Gameplan

Welcome back to The Call Sheet!

In classic college football fashion, a week that only brought one ranked matchup ended with six top twenty-five teams falling to unranked opponents. The two most notable upsets came in the SEC, where #1 Alabama lost on the road to Vanderbilt, and #4 Tennessee lost on the road to Arkansas. Today, we’ll take a look at the ending of both of those games. TLDR:

• Cover 2

  • Vanderbilt Seals the Upset with Window Dressing

  • Arkansas Relying on Zone Read to Score Late

Cover 2

Vanderbilt Seals the Upset with Window Dressing

A week after beating Georgia in a thrilling matchup, Alabama lost on the road to Vanderbilt, a school that was previously 0-60 against top-five opponents. The final score of 40-35 doesn’t tell the whole story; much of this game was not close. Vandy dominated the time of possession and forced two turnovers while committing none. Starting quarterback Diego Pavia had his Johnny Manziel moment against the Crimson Tide, leading the Commodores to a massive victory with his exceptional playmaking ability. However, with an opportunity to cement the win late in the game, Vandy relied on simple plays with window dressing to gain multiple first downs and drain the clock.

On 2nd & 12 from their own 16, Vanderbilt ran a sprint-out pass designed to get their running back open in the flat. Due to his successful playmaking throughout the game, Pavia drew the eyes of the strong safety, who was responsible for covering Sedrick Alexander out of the backfield; Alexander was a couple of steps ahead of the defender, which allowed him to catch the ball and run for a nineteen-yard gain.

Vanderbilt ran yet another simple play on the following play but dressed it up to look a bit more complex. The Commodores lined up in an unbalanced formation, with the X-receiver covering the tight end, and Alabama did not adjust their front to account for it. Additionally, Vandy motioned the F into the backfield, which Bama seemed to ignore. These two pieces of window dressing created an extra gap in the run game that Vanderbilt exploited. Running G Lead resulted in Vandy’s second first down of the drive and forced Alabama to call their second timeout.

A couple of plays later, Vanderbilt faced a 2nd & 6 from the Alabama 48. Once again, the Commodores lined up in an unbalanced formation and put a player in motion. This time, they faked an inside zone to influence the linebackers toward the line of scrimmage, but Pavia kept the ball on a quarterback sweep with both tight ends as lead blockers. Pavia picked up a first down, and Alabama was forced to use its final timeout before the clock eventually ran out.

Securing a win over the #1 team in the country is no easy feat. Still, Vanderbilt showcased how proper use of formations and motions to dress up simple plays can be a significant advantage, especially in 4-minute offense, and they made that final drive look easy.

Arkansas Relying on Zone Read to Score Late

Arkansas played a near-perfect game to pull off their upset win over #4 Tennessee: outgained the Volunteers by 100 yards, didn’t turn the ball over, and held possession for over thirty-five minutes. Yet, on its final drive, Arkansas had to rely on their backup quarterback and running back to take the lead. The Razorbacks would score in four plays, but the final three were all zone reads.

After gaining thirteen yards on a pass to open the drive, Arkansas faced a first down from Tennessee’s 46. The Razorbacks ran a simple zone read out of the pistol and gashed the Volunteers for twenty-four yards. The six-man box that Tennessee presented left them a man short. No matter what Malachi Singleton chose to do (hand the ball off to Braylen Russell or keep it), the Razorbacks would have gained a huge chunk of yards.

On the following play, Arkansas ran zone read again, but this time with a jet-motion from the H-receiver and an arc from the tight end. The way the defensive end rushed up the field forced Singleton to hand the ball off to Russell, who gained eleven yards. But again, Tennessee did not have enough players to defend a zone read. Had the defensive end crashed toward Russell initially, Singleton would have kept the ball and followed two lead blockers for a big gain.

Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino didn’t get creative on the following play. He just flipped his previous call, and Tennessee gifted his offense with an even lighter box. Although the play wasn’t blocked well, Singleton reached the endzone because he had so much space on the edge. He only needed the H-receiver to lightly nudge the nickel to spring himself free for a go-ahead touchdown.

Since Arkansas was down to its backup quarterback and running back, Bobby Petrino simplified his playcalling and relied on the natural athletic ability of the two young men who stepped up in a big moment. Although the call sheet was limited, Petrino still used window dressing to give his offense a better chance of gaining yards. Still, he also greatly benefitted from the fronts Tennessee consistently lined up in.

If you’re new, you can catch up on previous posts here. Thank you all for spending a little bit of your day with me. See you next week!