The Sports Brewery

Breaking Down “The Drive”

Posted on 04. Oct, 2011 at 10:35 am by Braga in California Golden Bears, Football, NCAA Football, Oregon Ducks Football, PAC-10 Football

Okay, it’s a little much to call it that because the Ducks didn’t score, but Oregon’s final drive against Cal is the type of situation that can either define or derail a championship team. It was also a chance for Heisman calibre players to either fold or rise up, put the team on their backs and take a win when they must.

Oregon had a 15-13 lead with nine minutes and 25 seconds left in the game and decided to grind down the clock and either get a score or run the clock out. The Oregon defense and special teams gave it the lead and kept it for most of the game, while the offense struggled. The offense needed to step up if Oregon were to win and hold on to its national title hopes. How the offense responded was impressive.

Oregon’s offensive line struggled against Cal. There’s no way to sugarcoat it — they got beat 95 percent of the game. When Jordan Holmes and C.E. Kaiser failed on a double team on Cal defensive tackle Derrick Hill that he used to force and recover a fumble for a TD, it was the cherry on top the worst offensive line performance since the Boise City game last year.

Despite what Cal safety Chris Conte might tell you, Cal didn’t do anything Oregon hasn’t seen this year. Lots of teams try to stop Oregon with man defense and a spy on the quarterback and it doesn’t work. Cal stopped Oregon because Cal didn’t miss assignments and Oregon’s offensive linemen did. LaMichael James had no holes the entire game because the Oregon offensive line was consistently two yards backwards after the snap. And when there were holes, Cal’s linebackers were disciplined enough to not overpursue the play and shut the running backs down. Cal linebacker Mike Mohamed finished with 14 tackles, linebacker DJ Holt finished with nine, linebacker Mychal Kendricks finished with 10 and Conte finished with eight. This is a combination of some very talented linebackers for Cal and a Cal defensive line that physically dominated Oregon’s offensive line at the point of attack. So when a unit is beat so soundly for most of the game, one has to wonder if the kids even had it in them to finish and secure a win.

Oregon’s offense responded when it had to on a drive that started and finished with LaHeisman.

Play one: First and ten. 9:25 left at snap. 20 yard line.

The drive started on the Oregon 20-yard-line after a Cal punt went through the end zone. Jeff Maehl was wide right and David Paulson was in a three-point stance on the right. Josh Huff was slot left and Drew Davis was wide left. Darron Thomas lined up in the shotgun, six yards back with LaMichael James to his right. Cal lined up in a 3-4 defense with the corners up on the line, a safety in the box and a safety free in the deep middle. James motioned to Thomas’s left. At the snap, Huff sprinted to block the safety in the box, Maehl ran a decoy fade route and Davis shadow blocked. Oregon’s linemen struggled getting to the second level most of the game, but did a great job of it on this drive, including this play. Paulson got to the OLB, RT Mark Asper tried and failed to seal off the DE, but was bailed out by a great block by Kaiser at RG that took out a LB and Asper’s DE. Center Jordan Holmes held his own against Hill, LG Ramsen Golpashin let his DE rush into the backfield, taking him out of the play and LT Bo Thran blocked the other OLB. The scheme left Mohamed unblocked, one-on-one with James. Mohamed made the tackle, but as the backside MLB, it was five yards down-field: a success on first down and more than James’s 3.1-yard average for the game.

Play two: First and ten. 8:55 left at snap. 30 yard line.

Play two started as a first down because Hill was baited into an offsides penalty. Maehl lined up wide right with Huff in the slot. Davis was wide left with Paulson at TE on the left. Thomas was in shotgun with James to his right. Cal was in the exact same defensive formation. At the snap, Thomas handed to James running left. Huff ran at the safety, Maehl ran a decoy route, and Davis blocked his corner. Asper effectively sealed the backside OLB, as did Kaiser with the backside DE. Golpashin sealed out the MLB. Thran allowed penetration by his DE, which forced the play back inside, which led James into the not so loving embrace of Hill, who badly beat Holmes; however, James, being the Heisman candidate that he is, made Hill and the unblocked Mohamed miss and somehow got five yards on the play to the 35.

Play three: Second and five. 8:24 at snap. 35 yard line.

Exact same offensive and defensive formations from the previous play, with the exception of Justin Hoffman in for Davis at WR.  This time, Oregon upped the tempo. James motioned to Thomas’s right and took the handoff. Same blocking scheme as the previous play. Hill again dominated Holmes, controlling him using his arms with great technique and forces James to try to bounce the play outside, which is closed off by Thran’s man, who also got great penetration. James tries to look left, but Mohamed – unblocked again – fills the backside cutback lane. Golpashin, who expects the play to run inside of him, blocks his man right into James, who is tackled by four defenders. James loses two yards, gets up slowly and exits the game.

