness of Auburn's Secondary, or the fact that they were really poorly coached. I lean towards poorly coached.
Start at the 1:58 mark. You see a Wide Stack to the left and also one to the right. Dotson is to the right stacked behind Johnson. There is a Single High Safety in the middle of the field, and Auburn has 5 guys lined up to rush the QB...a clear indication that they are in Cover 1 (Man Coverage with a Free Safety in the Deep Middle). So the 2 DBs on each side of the field have to figure out WHO has the Receiver on the LOS, and who has the WR stacked behind him. The 2 guys on Dotson's side BOTH thought they had Dotson...poor coaching or dumb DBs, take your pick.
Now watch Clifford, you know the QB who always has that "deer in the headlights" look and "happy feet"...THAT Clifford. Cliff takes the snap and immediately looks left, looking off that Deep Middle Free Safety, moving the Safety with his eyes. So that Safety reads Cliff's eyes and starts to move to Cliff's left as Cliff intended. Meanwhile, BOTH DBs on the right want to cover Dotson, and neither of them covers Johnson. WTF Guys????
So Cliff looks back to the right where NO ONE is covering Johnson...AND there is no FS help because Cliff used his eyes to move him already. Bingo...easy pitch and catch. That led to the easy toss on the next play to Dotson for the 1st TD. And FWIW, how in the HELL do you lose one of the best WRs in America as he cruises along the back edge of the endzone?
OK Now go to the 4:55 mark. PSU is in a simple Bunch Formation to the right with Johnson at the inline TE position, Dotson on the outside of the Bunch, and Strange on the inside of the Bunch. Auburn sends FOUR guys over there to handle the situation. But look how confused they are...and this Bunch Formation is SO elementary and has been around for decades.
So of the 4 Defenders positioned there in front of the Bunch, 2 bite on the inside run fake to Cain, one guy rushes Clifford, one guy plays Dotson, and NOBODY plays Strange. Again, pitch and catch, one of the easiest TD passes Cliff has ever thrown. So...dumb DBs? Or poor coaching? I go with poor coaching on this one. Those kids had no idea how to line up or defend a Bunch Formation inside the 5 yardline...that's poor coaching.
Then at the 8:30 mark we have the coolest scheme of the night by Yurcich, coupled with some REALLY dumb DB decisions. Wallace at RT flexes out almost in a Slot position except that he is still on the LOS. Outside of him is KLS, who is ALSO on the LOS. So think of this: I'm an Auburn DB and I see huge #79 flexed out, and he is on the LOS (which I should be able to recognize), INSIDE of the SE to that side, AND wearing an ineligible number!! So what do I do?
Well Auburn's DBs decided to PLAY Wallace as a WR!!! They sent a DB over to play him head up in "Lockdown Man Coverage"!!! They were going to lock down a freakin' Offensive Tackle!!! Another thing that the Auburn Secondary never recognized was that BOTH of the WRs to Clifford's LEFT were OFF the LOS...which makes the end man on that side of the OLine eligible...namely Strange. No one saw that he was there AND eligible!! Again, WTF Guys???
But here's the best part of it all, and it's FUNNY as hell! On the snap watch Wallace step back and throw his hands up as if he is going to be thrown a Hitch Pass. It's a freakin' SCREAM to watch!! And the FUNNIEST thing of all is that the OLB on that side runs TO HIM as if to tackle him when he catches that Hitch. And Cliff never even bothers to pump fake to him!! OMGGGGG it's HILARIOUS stuff.
Meanwhile Strange slips off the LOS untouched and no one is there to cover him. The Free Safety is covering the #3 Receiver inside on PSU's right, which is Lovett. The other Safety and CB are covering Washington and Wilson on Cliff's left. So what was it this time...dumb DBs or poor coaching? I'll go 50-50 for the blame on this one. Even high school DBs can recognize that formation with 2 WRs on the LOS to one side, and the inside man is ineligible...but Auburn never even noticed that the inside man was this hulking 320+ pound OT wearing an ineligible number, #79?
