This post is going to examine both the first and 2nd offensive possessions for the Rams. The reasons for this are manifold. First, the Rams basically layout their entire game plan in these first 13 plays. Second, we find our limitations as a defense fairly quickly. Third, CSU appears to make a fairly simple adjustment from possession one to possession two, and it's probably easier for us to view that in one thread as opposed to two separate ones. So let's get started.
Drive: 1, Play: 1
Down: 1, Distance: 10
Formation: Shotgun, Personnel: 11
Defensive Package: 3-3-5
The Rams unexpectedly come out in a Shotgun formation with strength of the formation to the boundary side of the field. The Buffs are in 3-3-5 nickel package aligned in a 4-2-5 scheme. It appears the the call is man to man, playing attention to the alignment of Witherspoon as the boundary corner, also notice Gamboa hedge out to inside leverage on the slot receiver as Awuzie walks up to the LoS.
At the snap Awuzie comes unblocked straight for Stevens. McCarney the OLB to the boundary recognizes the play but also perhaps was in man to man on the RB, hard to tell because he reacts so quickly. CSU is running a screen, a play they would go back to about a half dozen times throughout the game. This is in obvious response to Leavitt's reputation as an aggressive defensive coordinator, and it's a good call because CU does try to bring pressure on this play.
The OG Golditch and the TE release from the LOS. Golditch gets a good block on McCartney and the TE is able to seal off KO. Gamboa has picked up the slot WR at this point. This play is one tackle away from going for at least a first down. Notice who makes a great tackle here, Ahkello Witherspoon. This is a far cry from his tackling efforts last week against Umass. He stops Dawkins for a three yard gain.
Drive: 1, Play: 2
Down: 2, Distance: 7
Formation: Shotgun, Personnel: 11
Defensive Package: 3-3-5
Both sides have the same personnel as the play before, however KO and the TE have both flipped sides. The strength of the formation is now to the field side. Witherspoon has a fairly large cushion on the outside WR as is Awuzie; Crawley is up tight on his man at the bottom of the screen.
Stevens gets happy feet because his first read, Dawkins the flat is covered and appears to be doubled by Gamboa and Moeller. Moeller seems like the man assigned to Dawkins by how quickly he closes down on the route. I wonder if Gamboa wasn't suppose to have an underneath zone that he vacates with a quick reaction to Dawkins. The man Witherspoon was covering actually breaks open on a post in part because both Moeller and Gamboa rush to Dawkins. The coverage on the field side of the play looks pretty tight.
It turns out well for the Buffs because despite a nice pocket for Stevens, he unnecessarily rushes upfield forgoing his protection. Leo Jackson makes a stellar individual effort here, sheds the cut block and pursues inside to get a good hit on Stevens for no gain. This is the second consecutive play where Stevens tackles a good pop.
Drive: 1, Play: 3
Down: 3, Distance: 7
Formation: Shotgun, Personnel: 11
Defensive Package: 2-3-6
The defense shuffles personnel and subs John Walker in for Gamboa because it's an obvious passing situation. CSU also indicates pass by now have the TE in a two point stance in the slot instead of in inline in a three point stance. Walker this time is assigned to the TE and has tight covered. KO is weak side and picks up Dawkins nicely. Witherspoon is boundary side and again gives his man perhaps too much cushion as he appears open coming out of his break again on the same route. The rest of the coverage is pretty tight including Crawley who is pressed up on Hansley. This is a bad matchup for CSU because there is nothing Hansley has on Crawley in the way of physical attributes.
At the snap, both McCartney and Gilbert rush. McCartney goes with a move that gave the Umass tackle fits though Callender does a nice job here even if he is a bit off balance. Gilbert shows nice athleticism side stepping the cut block by the other OT. Carrell gets a nice push. As we see the ball sails on Stevens, but even if he had been delivered Crawley was in great position. Hard to know if the first two hits of the game affected Stevens on this play, looks like a misfire more than anything as his feet appeared to be decent.