LaHeisman goes down.

Play four: Third and six. 7:50 left at snap. 33 yard line.

With the James injury, Kenjon Barner enters the game at RB and lines up to Thomas’s left in shotgun. Same offensive and defensive formations. Davis back in for Hoffman. This play is designed to be a quick pass to Barner out of the backfield. The entire line with the exception of Holmes, who blocks normal, effectively cut blocks their defenders to take away their ability to bat the pass down. Paulson runs a five yard route into the middle of the field and sits. Huff, lined up on the right, runs a 10-yard out. Maehl runs a fade pattern, while Davis’s job is to take out his CB and the OLB to his side, who would be the only defender who could stop the pass short of a first down. Davis does a great job. Barner runs straight at the marker and is wide open until he catches a great Thomas throw at the yard stick out of bounds for a first down.

Play five: First and ten. 7:32 left at snap. 40 yard line.

Maehl is wide right with Paulson at TE. Huff  is slot left with Davis wide. Cal is still in a 3-4, but brings a OLB up to the line and a safety into the box, showing blitz. Barner is to the left of Thomas in the shotgun and takes the hand off running right. Cal blitzes the safety and OLB to their right and Oregon runs the other way. Kaiser and Paulson get to the second level with great blocks. Asper does a good job of sealing his DE out and creating a hole. Holmes is beat, but Barner’s speed proves the difference in a five yard gain as he gets tackled by an unblocked Mohamed.

Play six: Second and five. 7:04 at snap. 45 yard line.

Maehl is wide right. Paulson, Huff and Hoffman are left. Barner is to the left of Thomas in shotgun. This is the ol’ bread and butter read option. Paulson releases to the OLB, while Thran releases to the MLB, letting the DE decide whom to go after. Holmes chips the DT and releases to finally block Mohamed. Golpashin then must cross the face of the DT and seal him from the right, a tough task, but one he accomplishes. Asper releases and gets a great block on the OLB three yards up-field. Kaiser holds his own with the DE long enough for Barner to cut off his back to the outside where Maehl is proving why he’s one of the best blocking WRs in the country. His corner makes the stop on the play, but not after Barner gets the ball into Cal territory.

Pathetic stuff from Payne.

Play seven: First and ten. 6:19 at snap. Cal 46 yard line.

Prior to this play, Cal DT Kendrick Payne fakes an injury. I say this because Versus, the network broadcasting the game, caught him on it. He looked to the sideline and all of a sudden took a dive. When trainers arrived he ran the gauntlet of grabbing his knee, hamstring, hip and stomach before getting up and jogging to the sideline. Shameful. This actually benefited Oregon because it let more time run off the clock and let them regroup and change to a slower tempo, one that used every second of the play clock the rest of the game. Maehl was wide right. Paulson, Huff and Davis were left. Barner motions to the left of Thomas who gets the snap and hands to Barner running right, the exact same play Oregon just ran. It’s blocked perfectly with the exception of Asper who gets called for a hold. It was a good block, but he just didn’t release the defender, which made it an easy call. Barner’s run to the Cal 28 is called back. However, more time runs off the clock as Cal must accept the penalty.

Just let go!

Play eight: First and 16. 5:53 at snap. Oregon 48 yard line.

Same formation. Same play. Thran and Golpashin totally collapse the left side, taking out the DE, DT and MLB. Kaiser effectively mans up the other DE while Asper releases to the OLB. Barner bounces the play outside again and has room. Mohamed makes a great tackle along with Kendrick, who got away from Asper, to stop a potentially huge play for a six-yard gain.

Play nine: Second and 11. 5:11 at snap. Cal 47 yard line.

Same formation. Read option. The DE takes Thomas, so he hands the ball to Barner up the middle. Thran and Golpashin and Holmes get great push and open a good hole for Barner, who gets four on the play before he gets tripped up running through the hole. There was great blocking downfield by Maehl and Paulson. If Barner doesn’t get tripped up, he probably scores.

Play ten: Third and six. 4:26 left at snap. Cal 43 yard line.

Oregon burned a timeout before the play because the play got in late. It’s a big third down play, so a timeout wasn’t a bad thing. Same formation. Same play. The DE crashes down to stop Barner, so Thomas keeps. Golpashin dominates the DT off the line and takes him along with Mohamed completely out of the play. Thran does the same to the MLB on his side. Paulson gets a great block on the OLB four yards upfield and springs Thomas for the first down. Thomas makes a fast decision and doesn’t waste time getting to the sticks. A perfectly executed read option to get the yards they needed for a huge first down.

A rough day, but a great decision by Thomas on this play.

Play eleven: First and ten. 3:53 at snap. Cal 35 yard line.

Same formation. Same play. DE takes Thomas so he gives to Barner. Cal is still in a 3-4. Cal’s front does a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage and not allowing a hole to open up. Barner has no place to go, so he has to cut back into the waiting arms of the DE Cameron Jordan.

