Until they prove me wrong, I declare OM to be very one dimensional. At least offensively.
Defensively they are quite solid, but they also haven't faced a good offense yet. Boise is hands down the best offense they've played and they are 71st in scoring. Vandy is in the 100s and the fighting Huds are ~90. Memphis is 12th, and that's after playing a defense that played pretty well last night against a fairly stout AZ State offense. We'll see tomorrow if UCLA was just sleepwalking through that game and OM really does have a pretty good d. I'm leaning toward that, but we'll see for sure.
Offensively, they rarely throw it across the middle or setup screens out of the backfield. It's all bubble screens to WR or jump routes. I'll admit I haven't watched all of their games or every play but the drives I *have* seen that's every damn play that's even moderately successful. It's hilarious when they try to run the ball in any direction unless it's with Bo scrambling out in the open.
I'm not one to run to the rescue, but I've been really surprised by Wallace this year and I'm one of his biggest skeptics. I'll readily admit that last year he relied on screens and quick out routes because he couldn't throw the ball farther than 15 yards, but this year is noticeably different. Captain Bubble Screen is no more. He has actually thrown the ball with some zip and authority this year which leads us Rebel fans to believe he's a changed man.
I started counting after the first game and came away with 3 of 30 against Vanderbilt and 2 of 28 passes against UL-L that were screens. And of those, at least 1 in each game was to a running back coming out of the backfield where he hit them already in sprint. I have no idea what a jump route is and Google doesn't seem to either. By my McClurian math, that's about 5% bubble screens which contrasts strongly to his average last year of 95%.
From our conditioning as fans concerning Wallace last year, we cringe every time he throws the ball over the middle but ever since the 2nd half of the Boise game, he's been sharp and strong with those passes. And he has actually gone over the middle a good amount this year which is evidenced by the amount of receptions from Evan Engram and Cody Core who only line up in the middle.
Also, this seems to lend credence to what Wallace's problem was during the first half against Boise....he was aware he finally had his arm strength back and felt if he just threw the ball hard enough in to double and triple coverage there would be no way Boise could catch the ball. I'm sure his *** was lit in to during halftime and he's been remarkable since then.
I'm sure you have better things to do tomorrow, but if not give him a watch tomorrow. I think you'll be shocked that the "party line" is false and there are no crow hops and bubble screens to be seen.
