Coach V's grades: Texas 23 KU 0
Tyrone Swoopes. (Justin Wells/IT)
The grades are out after UT’s 23-0 win over Kansas on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
OFFENSIVE grades:
I mentioned in the defensive report that teams are never as good-bad as they appear to be from one week to the next. I honestly believe that is true with the offense we watched yesterday—we certainly have some problems facing our group but they performed much better than most are willing to give credit. I think if you give a second look you will see a much brighter future than you thought possible for this season—we might be more competitive once we iron out some of our problem areas.
Before I completely lose you as a reader I think you must understand that the Jayhawks played us in 8 and/or often 9 man fronts almost every down—easy to prove on the video. They dared us to throw. We were stubborn to a point in that we wanted to “protect” our confidence (QB-OL) and never really threatened throwing down the field. About 75% of our running plays were tackled by the unblocked defender—we blocked, screened, hugged, cut, or maintained contact with the correct defender enough that they didn’t stop our RB—we blocked the schemed guys good enough.
When we threw against the stacked front we seldom attacked past the chain. You can’t make any defense back off if you can’t threaten to “burn” them. Once we attacked deep we either underthrew an open receiver (8) or overthrew (7-11) even though those guys appeared out to practice early. Thems the breaks—we missed wide open targets deep and quietly quit attacking deep. Damage the fragile QB’s confidence—not for me to answer.
I will say that our QB got “happy” feet several times when the pocket was clean—he also needs to understand going forward (not sideways with his lack of speed) is the correct route once the time bomb goes off for him to get out of Dodge.
I know most have commented about our poor Oline. They didn’t play great but they played much better than poor—they blocked their guys but 6 (OLine+TE) can’t block 8 or 9 very often. It’s painfully obvious that both OG’s are too slow to be productive pullers if anything goes wrong. We have a terrible blocking scheme for play-action on the GL (3 unblocked defenders rushing into the teeth of the QB’s throw). We can help these guys with our schemes and play-calls—quit fearing stacked decks and let them play.
I know most felt the two RB’s should have broken more runs against frigging Kansas—well, the toughest thing any RB encounters is to see an open crease (and there were a few) and hit it only to be blindsided by an unblocked box safety that you don’t see until late. Our guys made good runs when we caught KU in a 6-7 man front. Why didn’t we throw deep to loosen the defense—not for me to answer.
I’m not attempting to sell you perfume in a crap factory because we might not be a championship offense this year but we are good enough that with some imaginative play-calling we can be productive with what we currently have on our roster. We just can’t remain stubborn or protective.
Last but not least is the desperate need to junk that damn option—we aren’t an option team, our QB is not an option QB, and serving up our RB’s on a platter is downright harmful to their health. When did we become an option offense—4th and 2 and we run a down the line option. Wow, just wow.
18—Swoopes—C+
19 of 34 for 218 yards—two td’s. 9 runs for 7 yards. TY’s best run was a tough td run where he beat several defenders to the end zone. He overthrew a post that was 6. He underthrew a seam that was a big gain for Ship waiting to happen. I blame the snap fumble (GL) on our center who snapped way too early—nobody moved on snap but him. I do blame TY for displaying happy feet—he threw one bad pass to Ship where he jumped away from imaginary bullets (no pressure) that looked very bad. He also runs into more trouble on his own—they ain’t perfect but they don’t deserve him taking off without merit.
28—Brown—B
12 carries for 29 yards. 2 passes caught for 5 yards. great blitz pickup. one good run on GL. Malcolm played hard—results weren’t as good as he wanted but it’s hard to beat an outnumbered opponent.
32—Gray—C
13 rushes for 44 yards. one fumble. great blitz pickup. false start penalty. BPB on cut attempt on DE that missed. JGray had a tough game. He will bounce back this week.
36—Delatorre—B-
Alex had 7 lead/kick-out blocks during the game. 5 were good and 2 were less than acceptable.
7—Johnson—B
1 catch for 10 yards. lost a td catch to a holding penalty. good block on sweep. still not very active in the plan.
8—Shipley—B+
6 catches for 81 yards. 2 punt returns for 41 yards. one return wiped out by penalty. good block sweep. great catch on the ad-lib deep pass where he high-pointed the ball with a super athletic catch.
9—Harris—A-
6 catches for 89 yards. one td catch. one good catch and run off the GL and one good catch/run on the GL for a score. two good chain-moving catches on out routes.
82—Swaim—A-
one catch for 18 yards. good block sweep. great block sweep. great block power. good block GL. beat on FG when he tried to block two. good catch/run on bootleg.
85—McFarland—B
1 catch for one yard and td. beat run block (option play). good td catch. good block zone.