FINALLY, on Cain's TD run at 8:50, notice how PSU shifts Washington over to create that Trips look to the Short Side of the field. With him he brings a FOURTH DB over to that side. Notice where Cain is lined up. When defending many Spread teams the Defense will declare the side OPPOSITE the RB to be the "Strong Side" of the formation, because that is most likely where he will run on an Outside Zone. So as Cain lines up to Cliff's left, Auburn favors the right side of the PSU Offense in their Run Defense setup. They have 4 Run defenders on that side of the Center against only 2 OLinemen, which is fine with Yurcich...and YES he does COUNT those defenders every play.
Now here is the dumb part (poorly coached part) of the play. Watch those PSU Trips receivers break on the snap. They all head to the outside, and they take FOUR Defenders with them...guys that PSU doesn't even have to block now. Meanwhile Walker and Wilson absolutely CAVE that side in, pushing the DT on that side into the MLB.
The MLB is looking for Cain to run to the Defense's LEFT, and that's why he gets caught in the wash there. And Cain shows them the run they expected to PSU's right...for maybe 2 or 3 steps. Then he cuts back to his left and walks into the endzone. Unless I am VERY VERY wrong, this play was never designed to go to PSU's right. It was designed to be executed exactly as it happened...Cain shows the D a few steps in the direction in which they expect the ball to go, then he cuts back to the weak side where 4 DBs are playing Pass Coverage and the other guys are wiped out by Walker and Wilson. It was PLANNED to work as a Cutback, and unless I am wrong Cain did not "read and cut back", he simply followed the footwork that they had practiced which is "Show them Outside Zone to the right and then cut it back."
Coach Yurcich is a brilliant guy, and TOTALLY outcoached the Auburn defensive Staff. This stuff is SO fun to watch!!!
I'll start by saying I truly believe that MY's Gameplan MIGHT have been based on exploiting the dumbness of Auburn's Secondary, or the fact that they were really poorly coached. I lean towards poorly coached.
Start at the 1:58 mark. You see a Wide Stack to the left and also one to the right. Dotson is to the right stacked behind Johnson. There is a Single High Safety in the middle of the field, and Auburn has 5 guys lined up to rush the QB...a clear indication that they are in Cover 1 (Man Coverage with a Free Safety in the Deep Middle). So the 2 DBs on each side of the field have to figure out WHO has the Receiver on the LOS, and who has the WR stacked behind him. The 2 guys on Dotson's side BOTH thought they had Dotson...poor coaching or dumb DBs, take your pick.
Now watch Clifford, you know the QB who always has that "deer in the headlights" look and "happy feet"...THAT Clifford. Cliff takes the snap and immediately looks left, looking off that Deep Middle Free Safety, moving the Safety with his eyes. So that Safety reads Cliff's eyes and starts to move to Cliff's left as Cliff intended. Meanwhile, BOTH DBs on the right want to cover Dotson, and neither of them covers Johnson. WTF Guys????
So Cliff looks back to the right where NO ONE is covering Johnson...AND there is no FS help because Cliff used his eyes to move him already. Bingo...easy pitch and catch. That led to the easy toss on the next play to Dotson for the 1st TD. And FWIW, how in the HELL do you lose one of the best WRs in America as he cruises along the back edge of the endzone?
OK Now go to the 4:55 mark. PSU is in a simple Bunch Formation to the right with Johnson at the inline TE position, Dotson on the outside of the Bunch, and Strange on the inside of the Bunch. Auburn sends FOUR guys over there to handle the situation. But look how confused they are...and this Bunch Formation is SO elementary and has been around for decades.
