Pretend you are BD; what is your offensive game plan | The Boneyard

Pretend you are BD; what is your offensive game plan

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Not what you want, but based on his quotes and what happened last year, how do you game plan Nova?

My take -
Turnovers killed Uconn almost every game last year. Bad/wrong throws, fumbles. Put Uconn in hole early many times and cost them a winnable games (without rehashing them in detail). Other teams had big plays against the D last year sometimes because they were on the field a long time and were tired. You have a new OC. You have stated that this will be a run oriented team.

Game Plan - You win by limiting turnovers, keeping your D fresh and letting your D play like they can.

You run the ball. You run a lot. Trust your #1 and #2 backs to perform behind a double tight end, road grading running plan. Keep the blocking scheme simple and straightforward. Make all tackles happen at the second level. All positive yards are a good play. Any run over 4 yards is a great play. Run out of multiple heavy formations and occasionally out of shotgun with 4 wide. Pay no attention to the boo's because everyone in the stadium knows what is coming. Don't worry about the other D having 8 in the box. Run the fullback. Use shovel passes. Grind out the yards and the time.

You do need to throw to keep the D honest. The instructions to your QB are simple. If #1 and #2 are covered, throw the ball away. Quick reads. Ball needs to be out of your hands within 3 seconds. Do not force a throw. A ball thrown away is better than a turnover. Take 2 down field shots on go routes when there is single coverage. Read 2 deep or safety over the top, check to a run play. Never check to a pass play. Play action only out of the shotgun because you will have multiple running plays form shotgun. 8 to 10 pass attempts total in the game.

Trust the plan to limit turnovers and win TOP. Have at least 9 plays before you either score or punt. Anything less than six plays before a punt is unacceptable. Win field position. Use your size advantage over theirs. Keep their best weapon on the bench.
 

Dooley

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Funny because I have actually given this some thought in the last few weeks. For me, my gameplan would include getting back to UConn's roots: power running. I want our OL to be physical and intimidating from the first quarter of the season. I would probably line up a dozen straight running plays and tell the Hog Mollies up front "punish anything with a V on its head". I'd want to establish our OL as a physical force and let them show me what they can do. Just good ol' fashioned hat on hat power football and get the rock in the hands of our two best players on offense: RonJon and Newsome.

My hope would be that by opening the game/season this way, it would communicate to the OL that I have faith in them and that I want them to play physical. I want to get those 1 or 2 yards on 3rd or 4th down and I want my OL to get some pride in their ability to get it for me.

We don't have the personnel (that I know of) to immediately dive right into a high-octane offense like Oregon, BYU, or Baylor. So until I could recruit some more offensive weapons better suited for that style of football, I would subscribe to the good ol' tried and true "pound on the ground" approach. Loosen up those smaller defenses deployed to stop high-octane offenses and then take my deep shots when I see some of their DL and LBs sucking wind.

Running game. Time of Possession. Physical Intimidation. Timely Deep Shots.
 
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Nova will be expecting a heavy dose of pounding the rock.

We should oblige them. However, I would recommend using that dual-knowledge wisely, play-action rollouts on early downs to both get Shirreffs into the flow early and provide him with the opportunity to make positive plays with either his feet or his arm. Those are easy completions most often, and will contribute to loosening the front for our larger objective, which is absolutely mauling their front 7.

Seriously though, we need to unleash the big dogs up front and Johnson/Arkeel. We need an identity. Pass-Blocking is a passive action. We need to make clear to our OLine that we are going to let them pound on some people and take ownership of that role. It will benefit us in this game, but more generally will allow for clear roles/expectations for the rest of the year.
 
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No scripts. Start simple and get our QB involved with run/pass options. You like Thomas then get him isolated 5-10 yard downfield. When tbey bite send Bloom straight upfield hit the seam for easy pickings.
 