50—Raulerson—C+
one turnover (GL) when he snapped the ball too early and Swoopes never got it. BRB. good block zone. Although Jake wasn’t able to get movement drive blocks he was able to maintain leverage on the KU nose. Jake will be a solid player once he gets the advantage of off-seasons and maturity gains in the future.
66—Flowers—C+
good block sweep. good pull block iso. one pull to slow to lead the RB. great combo block GL. BRB sweep. BRB. good combo block. Sed needs some athletic quickness and it probably wouldn’t hurt him to lose some negative weight. Pass blocking is his biggest weakness.
74—Doyle—B-
good block zone. good block sweep. good block iso. BPB. Taylor isn’t powerful enough to change the LOS but he does a super job of getting body position on the correct target. If Taylor had the physical ability/talent of some he would be a very good player.
65—Hutchins—B-
good block isolation. great block combo GL. great block GL. BRB (inside). good combo block. BRB inside. Solid in pass protection. Marcus had a decent game with the exception of two run blocks where he got beat inside on slants. He still has active feet but he can’t move bigger defenders—he will put his hat on the right defender.
76—Perkins—B+
good block zone. good block isolation. great power block with 82. good pass protection. Kent may be a better guard down the road but he is holding his own at OT pretty well. He will also gain from an off-season and maturity growth. Good future for Kent.
52 James had one terrific drive block before he had a holding call—I couldn’t see the hold but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.
83 Foreman had a nice run (bad fumble) and a nice catch in limited duty.
84 Joe had a productive pass interference penalty in limited duty.
DEFENSIVE grades:
There is always some very good when you pitch a shutout on defense. Old coaches will remind you that you are never as good as you might look one week nor are you as bad as you might look the next week. That’s a fact, Jack!We had quality efforts across the board in regards to MT’s. We still had too many mental errors. We played the scheme hard but not particularly smart. I hope we find a second opinion about playing BU/OU in a 3-3 the next two weeks.
The best thing I can say about this game was we showed real emotion for 60 minutes. I saw defensive players having fun playing the game and that’s a huge change from seasons past. I always thought the main purpose you played this game was to have fun regardless of the level you were competing. Even though I don’t necessarily agree with our scheme calls I do appreciate this staff bringing enjoyment back the players and, in extension, most of our fans.
We had some very curious personnel alignments during this game. Shiro Davis played about three plays at the very end of the game—Caleb Bluiett played a ton at OLB (3-3) but very little DE (4-3). Nasshon Hughes played a bunch at both DE (4-3) and OLB (3-4) Check out Hughes block on our 1st interception—it’s a decleater and then he gave his best Clay-Liston moment. Malcom Brown played all DE in our 3-3 while remaining a 3 tech in our 4-3—I like MB a whole bunch better inside where they can’t run completely away from him.
Steve Edmond played our “mug” LB in our 3-3—definitely reduced his recognition assignments. Poona Ford played well at a 4 technique in our 3-3. Hassan Ridgeway played well at our nose shade in the 3-3 except when he ran out of spizarinktum and raised his candle high. We switched our two young safeties (44-31) around a bunch—we even gave John Harris a chance at FS on the last play of the half.
Here are the grades:(added new term “rush-flush” this week for forced scrambles—it’s a QBH except no pass thrown).
88—Reed—B
4 tackles—2 tfl’s—one sack—one QBH—one rush flush—Ced had a good tackle on a zone read dive—strong sack on a bootleg—one really good contain on a sprint-out (tough to do from a 4 technique)—one lost contain against a bounce outside—played well enough to win but could have made more plays with better hustle.
42—Bluiett—B
2 tackles—one PBU—one QBH—good PBU against a screen on first play—one edge stunt that lacked conviction and effort—GOFT on a bounce outside—great rush and flush on QB—offsides penalty—good rush flush—Caleb played mostly outside backer in our 3-3 this week—in my opinion he’s a better DE than OLB.
90—Brown—A-
7 tackles—one tfl—one QBH—one big hit stuff tackle—good tackle on zone read—Malcom had one five star play where he contained a sprint-out from a 4 technique and actually hit the QB outside the boundary as he threw—good tackle dive—-great hustle tackle—great pursuit tackle—3 rush flush—great pursuit tackle on QB option on 4th and 2 for turnover. Best player period.
98—Ridgeway—B+
7 tackles—one tfl—one QBH—big rush flush—great tackle option—great tackle QB draw—late hit penalty that was bad—good pursuit tackle—Hassan had one 5 star play where he tackled the QB (option keep) at the boundary after a long pursuit. This guy grew up when he was challenged—he played very well for about twice as many plays as usual.
93—Boyette—B
one tackle—one QBH—good pursuit on option—held up well at the nose mostly—too high some but fought thru traffic extremely well. Paul had a good pursuit tackle on a zone read—he accepted the challenge of more snaps and played well.
