I would think that having McIlwain as the scout team qb this week will pay huge dividends.

Blueblood said:

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"It don't look good for Cal"
The 'zona game is the real test for Wilcox. This game will show that Wilcox is either just a ship passing in the night or He is the real thing!

Traditionally, it's Cal time to get really blown out.

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Time to change your name to NEGABLOOD.

goldenokiebear said:

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Blueblood said:

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"It don't look good for Cal"
The 'zona game is the real test for Wilcox. This game will show that Wilcox is either just a ship passing in the night or He is the real thing!

Traditionally, it's Cal time to get really blown out.

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Time to change your name to NEGABLOOD.

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He needs a blood transfusion.

Put a spy on Tate, and alternate the spy for blitzing purposes. In other words, UA will ID the spy but send him into blitz while another player takes the spy role. Not the complete solution but it could be part of a whole.

Always hated scheming for a QB-Athlete & the QB run game.

The math just changes. Forces you into a lot of one on one situations where you can't really do anything but read and react -- end result is you end up playing slow.

So what can you do? You can run multiple looks/coverages on the backend to change things up, but this additional workload only further slows you down (what you saw against Oregon, DeRuyter mentioned carrying to much gameplan into that game felt we played slow).

It all comes down to finding a balance between scheme variance and execution while putting your athletes in the best position to succeed relative to the competition.

What I see out of Zona.

Dynamic, Explosive QB runner -- Denard Robinson / Pat White / Vick like -- but physical too.

Two physical RBs, one shiftier than the other.

Solid Slot receivers, and physical outside guys -- they all block well on the perimeter (reason for most of Tates long runs).

OL: Good quickness at executing doubles and getting to 2nd level, they work the zone game very, very well.

Inside Zone run game, with Zone insert, and Gap runs to change things up.

RPO / Play action off of run action -- you got to play these dudes honest or they will throw one over the top on you (they hit a few against UCLA where UCLA committed the FS to the box, with man-across and Zona's WR's just made contested plays on the ball).

They are a challenging team to prepare for they get numbers in the run game and get matchups on the outside with RPO/PA.
You are essentially looking at running some kind of man-across or man-free type deal and going athlete vs. athlete, or running a mix of combo zone, which leaves you a bit susceptible to the RPO game. Main things are we need to play physically, and run to the ball. Our defense has been best when we have been able to get (as DeRuyter would term) population to the ball that needs to continue.
RPO is much more of a factor in this game than in years past facing Spread-Run teams like Oregon. Rich Rod is one of the best at building multiplicity out of simplicity and forcing defenses to play slow.
Alignment, Assignment, Physicality, and Tempo are huge factors. This game will be a different sort of challenge than WSU was, or even UW for that matter.

killa22 said:

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Always hated scheming for a QB-Athlete & the QB run game.

The math just changes. Forces you into a lot of one on one situations where you can't really do anything but read and react -- end result is you end up playing slow.

So what can you do? You can run multiple looks/coverages on the backend to change things up, but this additional workload only further slows you down (what you saw against Oregon, DeRuyter mentioned carrying to much gameplan into that game felt we played slow).

It all comes down to finding a balance between scheme variance and execution while putting your athletes in the best position to succeed relative to the competition.

What I see out of Zona.

Dynamic, Explosive QB runner -- Denard Robinson / Pat White / Vick like -- but physical too.

Two physical RBs, one shiftier than the other.

Solid Slot receivers, and physical outside guys -- they all block well on the perimeter (reason for most of Tates long runs).

OL: Good quickness at executing doubles and getting to 2nd level, they work the zone game very, very well.

Inside Zone run game, with Zone insert, and Gap runs to change things up.

RPO / Play action off of run action -- you got to play these dudes honest or they will throw one over the top on you (they hit a few against UCLA where UCLA committed the FS to the box, with man-across and Zona's WR's just made contested plays on the ball).

They are a challenging team to prepare for they get numbers in the run game and get matchups on the outside with RPO/PA.
You are essentially looking at running some kind of man-across or man-free type deal and going athlete vs. athlete, or running a mix of combo zone, which leaves you a bit susceptible to the RPO game. Main things are we need to play physically, and run to the ball. Our defense has been best when we have been able to get (as DeRuyter would term) population to the ball that needs to continue.
RPO is much more of a factor in this game than in years past facing Spread-Run teams like Oregon. Rich Rod is one of the best at building multiplicity out of simplicity and forcing defenses to play slow.
Alignment, Assignment, Physicality, and Tempo are huge factors. This game will be a different sort of challenge than WSU was, or even UW for that matter.

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I will take my chances with man across and make Tate prove he can beat us with his arm.

What does zone insert mean?

Zone insert essentially is adding a 6th blocker into a standard zone scheme.

Think a two back set, or a wing H-back, sort of how we use Malik. Just another way to run inside zone, some guys call it Zone Slice, or Split-Zone / Wham.

Changes the math up front and forces a defense to dedicate another box defender at the risk of being outnumbered.

Most defenses will run a 6 man front vs a 10 personnel set, typically a 4-2 or a 3-3 kind of look (which could morph into a 5-1), but when you start running Zone-Insert with an H-Back or a Wing-FullBack type dude, then they are forced to spin a safety down to keep that nickel grouping, or run more of a base front 7 look.

