Showing posts with label Replay Booth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Replay Booth. Show all posts

Replay Booth: Offense vs. Florida State  

Everyone knows the offensive performance against Florida State wasn't exactly the best we've seen from this offense, and in some ways it may have been one of the worst, so let's take an in-depth look and see what we've really got here.

If you missed the "Replay Booth" post from the Ole Miss game, or forgot some of the metrics used, refer to that post for an explanation of what everything means. Feel free to leave questions as well.

If you're reading this from the homepage, you'll find the rest of the post below the jump. It's really long and would make the front page huge, so click below to see the play-by-play and analysis. If you came straight to this post, ignore what I just said and keep reading.


LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
W19110Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassSlantBrinkman0
Incomplete pass thrown into traffic. Skinner probably shouldn't have tried to make that throw, although there may have been uncalled interference (BR, 1).
W19210I Form4-3RunBlastAdams-2
Defensive tackle comes untouched into the backfield. Ben Wooster got schooled (-1).
W17312Shotgun 3-wide4-3PassRolloutBrinkman0
Really good protection, particularly good block by Birdsong (+1). Great coverage by FSU makes Riley throw it away (TA, 0)
Drive Notes: Punt. 0-0, 14:00 1Q. Clearly never good to start with a 3 and out.
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
F45110Shotgun 5-wideDimePassShallow crossM. Williams1
Quick timing route and a good pass by Skinner (CA, 3). Williams had an easy 3 yard gain but tried to make more of it and lost a couple, which wasn't very smart.
F4429??RunBlastAdams5
Wake ran this play quick trying to get an advantage on FSU, and caught ESPN off guard in the process. We miss the beginning of the play so I don't know exactly what happens, but it looked like a good push from the whole line and a nice run by Adams straight up the middle.
F3934Shotgun 3-wide4-3RunOptionBoldin5
Skinner and Boldin, who came in motion to the backfield, run the option to the right to pick up the first down. I like this play a lot and wish we would see it more often. Well done by all.
F34110Ace 3-wide4-3PassRolloutM. Williams0
FSU brought a couple blitzers here and the line picked it up fairly well as Skinner rolled left and made a tough throw on the run. It would have taken a pretty incredible catch by Y'lou, but I don't think Skinner had any other options (IN, 3).
F34210Ace 3-wide4-3RunOff-tackleAdams0
The center Bailey is pulling on this run to the right but there wasn't any push and nowhere for Adams to go. (-1 for Bailey and Griffin)
F34310Shotgun 5-wide3-3PassSlantM. Williams3
Skinner gets rid of this ball over the middle to Williams in a hurry, catchable but not perfect (CA, 2). A blitz was coming and Nenon picked it up nicely, but Birdsong didn't do so well on the end (+1, -1)
Drive Notes: Field Goal, 3-0, 11:30 1Q. The first three plays were nice, but things stalled again. Skinner looks a little ""off"" already.
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
F27110Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassWR screenBrinkman8
Easy screen to Brinkman on the right (CA, 3). Birdsong misses his block badly again (-1) but Bailey has a nice block out in front of the play (+1).
F1922Ace 3-wide4-3RunCounterAdams6
Good looking counter to the right. Rinfrette makes an excellent cut block to lead the way (+1).
F13110Ace 3-wide4-3RunDiveAdams1
Dive straight up the middle - looked like Wooster tried to block the wrong guy and the one he missed made the tackle (-1).
F1229Ace 3-wide4-3RunDrawAdams-3
A draw play where everyone picked up their block except for fullback Belton (-1).
F15312Shotgun 5-wideNickelPenaltyHoldingGriffin-10
This would have been the only touchdown of the game with a nice connection from Skinner to M. Williams, but for a holding penalty in the backfield by Griffin (-1). Wasn't a really bad hold, but they'll still catch you sometimes.
F25322Ace 3-wide4-3RunOff-tackleAdams16
Good run play to the right picking up a chunk of yards. Nice blocks by both Bailey (who was pulling) and Belton (+1 each).
Drive Notes: Missed field goal, 3-0, 8:00. Swank doesn't miss many 27 yard field goals, and it was a bad sign of things to come. It's definitely frustrating to start a drive on your opponents 27 and come up with nothing. Two turnovers, two drives starting on the opponents half of the field, and only 3 points to show for it.
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
W27110Shotgun 3-wide4-3PenaltyHoldingNenon-10
I believe this penalty was called on Nenon (hard to hear - they were talking about Brett Farve over the top of the referee. -1). Was an option draw up the middle by Skinner.
W17120Ace 3-wide4-3PassPostWooster0
