[sixtiesbear1]

There has been speculation here that other teams somehow know what we are going to run next. Besides having somewhat conservative playcalling which makes this easier, do we do anything to tip off the Defensive Coordinator of the opposing team? Watch the WSU game if you have it recorded. At 12:12 in the third quarter, right before the pass to Jones, Chris Ball, the WSU DC, makes an unmistakable pantomime of a QB taking the ball under center and throwing it long. The camera was right on him and he did it twice. Very unmistakable. It was first and ten so not an obvious passing down. How did he know? Fortunately Jones made a great catch/takeaway on the play but he was definitely covered tightly. Anyone else notice this?

[MisterNoodle]

Originally Posted by sixtiesbear1

There has been speculation here that other teams somehow know what we are going to run next. Besides having somewhat conservative playcalling which makes this easier, do we do anything to tip off the Defensive Coordinator of the opposing team? Watch the WSU game if you have it recorded. At 12:12 in the third quarter, right before the pass to Jones, Chris Ball, the WSU DC, makes an unmistakable pantomime of a QB taking the ball under center and throwing it long. The camera was right on him and he did it twice. Very unmistakable. It was first and ten so not an obvious passing down. How did he know? Fortunately Jones made a great catch/takeaway on the play but he was definitely covered tightly. Anyone else notice this?

I saw the DC's charade on the telecast but I did not make the connection to our own play call. Did he do this after we had signaled our play in to the huddle?

I know this has been discussed but can someone remind me how we signal plays to the QB? Do we use multiple signal callers on the sideline? Are they signaling a formation and a play or is it a number-based system so that Brock just looks up e.g. "Play 34" on his wristband?

[PRD74]

WSU seemed clueless about the end around for the TD that followed, but still interesting.

Link

[calbearo]

Thanks for the link PRD. Unfortunately the part of the broadcast referenced is edited out. This cuts to 12:04.

[blungld]

I noticed that to. He actually signaled playaction--he gestured fake hand off and throw twice... and sure enough we ran a playaction pass.

[BerkeleyChris]

I noticed this several times during the game... is it our formations that are tipping off our intentions or are they somehow picking our playcalls being signed in?

[ColoradoBear1]

Originally Posted by BerkeleyChris

I noticed this several times during the game... is it our formations that are tipping off our intentions or are they somehow picking our playcalls being signed in?

That is a very interesting question - and an important difference. If our formations/motion/down and distance tendancies are tipping off the other team, that is poor coaching by our OC and good coaching by their DC.

If they are getting our signals, that is bush league signaling on our part, but something that should be remedied and for that matter remedied pretty easily.

There have been rumors since the @Tenn game that our signals are being stolen. What type of precautions are usually taken to protect the signals and how often do they switch them up?

[BerkeleyChris]

Originally Posted by ColoradoBear1

There have been rumors since the @Tenn game that our signals are being stolen. What type of precautions are usually taken to protect the signals and how often do they switch them up?

I don't know how often they switch them up, but they typically have the 2nd and 3rd string QBs sign in the signals, with one being the "real" playcall and the other being a "mock" playcall. From what I hear, it's usually pretty obvious which one is the real playcall and which one isn't.

[ColoradoBear1]

Originally Posted by BerkeleyChris

I don't know how often they switch them up, but they typically have the 2nd and 3rd string QBs sign in the signals, with one being the "real" playcall and the other being a "mock" playcall. From what I hear, it's usually pretty obvious which one is the real playcall and which one isn't.

Yah I remember a golden blogs post where someone said they could pretty much tell the fake signal every time. Of course that's only half of it since one has to decipher the signal too.

But in this era where coaches like Belichick have video guys recording opponents signals and super bowl walkthroughs, it seems like it wouldn't be too hard to set something up in the press box to do the same in college. When coaches are making millions of dollars and the pressure to win is huge, I don't see why some wouldn't do the same. Give themselves a little extra homefield advantage. If the signals are simple enough, then someone on the sideline could do it.

Though at this point, it's letting our coaching staff off too damn easy if we are really blaming stolen signals for our inept road play. But if we have two QB's signaling a play in and one is doing a poor job, then maybe the staff shouldn't tell them who has the real signal. and then have the two signals as strategically opposite - like a run/playaction or a screen/deep bomb.

[tommie317]

here's another hint: wildcat = run

[clipman]

I've often thought teams have known our plays - notably SC & Oregon. Not smart enough to figure out how, do we have a rat? as Singletary would say. Probably just prdictable play calling with the offense.

[calumnus]

Originally Posted by tommie317

here's another hint: wildcat = run

Here's another one: shotgun 2nd and short = run.

[PRD74]

Wow, I should have checked the link before I posted it . Try this one.


Link

[the_purple_drank]

Originally Posted by tommie317

here's another hint: wildcat = run

Unless it's at the goal line when a FG would win the game.

[the_purple_drank]

Originally Posted by MisterNoodle

I know this has been discussed but can someone remind me how we signal plays to the QB? Do we use multiple signal callers on the sideline? Are they signaling a formation and a play or is it a number-based system so that Brock just looks up e.g. "Play 34" on his wristband?

2nd and 3rd string QBs signal in hand signs, one which is right, the other which is fake.

Other times, they'll just call out "Card Call," which is literally what it is. Heck, sometimes, you can see that the players are just signalling in, "Card Call ##" and even wording it with their mouth. Nothing wrong with that, because other teams can't read the card call on the QB, anyway. And, because Tedford's O is complex, that card call just dictates what the primary call is. The actual play depends on the formation of the defense (... or so, I speculate)