Air Raid guys like Spavital and Holgorsen really like to use these 11 personnel sets along paired with Zone Insert and Play action since it can dictate one-high looks (i.e. one on one on the outside). You see Baldwin do this too, that end of the first half drive against WSU where we hit Veasy several times spoke to this a bit.

Anyway, getting back to zone insert, typically, you would leave the EMOLOS (end man on the LOS) or someone unblocked in a 5 man OL zone surface, but with a 6th dude, you can tag another double team, block the backside EMOLOS, or tag a 2nd level defender to block. Zone insert, by nature, then appears more as a lead zone, run to daylight kind of deal, where your FB will run to grass, and your RB will follow him/cut off of him as he sees daylight.

For some idea of how Rich Rod implements this, take a look at some old WVU tape with Owen Schmidt -- that 2007/8 Sugar Bowl vs. Oklahoma was a good one.


Beyond that, if you have time, just watch Rich Rod's post game pressers after the CU and UCLA games -- his expressions tell a lot about how he feels about Khalil Tate. Dude is giddy AF -- never seen him that happy with the QB situation in his time @ AZ before. I think he really feels like he's stumbled onto another Denard Robinson / Pat White type of QB.

Which is a scary thought -- that 2006-7 WVU team was a monster with Slater, Devine, Schmidt and White -- they basically ran 12 plays out of maybe 10 formations all year.

The true blueprint for shutting those guys down is in the 2007 Backyard Brawl -- balls out man-across cover zero all night long. Do or die, 8 -9 man boxes, force those dudes chuck it up to win.

One of the best articles I've seen written on that game:
West Virginia vs. Pitt 2007: 'We blew it against the s*****est f***ing team in the f***ing world'

If ur really bored and want to learn a whole lot more about zone run schemes, digest this:

https://www.hudl.com/footballtrends/insert-zone-adjustments-in-zone-identification-rb-entry-points-and-training-the-insert

I've always believed against the option you need to hit the Qb early and make him pitch - punish him every play. The earlier you make him pitch it the better.

azgreg said:

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MoragaBear said:

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GMP said:

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MoragaBear said:

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Zellers only has 10 tackles on the season so I doubt it hurts them much to have him on the bench for a half.

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I don't know anything about Zellers, but tackles made are not a very strong indicator of whether a defensive tackle is important to a defense.

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Sure, if he's regularly occupying 2 blockers and otherwise wreaking havoc but if he's been doing that, I've missed it.

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Insider talk is that Trevor Wood (starting tight end/backup long snapper) might get the start at DT.

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AzGreg, thanks for your contributions here. Should be a competitive game tomorrow. I hope we can slow your offense and your NG woes might be a boost to our offense.

If we get a regular running game going our passing will be that much better.

Thanks for having me this week guys. Good luck and here's to an injury free game.

Thanks for the game guys. Good luck the rest of the year.

azgreg said:

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Thanks for the game guys. Good luck the rest of the year.

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Good luck to you as well. Arizona was the better team and deserved the win. Your QB is amazing and the future is bright. Congrats. That said. I hope your coke-head basketball coach and obviously shady and thoroughly compromised basketball program dies a slow death....that is, if there's any justice in this world.

TheSouseFamily said:

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azgreg said:

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Thanks for the game guys. Good luck the rest of the year.

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Good luck to you as well. Arizona was the better team and deserved the win. Your QB is amazing and the future is bright. Congrats. That said. I hope your coke-head basketball coach and obviously shady and thoroughly compromised basketball program dies a slow death....that is, if there's any justice in this world.

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You seem nice.

ducky23 said:

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BTW, everyone should do themselves a favor (seriously, I'm giving you guys a gift here) and re-watch the 2H of the game and watch nothing else but Malik McMorris. I don't think I remember seeing him miss a single block; and he's often either pancacking guys or pushing them back 4-5 yards. There were actually several instances where if Enwere had just followed McMorris, he would have gained substantial yardage, but instead Enwere missed the hole.

This is a long way of saying, I wouldn't mind us playing big on Saturday against AZ and just seeing if we can play a little like Furd and grind them out a bit. I'm not sure we can win a shootout against these guys.

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I didn't iso McMorris, but yeah, every time I see him getting up, it's with a defender on his back
we might as well put him at guard

azgreg said:

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Thanks for the game guys. Good luck the rest of the year.

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you're QB and OL are amazing
seems like Cal vs AZ always are tight and crazy games each year
I think you earned yourself a bowl tonight

azgreg said:

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TheSouseFamily said:

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azgreg said:

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Thanks for the game guys. Good luck the rest of the year.

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Good luck to you as well. Arizona was the better team and deserved the win. Your QB is amazing and the future is bright. Congrats. That said. I hope your coke-head basketball coach and obviously shady and thoroughly compromised basketball program dies a slow death....that is, if there's any justice in this world.

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You seem nice.

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I'm not sure about nice. But I try to honest and truthful.

HoopDreams said:

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azgreg said:

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Thanks for the game guys. Good luck the rest of the year.

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you're QB and OL are amazing
seems like Cal vs AZ always are tight and crazy games each year
I think you earned yourself a bowl tonight

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I like our chances with Oregon and Oregon St still on the schedule and USC now looks beatable.

one thing I'm sure of after watching this game ...

Cal uniforms > AZ uniforms

HoopDreams said:

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one thing I'm sure of after watching this game ...

Cal uniforms > AZ uniforms

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No argument from me there.