Trying to hit Wooster across the middle but he was well covered. Pretty good protection, but not a great pass (IN, 1)
W17220Ace tight4-3RunEnd aroundBoldin6
Boldin gets the ball on an end around to the left, but 6 yards on 2 and 20 isn't going to cut it. I'd like the play in other situations, though.
W23314Shotgun 4-wideNickelPassFlyM. Williams52
This was probably the best deep ball Skinner's thrown all season, and Williams almost dropped it but managed to hang on (DO, 3). Protection was good as well. Great 3rd down conversion
F25110Ace 3-wide4-3Run?Pendergrass-9
FSU D-end jumps the snap count perfectly and Nenon never even had a chance to make the block. Just a great defensive play, although some snap cout variation would probably help.
F34219Ace 3-wide4-3RunOff-tacklePendergrass1
The backside lineback comes all the way across to make this play off tackle to the right. Bailey was pulling and probably should have blocked that linebacker instead of the corner he ended up blocking (-1).
F33318Shotgun 2RBNickelPassSackSkinner-10
Another missed block by Birdsong leads to this sack (-1, PR). Not a good start to the night for him, and it knocks Wake out of field goal range.
Drive Notes: Punt, 3-0, 3:00 1Q. A very promising drive goes downhill in a hurry towards the end with some great defensive play by FSU
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
W45110Shotgun tight4-3PassShallow crossBrown20
Beautiful play here as Skinner dumps the ball of to Y'lou coming shallow across the middle (CA, 3). Wake's WRs had run of the man coverage and there was plenty of open space for Y'lou to run.
F35110Shotgun 3-wide4-3PenaltyFalse StartGriffin-5
Flinches a bit early (-1).
F40115Ace 3-wide4-3RunDrawPendergrass-2
This play was a perfect example of a running back taking too long in the backfield. The blocks were all there but Pendergrass doesn't hit the hole and gets tackled in the backfield by a saftey. That shouldn't happen.
F41217Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassFumbleSkinner-7
FSU brought 6 and Wake only had 5 to block with, so there wasn't much they could do. Skinner just needed to get rid of the ball faster (PR).
Drive Notes: Fumble, 3-0, 13:00 2Q. In 5 drives Wake has been on FSU's side of the field 4 times, and only come up with 3 points. Ugh.
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
W34110Shotgun 4-wideNickelPassCurlWooster11
Great catch by Wooster in traffic on a ball that was a bit high (CA, 2). The line held their blocks very well, particularly Birdsong (+1). Nice first down.
W45110??PassFlareHarris11
Nice catch by Harris on a low throw moving to the right (CA, 2). Bob Davie and Mark Jones were telling some stupid food story in the booth and we missed the beginning of the play so I have no idea what formations were run, sorry.
F44110Unbalanced right4-3PassFlareAdams15
Really weird formation here, with an extra guy to the right - only time I've seen this formation all season. Well designed dump off to Adams (CA, 3) for a big gain to the left.
F29110I Form4-3RunBlastAdams5
This probably seems funny, but this may have been one of the most technically sound running plays the Deacs have run all year. A simple blast play to the right with Nenon pulling from LG. Nenon pancakes his guy (+1), Rinfrette pancakes another with a lead block as the fullback (+1) and everyone else picks up there blocks, too. Perfect.
F2425Ace 3-wide4-3RunOff-tackleAdams5
Another nice running play, Adams makes a nice cut up field off of good kick out blocks by Bailey and Griffin (+1 each)
F19110Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassScreenBoldin2
Screen play to the left may have worked had Adams not missed his first block (CA, 3). I don't keep blocking stats for him, or else he'd get a -1. Interesting to note that this is Boldin's first catch of the game. He'd had two running plays, but no catches, and we only have 5 minutes left in the half.
F1728??Run?Adams0
ESPN was busy showing us the replay of the previous down and didn't bother to show anything but the tackle on this play. Who knows what happened.
F1738Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassSlantWooster6
Every time Wake goes to 5 wide FSU brings 2 blitzers to outnumber the offensive linemen and get automatic pressure. This means that anything other than a quick pass won't work (as indicated by the fumble on the previous drive). Skinner gets of a pass a little behind Wooster over the middle (IN, 2) but it isn't enough to get the first down.
F1142Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassQuick outWooster0
FSU brings the pressure on 5 wide again and gets their hands up to bat down the pass (PR, 0). Even before the play I said I would have rather put the 3 on the board than go for that one. Oh well.
Drive Notes: Turnover on downs, 3-0, 4:00 2Q. The frustration mounts…it's pretty inexcusible for Wake to only have 3 points on the board this late in the half. I still don't agree with going for it on 4th