That's the end of the first offensive possession for CSU. Who would have thought they would have come out in a shotgun, three-wide set and tried to throw with Stevens right out of the gate? On this series of plays we perhaps see the inexperience in Stevens. He also locks on to this first target, in one case runs out of a great pocket into a near sack despite a WR flashing open. In another case, he again doesn't realize that Witherspoon is playing off again and forces an underneath throw to a WR who is blanketed. Think we can sympathize with this just a little.
Now for the second possession, CSU totally re-orients on the offense. The personnel package is different and the play calling is much different. They go right at the teeth of the CU defense this series, testing for any weakness there.
Drive: 2, Play: 1
Down: 1, Distance: 10
Formation: Offset I, Personnel: 21
Defensive Package: 3-4
On this series CSU opens with a personnel grouping much more familiar to what many of had expected to see. The have both a TE and an FB in the game, and Stevens is now under center. CU counters with the base 3-4 defense; McCartney and Gilbert are the two outside backers with KO and Gamboa in the middle.
This play should look extremely familiar after last week against Umass. CSU is running Power/Counter here. Notice the back side guard pulling and the FB blocking play side. The CSU FB or the OG misses their block on Gilbert. If the OG missed his assignment, the play was a counter. If it was the FB, which I suspect, then it's power. Anyway, the missed assignment let's Gilbert knife and stuff Dawkins.
There are a few other subtleties worth pointing out. First, CSU does not double the NT or the DT, instead leaving the C on the NT and the TE on the DT. This is a little bit unconventional with this kind of play because typically one of the down lineman gets doubled (and I know the DT gets doubled by the TE and FB, but remember the FB isn't suppose to be there). As the game wears on CSU does this time and again. Instead, the play side guard releases right up to the LB, in this case KO. This is crucial because it provides the slippery Dawkins with a block already established at the second level relying that he fit through tight seams, it beats on our LBs who as we will see struggle with this design and it also basically says that CSU believes they can handle our DL one on one.
CSU does not get a great push here, notice Jordan Carrel muscling his guy to the end of the play. Gamboa does a nice job of throwing the OG down though he was already off balance. Hansley is not much of a blocker. Generally not well executed by CSU but Dawkins displays good balance not going down immediately.
Drive: 2, Play: 2
Down: 2, Distance: 10
Formation: I Form, Personnel: 21
Defensive Package: 3-4
CSU aligns in an I-form in the same personnel as the play before, as do we. At the snap of the ball, CSU doubles Jordan Carrell. McCartney does a nice job of maintaining outside leverage and redirecting the Toss Sweep back inside. Unfortunately, we see one of the bigger limitations with our LBs in that they are undersized and not overly physical. Gamboa needs to step into the hole and blast that FB coming around the corner. He does an excellent job of diagnosing the play but then waits for the FB instead of attacking and blowing up the play. He gets put down for his troubles. This also seals off KO. This is literally the two on two tackling drill every player does. This play has nothing to do with scheme and everything to do with just pulling the damn trigger and making the play. This is a pivotal sequence because as we will see, the CSU coaches notice how well Gamboa takes on lead and advancing blockers. This is the biggest area of improvement for Gamboa.
Fortunately, Moeller comes flying upfield, as both he, Thompson and Awuzie do throughout the game to make key stops. This is the first of many. Again, the CSU OL gets a nice seal on Carrell but it is hard work for them, not exactly throwing him the dirt even with three guys at one point.
Drive: 2, Play: 3
Down: 3, Distance: 5
Formation: Shotgun, Personnel: 10
Defensive Package: 3-4
Again the CU defense forces CSU into a 3rd and middle distance conversion attempt which causes CSU to swap into a 4WR 1RB shotgun set but with 5 WR personnel. CSU does something sneaky here and puts Hansley in at RB. This matches him up with KO. Notice this is the second third down in a row CSU is looking to Hansley for the conversion. This may indicate they do no have full faith in Higgins yet or they feel they find better match-ups with Hansley in the passing game.
Excellent camera angles by CBS sports do not let us get a great look at the rest of the play, however, it is clear that Hansley is Stevens' first read. KO actually has decent coverage and demonstrates one of his strengths in that he can turn and run with receivers and running backs. Unfortunately, we also see one of his weaknesse. He just needs to tackle better and CSU is off of the field. Instead he goes high, doesn't wrap up properly and gets pulled to the first down marker.
