What better way to spend a bye week than basking in the joy of an impending stress-free Saturday while digging up the agony of the previous Saturday.
If recall just five days ago, the Ole Miss defense was shredded for 5.7 yards per carry (302 total rushing yards). It was an unmitigated disaster that ultimately prevented Ole Miss from staging a comeback* because, and this will not shock you, a defense can’t get stops when they give up almost 6 yards every time a running back touches the ball.
*The offense didn’t help the cause when they opened the game with 3 empty possessions. Also, this may be hard to believe, but it was a 10-point game with 11 minutes to play (38-28). And then the poop avalanche ended it all.
After the embarrassment was over, the PIPING HOT TAKES started firing. Lack of effort! Terrible players! Character problems! In over their heads! Will Echoles is jumping out of gaps! Golding was a bad hire! And on and on and on.
None of that is surprising, though I was a little surprised the Hugh Freeze truthers weren’t using this disaster to make idiotic graphics that clamor for his return because they’re mentally ill.
So what did happen to an Ole Miss run defense that gave up 4.2 yards/carry against Louisville and 4.0 versus LSU?
On Tuesday, Will Echoles was asked a similar question. Part of his response:
Honestly, I feel like they (Florida) did a great job with their scheme, how they attacked us in the C area…
He went on to talk about the need to be more physical and not miss tackles that allow for 200 yards after contact. Correct!
But I want to focus on the most important part of what he said, which was about the C area, meaning the C gap. As a reminder, run gaps are as follows:
- A gap = between the center and guard
- B gap = between the guard and tackle
- C gap = between the tackle and TE (or receiver)
- D gap = between the tight end and next player
And the gaps will continue for any additional players.
The run defense meltdown can be summed up within the first 3 plays of the game, as Florida used both a guard/tackle counter and standard outside split zone to attack the C gap with SIGNIFICANT SUCCESS. As you’ll see, Florida didn’t reinvent the wheel, but they did dial up ball plays that required the second and third levels of the Ole Miss defense to make one-on-one plays, which they didn’t do.
So let’s begin with the first play of the game. Shout-out to Florida for jumping right into the agony and not doing any foreshadowing.
Here are the aforementioned run gaps and the 3 Ole Miss second- and third-level defenders who need to make a play.
Florida ran a guard/tackle counter, which means the left guard and tackle pull, while the rest of the offensive line and tight end crash down into the Ole Miss defensive line in a 4-on-3 advantage. The left guard is responsible for a kick-out block on the edge, and the left tackle is supposed to seal the alley by blocking the linebacker.
As we see, all three Ole Miss defensive lineman get eaten up by blocks, but not all is lost as Florida only has two blockers to now four Ole Miss defenders capable of making a play.
Even after the left tackle wipes out the linebacker, Florida only has one blocker for three Ole Miss defenders.
What if I told you this is a 12-yard gain?
Well, that’s what it became. There’s a missed tackle from the first defender, the second defender lost outside leverage and missed the tackle, and the third defender somehow got blocked by the Florida lineman who actually missed the second defender.
And this is what it looks like when you miss two tackles and lose outside leverage as a defense.
On a side note, Luke Ferrelli (linebacker) made a pretty nice play in getting off his block and running Jadan Baugh out of bounds before more damage happened.
Two plays later, Florida ran a basic outside split zone concept that gave Ole Miss issues all day. Once again, here are the run gaps.
In outside split zone, the entire offensive line takes a step to their right, and the H-back (#7) comes back across the formation to block the defensive end (Kam Franklin).
When Baugh touches the ball, we see the Florida offensive line swallowed up a defensive tackle and has a double team on a linebacker (Keaton Thomas), which means Ole Miss needs the weak side linebacker (Ferrelli) or the safety (Sharif Denson) to get to the C area and stop Baugh.
However, the right guard comes off the double team of Thomas and wipes out Ferrelli, which means Denson is the only player with a chance to stop Baugh.
I don’t know if he loses sight of Baugh in the trash or thinks he has help from somewhere else, but he has no chance of making a play from here.
But enough about Jadan Baugh. Let’s watch Duke Clark torch the defense!
From the left hashmark, Florida ran the same outside split zone play they ran with Baugh. Here are the gaps and the play design.
Once again, the Florida offensive line swallows up a defensive tackle and a linebacker (Thomas), which means two defensive backs have to make a play. The other linebacker (Tah’j Butler) has to hold for a beat to make sure Clark doesn’t cut the ball back into the gap between the right tackle and tight end.
Once Clark commits to the C area, Ole Miss has two unblocked defenders in position to make a play. Unfortunately, the Florida right guard is able to get enough of Butler to keep him from making the tackle.
Half a second later, the picture now includes the two Ole Miss defensive backs on the ground following missed tackles, and Butler trailing the play.
Finally (and the people said amen), let’s look at another guard/tackle counter, but this time, we’ll feature no missed tackles or people out of position. Instead, we’ll feature Florida making a perfect call against a run blitz.
The TV copy starts late, but this is the same G/T counter from the first example in this post (minus the tight end). Florida pulls the left guard and tackle, and the rest of the offensive line crashes down to their left.
Ole Miss calls a run blitz with both linebackers trying to shoot the A or B gaps, but they immediately get caught in the trash and run out of the play, almost as Baugh gets the ball.
That means, Florida’s two pulling offensive linemen only have two defenders to block (unlike four the last time). Did they block them? Buddy, you already know they did.
Really bad timing for Ole Miss, although it’s possible this was a tendency Florida picked up on as Ole Miss became more desperate to stop the run. Golding said after the game he took more all-or-nothing risks as the game went on, and this may have been one of those instances.
But here’s what it looks like when Florida blocks everyone (though I think they got away with a hold here), as opposed to Ole Miss just missing tackles.
Good times.
Because I occasionally value my time, I did not calculate how many rushing yards Florida piled up through the C area, but my gut says a quarter of a million, give or take.
Whatever the yardage total was, Ole Miss couldn’t stop getting ripped apart in the C area. Through a combination of missed tackles, confusion, not getting off blocks, and ill-timed calls, it all went real bad for the Ole Miss run defense.
The big picture question is are those things fixable. I’d like to think so given what Ole Miss did against Louisville and LSU’s running game, but who knows.
If Vanderbilt and Missouri are able to hurt Ole Miss in the run game (not dominate but hurt), then we should expect things to not go great against the rest of the SEC schedule.
