Ideally, the Stud end will be 2 yards deep into the backfield. Virginia Tech Hokies football, basketball, athletics blog and forum featuring: unique columns, breaking news, film studies, in-depth analysis, recruiting, videos and jokes. He was on a roll at the start of last season and his recovery is going really well. Most of the comments were centered on the adjustments to the Whip and Rover positions, so I wanted to revisit that and clarify some points in those areas. Some teams run a 2 gap scheme (which is much more difficult to get players for.) In terms of positions, the Stud, Whip, Mike, Field Corner and Free Safety always align toward the wide side of the field. The defense was predicated on putting 8 men in the box, and bringing a wide variety of unique blitzes to confuse and outman the offensive line, while in the secondary attempting to hide coverages and trick the defense into throwing into their quick blitz read, where a Hokie defensive back sat waiting to take the ball the other way. Hell Charley Wiles even stated that one thing he was challenging Antoine Hopkins on last August was making plays out of his alignment, i.e. Likewise, by no longer asking the Rover to man up against speedy slot receivers to the wide side of the field allows linebacker / safety type athletes like Aaron Rouse to be successful at that position. The "nickel" linebackers have almost no pass defense responsibility, and instead are used in a variety of blitz packages designed to outman the offensive line and force the quarterback to make quick throws, where the designed hidden coverages in the secondary await to pick off the pass. Anytime you see the mike backer dropping back, it is change up defense hoping the QB throws to a spot without seeing the mike. The idea is the front 6 align based on front alignment rules. Because of the gap fit responsibility, a tremendous amount of pressure exists for the whip and the safeties to be sure tacklers anytime the ball carrier penetrates the line. Next Up: All of those confusing pass coverages. (Please note, the Hokies may use letters or other terminology to identify each gap.). I have no expectations that Antoine will start this year coming off that injury coupled with his history of not being as hard a worker. If they can get Brown and Hand, I think Foster will figure out a way to take their skills and make it work, but I can GUARENTEE you, every recruiter that visits Brown and Hand will tell them that there has not been a Hokie defensive lineman since Foster was hired that has been a productive multi-year NFL starter. The Hokies used a base 8-man front the majority of the time. From the coaches in the booth, to the coaches on the sideline, to the players on the field, to the pre-snap adjustments; that is a lot of communication and it is pretty much non-stop in those 20-30 seconds between each play. Does the defensive scheme lend itself to this or did we have weaknesses in key positions? Stopping the run is one of the basic tenants of the defensive scheme. Youll see how they get away with that in coverage later. The Chargers' defense ranked last in third-down conversion percentage (49.54%), 30th in rushing yards allowed per game (138.9), 30th in points allowed per game (27.0) and 23rd in yards allowed . He's had only two top-10 defenses this decade, but the Hokies are never weak on his side of the ball . During a career that spanned over 3 decades Bud orchestrated some of the most physical and staunches defenses in the country. Join the community. With two CBs outside you basically have 6 ways it can work without changing the call. Its a bit like a Tampa 2 defense, where the MLB drops back deeper in zone over the middle with 2 safeties behind, except that here youre dropping the FS down instead of backing up the MLB. Period. The defensive calls will be different on 2nd and three versus 3rd and nine. That gives up some of the flat zone coverage, so watch for more WR screens this week if they show us C4. The formation is twins wide, so the passing strength is heavy to the wide side of the field. In a traditional one gap 4-3 defense, each player in the front seven has the gap in front of them with few exceptions, with examples being a variety of stunts and run blitzes that are run in small proportion to the base calls. How will VT defend against teams like Stanford and other NFL caliber offenses? If you play C2R, and the opposition sends the outside WRs deep, the CB must go with him, which takes away the deep help for everyone on one side of the defense, so that it basically ends up M2M. Body positioning, angle of alignment, depth of alignment, how to come off the snap (use of hands, proper footwork, etc), reading each individual key, reacting properly to those keys, proper pursuit angle, tackling technique.that is just a short list of things that the players must focus on correctly as a unit for the defense to be successful on any given play. They made popular the "G" front and took the 1985 Bears 46 defensive front as a compliment, which Tech would call the "Tuff" package. Lets go through the sequence that takes place in the 20-30 seconds between the end of one play and the next snap. He's as genuine as they come. In the big games where we got burnt it was the opposing QB's abilities that made the difference. Access