Play twelve: Second and eight. 3:10 at snap. Cal 33 yard line.

Paulson now lines up on the right as James enters for Barner. This is your basic dive play out of shotgun. Man on man blocking with Asper releasing the DE, assuming James will be by him because the DE will assume it’s a read option play. Cal lines up its three front linemen to the left, with the right DE line up over Golpashin, the guard. That DE beats Golpashin and, along with the LB who beat Asper, makes the tackle on James after a short gain. James uses his stronger than average legs to get good positive yards. Tick, tick, tick.

Play thirteen: Third and four. 2:26 at snap. Cal 29 yard line.

This is one of the two plays on this series that define James as the gritty player he is. Obviously injured from the earlier play, he saves Kelly from having to decide on a fourth down field goal by Rob Beard, who missed two kicks already, or a “big balls Chip” moment. Same formation. Read option. DE takes Thomas, so he gives to James. DE should probably always take James in that situation, but luckily for Oregon he didn’t. Paulson gets a great block upfield on the safety. Golpashin and Holmes collapse the DE and DT down into Kaiser’s man, while Thran gets downfield on the MLB. Mohamed gets caught up in the Golpashin and Holmes wash. James makes a quick cut upfield and the unblocked DE grabs onto him two yards short of the first down. James uses incredible balance and leg strength to break the tackle and stay on his feet. The OLB gets to him, but not after James gets enough for a humongous first down that will bring the game under two minutes.

A great run by a great player.

Play fourteen: First and ten. 1:51 at snap. Cal 24 yard line.

Paulson moves back to the left with Huff and Hoffman. Maehl is wide right. James lines up to the left of Thomas. Cal is in a 3-4 still. Oregon runs a zone run play to the left. James actually makes a poor read on this play. Instead of running the play outside to the left, which is wide open, the initial penetration by the DT, who is falling down at James’s feet, makes James think the left is collapsing and that he needs to cut back. The play is blocked perfectly to go left, but James runs right into the defense and loses a yard. Cal calls its final timeout.

Play fifteen: Second and eleven. 1:45 at snap. Cal 25 yard line.

Same formation. Same play. Cal’s defensive end on the play side does a good job of pushing Thran backwards, but doesn’t do anything to go after James. He forces James to cut inside, but when James is forced to cut back outside he doesn’t attack the runner. James gets a great pushout block by Paulson and a nice block on the safety by Huff. Hoffman runs his defender off with a fade route. Mohamed breaks free from Kaiser to make the stop. Holding is called on Holmes, who gets dominated by Hill, but Cal Head Coach Jeff Tedford is forced to decline it and hope his defense can make a stop on the upcoming third down.

Play sixteen: Third and five. 1:16 at snap. Cal 19 yard line.

This is the play you show on SportsCenter from a low scoring game. The play that locks up a victory when your offense isn’t scoring points. Faced with a huge third down, a team has to get the ball into the hands of its superstar. James is that player. This is the run play, other than the read option, that Oregon runs the most. Maehl, Huff and Paulson to the right. Hoffman to the left. Man on man trying to stretch the play to the right and let James cut back off of blocks. To make this play work, Holmes can’t get beat; Golpashin, Paulson and Kaiser must make key second level blocks; Thran must seal the backside DE; and James must make a fast, decisive cut with a lot of momentum. All of those things happened on this play. Thran fought hard to get to the inside of the DE and got good leverage to force him out. Golpashin quickly got in the face of Mohamed at the 15 yard line and got enough of him to keep him back there. Holmes let Hill run left and blocked him enough to open the initial hole for James, who used his incredible quickness to burst up to the second level where Hendricks and Mohamed made the tackle, but not after James used his lower body strength to power forward for a first down.

Perfect play to end the day.

Play seventeen: First and ten. :45 left at snap. Cal 12 yard line.

Victory formation. James with an obvious limp.

Play eighteen: Second and 11. :24 left at snap. Cal 13 yard line.

Victory formation.

It wasn’t a pretty performance by the offense, but the unit stepped up and performed when the game was on the line. The defense and special teams won the game, but the offense secured it with a defining drive for the ages.

Chip Kelly said it all on The Chip Kelly Show:

“105-103; 15-13: we’ll take it.”

Tags: Alex Braga, BCS, Bo Thran, Cal Bears, Cal Defense, CE Kaiser, Chip Kelly, Darron Thomas, Derrick Hill, DJ Holt, Huge Drive, Jeff Tedford, Jordan Holmes, Kenjon Barner, LaMichael James, Mark Asper, Mike Mohamed, Mychal Kendricks, National Championship, Oregon Ducks, Oregon Ducks Football, Oregon Offense, Ramsen Golpashin