Five Plays: Nc State Second Quarter

Louisville got things going on offense in the second quarter as the defense continued to give up big plays and chunk plays in the passing game. I clipped some plays and gave my personal insight on what happened on each play.

We now resume our regularly scheduled programming of a blown coverage by Louisville’s secondary. I’m not in the huddle or at practice, so I can’t ever say for sure what the defensive call is, but it looks like every defensive player on this play is in man coverage, except Tayon Holloway. He ends up not really covering anyone on the play.

It is possible that this is some sort of zone coverage, as TJ Banks looks like he’s in man coverage, but he ends up trying to get to this ball. I don’t think that’s the case, because this is an all-out blitz with no player immediately going to the middle of the field, which you would expect if they are in zone.

I believe what happens here is Kaleb Beasley and Holloway don’t communicate, and they end up taking the same guy on the switch release, which leaves the outside receiver wide open. What should happen in this situation is that the players should call out who has outside and who has inside. In my opinion, Beasley should be taking the outside receiver after the receivers switch, because Holloway would have to go around or through him to get to the receiver if not.

There is nothing worse than short-side speed option, but it works well when the quarterback audibles to it. Lincoln Kienholz stepped back before this play and decided to make a change, and it worked out really well because he saw a numbers advantage. The Cards have two blockers for three defenders, so making one of those defenders the option man leaves either Kienholz or Isaac Brown free on this play.

This was also the moment that I got excited about the possibility of this game going their way. This kid was supposed to miss a couple of games, and instead he was out there calling an option run on his own. He’s easy to root for.

The Kienholz-to-Lawayn McCoy connection took a week off, but they were back on track in this game. They truly do seem to have a unique ability to be on the same page on these downfield throws. This play is designed for McCoy to be outside towards the sideline, but the cornerback keeps outside leverage. McCoy takes it inside so that he can continue his route and not disrupt the timing, but there is also a safety deep on this play.

Kienholz has to deliver this ball to the original destination because of the safety, so he just throws it to the pylon because he trusts that McCoy will immediately work back outside once he gets a step on the corner. McCoy uses a very quick swim move after his double move, and then he sprints to the pylon to get back on track for this throw. The ball is perfect, and the Cards get right back into the game.

I clipped this play because I thought it was a blown coverage. I’m pretty sure it’s just a bad call or a call that ended up being bad because of the motion from the offense. It looks like Tayon Holloway is following the outside receiver on this play as he goes inside. In reality, he is bailing into a two-deep zone. He goes into a backpedal right before the ball is thrown here.

If there is no motion on this play, there is no issue. But the tight end motions to the outside and there is no one there to cover him. I honestly don’t know if someone should be shifting to the outside on this play or if the call changes in some way when there is motion, but I don’t know of any zone call where there is not a player to carry an outside receiver down the field.

Maurice Davis is wearing 97 for a reason. A defensive end is not going to be responsible for covering down the field on this play. It’s happened a lot this season, but I’m at a bit of a loss as to what was supposed to happen on this play.

Kienholz has one glaring area where he needs to improve, and that is seeing pressure pre-snap. He didn’t see a blitz against Wake Forest last week, and he didn’t see this one either. This blitz is designed to confuse the offensive line because there are too many players for them to pick up. Some of these guys are going to drop into coverage, but good luck trying to figure out who.

State ends up rushing four guys, and Eryx Daughtery and Johnnie Brown end up blocking air. I make it a point to not get bent out of shape when the other team just wins the play, but Kienholz has to get the ball out of his hands here and hit Jaleel Skinner in the flat. Let the guys around you be athletes. Skinner is likely getting stopped short on this play, but he could make a play in a one-on-one situation in space. Kienholz sees this blitz coming down the chute after seeing the pressure look before the snap, and he just tries to do too much on his own.