Film Room: Badie breaks off a few big runs

Well, this will be the last analysis of the Derek Dooley offense which, I think, is for the best. At least from the standpoint of a guy who’s kinda tired of analyzing it after five weeks of offensive anemia.

I had very little film available to me this week, so let’s look at three solid runs by Tyler Badie.

Run 1: Zone Counter

I don’t exactly know what to call this play. The backfield action is a misdirection counter, the blocking is Zone where the back is hitting away from the direction of the blocking. It’s pretty cool actually.

The Tigers line up in a tight Trips formation to the left.

Based on the initial alignment, the play would look like this.

Here it is in action.

The Razorbacks run a stunt on the backside of the play which changes the zone blocking. The stunt looks like this.

The proper way to block this stunt, according to zone rules, would be like this.

The right side of the Tiger line did not quite get this done, failing to get the right tackle, Hyrin White (#50), out to the linebacker on the edge.

Luckily the mistake is of no consequence, as Badie (#1) is able to slip past the unblocked man on a cutback.

The left side of the line, however, is solid, and is the key to the play. Center Trystan Colon-Castillo (#55) and left guard Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms (#75) execute a fine combo block on the defensive tackle and the Mike linebacker.

Quarterback Taylor Powell (#5) opens up to his right, inducing the Mike to step to his left, then hurry to recover to his right. This allows Wallace-Simms to come off the defensive tackle and force the Mike outside. Badie cuts back right off Colon-Castillo’s block.

Run 2: H Lead

The Tigers align in a 2x2 set with an H back to the right.

On this run, the Mizzou line pops a hole in the middle of the defense, a rare accomplishment during these last six games. The linemen fan out to either side and the H back, Daniel Parker, Jr (#82), pulls up into the hole, taking on the Mike linebacker.

The play diagrammed based on the initial defensive alignment.

As you can see, the slot receiver, Barrett Banister (#11), runs a Slant route, suggesting an RPO is attached to this run.

If this is the case, Powell is probably reading the field safety. If the safety had attacked the run, Powell would have thrown the Slant behind him. In this case the safety stays deep, so Powell hands off to Badie.

The key block here is that of left guard Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms. The defensive tackle lined up on him is to his inside which suggests that the run will hit the left B gap. This would mean Parker has farther to pull to get to the hole, and Badie would need to make a severe cutback to follow Parker through the hole.

Both those techniques are made easier because Wallace-Simms is able to turn his tackle out of the A gap.

Run 3: Inside Zone for a TD

This is a three yard touchdown run by Badie on 2nd and goal. The Tigers align in a Trips formation with an H back, Parker, on the left edge of the line.

The play is Inside Zone to the right.

You probably notice that the receivers are running routes rather than blocking. I don’t think this is an RPO in the sense that Powell is reading a defender to key a handoff or throw. My guess is that Powell is allowed to make a presnap decision to throw if he sees a matchup he likes.

In this case Powell chooses to handoff.

I really like how the line works its combo blocks here, securing the two defensive tackles and coming off on the linebackers, allowing Badie to split the LBs, launching himself into the endzone.

The key blocks come from the combo block on the backside by left tackle Yasir Durant (#70) and Wallace-Simms (#75). Wallace-Simms gets to his tackle’s inside shoulder, passing him off to Durant. Durant overtakes the tackle, allowing Wallace-Simms to climb to the Mike linebacker.

Pay attention to this combo on the left side as we watch again.

Conclusion/Looking Ahead

Whatever you think about the decision to discharge Barry Odom, coaching changes are exciting times for fans. There will be much speculation about Odom’s successor in the next few weeks.

During this time I’ll offer analysis that is relevant to the change to come. During the search process we will look at the schemes of potential coaches, and, when the time comes, the strategies preferred by the newly installed Tiger head coach.

Stay tuned!