CTMike

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This isn't anything earth shattering, but when BD was hired, he made reference to knowing what offensive approaches got under his skin as a DC. So :

What can we do well?
What is Nova's defensive weakness?

Find where those two meet, and attack.
 

Husky25

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Go fast and win.
 

Bonehead

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run the option - impossible to scout and practice for...
 

uconnphil2016

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On the very first play of the game, I'm not going deep/play action fly route. That's tantalizing, but this is what will work and set the tone--give the ball to Ron Johnson up the gut, have our guard and tackle maul their line at the LOS and tell Ron Johnson to specifically seek out Don Cherry (All-American LB) and punch him straight in 'n mouth. Even if Johnson only gains 3 or 4 yards on the carry, if he can manage to knock Cherry on his rear end it will send a very specific message to Nova--we're bigger, stronger and tougher than your best player on the field, and we're going to run the ball down your throat until you prove that you're tough enough to stop us. Mix that in with some quick passing plays, a couple play action shots downfield and I think you have a simple, yet solid gameplan. All of this enables us to control TOP and keep Villanova's best asset, their QB, off the field. If we can control the ball and clock on offense we will win this game. If we go 3 and out and turn the ball over and Robertson escapes when the pocket collapses and is successful in running with the ball, we're screwed. Fortunately, I think our d-line is big enough and their o-line is inexperienced enough that we'll keep Robertson in check. Let's eat 'em for dinner on Thursday night.
 
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run the option - impossible to scout and practice for...

You need a solid O-line to run the option. Lots of guard pulling and down blocking. Simply put we don't have the skill for that.

Not to mention Newsome is already fumble prone enough, putting him in an option system is just playing with fire.
 
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We cannot turn the ball over. If everything we've heard about better S&C is true, we can win this game on each line of scrimmage by wearing these guys down. Run and play action. Make your field goals. Pend and don't break on defense with no big plays.

It ain't sexy, but that's how UCONN wins this game.
 
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My first play is a fly to Thomas, then I let Johnson pound it in for 2. After that it's Newsome in the slot on play actions, punish them with Johnson, QB designed roll-outs with 1 or 2 QB draws, liberal use of wide outs and give Mizzou something to think about.
 
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I expect to see some decoys deployed in and around the goal line. Split McLean/Battle out wide 1-1 and let them serve as a distraction.
 
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I understand everyone thinking we should just line up and pound the ball. My issue is simply.......what in the offensive line play makes you think we can do that effectively. Maybe we will eventually be able to do that but we are not Wisconsin-like on the offensive line. My worst fear is we line up and try to pound and get stifled. Teams who do not have as much talent (particularly along the offensive line) all across college football do not try to run pro style offense for a reason....because it would not work. I would love to see us in some multi receiver sets and look to spread it out some and get some of our known talent the ball with space, mix up some QB run/pass options and spread rushing attack. That said I do not think we will see what I want.
 
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I understand everyone thinking we should just line up and pound the ball. My issue is simply..what in the offensive line play makes you think we can do that effectively. Maybe we will eventually be able to do that but we are not Wisconsin-like on the offensive line. My worst fear is we line up and try to pound and get stifled. Teams who do not have as much talent (particularly along the offensive line) all across college football do not try to run pro style offense for a reason....because it would not work. I would love to see us in some multi receiver sets and look to spread it out some and get some of our known talent the ball with space, mix up some QB run/pass options and spread rushing attack. That said I do not think we will see what I want.

Our size up front. O-Line's weakness is not their size, it's their inexperience. We have guys that are big enough that they should be able to push Nova's D front off the ball for 3 yards a carry.
 

Bonehead

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You need a solid O-line to run the option. Lots of guard pulling and down blocking. Simply put we don't have the skill for that.

Not to mention Newsome is already fumble prone enough, putting him in an option system is just playing with fire.
I wasn't serious...remember Army.
 
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First offensive play, BS rolls out, looks for Thomas on a short pass or turns up field and runs.
 
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