Why is there little to no misdirection in our running game??

[LittleBigDog]

I like how Freeze uses misdirection to hold LBs and create better angles for the OL. Trap, counter trap, pulling guards...just never seem to be a part of MSU's running game.

 

[dawgoneyall]

Set by football coach and mentioned same thing. Said miss direction was worth another blocker

 

[drt7891]

I think it goes back to playing "vanilla." If you can beat teams (like USA, UK, JSU, etc.) without misdirection, why use it? We are capable of doing it... we used a ton of it against UK 2 years ago. We used it a good bit last year, too. Why show good teams how and when you use it when you don't have to?

That is just my theory.

 

[FlabLoser]

Two different schools of thought. Why doesn't Alabama, Oregon, or South Carolina run a lot of misdirection? Its not required to be successful. If anything, its a crutch for lesser talent.

We get speedy LDP the ball against a spread out defense and it works for us. J Rob is a good 1-2 punch, delivering more of a pounding than LDP does.

 

[crushing]

So, did we play vanilla against UK? I haven't watched the game yet, but I did listen to it on the radio. I sure hope we played vanilla. Did we play a lot of guys like the OOC games?

 

[drt7891]

We set the tone early with two stout drives, but as far as the second half is concerned, after we went up 27-7 (with about 12:00 left in the 3rd), we played not to lose. No reason to open up a playbook with that kind of lead. The only time I got worried was after UK scored, then got the onside kick. The defense stuffed them on that drive (biggest stop in the game... that easily could have swung the score 14 points and we would have had a 6 point lead if they had put it in... good teams score on drives like that). After we got the ball back, we played to run clock more than step on their throats.

I think Mullen tends to do that in games with comfortable leads. He plays enough on offense to sustain drives for a few first downs (to eat clock), but not so much to do something stupid to sacrifice momentum. We play enough on defense to make opposing teams earn scores, but not enough to get guys badly out of position (the only exception was the goal line play with the naked boot. We were BAD out of position on that play). It does leave fans wondering how good we really are... and how good we can really be.

 

[Spanky.sixpack]

Misdirection/Up-tempo/Spread/Etc. are good for neutralizing talent gaps, BUT....

....they cause turnovers too. That's how you beat that type of offense. You don't adjust your defense and put more people in the back field, that's what spread coaches want. You beef up your D Line, disrupt ****, and get turnovers. Those offenses take alot of coaching and alot of precision to run.

That's why high level talented teams run the pro style offense - less chances of a mistake and they have the horses to run over people.

 

[cofreb]

Agree on bama and sc

But Oregon prob runs as much misdirection as anyone in the country. It isn't reverses and garbage like that, but they get the same general effect by adeptly switching between (and camouflaging) the inside zone, outside zone, power sweeps and triple option game. On top of that, they routinely switch the player they are optioning in the zone read, further confusing the defense.

 

[LittleBigDog]

Perkins TD run was a trap play...

I think it goes back to playing "vanilla." If you can beat teams (like USA, UK, JSU, etc.) without misdirection, why use it? We are capable of doing it... we used a ton of it against UK 2 years ago. We used it a good bit last year, too. Why show good teams how and when you use it when you don't have to?

That is just my theory.

So, maybe you are right in that they have it if we need it. Just seems we mostly zone block and let the RB zone read (and without a lead blocker). I just think we are not talented enough up front to do that against good DLs.

 

[NorCalDawg]

^^^THIS^^^ Completely agree. Every time it looks like a team is gaining momentum against us and going to take over the game we pull something off like a big sack, a turnover, or put together a 3 play 80-yd drive to regain momentum. I have never seen a State team that was consistent at doing this in the past. I hate to say it for fear of being proven wrong later, but it almost seems like we have been toying with these teams.

I am so anxious to see how we play UT I can hardly stand it. I think that will tell us most everything we want to know about this team.

 

[Sutterkane]

We ran tons of counters with Dixon in 09. I'd love to see more counters and innovative run plays. Hell I loved it when we ran some bone in '10 vs Auburn. They're in the playbook we just haven't been running them.

 

[jcdawgman18]

We've run it a few times and it's popped almost every time. We seem to be very careful not to use some of our best stuff too often at this point. That's why Malcolm Johnson didn't play yesterday, either. Mullen didn't have any concerns about his health, he just didn't want to show him yet. I'd put money on that.

 

[FlabLoser]

Hope that is also why Joe Morrow went unnoticed.