Exclusive Content and Financially Support The Key Play. Down and distance is fairly obvious. The Rover was a strong side outside linebacker in the 8-man front that would slide out as an additional corner / defensive back against 3-4 wide receiver formations. In combination, these adjustments resulted in more big plays against the Tech defense, both in the running game as well as the passing game. Note: This is the second installment of a three part series about Virginia Techs nationally renowned defense. A London Fletcher or Brian Urlacher type linebacker would not be a good fit for the Hokies. So something else broke down that lead to Clemson being able to run the ball like they did in the second half. http://hamptonroads.com/2012/06/ask-another-teams-beat-writer-clemson. Field G front. a !1AQa"q2B#$Rb34rC%Scs5&DTdEt6UeuF'Vfv7GWgw(8HXhx )9IYiy Drawing on the scheme's nickel roots gives 4-2-5 teams the ability to run a divorced front concept. I broke the 4th wall of telestration. (Dave Knachel/Virginia Tech athletics) Article It's a season of transition. Going into last season, there was legitimate concern about Brenden Hill playing a position that had become more defined as a linebacker, but he proved that a player of his physical abilities could be productive as a Whip as well if he handled his assignments correctly. Coles scored on that long TD. While he misses the tackle, he allows enough time for the other players to secure their gap and then pursue to tackle the UVA tailback for a marginal gain. When Fuller took over whip, it seemed like that balance flipped, with the Whip finishing on more blitzes and the Mike not filling up the pass-rush stat column as much. That would have been tough duty for a guy like Rouse, who was much better suited for the current responsibilities assigned to the Rover (1) back as a deep safety to the boundary side or (2) up at the line of scrimmage as an outside linebacker playing boundary run containment or picking up a tight end in man coverage. The first number reflects the number of running backs and the second number reflects the number of tight ends. I think they were 6'2 or so and 270-280 lbs. And with JGW on the edge, he had to be. I will touch on this more when I write my column on the secondary play, but I think because Hokies safeties have been victimized in man coverage so much, that Foster is looking at his safeties having less run support responsibility and being better at coverage, hence the change of putting converted corners at safety. Otherwise (because the linebackers don't immediately scrape and pursue to the ball) there will be large holes and tremendous pressure on safeties to make the tackle. What does that mean? In these cases why couldn't we stop the run? "#()%$%%! The transition from James Anderson to Brenden Hill without skipping a beat showed two things (1) the coaches know how to put different type players in a position to succeed and (2) while better defined to defend against todays offensive systems, the Whip still is a hybrid position. pdf yrs ago. Next week will take film from the Clemson game and demonstrate exactly how the Hokies have to maintain a delicate balance between aggressive pursuit and gap responsibility in order to be effective. The DEs aligned much like they do today with the Stud always to the wide side and the End always to the boundary. Based on what you said, don't the DL's all "tie" up the lines in both Bud scheme and the traditional pro-scheme? They tie up the center and both guards, allowing the middle linebacker to go unblocked sideline to sideline. HWC? In addition to these types of coverage adjustments, there may be front and pressure adjustments made by the defense as well. 1) I have seen a ton of schemes and I can't remember one that repeatedly asks the defensive tackles to stunt across multiple gaps and still maintain gap fits. A terrific example (which of course I cannot find a good video of) is the 2010 interception of Stephen Morris by Jayron Hosley against Miami. "-John Blutarsky. A "Bear" front covers both OGs and the Center, making it an Odd front. The middle backers have very little pass coverage responsibility, and spend significant time taking on blocks on the interior of a play. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. BLACKSBURG, Va. Even in retirement, Bud Foster casts a long shadow over the Virginia Tech football program. I am not sure where Antoine fits, but I find it hard to believe he will beat out Maddy with Maddy's excellent spring. The other two LBs, MIKE and "Backer" play zones over the middle like any other Cover 2 zone. Most college teams are not that good, but if the Hokies want to win a NC we will have to face that caliber of offense. Most teams change alignments and will stunt occasionally, but nobody trys so much to funnel types of running plays to linebackers. Was a great move on moving the rover back in alignment based on the offenses being seen but thought the Rover always lined up on the strong side away from the Whip but your diagram indicates them lined on the same side. From this base set, the Hokies can play any number of man and zone coverages while still getting to an 8-man front on any play by rotating the Rover up closer to the line of scrimmage just prior to the snap. I love the white