So of the 4 Defenders positioned there in front of the Bunch, 2 bite on the inside run fake to Cain, one guy rushes Clifford, one guy plays Dotson, and NOBODY plays Strange. Again, pitch and catch, one of the easiest TD passes Cliff has ever thrown. So...dumb DBs? Or poor coaching? I go with poor coaching on this one. Those kids had no idea how to line up or defend a Bunch Formation inside the 5 yardline...that's poor coaching.
Then at the 8:30 mark we have the coolest scheme of the night by Yurcich, coupled with some REALLY dumb DB decisions. Wallace at RT flexes out almost in a Slot position except that he is still on the LOS. Outside of him is KLS, who is ALSO on the LOS. So think of this: I'm an Auburn DB and I see huge #79 flexed out, and he is on the LOS (which I should be able to recognize), INSIDE of the SE to that side, AND wearing an ineligible number!! So what do I do?
Well Auburn's DBs decided to PLAY Wallace as a WR!!! They sent a DB over to play him head up in "Lockdown Man Coverage"!!! They were going to lock down a freakin' Offensive Tackle!!! Another thing that the Auburn Secondary never recognized was that BOTH of the WRs to Clifford's LEFT were OFF the LOS...which makes the end man on that side of the OLine eligible...namely Strange. No one saw that he was there AND eligible!! Again, WTF Guys???
But here's the best part of it all, and it's FUNNY as hell! On the snap watch Wallace step back and throw his hands up as if he is going to be thrown a Hitch Pass. It's a freakin' SCREAM to watch!! And the FUNNIEST thing of all is that the OLB on that side runs TO HIM as if to tackle him when he catches that Hitch. And Cliff never even bothers to pump fake to him!! OMGGGGG it's HILARIOUS stuff.
Meanwhile Strange slips off the LOS untouched and no one is there to cover him. The Free Safety is covering the #3 Receiver inside on PSU's right, which is Lovett. The other Safety and CB are covering Washington and Wilson on Cliff's left. So what was it this time...dumb DBs or poor coaching? I'll go 50-50 for the blame on this one. Even high school DBs can recognize that formation with 2 WRs on the LOS to one side, and the inside man is ineligible...but Auburn never even noticed that the inside man was this hulking 320+ pound OT wearing an ineligible number, #79?
FINALLY, on Cain's TD run at 8:50, notice how PSU shifts Washington over to create that Trips look to the Short Side of the field. With him he brings a FOURTH DB over to that side. Notice where Cain is lined up. When defending many Spread teams the Defense will declare the side OPPOSITE the RB to be the "Strong Side" of the formation, because that is most likely where he will run on an Outside Zone. So as Cain lines up to Cliff's left, Auburn favors the right side of the PSU Offense in their Run Defense setup. They have 4 Run defenders on that side of the Center against only 2 OLinemen, which is fine with Yurcich...and YES he does COUNT those defenders every play.
Now here is the dumb part (poorly coached part) of the play. Watch those PSU Trips receivers break on the snap. They all head to the outside, and they take FOUR Defenders with them...guys that PSU doesn't even have to block now. Meanwhile Walker and Wilson absolutely CAVE that side in, pushing the DT on that side into the MLB.
The MLB is looking for Cain to run to the Defense's LEFT, and that's why he gets caught in the wash there. And Cain shows them the run they expected to PSU's right...for maybe 2 or 3 steps. Then he cuts back to his left and walks into the endzone. Unless I am VERY VERY wrong, this play was never designed to go to PSU's right. It was designed to be executed exactly as it happened...Cain shows the D a few steps in the direction in which they expect the ball to go, then he cuts back to the weak side where 4 DBs are playing Pass Coverage and the other guys are wiped out by Walker and Wilson. It was PLANNED to work as a Cutback, and unless I am wrong Cain did not "read and cut back", he simply followed the footwork that they had practiced which is "Show them Outside Zone to the right and then cut it back."
Coach Yurcich is a brilliant guy, and TOTALLY outcoached the Auburn defensive Staff. This stuff is SO fun to watch!!!
