Week 3: It's Always Sunny in College Football
Week 3: It's Always Sunny in College Football
In week one it seemed like the season could be predicted and we could just skip ahead to New Year's Eve and start the playoffs. But then came week two and the Sun Belt descended onto College Station and South Bend. The randomness of college football is what makes it so captivating. We dive into it all and look ahead to next week below, but don't look at the schedule and determine that no good games will happen during the upcoming weekend. College football delivers.
A Week (2) in Review
Favorite Game: Alabama at Texas
Favorite Uniform: Rice Owls
Take a closer look into the inspiration behind the Artemis I uniform we will wear this weekend!#GoOwls👐 x #ArtemisI pic.twitter.com/jQ5wWMPpus
— Rice Football (@RiceFootball) September 6, 2022
Awesome collaboration between Rice, NASA, and Adidas to commemorate the 60th anniversary of JFK's "Moon Shot" speech. The speech is worth a listen if you have the time (it's around 18 minutes) as it is one of the greatest speeches in our nation's history. In the speech he notes the importance to doing hard things such as Rice playing Texas in football. Before the speech, Rice was pretty competitive against Texas but has not been since. Seems like JFK was predicting not only that Neil Armstrong would walk on the moon but also that the Owls would not keep pace with the Longhorns in the recruiting race.
Other Notes from the Weekend
Clemson still isn't firing on all cylinders on offense. Do they need to make the QB switch? Some people are already calling for it... App State is never scared and A&M was looking ahead. Does this knock the Aggies out of playoff contention? Jimbo seems to have the recruiting nailed down but they may be another year away... Oklahoma had a great second half to rally past an inferior opponent. Their defense seems to be more flushed out and that is giving the new parts on offense the time they need to keep pace in the conference... Marshall took the cash and ran and I think Notre Dame was banged up from the trip to Columbus. I hope Buchner is okay with the AC joint injury, but it could be a long season for the Irish... BYU is going to compete for the Big 12 championship in their first season and they let Baylor know it on Saturday night. How always is that stadium? Let's get Utah in the Big 12 too so the Holy War can be a yearly meeting again... USC has something special in Caleb Williams and Jordan Addison can make all the plays. Felt like they let their foot off the gas a bit too early and had to rely on having the better athletes. I still think a wall is coming for them but I would be okay being proven wrong... Oklahoma State's defense still holds up even with a new DC. The Big 12 suddenly has some great defense again, maybe that is why Texas and Oklahoma are leaving... Kentucky has a physical identity to compete in the SEC East. I am not sold on Levis as a pro prospect but that was a big time win. Anthony Richardson came back to earth with some terrible interceptions. Is this early enough he can get back in the Heisman race?... KJ Jefferson could be a dark horse Heisman candidate for the Razorbacks. This team is a ton of fun and is firmly in the Tier 2 of college football this year. They wait you out on defense and match their coach's energy on offense... Tennessee and Pitt should always play because the visual appeal of their uniforms and their propensity for chaos makes for a fun afternoon... Washington State mucked things up and got the win in Camp Randall. Graham Mertz will always have that Friday night in Champaign to remember but I don't think he is the answer at QB that the Badgers need... Houston keeps playing close games and may not be the darlings a lot of people thought they would be. Dana can dial up a great offensive game plan but he can't seem to stop the opponent... Kansas is 2-0 and does this mean we are in for a repeat of 2007? Let's not get too crazy... Mike Leach seems to have gotten the Bulldogs going and is showing that the Air Raid works in the SEC...
Favorite Play of the Week
A lot of the big plays this week were just the supreme athletes making off-script plays. While this is amazing to watch, it can be hard to really get a message out of it for a play breakdown. One thing I want to highlight is Texas' game plan for stopping Will Anderson (when a guy gets one sack and you "stopped" him that means he is really good). Texas chipped and double teamed and kept tight ends and running backs in all game to buy time. One play they even pulled the backside guard to him to help out. But they also moved the pocket. This helps the current play, as you buy your team time, and helps future plays. If Anderson knows the depth and location of the QB on every drop back he can just focus on beating his man to the spot. It also allows the interior linemen to know where the QB may move to avoid Anderson if he can so they can get the sack. Buy moving the location from where the QB is throwing you make the defenders play a step slower because they have to think while they try to run around an athletic 6'6" 320lb human being who is trying to stop them. This allowed Texas to take some shots down the field and gain big yards and draw penalties from the aggressive Bama defensive backs.
- 1: Always identify #31, Will Anderson. Every play Texas ran they thought of this. Here is lined up at right side defensive end, and positioned just outside the left tackle. Even though he has two tight end's aligned outside of him he is picking a direct path to rush the quarterback and is not thinking about the run.
- 2: With no outside receiver on the short side of the field the corner is sitting back and looking into the backfield. He has outside leverage against a quick out and is not as worried about getting beat deep against the slower tight ends.
- 3: The nickel back is around 7 yards off the line of scrimmage. While Bama does not want to give up the first down, they really don't want to give up the touchdown.
- 4: This corner is giving a man look. He's looking at the receiver and is sitting head up. Since he has help from the safety over the top he can just concentrate on staying with the outside receiver. This gives Ewers an idea that if the outside guy runs deep the corner will most likely go with him and not jump an underneath route.
- 1: Ewers rolls towards the wide side of the field and his two receivers. He also is conveniently moving away from Will Anderson. In college the hashmarks are wider than the NFL, meaning that the wide side of the field has a lot more room than the short side.
- 2: One tight end stays in to help the backside tackle with blocking Anderson while the other runs a crossing route.
- 3: The outside receiver has a deep vertical route that the slot receiver will run underneath into the shallow part of the field or "flat". Notice that the outside receiver is running slightly towards the hashmarks like the FSU receiver did last week. While this could help on the off chance he gets thrown the ball it also allows him to get in the way of the nickel corner and set a pick. Most often we see this near the goal line but it has the same effect here.
- 4: The running back sprints to the endman on the line of scrimmage to block his outside shoulder. This gives Ewers time to make the throw and the space to not have to fade away or have a chance of the ball being batted down.
- 1: Ewers has no one around him and is able to make an easy throw. Literally no defender within 5 yards.
- 2: Anderson has finally made it to the area where Ewers took the snap. Even with two guys blocking him, he could have made the sack if Texas did not roll Ewers out.
- 3: The running back sets the edge beautifully. No one is between the QB and receiver.
- 4: The slot receiver is in the flat with no one around him. Notice the outside receiver is mucking things up for the corner and the nickel corner is actually running around those two while they are engaged.
- Ewers throws the ball a bit behind the receiver but he has so much room it does not matter. A first down is gained and Bama's defense has to stay on the field. The nickel makes an incredible effort to close the gap but the play design beat him this time.
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