SDSU’s Offensive Scouting Report

Photo by Mark Philbrick/BYU

With the SDSU offense there are a few things that concern me and a few things give me a lot of hope. Let’s start with what concerns me. They have enough athletic ability to take a simple run or pass play and break it loose for a big gain. They also use the spread formation a lot because they have the speed and ability at the WR position.

Know that the bad news is out of the way here is the good news. Their offensive play calling always comes back to some simple concepts and plays. Their offense starts with the ride play -not the ride option, simply handing the ball off to the running back and letting him work. After that SDSU uses their speed and agility on the edges and they will run a lot of WR screens/bubble screens. They’ll throw the ball to the slot receiver and someone in the secondary has to make a play to get their team out of a series.

Last but not least, San Diego’s offense uses some simple route combination’s, which make it easy on their young, inexperienced quarterbacks to make reads and throws. SDSU runs a lot -and I do mean a lot- of curls, hitches, outs and streaks. All of their passing plays make it extremely easy for the quarterback to make the read and throw the ball. The Aztec quarterback basically isn’t forced to make any crucial decisions with the ball in his hands.

Lets look at some key players for the San Diego offense.

Running Backs

#6 Atiyyah Henderson is their best play maker and if he gets running lanes it could be a long day for our defense. Because SDSU spreads defenses out and uses zone blocking schemes it gives the running back a lot of freedom to pick lanes and holes. Henderson has great speed and also understands situations. If he needs two yards he’ll stick his nose in there for the yardage. If he thinks he can bounce around and make a play he will. Where he struggles is in pass blocking, let’s just say he is like a swinging gate everyone gets in.

#32 Tyler Campbell is their bruiser and pass blocking back. He’ll come in to get the tough yards up the middle.

One thing our linebackers can do to neutralize Henderson’s speed is to pay attention to his alignment. He sometimes gives the play away simply because he lines up shallower or deeper. It’s a small detail, but it could give you an extra step when plugging your gap.

Wide Receiver

Don’t believe everything that the stats are telling you. These guys can play if you don’t let them know how physical you will be throughout the game. Their offense depends on these guys catching the ball in space and making a corner or safety miss a tackle. Of the bunch #80 Vincent Brown is their go to guy. He’s one of the youngest receivers and possesses some raw talent. I just hope our pursuit is great this game because he will make a couple of guys miss. I hope our DB’s can bottle him up enough to let the calvary get their shots in before he ducks out of bounds.

After Brown their other favorite targets would be #1 DeMarco Sampson -who should remember me because I smoked him on a curl route last time he was in Provo. He has good speed and decent hands, but a tendency to be lazy if he is not the primary receiver.

#4 is somewhat of a wild card. Darren Mougey he was their back-up quarterback that switched to WR and he presents a difficult match-up in the slot position. He is 6′6” and goes 230 lbs. with good feet and decent speed. I just hope our DB’s are aware of the fact that he was a quarterback and if you see a reverse coming in his direction, it will most likely be a reverse pass.

In all honesty, when you look at these guys on paper you think WOW we will be in for a long day. The fact is these guys drop easy balls, and their quarterbacks aren’t that good so they don’t get the chances that less talented receivers at other schools receive.

Quarterback

#14 Ryan Lindley and #9 Drew Westling have both taken snaps and started games but neither has taken the reins of the team. Until one of these two players steps up the offense will continue to struggle. Westling is the most experienced as a JR, but having been a back-up his whole career shows when he has to make tough throws.

Lindley seems to be the guy of the future. He makes the easy throws and doesn’t take a lot of chances. Both quarterbacks struggle with pressure and both don’t throw the long ball very well. With these guys behind center I think we will be alright.

Offensive line.

There line is OK. They aren’t particularly physical, but they have done just enough to win one game…if you catch my drift.

SDSU’s offense boils down to their ability to run the ball and get the skill players in open space against corners and safeties. They throw quick throws, which limits the need for a great offensive line and in the running game all they need to do is get in a defenders face, just long enough for the RB to get through the hole. It’s not an scary offense to play against as long as guys are doing what they are supposed to do -simple right?

Keys to the game:

We need to play very smart at the inside linebacker and defensive end positions. A lot of the time the running back is depending on these players to over pursue or hesitate so he can exploit a seam. If the Cougar defense plays low and hard they should stop the running game and force SDSU to do other things.

Tackling will play a very important role this week. They use the spread 90% of the time, which means there are going to be plenty of open field tackles. Please breakdown, wrap-up and most importantly keep your eyes open.

Get some turnovers. Third down stops will also be nice, but we need some emotion from the defense and an interception would be great. I am thinking either Andrew Rich or David Tafuna.

Everyone needs to be running like wild animals to the ball. Playing hard is something that BYU has hung their hat on for the past 4 years. Let’s not take a week off. Yes, this team hasn’t won a league game in a while, but I can imagine they would love to steal one away from BYU. Let’s not make this a BYU vs SDSU shootout.