You are absolutely right. That’s what makes Muschamp such a great DC. He makes adjustments quickly, which means his guys were already coached about the problem, and waiting for it to show up.

He is the most prepared coach I have seen at Texas.

The important thing to note is that the nickel robber look is on film and it will help our corners defend the quick slant with twins to one side going forward because opposing QB’s will have to hold the ball a count or two more until we disclose what coverage we’re in. It’ll also help our pass rush.

It’s Greg’s Dick-In-A-Box Package. Kwanzaa!

And a baby-arm offense to work with in the first place.

without being in the huddle, I am gonna assume the key for the robber call was if they saw Anyiam break into a crossing route. So yes, he prob would have continued covering the slot receiver.

But…you did not really answer my specific questions. Could you answer my questions, please?

The questions are:

Earl did not look at the QB’s throwing motion to time his break to Anyiam (as both you and I thought previously) but instead keyed off Anyiam’s break to the middle, rght?

Earl would have continued his coverage of the slot WR had Anyiam not broke to the middle., right?

Muschamp was going to double Anyiam on that play whether he cut to the middle or went long, right? In the latter case the safety on the right side would have doubled Anyiam instead of covering the slot WR, right?

Basically, I’m asking you what wouild have happened if Anyiam does not break to the middle? I can’t see Earl not covering either the slot WR or Anyiam. Since he can’t cover Anyiam if Anyiam does not break over the middle, the logical thing would be for Earl to continue to cover the slot WR. This, of course, leaves the safety free to double Anyiam (the most dangerous OSU WR).

I have been hard on number 21, Blake Gideon since last season, and I want to apologize in front of everyone.

Sure he lacks range, and the general natural ability of the rest of our secondary. Can he run from the hash to the sideline before a pass can get there? No! However, if there is anything within 10 yards of him, he will make a play. Basically, he is Marcus Griffin with good instincts.

He has played better this year, for the most part. He will never be Earl Thomas, but kudos to him for stepping his game up!

These coverages are fluid. There are multiple calls in a single coverage scheme, that are carried out if the offense responds to the coverage a certain way.

For instance, on the Blake Gideon pick, we morph into a three deep, with Gideon Curtis, and Brewster each taking a third. It looks as though Curtis is motioning to Acho to cover the flat man, which he doesn’t, and could have been disastrous. Robinson is expecting two deep, and when they send two receivers deep, he is waiting for Gideon to take the first one, so he can throw to the one coming behind him into that zone.

It is the same thing we ran to get Malcolm Williams open deep. We vacated the zone, by running Ship through it, then threw behind him to Williams one-on-one.

The difference is, we adjust to what the offense is trying to do mid-play. We morphed into a three deep, allowing Gideon to back track, and undercut the route. All Gideon had to do is sell it by turning his hips, and giving Robinson that key to throw.

Last year we were just learning how to do things. This year Muschamp has these guys pulling off NFL coverage schemes. These are the kind of coverages you see on Sundays, not Saturdays. They have learned how to disguise them, and sell them. If we had Muschamp in 04/05, we would have blown USC out by 30. Back then we relied on sheer athleticism. Now we have the wicked coverage schemes to go along with our athleticism.

My question regarded your statement:
“Someone who can’t see that Thomas was running a called scheme isn’t watching real carefully.”

Yeah, defenders run a called scheme every play. Obviously it was a called scheme but you did not addres the specifics of the called scheme, your statement was relatively content free.

“Earl had a robber call. It was a 3 on 2 combo coverage and Earl pretends to have the inside receiver (he even pretends to break his hips and run with him) and then makes his break on Anyiam.”

No disagreement that there was 3 on 2 combo coverage (in fact I had already posted my version of how I thought the 3 on 2 coverage worked). You are not addressing some of the key questions: what was the key for Earl to break back to Anyiam? I say it was Anyiam’s cut to the middle. What do you think it was? What does Earl do if Anyiam does not break to the middle? Do you think the plan was for the horns to leave Anyiam in single coverage deep?

My second point is that I think Earl would have continued his coverage of the slot WR had Anyiam not broke to the middle.

Third point is that Muschamp was going to double Anyiam on that play whether he cut to the middle or went long. In the latter case the safety on the right side would have doubled Anyiam instead of covering the slot WR.

What do you think?