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
F17110Ace 3-wide4-3RunOff-tackleAdams4
Good little run by Adams here to the left. Good blocks by several guys, including McMillin, Bailey, and Looney (+1s)
F1326Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassScrambleSkinner11
Skinner makes an excellent choice to scramble here (and gets a nice block from Birdsong +1) but makes a terrible decision not to switch the ball to his outside arm. It was a great effort and I don't fault him for trying to get to the endzone, but you’ve got to have the ball properly protected.
Drive Notes: Fumble, 3-0, 0:30 2Q. Missed opportunity after missed opportunity. Pretty abysmal.
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
W24110Ace 3-wide4-3PassFlareRinfrette12
Rinfrette motions into the backfield and then flares out to the right for a big gain (CA, 3). Ball gets out quick so no blocking worries, and this play worked well all night.
W36110Shotgun 4-wideNickelRunDrawAdams14
Line opens up a great hole on this draw play up the middle. Particularly good blocks by McMillin, Bailey, and a pulling Nenon (+1). That's what a running play is supposed to look like.
W50110Shotgun 4-wideNickelPassOutBrinkman8
A timing route here and Skinner makes a really nice throw to Brinkman along the right sideline (DO, 3).
F4222Ace tight4-3Penalty12 menFSU5
Wake rushed to the line after the previous play and FSU wasn't ready for it. Couldn't get the 12th man off the field and Wake gets a free five yards. I like the heads up nature of this.
F37110I tight4-3RunFumbleSkinner0
Hard to tell whether it was Bailey's fault or Riley's here, although it seems Bailey may have been trying to get out of his stance too quickly, either way I'm pretty sure Wake has now fumbled a snap in each game, which is a very easy way to waste opportunities.
F37210I tight4-3PassPlay actionParker11
This may have been the play that was meant to be run on first down, and off the play action Adams made a very nice cut block. Skinner's pass was great and Parker ran a good route over the middle (CA, 3).
F15110Ace 3-wide4-3RunCounterAdams3
This play was slow developing around the right side, and would have been a loss were it not for a good block from Rinfrette who had come in motion (+1).
F1227Ace 3-wide4-3PassFlagWooster0
Almost a touchdown here, but Skinner's pass had just a little bit too much on it. Would have taken a miraculous diving catch from Wooster (IN, 1).
F1237Shotgun 4-wideNickelPassDragBoldin0
This was not a smart pass by Skinner, who was facing a bit of pressure but shouldn't have made the throw he did - easily could have been intercepted (BR, 0). Protection wasn't great either, although the pressure came because Adams was left to block 2 defenders and that just wasn't going to happen. He did a fairly good job slowing both of them down, actually.
Drive Notes: Field Goal, 6-0, 10:00 3Q. All things considered a pretty good drive, but it once again would have been nice to capitalize with a touchdown. Still, the best drive of the night so far.
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
W16110Ace 3-wide4-3RunCounterAdams3
Not a bad run play, but I feel like Adams should have hit the hole quicker instead of trying to break it outside a little bit more. Birdsong probably should have made another block on a linebacker, but it wasn't too egregious.
W1927Ace 3-wide4-3PassDragParker31+15
Skinner did a great job stepping up in a somewhat collapsing pocket and dumping the ball off to Parker for another big gain (CA, 3).
F33110Shotgun 4-wide4-3PassFlareAdams0
There appeared to be some miscommunication between Adams and Skinner here, because Adams definitely wasn't expecting a pass. I don't think Skinner should have made the pass, he had plenty of time and Adams wasn't open (BR, 1).
F33210Shotgun 4-wideNickelPassCrossBoldin2
FSU brought both linebackers on a blitz, and Skinner realized it and dumped it off to Boldin for a few yards. About all he could have done with it (CA, 3).
F3138Shotgun 4-wideNickelPassRolloutM. Williams0
A designed rollout to the right gives Skinner plenty of time, but his throw wasn't accurate (IN, 1). I think Williams was open, so a better throw could have been a big gain.
Drive Notes: Field Goal, 9-3, 4:30 3Q. Good to answer FSU's field goal, and not a terrible drive.
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
W35110Shotgun tight4-3PassReverse PassBoldin/Brinkman0
Lobo reaches into his bag of tricks for this WR pass. It set up fairly well but Boldin's throw wasn't on target. I suppose that's forgiveable (IN, 0).
W35210Shotgun tight4-3RunOptionSkinner0
Back to the WR motion option, which is usually a play I like. FSU stayed home and had an extra defender in the area, which basically meant there was no read that would have been successful. Good defense.