95—Ford—B-
one tackle. Poona had good pursuit on a zone read—then got reached (in a 4 tech) by the OG (cardinal sin) when he was late off the snap—great pursuit blocks on one pass interception. He will play more as we get into the schedule.
3—Hicks—B+
11 tackles—one tfl—one interception with good return—QBH—beat in coverage for long gain—good stuff tackle—great blitz tackle for loss—good tackle QB draw—3 good fill tackles on zones—outstanding coverage oskie and return—good coverage on wheel route—GOFT on sweep—great scrape on sprint-out—Jordan had a terrific game overall.
33—Edmond—B
10 tackles—one tfl—one PBU—one sack—one QBH—one tipped pass that was intercepted—GOFT on QB draw—good blitz tackle—blocked with lead blocks (pulling guard)—blitzed many times out of our 3-3—Steve really needs to take on lead blocks with more than his hands because he’s losing that battle every time—cut blocked on option (poor scrape). He makes fantastic plays that can’t be taught and then give up plays where you wonder what could he possibly be thinking.
55—Santos—B-
2 tackles—good fill tackle—cut blocked during scrape on option—cut blocked on sweep by pulling guard—injured and didn’t play 2nd half.
40—Hughes—B
2 tackles—one tfl—one QBH—great pursuit tackle on option away on 4th and 2 (turnover)—good coverage on bootleg—big time play when Nasshon pressured the QB into throwing an interception and then decleated a defender trying to tackle “the Duke”. It looks like Hughes might be getting a bunch of Shiro’s plays in the future.
7—Cobbs had 2 MT’s in limited duty.
6—Diggs—B+
2 tackles—one tfl—one classic interception where Quandre caught the ball at it’s highest point in our end zone (big play)—PBU—sack—great edge stunt that resulted in 8 yard sack—solid coverage as our nickel.
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2—Thompson—B
2 tackles—good sound coverage as our corner—GOFT on slant pass—good edge foundation against sweep—good play on screen.
21—Thomas—A-
3 tackles—2 pass interceptions—one PBU—solid coverage as our corner—held up well in run support.
44—Haines—B+
3 tackles—PBU—GOFT on pass completion—cut on one sweep in run support—good fill tackle—great PBU on 4th and 4 for turnover—GOFT.
31—Hall—B+
7 tackles—big hit tackle on dive—beat in coverage by not staying in the middle of two receivers—GOFT on scramble—GOFT on crossing route—GOFT option pitch—GOFT on screen—GOFT in alley—Jason has a couple of “wth’s” a game but he absolutely dazzles with some “wow’s” to make up for the blunders. He had another blocking penalty on punt return—somebody needs to tell him the big numbers are on the back of the jerseys so he can’t get confused.
11 Jackson had a picture perfect Mike LB play on the last play of the game. Damn it was fun to see that from that young man.
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COACH VENABLE’S GRADING SCALE:
My grading system is based on total points earned against number of plays played. The points are awarded individually on each and every separate play. There are five different possible grades for each play. Players may earn a plus three (3) for a five star type play—-plus two (2) for above average execution—-plus one (1) for doing their job successfully—-zero (0) for getting beat but knowing and attempting their assignment—-and minus 3 (-3) for a missed assignment.
Each player has a total number of points and a total number of his own individual plays. You divide the total number of plays into the total number of points which gives you scale. The grading scale is as follows:
Any player averaging one point per play (1.0) grades out a B which is winning football. If a player plays 60 plays with 60 total points he would earn a passing grade—each point he goes over the total number of plays raises his grade accordingly. The system is built around rewarding any player that doesn’t beat himself or his team with mental mistakes.
The system also punishes any player that knows what to do but loses too many individual battles. If a player plays 60 plays but loses 10 of those with zero special plays (60 plays—50 points) he falls below the 1.0 needed for a passing grade of B.
I use the plus/minus (A-, B+, etc,) when the numbers indicate a partial add or subtract from the grade. This system was used by my first coaching staff and I kinda carried it with me for thirty years—it’s not perfect but it gives the position coach a measuring stick for his individual players.
The only way to earn the highest grade of A is to play a perfect game. I’ve had exactly zero up to right now so great games still can be better so A- is a very popular second best. This system and my grades will always be subjective filled with agree and disagree opinions. It’s entirely fair for disagreement (without it we might not have horse races) but it’s important to remember that each play only counts once instead of allowing a big mistake to have major influence on an individual’s final grade.
ACRONYMS
Shortcuts to reduce typing overload.
BRB—beat on a run block.
BPB—beat on a pass block.
GL—goal line.
SY—short yardage.
MT—missed tackle.
MA—missed assignment.
GFT—good fill tackle.
GOFT—good open field tackle.
PBU—pass break up.
tfl—tackle for loss.
5 star—play that most can’t make.