helmet with the stripe and white facemask. And you can quote me on that shit!" Behind the defense, the Hokies secondary plays a basic robber coverage on this play. Not sure Tahj Boyd's skills are of the same caliber but he took advantage of us as well. The offense uses those techniques to get a better read on what the defense may be doing. Also, stud 6'6 265 DE's who want to play in the NFL, not tie up linemen so linebackers make plays. "My advice to you is to start drinking heavily. * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). Game situation includes things like score, wind / weather conditions and time remaining on the clock. Backers and Mikes must be adept at timing blitzes and taking on blocks. The helmets they're wearing are still my favorite VT helmets. This site utilizes responsive web design, which renders the site properly on all platforms (PC, tablet, mobile). In the 4-3-4 base set, the Rover aligns as a defensive back, specifically as one of the two safeties. All original material and images are copyrighted by TechSideline.com and may not be reused or reprinted without permission. Shop fresh Hokies gear at TKP sponsor Homefield. The Whip blitzes hard from the 7 gap to fly through the 5 gap space. Guys like Acree don't fit, and I do not think for a second that the "four defensive end" alignment that we heard about in the spring will be used at any time other than on passing down and distance plays.Guys like Zach McCray and JR Collins, while big enough to play DT in a pinch, are too long to really be effective on those interior stunts (that is one of the reasons that Nick Acree was never a favorite of Charley Wiles.). Now, he will get a jump start at Ohio State, where he will always have a talent advantage over the best Big Ten schools. If your slot recognizes it and runs a slant, the FS has to hustle to get there and take that away. He started 79 games over an 8 year career. He must maintain gap control on the 6 gap and not allow the running back to get outside his outside shoulder. Hosley was excellent enough to execute the design up there with the very best ball hawk the Hokies have had. Where and how they play, and personnel types preferred, are highly scheme dependent. Often, a zone play to the right (which on a Madden diagram looks like it would go to the 6 gap) will actually cut back almost over the center. The 60-year-old Foster, who has been with the Hokies since 1987 and has served as defensive coordinator since 1995, is currently the longest-tenured assistant coach in the FBS. What VT plays most against pro-style teams is Inverted Cover 2 Robber, but the deep cover guys are the Cornerbacks, not the safeties. If those guys don't need much safety help, then the corners can take chances, bait QB's and mix in robber coverages to get turnovers. It was a very clever scheme because it could be adjusted to a pass oriented defense by slipping the two outside linebackers (the Whip and Rover) into coverage as defensive backs. If you compare how offensive schemes don't really hurt a recruits ability to make it to the NFL, why should a defensive scheme hurt us too? Oh well. The Rover aligns to the passing strength pre-snap, so hell adjust to the slot WRs most of the time. In the old 4-4, the rover was always opposite to the whip. Neither would a Pat Williams type DT. As covered in Part 1, the Tech defense aligns based on ball position relative to the hash marks. What may not be as obvious is that football is equally challenging mentally. The end result of this 1st quarter play against UVA features Tyrell Wilson preventing the back from getting to the edge, the nose and tackle slant and fill their gaps, and Jack Tyler flies in on the blitz to make the play. Bud, a divorcee, married Jessie in February on Super Bowl Sunday, about four months after the hospital scare and around the time discussion began about him retiring. I think we played less aggressive which led to Clemson eventually winning. They just dont have the special players they used to get at those hybrid spots and DE, which they always used to have. Yeah Hosley getting knocked out screwed the rest of the defense off. Likewise, the End, Backer, Boundary Corner, and Rover always align toward the short side of the field. The Backer disguises, looking like he is scraping play-side, but in reality, he is filling the interior of the 6 gap. Playing in a college system that emphasizes skillset diversity is actually a good thing. Love the in-depth analysis. Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who announced Thursday he would be retiring at the end of this his 33rd season, is the longest continually tenured assistant at the same school in . Bare minimum is the stalemate. If you have any questions, I will be sure to answer to answer them in the comments. In fact, since he arrived in Blacksburg in 1995, the Hokies have led all FBS programs in sacks (894) and sack yardage (-6,110). A student manager then uses the sign board to communicate the personnel group to the players on the field. His initial spot is 3x5 off the TE, reading the #2 receiver. Registering for an account is free and easy. The same thing happens for Mike and Whip. When the 8th man entered the box, the passing game opened up. As mentioned earlier, that led to man-to-man match-ups of a