W35310Shotgun 4-wideNickelPenaltyFacemaskFSU+15
Pocket protection broke down on this play thanks to McMilling and Griffin (-1). Got lucky with a facemask call which probably should have been a no-call. We'll take it.
W50110Ace 3-wide4-3PenaltyOffsidesFSU+5
FSU finally got caught trying to jump the snap for a 5 yard penalty
F4515Ace tight4-3PassPlay ActionWooster0
Really bad pass by Skinner here - I think Wooster was open but the pass was about 5 yards behind him (IN, 0). Nice blitz pickup by Pendergrass.
F4525I Form4-3PenaltyPIFSU+15
Another play action play here - FSU called for grabbing the jersey of Boldin - no stats.
F30110Ace 3-wide4-3RunDivePendergrass-4
Run up the middle gets broken up by a well timed FSU blitz. Bailey wasn't able to pick it up fast enough and the play broke down (-1)
F34214I 3-wide4-3RunEnd aroundBoldin0
FSU stayed home and Boldin had no where to go as he got the handoff around to the left. Pretty terrible effort on a cut block by Harris from FB (-1).
F34314Shotgun tight4-3PassScrambleSkinner3
Birdsong got absolutely schooled outside on the left and Skinner should have been sacked (-1). Skinner did well to escape and get a few yards.
Drive Notes: Missed Field goal, 9-3, 15:00 4Q. Missed field goal number two, and at this point in the game it was a scary thing to be missing these field goals. Not good.
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
W38110Ace 3-wide4-3PenaltyHoldingBailey-10
Replay makes it look like this holding call on Bailey was a pretty terrible call. By the time he did anything that looked remotely illegal Pendergrass was already 15 yards up field. Would have been a 30 yard gain and a great draw play up the middle.
W28120Shotgun 4-wideNickelPassFlarePendergrass2
Eh. Nothing to say about this one.
W30218Ace tight4-3PassPlay actionBrinkman"0, -5"
Double play action, first to Adams up the middle then to Boldin on the end around. It was effective and Brinkman was wide open down field, but Skinner once again failed to make an accurate throw (IN, 0). Brinkman gets the bonehead award to subsequently kicking the ball through the endzone, costing Wake 15 yards.
W25333I Form4-3RunDiveAdams9
It wasn't likely Wake would pick up a first down, so I like the idea of picking up a chunk on the ground and getting field position. Nice run.
Drive Notes: Punt, 9-3, 10:00 4Q
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
W37110Ace 3-wide4-3Run?Adams0
Can I give the whole o line a minus on this one? I don't think anyone made a good block - there were 5 FSU guys in the backfield around the ball. I'm not even sure how Adams got back to the line of scrimmage. I'm doing it. Minus 1 for all.
W37210I Form4-3PassPlay actionHarris6
Nice play action play to Harris flaring out of the backfield (CA, 3).
W4334Ace 3-wideNickelRunDiveAdams1
Tough play call here - I'm surprised it was a running play. There wasn't really any penetration, but there was no push and no hole. Tough.
Drive Notes: Punt, 9-3, 4:30 4Q
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
F22110I Form4-4RunDiveAdams2
Hard to get any yards no matter what you do when the opponent has nine guys in the box. Seriously. 9 defenders between the tackles and within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. I guess that's what happens when you have the lead late and will obviously run, but dang.
F2129Ace 3-wide4-3PassScrambleSkinner5
Skinner did well not to try and force a pass here. Slid to stay safe and stay in bounds. Good.
F1533Ace 3-wide4-3PassOutBoldin0
Skinner's pass once again pretty much uncatchable (IN, 1). Good protection.
Drive Notes: Missed field goal, 9-3, 2:45 4Q. Pretty low point in the game right here. Chance to seal it dissapears wide left.
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
F11110Ace 3-wide4-4RunCounterPendergrass-3
Again FSU brought nine guys. Can't block 'em all, although a better block from Belton might have gotten them back to the line of scrimmage (-1). After this play FSU calls a timeout and as ESPN sends it back to the studio for an update, Bob Davie calls it ""an incredulous night."" I'm not an English major, so correct me if I'm wrong, however I'm pretty sure a night can't be incredulous. You can be incredulous about the night, but I don't think the night itself can be ""incredulous."" Apologies for the digression, I just couldn't help it.
F14213I Form4-3RunCounterPendergrass-1
Counter play gets blown up when Belton doesn't hold his block (-1).
F15314I Form4-4RunDivePendergrass0
Rinfrette misses the block from FB this time (-1). Bring on Swank.
Drive Notes: Field Goal, 12-3, 2:00 4Q. I was very confident Swank wouldn't missa nother one, and I'm glad I was. Good kick, way to seal the game. It was interesting!
LnDnDsO FormDFormTypePlayPlayerYards
F22110Victory-
KneelKneelKneel-2
-
F24212Victory-
KneelKneelKneel-1
-
F25313Victory-
KneelKneelKneel-1
-
Drive Notes: End of game, 12-3 Final.