The pass rush isn't great here but McCartney does appear to lay a hand of Stevens as he is releasing the ball.
Drive: 1, Play: 1
Down: 1, Distance: 10
Formation: Shotgun, Personnel: 11
Defensive Package: 3-3-5
The Rams unexpectedly come out in a Shotgun formation with strength of the formation to the boundary side of the field. The Buffs are in 3-3-5 nickel package aligned in a 4-2-5 scheme. It appears the the call is man to man, playing attention to the alignment of Witherspoon as the boundary corner, also notice Gamboa hedge out to inside leverage on the slot receiver as Awuzie walks up to the LoS.
At the snap Awuzie comes unblocked straight for Stevens. McCarney the OLB to the boundary recognizes the play but also perhaps was in man to man on the RB, hard to tell because he reacts so quickly. CSU is running a screen, a play they would go back to about a half dozen times throughout the game. This is in obvious response to Leavitt's reputation as an aggressive defensive coordinator, and it's a good call because CU does try to bring pressure on this play.
The OG Golditch and the TE release from the LOS. Golditch gets a good block on McCartney and the TE is able to seal off KO. Gamboa has picked up the slot WR at this point. This play is one tackle away from going for at least a first down. Notice who makes a great tackle here, Ahkello Witherspoon. This is a far cry from his tackling efforts last week against Umass. He stops Dawkins for a three yard gain.
Drive: 1, Play: 2
Down: 2, Distance: 7
Formation: Shotgun, Personnel: 11
Defensive Package: 3-3-5
Both sides have the same personnel as the play before, however KO and the TE have both flipped sides. The strength of the formation is now to the field side. Witherspoon has a fairly large cushion on the outside WR as is Awuzie; Crawley is up tight on his man at the bottom of the screen.
Stevens gets happy feet because his first read, Dawkins the flat is covered and appears to be doubled by Gamboa and Moeller. Moeller seems like the man assigned to Dawkins by how quickly he closes down on the route. I wonder if Gamboa wasn't suppose to have an underneath zone that he vacates with a quick reaction to Dawkins. The man Witherspoon was covering actually breaks open on a post in part because both Moeller and Gamboa rush to Dawkins. The coverage on the field side of the play looks pretty tight.
It turns out well for the Buffs because despite a nice pocket for Stevens, he unnecessarily rushes upfield forgoing his protection. Leo Jackson makes a stellar individual effort here, sheds the cut block and pursues inside to get a good hit on Stevens for no gain. This is the second consecutive play where Stevens tackles a good pop.
Drive: 1, Play: 3
Down: 3, Distance: 7
Formation: Shotgun, Personnel: 11
Defensive Package: 2-3-6
The defense shuffles personnel and subs John Walker in for Gamboa because it's an obvious passing situation. CSU also indicates pass by now have the TE in a two point stance in the slot instead of in inline in a three point stance. Walker this time is assigned to the TE and has tight covered. KO is weak side and picks up Dawkins nicely. Witherspoon is boundary side and again gives his man perhaps too much cushion as he appears open coming out of his break again on the same route. The rest of the coverage is pretty tight including Crawley who is pressed up on Hansley. This is a bad matchup for CSU because there is nothing Hansley has on Crawley in the way of physical attributes.
At the snap, both McCartney and Gilbert rush. McCartney goes with a move that gave the Umass tackle fits though Callender does a nice job here even if he is a bit off balance. Gilbert shows nice athleticism side stepping the cut block by the other OT. Carrell gets a nice push. As we see the ball sails on Stevens, but even if he had been delivered Crawley was in great position. Hard to know if the first two hits of the game affected Stevens on this play, looks like a misfire more than anything as his feet appeared to be decent.
That's the end of the first offensive possession for CSU. Who would have thought they would have come out in a shotgun, three-wide set and tried to throw with Stevens right out of the gate? On this series of plays we perhaps see the inexperience in Stevens. He also locks on to this first target, in one case runs out of a great pocket into a near sack despite a WR flashing open. In another case, he again doesn't realize that Witherspoon is playing off again and forces an underneath throw to a WR who is blanketed. Think we can sympathize with this just a little.