linebacker or Rover against that third and fourth wide receiver. How does pressure relate to coverage? Hokie defensive linemen are required to have a unique ability to sometimes cover gaps that are far from where they line up, while maintaining leverage in order to prevent being knocked backwards by an offensive lineman. I think they use the same DE rotation as last year, with Wilson and McCray playing every 4th series and Marshall getting some snaps at tackle and end. From all of us at The Key Play, get off the bench and in the game. So, I don't think having our DL being smallish gives us a good advantage to counter the GT offense (a la moving our DE in as a DT and then replacing the DE with T. Wilson), since Miami has prototypical NFL DT's and absolutely mauled them at the LOS. Former Federal Fugitive Pleads Guilty in California to Massive Fraud and Identity Theft Scheme in Connection with Nationwide Foreclosure Scam Defendant Collected More Than $1.2 Million from More Than 800 Distressed Homeowners . Several things are known at the end of the first play game situation, down and distance and ball position. pretty cool to look back on it from time to time. I'm pretty sure, if VT could land Hand or Brown, Foster would develop them into 1st Rd D-linemen, even in a gap fitting scheme. What about that sign board with numbers like 21 or 11? This post gave me a good chuckle. The players also aligned differently. The opinions of the author(s) on this site are independent and no way reflect the opinions of the Virginia Tech administrators, coaches, staff, or athletes. Hopefully he has a breakthrough year. Also, because of the rather shorter depth of the Safeties, you can attack their run reads directly with a vertical route directly at them, like a Post or Go route up the seam. So opposing coaches will tell a kid he'll have a better shot of making it to the NFL if he plays in a "NFL-style" 4-3. Bud Foster called this scheme his "attack defense" but the base alignments were 8 man front's following the model of the famed Buddy Ryan 46 defense used by the Bears and Eagles in the 80's. H332U(W5RR-T56 )onl ${* Depending on the formation, Rover can pick up the #1 receiver short and the FS comes down on the slot, with the CB still in deep half-field coverage behind.Whip aligns himself several ways, so you need a good football player here. Note that with no receivers split to the boundary, the Rover will rotate up to the line of scrimmage and align as a linebacker on the boundary side. Damn that's a turning point in both Clemson and VTs program recently. Seems there were a lot of big plays in that game and during the year. This "Field G" is mostly what Virginia Tech is in nowadays. The free safety is responsible for coverage adjustments and making sure that everyone is lined up properly. OT: "The Mandalorian" S3 discussion thread (feat. It will be a 4-3. http://www.orangeandwhite.com/news/2012/jan/21/swinney-hired-venables-br. One thing that the Hokies will have to do is be able to beat their press coverage on our receivers like what happened when D.J. Stanford also used formation to create matchup problems. So, it's not surprising that the man's personality matches his philosophy when it comes to dual reads in offensive football. Instead, Collins played read and react football and was driven off the ball often, which is to be expected when he is doubled and cut block all night. Meanwhile, Dwayne Allen would come BEHIND the line against the grain of the play and pop out the weak side. Even more bedeviling to teams that use pro-style running games, Foster uses a huge variety of stunts, hard slants, and linebacker blitzes to "funnel" the ball carrier right into an unblocked defensive player. Remember that what I am describing in this series is at the 5,000 foot level. To counter these offensive trends, Bud Foster made some adjustments to the base defense after the 2003 season. In basic terms, normal defenses feature corners playing man with safeties deep to help. This column was more about the run defense, so I can work on drawing up some plays and video that shows how Clemson neutralized the Hokies in a future piece. I love that article. The Whip and Free Safety were more weak side players, so they would usually align to the weak side of the formation. He has held the job since 1996, and he came to . pretty heavy on stunts and exchanges between the DL and LBs, Clemson Basketball Travels to NC State with Last Hope of NCAA Berth on the Line, Clemson Softball roars to fast start and high rankings. If the blitz didnt get to the QB quickly, then the defense was at risk for a big play. The "G" front is the base front, but here I have not adjusted to the formation. The movement ideally allows three Hokies to be unblocked, versus depending on the physical ability of the defensive line to beat each of their blocks at the point of attack. This plays out when you examine the Hokies players in the NFL. Seems to me it would be a waste of time unless they are going to use him at DE. They are looking at the QB and reading his actions without letting the #1 outside WR get past. Engleberger wasn't a bust. A lot can still happen from that base pre-snap state, including shifts, motion, and checks/audibles by the offense. 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