So first of all, it was enough for the win. Considering the magnitude of the game, I don't think any of us are going to complain about the play in a game against FSU as long as we win. Nonetheless, it's worth noting just how much the team struggled.

Take a look at Wake's starting drive positions and the results of those drives:
Drive StartDrive Result
Wake 19Punt
FSU 45Field Goal
FSU 27Missed FG
Wake 27Punt
Wake 45Fumble
Wake 34Turnover on Downs
FSU 17Fumble
Wake 24Field Goal
Wake 16Field Goal
Wake 35Missed FG
Wake 38Punt
Wake 37Punt
FSU 22Missed FG
FSU 11Field Goal
FSU 22Final
Avg. StartAvg. Points
Wake 490.8


Wake basically started on the 50 all night long, and yet they didn't even score 1 point per drive. Five times the Deacs were inside FSU's 30 to start a drive. They started in field goal position!!! And what came of those five drives? One field goal. That's it. One field goal. As an offense, I really don't believe it can get much worse than that.

How about Skinner? Not his best outing either:
QBDOCAINBRTABAPR
Skinner21273112
2 game total441144414


I'll update this with Baylor stats eventually, too, but compared to last game Skinner didn't have nearly as good a game. He threw as many poor passes in this game as he did against Ole Miss, while throwing a lot less passes. He was relatively close to really only throwing about 50% good throws. Rough.

The receivers didn't have as much to work with, so I can't really complain about their numbers, but here they are (0's are uncatchable, 3's are easy catches, things in between, are, well, in between):
Player0123
Adams-0/1-1/1
Boldin10/1-2/2
Brinkman30/1-2/2
Brown---1/1
Harris-
1/11/1
Parker---1/1
Rinfrette---1/1
M. Williams-0/11/12/2
Wooster20/22/2-


Not a lot to say about that.

Offensive line? Actually made some decent plays tonight, albeit not too many good opportunities. When FSU started stacking the box like crazy in the fourth quarter there wasn't much they could do. A couple of penalties really hurt the running game as well. It's hard to say definitively that they're making progress, but my subjective opinion is that they are. I think they'll have a productive week against Navy.

Player+-T
Birdsong23-1
Nenon321
Bailey24-2
McMillin220
Griffin14-3
Wooster-2-2
Rinfrette312
Belton13-2
Looney1-1
Harris-1-1


And that's that for the offense. Clearly, a sub par performance, and I think the most siginficant thing to take away is the team's complete inability to put points on the board, particularly considering the field position they were given. I grant that FSU played a good defensive game, and I'm not saying Wake should have hung 40 on them, but nonetheless I think more could have easily been accomplished. Fewer penalties, better passes, and turnover avoidance all would have made a huge difference.

Oh, and making fied goals. That helps too.

Still, Swank did well enough to get the job done, so I won't give him too hard a time.

You know the saying "doing more with less?" I've said to several people this week that I don't think Wake could have done less with more. I think the analysis bears that out. Hopefully we're in for a better week this time around.

Read More...

Replay Booth: Offense vs. Ole Miss  

Before the season began I knew I wanted to go back and analyze the film from each game to get a deeper understanding of what went on and how everyone played. Until I tried to do it after the Baylor game, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It's a several hour process just to break down the game for one side of the ball, and since I hadn't done it before I had to figure out the best way to format the information for the website through a fair bit of trial and error.

Obviously things didn't quite work with Baylor. I had tried to gather what was probably too much information and couldn't organize it coherently, much less make it readable in an online format. Now that I've got some idea of what I'm doing, I may try to go back and get Baylor done, but this post focuses on the offense against Ole Miss. Hopefully Defense will come later today or tomorrow.

Couple things I need to state up front. First, I had a little help on this, "borrowing" (with permission, of course) some of the methods and metrics Brian Cook uses on his Michigan blog, MGOBlog. Until I have time to fully explain the way things work, I may just link to his explanations so that you can get an idea of what different things are.

First you'll see a play-by-play breakdown of every offensive play in the game. The factual data about the play will be listed first, followed by some more subjective information and analysis. Within this analysis you'll find various acronyms and numbers that are part of the grading system (which I'm about to explain). The individual player grading charts will follow after the big game chart.

