It's the MSHSAA dead week and I have nothing better to do, so I've spent some time looking at the K-State, Auburn, and Georgia games from a defensive lens. Just going to jot down some thoughts I have after watching the film.
I'm going to divide my thoughts by scheme & by personnel:
Scheme
Schematically, we'll be just fine with Blake Baker at the helm. He does a good job of calculating risks and sends very educated blitzes. One major upgrade I see from Wilks to Baker is that Baker has an identity. There were several times I'd watch Mizzou play defense in 2021 and not have a clue what we called. Some guys played man, some guys played zone, two guys in the same gap, etc. The defense played much better fundamentally in 2022. Baker got LB's to use their hands and leverage ball carriers correctly instead of just sprinting to a direction and ultimately guessing. There was still some very flawed fundamentals as there are in any collegiate defense that isn't Georgia, Alabama, or Iowa, but we cleaned up tremendously in that aspect.
Baker does a good job in his situational identity. I knew what to expect based on where the ball was, who was in the game, time on the clock, etc. This may seem like a bad thing as you don't want to be too predictable. But it's the best compliment you can give a playcaller. Baker does a good job of building a tendency and breaking a tendency. Punch, counter-punch. On base downs, we played a lot of Cover 3 and Cover 1 with 5-man pressures. The closer the offense was to the sticks, the more we were likely to pressure people. On basic 3rd & medium/short, we elected for more Cover 1 with 5-man pressures. On 3rd and long, we ran a lot of what Georgia calls "Odd Mirror 5" and built a whole package off of it with 2-man behind it. If we couldn't stop the run, we got in a 5-2 and played Cover 0. We solved a lot of issues with edge pressure, which makes the opposing OL play slow as they may get DL swiping across their face and it also keeps the LB's clean.
He basically ran a masterclass on the 4-2-5 defense in 2022
Personnel
Will make a play:
- Rakestraw
- KAD
- Robinson
- K. Williams
- Carnell
- Hopper
Can make a play:
- Bailey
- George
- Charleston
- Jernigan
- Landry
- D. Wilson
Absolute liability:
- Carlies
With the 2022 defense, I'd have added Jeffcoat and Manuel to the liability list. Jeffcoat gave Georgia their most explosive runs simply because he didn't know he had to be in the B-gap. Manuel was just lost in space a lot.
Carlies gets a lot of praise on here, but he's probably my least favorite returning starter. Maybe he's a standup guy off the field and works hard in practice, but the dude cannot play slow to save his life. In theory, it sounds good to constantly play 100mph on defense. It is, when you know what you're doing and playing with instincts. Carlies is a good athlete, but not an instinctive football player. He only cut-tackles people and never shoots the arms (I refuse to use the term "wrap up"). He constantly blows his coverage assignments.
Why? The game happens too fast for him, it's as clear as can be on film. We had Georgia in their own territory on a key 2nd and long with just enough time left to mount an offensive drive. We're in Cover 0, Carlies is man-to-man on the RB. They ran student body left, Carlies is the only defender unblocked on the play. What does he do? He never left his stance. I've watched a lot of Jaylon Carlies since he started playing here, this is a common theme with him. He either is too reckless or does nothing. It's a processing thing. He wants to make highlights only, but can't make the easy layup plays. This is why we recruited Sidney Williams, whom I project will slowly bleed reps from Carlies as the season progresses. I hope I'm wrong, but when a guy makes the same mistakes for 3 seasons, it's hard to think things will change.
I'm going to divide my thoughts by scheme & by personnel:
Scheme
Schematically, we'll be just fine with Blake Baker at the helm. He does a good job of calculating risks and sends very educated blitzes. One major upgrade I see from Wilks to Baker is that Baker has an identity. There were several times I'd watch Mizzou play defense in 2021 and not have a clue what we called. Some guys played man, some guys played zone, two guys in the same gap, etc. The defense played much better fundamentally in 2022. Baker got LB's to use their hands and leverage ball carriers correctly instead of just sprinting to a direction and ultimately guessing. There was still some very flawed fundamentals as there are in any collegiate defense that isn't Georgia, Alabama, or Iowa, but we cleaned up tremendously in that aspect.
Baker does a good job in his situational identity. I knew what to expect based on where the ball was, who was in the game, time on the clock, etc. This may seem like a bad thing as you don't want to be too predictable. But it's the best compliment you can give a playcaller. Baker does a good job of building a tendency and breaking a tendency. Punch, counter-punch. On base downs, we played a lot of Cover 3 and Cover 1 with 5-man pressures. The closer the offense was to the sticks, the more we were likely to pressure people. On basic 3rd & medium/short, we elected for more Cover 1 with 5-man pressures. On 3rd and long, we ran a lot of what Georgia calls "Odd Mirror 5" and built a whole package off of it with 2-man behind it. If we couldn't stop the run, we got in a 5-2 and played Cover 0. We solved a lot of issues with edge pressure, which makes the opposing OL play slow as they may get DL swiping across their face and it also keeps the LB's clean.
He basically ran a masterclass on the 4-2-5 defense in 2022
Personnel
Will make a play:
- Rakestraw
- KAD
- Robinson
- K. Williams
- Carnell
- Hopper
Can make a play:
- Bailey
- George
- Charleston
- Jernigan
- Landry
- D. Wilson
Absolute liability:
- Carlies
With the 2022 defense, I'd have added Jeffcoat and Manuel to the liability list. Jeffcoat gave Georgia their most explosive runs simply because he didn't know he had to be in the B-gap. Manuel was just lost in space a lot.
Carlies gets a lot of praise on here, but he's probably my least favorite returning starter. Maybe he's a standup guy off the field and works hard in practice, but the dude cannot play slow to save his life. In theory, it sounds good to constantly play 100mph on defense. It is, when you know what you're doing and playing with instincts. Carlies is a good athlete, but not an instinctive football player. He only cut-tackles people and never shoots the arms (I refuse to use the term "wrap up"). He constantly blows his coverage assignments.
Why? The game happens too fast for him, it's as clear as can be on film. We had Georgia in their own territory on a key 2nd and long with just enough time left to mount an offensive drive. We're in Cover 0, Carlies is man-to-man on the RB. They ran student body left, Carlies is the only defender unblocked on the play. What does he do? He never left his stance. I've watched a lot of Jaylon Carlies since he started playing here, this is a common theme with him. He either is too reckless or does nothing. It's a processing thing. He wants to make highlights only, but can't make the easy layup plays. This is why we recruited Sidney Williams, whom I project will slowly bleed reps from Carlies as the season progresses. I hope I'm wrong, but when a guy makes the same mistakes for 3 seasons, it's hard to think things will change.
