Line Play

[broth87]

A little concerning after Saturday. The 2nd half was the worst our lines have played collectively on both sides of the ball. I thought the first half was solid. Good push in the run game, decent pass pro, and defensively we were stout. Second half, no push in the run game and got handled continuously at the point of attack. Defensively same thing. Not squeezing the zone read lanes properly and just giving yo too much space to create.
I don't like that we moved everyone back on the o line. I know we're supposed to trust the coaches but my eyes saw the running game in the 2nd half against Illinois and against northwestern. That's great that some guys came back from injury but man I liked Whst I saw with Daniels at left guard and Welsh at right tackle. I didn't even notice Daniels in the game Saturday and I just don't think that was the right decision. I thought Boone was good in the first half and struggled in the 2nd. I think we had some things clicking between the backs and the linemen that played against Illinois and northwestern and I don't understand why the need to just change and go back. I hope it gets better this week and we get back to pounding the rock and I look like an idiot bit I believe Daniels needs to be on the field and that we should be seeing Welsh at right tackle.
D line, gotta find a way to create some issue on Hesse's side. He's a good smart player and is rarely if ever out of position and as a coach myself, I love that. But pass rush is a concern and we need to find a way to create between hesse and bazata. Hopefully Meier is good to go by Saturday because I personally think asking with king and beathard, he's our most important player.

 

[His Hawkness]

I agree. That line against NW was awesome and seemed to really gel. Not like Boone is that much better of a pass blocker either.

 

[DudeHawk]

You had to start a whole nother thread about this?

There was a perfectly good one not 6 posts down the board.

Agree that Meier is having a great year, and Daniels started the game on Saturday. Didn't pay much attention to the rotation but he was definitely in on the first drive.

 

[broth87]

Line play is the bread and butter of this team on both sides of the ball. We're 8-0 because of our line play. To get to 12-0, it has to continue to be the strength and we have to continue to punish people up front and dominate the LOS. Don't know of we let up in the 2nd half or were disinterested or what the deal was, but the second half worries me for these last 4 games. No one is a cupcake when you're trying to stay unbeaten this late in a season.
Like I said, I hope we regroup and go out and put 200 rushing yards on Indiana Saturday and make me look like a fool. I'll be the happiest guy around if that happens. But the line groups have to shoulder this and be the bullies for 60 minutes every week. Not 30 minutes or 45 minutes.

 

[DudeHawk]

Line play is the bread and butter of this team on both sides of the ball. We're 8-0 because of our line play. To get to 12-0, it has to continue to be the strength and we have to continue to punish people up front and dominate the LOS. Don't know of we let up in the 2nd half or were disinterested or what the deal was, but the second half worries me for these last 4 games. No one is a cupcake when you're trying to stay unbeaten this late in a season.
Like I said, I hope we regroup and go out and put 200 rushing yards on Indiana Saturday and make me look like a fool. I'll be the happiest guy around if that happens. But the line groups have to shoulder this and be the bullies for 60 minutes every week. Not 30 minutes or 45 minutes.

Playcalling and execution in the pass game are also a factor. If they're content to run the same basic crap into a loaded box all game long, the rushing numbers won't be pretty. See last season for Exhibit A.

 

[SLarew]

A little concerning after Saturday. The 2nd half was the worst our lines have played collectively on both sides of the ball. I thought the first half was solid. Good push in the run game, decent pass pro, and defensively we were stout. Second half, no push in the run game and got handled continuously at the point of attack. Defensively same thing. Not squeezing the zone read lanes properly and just giving yo too much space to create.
I don't like that we moved everyone back on the o line. I know we're supposed to trust the coaches but my eyes saw the running game in the 2nd half against Illinois and against northwestern. That's great that some guys came back from injury but man I liked Whst I saw with Daniels at left guard and Welsh at right tackle. I didn't even notice Daniels in the game Saturday and I just don't think that was the right decision. I thought Boone was good in the first half and struggled in the 2nd. I think we had some things clicking between the backs and the linemen that played against Illinois and northwestern and I don't understand why the need to just change and go back. I hope it gets better this week and we get back to pounding the rock and I look like an idiot bit I believe Daniels needs to be on the field and that we should be seeing Welsh at right tackle.
D line, gotta find a way to create some issue on Hesse's side. He's a good smart player and is rarely if ever out of position and as a coach myself, I love that. But pass rush is a concern and we need to find a way to create between hesse and bazata. Hopefully Meier is good to go by Saturday because I personally think asking with king and beathard, he's our most important player.

So as a coach, you wouldn't play one of your top OTs after he comes back from injury?? Welsh is better at LG than RT. Not sure why Daniels didn't play as much as he has.

All the OL are better at run blocking than pass blocking. I think second half was effort to protect CJ somewhat with emphasis on run. MD adjusted and their DL played well. Give them some credit too.

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

All the OL are better at run blocking than pass blocking.

Bingo. This is my big takeaway so far. I'm not sure if we can coach them up more, but I do know that by running play-action, screens, dump passes and direct snaps, we can make them more hesitant to blitz.

 

[bravehawks1]

Bingo. This is my big takeaway so far. I'm not sure if we can coach them up more, but I do know that by running play-action, screens, dump passes and direct snaps, we can make them more hesitant to blitz.

Those are all good options. Would like to see us run from the 3 wide set with single back. If the defense does not want to honor this formation and load the box, then a quick out route for 6-7 yards is fine by me. This is where a healthy Duzey might help too as he seems to separate better than some of our WR. Also, have seen very little of the Vande berg connection that worked pretty well when Smith was out.

 

[David1979]

Watching the game for the second time. In the second half the offense was just sloppy. When they executed in the second half they still got yards running into a loaded box. But there were several plays where guys missed blocks that led to the RBs being tackled in the backfield or for no gain. There were also penalties by the line, missed pass blocks that led to sacks. On a few occasions Beathard just didn't go through his reads or he would have seen the TE coming across the middle for a chance at a first down but he was looking down field the whole time until it was too late. There was another time he missed Hillyer for the first down. But after they got up 31-14 the offense just shut it down and simply ran every play and the defense did a great job shutting down the Terps for the last 7 minutes or so. Maryland really only had one good drive which is the one that ended in the INT. Their TD drive was a gift from Iowa.