I really like Brian's methods for evaluating/grading quarterbacks and receivers. For quarterbacks we'll place every throw into one of the following categories:

  • DO: Dead on (must be a really perfect pass, usually as part of a big play)
  • CA: Catchable - a good accurate throw, most good short throws fall in this category
  • IN: Inaccurate - A throw that was off target - usually uncatchable unless there was a great catch
  • BR: Bad Read - pretty self explanatory - QB makes a dumb throw
  • TA: Throwaway - Coverage and/or pressure forces QB to just throw the ball away
  • PR: Pressure - Sacks, forced scrambles
Those are the basics, although a more complete definition can be found here.

Receivers have a numbering system that goes as follows:
  • 0 - Ball was completely uncatchable, but he was the "intended" receiver
  • 1 - Very difficult catch
  • 2 - Difficult catch
  • 3 - Routine catch
In the summary chart you'll see that these will be expressed as a fraction of successes out of opportunities - i.e. if a guy has three difficult catch opportunities and makes two of them, he'd be 2/3 under "2."

For offensive linemen and other blockers I made up my own simple metric. If a guy makes a particularly good block on a play he gets a "+1" and if he clearly messes up a block he gets a "-1." It's not perfect because it's unable to account for plays where everyone does their job but no one does anything spectacular, but we can work on that in the future. This will work for now.

I don't have any good ideas for how to grade running backs, so they're left out in the cold for now. Let me know if you have any ideas on that.

That should be enough of an introduction, so let's take a look at what happened. Remember, I'm not a professional or a coach, and I haven't played competitive football since high school. This is just my subjective analysis of the game. Feel free to agree or disagree with me and let me know about it if you so choose. Here we go...



LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
W20110Shotgun 4-wideNickelRunInside drawAdams0
An inside draw gets blown up on the backside by the defensive end. Griffin appeared to be pulling, but he never got far enough to make any kind of hole (-1). I'm not sure he really could have done anything, but there seemed to be some indicision from Adams which didn't help (-1).
W20210Ace tight4-3 basePassPA bootBoldin16
Play action pass, Skinner bootlegs out to the right and finds D.J. Boldin on a 12 yard out, totally wide open (CA, 3). Protection was good - pressure came from a linebacker but no one could have blocked him. Skinner did well to make a good pass.
W36110Ace tight4-3 baseRunBad snapSkinner-1
Skinner never got the snap - it fell right to the turf. I'm going to have to give the mistake to Bailey (-1).
W35211Shotgun 5-wideDimePassSackSkinner-5
I know that in college football sacks technically count as run plays, but I think that's stupid so I'm calling it a pass (PR). This was not a good play for the line - pressure came from both sides and Birdson, McMllin, and Griffin all looked bad (-1 for each).
W30316Shotgun 2-backsNickelPassFlareBelton15
Good protection all around. Good check down by Skinner (CA), good catch and run by Belton(3). Would have liked to see coach go for it on 4th and half a yard, but obviously that ended up working out just fine.
Drive Notes: Punt, 0-0, 12:30 1st. Fumbles and poor protection were costly
LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
O14110Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassThrow awaySkinner0
Fine protection, Skinner feels space to the right and scrambles that way but coverage is good. Throws it away out of bounds in Adams direction (TA,0)
O14210Ace tightNickelPassPAHarris14
Good protection, nice route from Harris coming from a TE position and a perfect throw (CA, 2)
Drive Notes: Touchdown (Swank), 7-0, 11:50 1st. Good job capitalizing on opportunity after punt recovery.
LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
W29110Shotgun 2-backsNickelRunOptionAdams21
Skinner and Adams run the option to the right and that side of the line blocks down well (+1). Skinner makes the right read and Boldin makes a nice downfield block to spring Adams for a few extra yards. Great play all around.
W50110Shotgun 3-wideNickelPassCurlHarris0
Decent pressure from Ole Miss; Birdsong got manhandled (-1). Skinner makes a fine throw hitting Harris in the numbers but he just drops it (CA, 3).
W50210Shotgun 3-wide4-3 blitzPenaltyFalse startBirdsong-5
Can't do that. First penatly of the season.
W45215Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassDeep flyM. Williams0
Good pass protection once again. Skinner buys time scrambling right and throws on the move deep down the sideline to M. Williams. It was a pretty good pass considering how it was thrown but it was slightly underthrown. It would have been a rediculous catch by Williams (IN, 1).
W45315Shotgun 4-wideNickelPassFlareBoldin7
Skinner sidesteps the corner blitz and finds Boldin, but there was no way to get the needed 15 yards (CA, 3).
Drive Notes: Punt, 7-0, 7:51 1Q.
LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
W23110I4-3 baseRunBlastPendergrass3
First play out of the I is an inside run to the right. Nenon makes a nice cut block (+1) and Bailey seals the backside (+1).
W2627Shotgun 3-wideNickelRunDrawPendergrass3
The whole line makes a pretty good push on this inside draw and Pendergrass picks up 3 more. Didn't exactly make any huge holes, but the line won the initial battle on this running play.
W2934Shotgun 3-wideNickelPassScrambleSkinner-2
Skinner ends up scrambling out of bounds to the left. A ""coverage sack"" as Skinner had plenty of time and just didn't have anyone open (TA - didn't throw it, but it had the same effect). The line did a good job sealing everything off to the right.
W2746PuntReturnPuntRoughing the KickerSwank15
Roughing the kicker on Ole Miss saves Wake it's first three and out
W42110Shotgun 2-backs4-3 baseRunDrawBelton-3
Inside draw ot the left. No push and Birdsong completely ignores the linebacker that gets in the backfield to make the tackle (-1).
W39213Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassCurlBrinkman12
Skinner sees the blitz and gets the pass of immedietly. Brinkman was wide open for the slightly high but catchable pass (CA, 2).
O4931Ace tight4-3 baseRunCounterPendergrass-1
The blockers held their own but Pendergrass danced around the backfield instead of trying to get up the field (-1). 0-4 on 3rd down so far.
Drive Notes: Punt, 7-7 15:00 2Q. Can't capitalize on opportunity
LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
W29110Ace tightNickelPassSackSkinner-9
That sack happened in a HURRY. Nothing at all Skinner could have done (PR). I don't know what Bailey and Looney thought they were doing, but the guy lined up right between the two of them got to Skinner completely untouched (-1 for both). Ugly.
W20219Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassQuick outWooster7
Good quick play to an open Wooster on the right (CA, 3).
W27312Shotgun 2-backsNickelPassDeep flyM. Williams0
Not only was Williams double covered, but Skinner overthrew him by a good 5 yards (BR, IN, 0)
Drive Notes: Punt, 7-7, 10:00 2Q. Three and outs hurt.
LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
W32110I4-3 baseRunBlastAdams3
Inside run to the right is almost blown up in the backfield due to a missed block by McMillin (-1). Adams does well to avoid that tackler and gain positive yardage (+1).
W3527Shotgun 2-backsNickelRunShovelAdams5
Impressive underhand shovel to Adams. Nice little play, would like to see it again.
W 4032Ace tight4-3 basePassPA bootBelton6
Nice play action and good throw and catch from Skinner to Belton (CA, 3).
W47110Shotgun 5-wideNickelPenaltyOffsidesPowe5
We'll take it.
O4815Ace tight4-3 baseRunOff TackleAdams1
Almost a nice running play but Adams is barely tripped up.
O4724Shotgun 4-wideDimePassQuick screenAdams2
Right play called for the blitz, but Skinner's throw is low, keeping Adams from being able to get up field very quickly (IN, 2).
O4532I?4-3 ?PassQuick OutHarris2
TV didn't catch beginning of play, looked like an I formation, maybe Ace. Quick throw to Harris is just short of the first (CA, 3). Another failed conversion.
