Happens all the time with “inferior” opponents. I can think of four examples this year alone in Rutgers, Iowa, Penn St, and Northwestern. They come out in strange formations on offense and defense that our coaches have never seen before. Think of how crucial film study is for your weekly game plan. These slow starts are a direct result of not knowing what the team is throwing at us. There is a case to say we should just be able to win our assignments because of talent disparity, but I like to think that execution is more linked to quick reactions due to preparedness than it is due to recruiting. Talent wins out eventually which is what we have seen with being undefeated to this point, but preparedness can give underdogs a fighting chance. If our guys are confused for the first four series because we have no idea what the defense is doing, doesn’t that cause indecision for our OL, blocking WRs, and RBs? Marvin Harrison can just win a one-on-one matchup with a CB, and Paris Johnson can win a one-on-one matchup with a DE who’s trying to get to Stroud, but the running game takes all 11 guys to play as one for it to succeed.
My theory however is that we are far less likely to see these confusing tactics from TTUN. Or Georgia or anyone else in the playoff for that matter. I can’t remember a time when coaches came back to us and said “TTUN came out in a offensive/defensive alignment we’ve never seen.” I don’t remember them saying that about Alabama, Clemson, TCU, Utah, or USC either for that matter, though I could be wrong. Please let me know if I am.
Point being, I have confidence that Knowles and Day will find the right match ups to ruin TTUN’s day because I highly doubt TTUN will come out and do anything substantially differently than what they have been doing all season.
As far as the run game goes, Day needs to allow Stroud to pull the ball more often which will equalize the numbers in the running game. Can’t run with DEs crashing down all the time. That should alleviate the issues just enough to be competitive. End rant.
