Film Room Favorites: KU vs. Texas
It likely goes without saying that it’s not quite as fun to look back at the tape of a decisive loss as it is for a decisive win, but after the Kansas Jayhawks succumbed to the Texas Longhorns this weekend, that is our duty. And let’s also be honest, there aren’t nearly as many fun clips to dig through after you give up a massive amount of yards defensively and are stunted offensively due to your starting quarterback missing the game.
Still, there are a handful of plays from Saturday’s loss worth exploring, including useful and repeatable concepts to fun ways to play games on the line of scrimmage.
On to this week’s Film Room Favorites.
PLENTY OF OPTIONS
If you know anything about your favorite KU film blogger, you know that if there’s (triple) option plays on tape, they’ll likely end up in the Favorites. We’ll take a peek at a couple different option looks Kansas ran in Saturday’s loss, starting with a big gain for Devin Neal on the first play of the day.
If you read last week's Film Room Favorites, you likely remember the big second-half runs by Jalon Daniels and Dylan McDuffie out of an alignment similar to this (though not perfectly identical). We get run action to the right with the mesh and right side of the line blocking in that direction, while Neal, flanking quarterback Jason Bean to the right pre-snap, swings around to the left on the snap. Right away, KU gets the defensive end in conflict. He's right in front of Bean with no one taking the pitch man, Neal (the boundary cornerback drops into his zone and leaves plenty of open space).
Bean's option choice is easy here, and the blocking springs Neal for a huge gain. Just look at this blocking perfection all over the field. Tanaka Scott gets upfield and clears the safety, Jared Casey seals the boundary and Dominick Puni takes the nearest linebacker. If not for the safety getting free and slowing Neal down slightly, this could have been a house call.
One quarter later, KU went back to the plays we referenced from the BYU game, featuring split zone action from Casey as he crosses the formation during the mesh. He's the lead blocker as Bean gets free this time.
The end of this play, Daniel Hishaw’s fumble recovery and touchdown, garnered most of the hype, but we’re going to pay attention to the first part of the play. Specifically, the fact that this looks a lot like Daniels’ 16-yard gainer last weekend.
The run action to Neal gets the entire defense flowing right while Bean and Hishaw sprint out to the left. Casey takes out the linebacker downfield, while Bean is in a favorable position in space. The crashing defensive back is trying to split the difference between the two potential ball carriers. Bean could have attempted a late pitch and likely set Hishaw up for a big gain, or he just has to make the noncommittal defender miss and he's off to the races. He freezes the defender with a slight hesitation move, then re-accelerates and nets the chunk gain. Credit to Hishaw for following the play, too, allowing him to scoop up the loose ball.
Bean is so dangerous on the run, which is why option plays (or plays that are run out of typical option looks) are so valuable when he’s pressed into service.
AIRING IT OUT
Admittedly, while this is a well-designed shot play, a Texas coverage bust played a major role in this Trevor Wilson touchdown catch and run.
ABC’s Greg McElroy pointed it out on the broadcast, but this was not a great rep for the Longhorns. The underneath defensive back doesn't get any depth, let alone carrying Wilson in the left slot, so the burner gets a free release at top speed. The deep safety is then caught flat footed, and as the old saying goes: “If he’s even, he’s leavin’.”
The safety is far too slow to react to Wilson's speed, and when the receiver breaks in at the top of the route there's no chance that he'll be caught. It also helps that the other safety never got depth and stayed shallow on the two hitch routes on the right side of the pattern. The KU offensive line holds up well against the Texas four-man rush, Bean puts the throw on the money and it's nothing but green grass between Wilson and the end zone.
BOOKER GETS HOME
Honestly, it almost feels wrong to put a defensive play in this week’s Favorites after the Jayhawks allowed 661 yards this week, but this Austin Booker sack was a creative use of the transfer defensive end’s skills.
This play is somewhat reminiscent, although not a direct copy, of one of Booker’s sacks against Illinois back in Week 2. On that play, he overpowered the right tackle, dropped out, then accelerated through a gap in the pocket for the sack.
In this clip, we see Booker with a pronounced delay in his rush. UT's left guard pulls around to the right, but with Booker delaying the pressure that offensive lineman abandons the edge and helps out inside instead. Booker hesitates as the back releases into the flat, then pursues and sacks Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers. This is a fun wrinkle with the defensive line group that allows maybe its best pass rusher to use his agility and athleticism to his advantage.
It wasn’t a good week, but it certainly wasn’t a backbreaking week for the Jayhawks, either. With a fast and dangerous team like the UCF Knights coming to Lawrence next weekend, though, it goes without saying that KU’s execution needs to be better (and being fully healthy wouldn't hurt, either) if it wants to get back in the win column.
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