Now that a few teams have played some conference opponents, I get the chance to watch other league teams in action. Last night I watched the UNM/ TCU game, and here are my first thoughts.
Like always, the Horned Frogs have great athletes (just so you know, I only watched the TCU defense). Their defensive guys have good size, but they bank on their speed and ability to get pressure on the quarterback. That is why they do a great job at both stopping the run and messing up the quarterback's rhythm, which causes their opponent's offense to struggle.
Gary Patterson runs that 4-2-5, but it is simply a personal modified 3-4, with the outside linebackers being smaller, quicker, safety-type players instead of a typical outside linebacker.
- B/R Ticket Guide
One thing that I saw that our offense will be able to exploit is their defensive backs' tendency to sit on routes. Because their fronts bring so much pressure, I am sure that their coaches have instructed their corners and safeties to play more squat man. (Squat man is when you wait for the route to break in front of you, so the corners give up very little ground.)
By playing squat man the corners better match the pressure tempo of the front seven, and when the quarterback has to get rid of the ball quickly, the frog corner is ready to leap into action (I know that was very cliché, but it just fits.)
Playing a squat technique can also make your defense very susceptible to long pass plays and big plays—please reference the Oklahoma game.
This game could very well come down to how well our offensive line can pick up their blitzes and Max standing strong in the pocket and finding open receivers.
It is going to be a very tough game.
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about 1 month ago
Thanks for explaining about the corners and squat routes. TCU has always been susceptible to big plays on passes and occassionally around the end. The lesser opponents just haven't executed when they got the chance but not so with the Sooners.
about 1 month ago
TCU has been suseptible to big plays and I think they will need to slow the blitzing down this week in order to win. The one constant is Gary Patterson and I don't think he can sit back and let anyone have time. If his defense isn't getting pressure they must be playing bad.
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