Now for the second possession, CSU totally re-orients on the offense. The personnel package is different and the play calling is much different. They go right at the teeth of the CU defense this series, testing for any weakness there.
Drive: 2, Play: 1
Down: 1, Distance: 10
Formation: Offset I, Personnel: 21
Defensive Package: 3-4
On this series CSU opens with a personnel grouping much more familiar to what many of had expected to see. The have both a TE and an FB in the game, and Stevens is now under center. CU counters with the base 3-4 defense; McCartney and Gilbert are the two outside backers with KO and Gamboa in the middle.
This play should look extremely familiar after last week against Umass. CSU is running Power/Counter here. Notice the back side guard pulling and the FB blocking play side. The CSU FB or the OG misses their block on Gilbert. If the OG missed his assignment, the play was a counter. If it was the FB, which I suspect, then it's power. Anyway, the missed assignment let's Gilbert knife and stuff Dawkins.
There are a few other subtleties worth pointing out. First, CSU does not double the NT or the DT, instead leaving the C on the NT and the TE on the DT. This is a little bit unconventional with this kind of play because typically one of the down lineman gets doubled (and I know the DT gets doubled by the TE and FB, but remember the FB isn't suppose to be there). As the game wears on CSU does this time and again. Instead, the play side guard releases right up to the LB, in this case KO. This is crucial because it provides the slippery Dawkins with a block already established at the second level relying that he fit through tight seams, it beats on our LBs who as we will see struggle with this design and it also basically says that CSU believes they can handle our DL one on one.
CSU does not get a great push here, notice Jordan Carrel muscling his guy to the end of the play. Gamboa does a nice job of throwing the OG down though he was already off balance. Hansley is not much of a blocker. Generally not well executed by CSU but Dawkins displays good balance not going down immediately.
Drive: 2, Play: 2
Down: 2, Distance: 10
Formation: I Form, Personnel: 21
Defensive Package: 3-4
CSU aligns in an I-form in the same personnel as the play before, as do we. At the snap of the ball, CSU doubles Jordan Carrell. McCartney does a nice job of maintaining outside leverage and redirecting the Toss Sweep back inside. Unfortunately, we see one of the bigger limitations with our LBs in that they are undersized and not overly physical. Gamboa needs to step into the hole and blast that FB coming around the corner. He does an excellent job of diagnosing the play but then waits for the FB instead of attacking and blowing up the play. He gets put down for his troubles. This also seals off KO. This is literally the two on two tackling drill every player does. This play has nothing to do with scheme and everything to do with just pulling the damn trigger and making the play. This is a pivotal sequence because as we will see, the CSU coaches notice how well Gamboa takes on lead and advancing blockers. This is the biggest area of improvement for Gamboa.
Fortunately, Moeller comes flying upfield, as both he, Thompson and Awuzie do throughout the game to make key stops. This is the first of many. Again, the CSU OL gets a nice seal on Carrell but it is hard work for them, not exactly throwing him the dirt even with three guys at one point.
Drive: 2, Play: 3
Down: 3, Distance: 5
Formation: Shotgun, Personnel: 10
Defensive Package: 3-4
Again the CU defense forces CSU into a 3rd and middle distance conversion attempt which causes CSU to swap into a 4WR 1RB shotgun set but with 5 WR personnel. CSU does something sneaky here and puts Hansley in at RB. This matches him up with KO. Notice this is the second third down in a row CSU is looking to Hansley for the conversion. This may indicate they do no have full faith in Higgins yet or they feel they find better match-ups with Hansley in the passing game.
Excellent camera angles by CBS sports do not let us get a great look at the rest of the play, however, it is clear that Hansley is Stevens' first read. KO actually has decent coverage and demonstrates one of his strengths in that he can turn and run with receivers and running backs. Unfortunately, we also see one of his weaknesse. He just needs to tackle better and CSU is off of the field. Instead he goes high, doesn't wrap up properly and gets pulled to the first down marker.
The pass rush isn't great here but McCartney does appear to lay a hand of Stevens as he is releasing the ball.
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