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Run, Chase, Run
Posted by Gene Claude on October 15th, 2008 under Football
In the pantheon of weak video game tricks, sneaking a peek at your opponent’s controller in Tecmo Bowl was the absolute worst. You only had 4 choices on offense, and if your opponent guessed properly, your shit was blown up with extreme prejudice. The game actually manufactured defenders to sodomize your ball carrier. You couldn’t compete against an ethically challenged opponent with a wandering eye.
Last Saturday, Dave Christensen must have thought Tim Beckman was looking at his controller. On every single Derrick Washington or Jeremy Maclin run, OSU had at least 27 defenders at the point of attack and all offensive linemen were on their backs a half beat after the snap.
Barring OSU’s secret deployment of Matt Walsh, what the hell happened? OSU wisely took advantage of one of the biggest weaknesses of the one back spread offense: Like Tecmo, there are really only two running plays (four, if you count running to the left AND right).
Chase Daniel via Dave Matter:
As for MU’s struggles running the ball with its tailbacks against OSU, Daniel said the Cowboys were consistently answering the counter and zone running plays that MU usually runs so effectively.
Kudos to Christensen for recognizing this weakness and adding variations involving Maclin end arounds before the 2007 season. He’s also messed around with various players taking direct snaps, Rucker, Washington, Maclin. Anyone who can threaten the run. Especially early in 2007, the threat of the Maclin end around opened up running lanes.
But in the end, Missouri struggles to threaten the entire field from the one back set, and fuhgedaboutit from the multitude of no back sets. It got so bad in the 2007 championship game that OU moved Lofton out of the middle and over the slot when Mizzou went empty backfield. Curtis Lofton over the slot is not helpful for the bubble screen. At all.
The frustrating aspect to this is that we have a weapon who can threaten both the middle of the field and the edge, from both no back and one back sets. Consider this drive chart from last year’s Big 12 Championship game
M 1-10 M24 MISSOURI TIGERS drive start at 14:50.
M 1-10 M24 10-Daniel, Chase pass complete to 84-Saunders, Tommy for no gain to the
MU24 (25-Wolfe, D.J.;96-Granger, DeMarc).
M 2-10 M24 10-Daniel, Chase pass incomplete to 82-Rucker, Martin.
M 3-10 M24 10-Daniel, Chase pass complete to 84-Saunders, Tommy for 21 yards to the
MU45, 1ST DOWN MU (5-Harris, Nic).
M 1-10 M45 22-Temple, Tony rush for 3 yards to the MU48 (3-Smith,
Reggie;33-English, Auston).
M 2-7 M48 9-Maclin, Jeremy rush for 8 yards to the OU44, 1ST DOWN MU
(40-Lofton, Curtis).
M 1-10 O44 10-Daniel, Chase rush for 8 yards to the OU36 (16-Baker, Lewis).
M 2-2 O36 22-Temple, Tony rush for 1 yard to the OU35 (3-Smith, Reggie).
M 3-1 O35 10-Daniel, Chase rush for 20 yards to the OU15, 1ST DOWN MU
(11-Holmes, Lendy;25-Wolfe, D.J.).
M 1-10 O15 22-Temple, Tony rush for 3 yards to the OU12 (24-Walker, Marcus).
M 2-7 O12 24-Washington, Der rush for loss of 2 yards to the OU14 (3-Smith,
Reggie;44-Beal, Jeremy).
M 3-9 O14 PENALTY OU pass interference (24-Walker, Marcus) 5 yards to the OU9,
1ST DOWN MU.
M 1-G O09 10-Daniel, Chase rush for 8 yards to the OU1 (11-Holmes, Lendy).
M 2-G O01 1J-Jackson, Jimmy rush for no gain to the OU1 (11-Holmes, Lendy).
M 3-G O01 10-Daniel, Chase rush for no gain to the OU1 (96-Granger,
DeMarc;40-Lofton, Curtis).
M 4-G O01 9W-Wolfert, Jeff field goal attempt from 18 GOOD, clock 09:46.
Chase Daniel rushed for 36 yards on that drive. Each of those 3 rushes were planned quarterback draws.
Understandably, Pinkel and Christensen have been increasingly loathe to expose the meal ticket to Big 12 safeties and linebackers. In 2006, Chase Daniel had 146 carries, last year he was down to 109 and this year he has only had 22 carries, almost none on planned runs. I get it. Chase Daniel’s mighty important. You must save him for a rainy day. Guess what? It’s fucking pouring. Time to let Chase run.
For inspiration, watch THIS at 1:10. Also, check out what Scipio and HenryJames have to say on the game.
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Phenomenal Smith said:
October 16th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I’d like to commission a study on the frequency of injury to running QBs v. more traditional QBs. Is the rate of injury THAT much higher? Seems injuries are more likely when a QB is getting hit while throwing because of the awkward position.
I agree that Mizzou must let Chase exploit the defense – keep it honest – by running those draws. Chase has proven himself to be tough in the running game and able to slide when necessary. He’s no Kirk Farmer, who could run like a gazelle but was constructed of twine, bubble gum, and scotch tape. Chase can take a hit. And then, of course, there’s Brad Smith who ran 20 times a game and never took a direct hit.
steven said:
October 16th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
The problem with a gameplan that relies on Chase “the flea” Daniel running the ball is the way he runs the ball. As with most aspects of his game, he does it well, but there are specific limitations to his abilities that prevent them from being something which you want to hang your hat on.
Chase is surprisng fast. In a straight line, to be honest, he looks faster than Colt…well, at least for the first ten yards or so. But then that’s also where the problems lie. You can exploit the D with Chase running, but not as often as his mobility and speed would suggest. Since he can only run with any effectiveness in a straight line, after a few good gains, the D will quickly adjust and will be waiting to smack him upside his oversized head if he tries to make the same moves again.
The other problem is that Daniel on the move seems to be prone to fumbling (short stubby arms, fleas have trouble holding on to the ball when getting squashed).
Also, Daniel can’t really throw well on the run and the D will probably know this and won’t be indecisive in the way they react when he is on the move. So he will either end up getting smacked into another dimension or he will chunk up one of those INT prone ducks he’s famous for into the secondary.
I agree that running Chase should be a part of game plan, but as surprise or a change up. Using it too much probably is going to be more trouble than it’s worth.
And will you Tiggars up here just stop with it and just roll over and give up. You guys (and not even you, GC) are not going to strategize a victory for your mighty mite Tiggars. Just quit holding the rope and face the reaper. We will beat you all cause we are way better. No if’s, but’s, or maybe’s about it. Last time I checked, chess is a game for Mizzou Tiggar dorks not football. Haven’t you learned that just yet in your dorky life, GC?