From earlier this week, an article on Joshua Dobbs and the read aspect of the Outside Zone.
This play is a great example of Mike DeBord using formations and personnel to create favorable matchups, putting his players in a great position to succeed. The two tight end set gave the Vols a lead blocker in both directions. Wolf especially deserves credit for his blocking on the edge, leading the way for Dobbs.
The formation dictated that the Tigers would only have one defender in a position to defend Dobbs once the end crashed. This is a very favorable matchup for the Vols’ quarterback. Dobbs took advantage of the opportunities and set a career high for rushing yards in his final game in Neyland Stadium.
Seth, I have really enjoyed your analysis. I would like to hear/read your thoughts on our defensive collapse this year. Thanks.
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Hey Warren. Sorry it took awhile to get back to you.
As for the defense, there’s a variety of issues. It’s hard to know where to start.
Obviously you have the injuries. Quite simply, it’s hard to stop the run when you’re playing defensive ends at defensive tackle. Losing Sutton, Kirkland, and JRM obviously is hard. They’re All-SEC players, and quite obviously neither Sutton or Kirkland is playing at near 100% right now.
But at some point, the backups have to be ready. I mean, when you look at the DBs, Foreman, Moseley, and Martin had all started before at some point. Jumper had started and McDowell played a lot on ST. Safety was the only spot on the back end where you lacked depth with any experience whatsoever. I feel like you have less excuses on the back end than at DT, where you have a 260 lb. guy starting. That’s just not going to work, but that was the situation they faced.
This is more speculation than anything else, but I do wonder how much the coordinator change effected things. The defense wasn’t bad under Jancek, but Shoop has been very successful in the past and Butch decided to make a change. But it’s just an odd situation when you bring in a new DC but keep the same position coaches. So I wonder if that fit might have not been very smooth and that might’ve been why you saw some issues on the field.
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