O434inAce tight4-3 baseRunSneakSkinner1
QB sneak to the right for the 1st. Good overall push.
O42110Shotgun 5-wideDimePassScreenBoldin7
Great blitz read to get the bubble screen to Boldin (CA, 3). Boldin did a good job getting yards after the catch.
O3523Shotgun 4-wideNickelPassPA screenWooster10
Great play action play to get the ball to Wooster on the sideline (CA, 3). M. Williams made a nice block to spring him for good yardage.
O25110Ace tight4-3 baseRunOff-tackleAdams7
A shoelace tackle prevents Adams from a HUGE gain. Rinfrette makes a nice cut block in the backfield to open things up (+1)
O1823Ace tight4-3 baseRunDiveAdams1
Blocking wasn't bad but it didn't open a hole. Adams gets what he can.
O1732Shotgun 2-backsDimePassSlantBoldin9
Great quick throw and catch on the slant to pick up a first down (CA, 3).
O919Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassScrambleSkinner2
Good seal by Hoag to make the scramble possible (+1). Good coverage by Ole Miss
O727Ace tight4-3 baseRunDiveAdams5
Adams hits hole hard right up the middle. Looked like McMillin with a pretty good block (+1)
O333Shotgun 3-wide4-3 basePassScreenAdams-1
Not a great play call - there really wasn't any way Adams could have gotten to the endzone. Tackles Birdsong and Griffin provided good protection (+1), but Skinner's throw was innacurate and didn't help anything (IN, 1)
Drive Notes: Field Goal, 10-14, Halftime. Best drive of the game so far, but when you get down that close you've got to but 7 on the board.
LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
W24110Shotgun 3-wideNickelPassSlantBoldin14
Good quick throw, nice protection, good route and run after catch (CA, 3).
W38110Shotgun 3-wideNickelPassPA screenBoldin7
Play action screen pass to Boldin on the left. Exactly like you draw it up (CA, 3).
W4523Ace tight3-4 baseRunDiveAdams-3
Adams running inside the tackle to the left. Defensive end comes in untouched. Looked like Wooster should have picked up him up (-1).
W4236Shotgun 5-wideDimePassSackSkinner-7
Absolutely terrible blocking. Skinner had no time when both Birdsong and McMillin totally blew their blocks (-1 for each, PR)
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-14 10:00 3Q. Great start to the drive is totally killed by back to back poorly blocked plays.
LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
O45110Shotgun 2-backsNickelPassQuick outM. Williams0
Skinner gets it off quickly with a pretty good pass to Williams right on the sideline. It looked like Williams probably could have caught it but just didn't pull it in fast enough (CA, 2).
O45210Shotgun 4-wide3-4 blitzRunDrawAdams2
Inside draw gets a couple. Not sure I like the play call on 2nd and 10. Pretty good block by Andrew Parker pulling from the TE position (+1)
O4338Shotgun 4-wide4-3 basePassFlyBoldin26
Blitz coming and picked up reasonably well, Skinner gets pass off quickly. Ball was thrown to the perfect place but Boldin still made an awesome catch (DO, 1).
O17110Ace tight4-3 baseRunDiveAdams6
One of the best inside runs of the day. A good hole provided by McMillin and Griffin (+1).
O1225I4-3 baseRunDiveAdams2
Ole Miss brought 8 and there just weren't enough blockers. Still, not much of a push from the line.
O1033Ace tight4-3 basePassPAWooster0
Play action with good protection, looked like it might be a TD pass to Wooster but the defender made a good play on the ball. I still think Wooster may have been able to catch it, though (CA, 1).
Drive Notes: Field Goal, 13-14 6:00 3Q. Another one of those drives where you'd like to get a TD instead of a field goal.
LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
O41110Shotgun 5-wide4-3 blitzPassOutWooster4
Ole Miss brings pressure and the protection holds long enough to get the pass off. Really wasn't a great throw, good catch by Wooster (IN, 2).
O3626Shotgun 2-backs4-3 baseRunOptionSkinner5
Good read by Skinner to keep the ball. Birdsong makes a nice block (+1).
O3231Ace tight4-3 baseRunDivePendergrass1
TV cut off the beginning of the play, but there wasn't any push from the line. No penetration, but no push either. Pendergrass couldn't make it happen alone.
O3141I4-3 blitzRunDiveRinfrette1
Rinfrette hits the hole quick to get the first. I like the fake pitch, too.
O31110Ace tight4-3 baseRunCounterPendergrass5
Pendergrass with a nice run on the coutner play. Nenon was pulling but didn't really find anyone to block because no one was there. Nice big hole
O2625Shotgun 4-wide4-3 basePassScreenBoldin1
Great pocket protection but good coverage down field makes Skinner hit Boldin as the saftey (CA, 3). Boldin probably should have gone to the sideline instead of back towards the middle of the field. Probably could have picked up a couple more yards that way.
O2534Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassFlyM. Williams25
Great protection once again, and Skinner makes a perfect pass to Williams in the endzone. Exactly how you draw it up (DO, 3).
Drive Notes: Touchdown (Swank) 20-14. 1:35 3rd. Best drive of the day so far, even though it was with a short field. Blocking was better, running was better, and Skinner threw the ball well. Good to finally finish a drive.
LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
W20110Shotgun 4-wide4-3 blitzPassPAHarris0
Nenon pulls and makes a nice block (+1). Skinner makes a slightly off target but very catchable pass to Harris off of the play action that would have gone for 15-ish yards, but Harris just doesn't pull it in (CA, 2)
W20210Shotgun 4-wideNickelPassPABoldin12
Nice little shotgun play action where Skinner hits Bodlin on a screen to the right (CA, 3). Boldin gets a bunch of yards down the sideline.
W32110Ace tight4-3 baseRunOff TacklePendergrass10
Everyone blocks down to the left leaving a great hole to the right. Parker makes the key block from the fullback position and Pendergrass runs well (+1). Boldin also helped spring things down field with a good block
W42110Shotgun 4-wide4-3 basePassScreenBrinkman7
Quick pass to the left sideline for a nice pickup. I like this play on first down (CA, 3).
W4923Shotgun 3-wide4-3 basePassQuick outBrinkman5
Another quick ball to Brinkman on the left sideline. This pass wasn't perfect, but it was catchable and Brinkman made a very nice catch (CA, 2)
O47110Shotgun 3-wideNickelRunDrawPendergrass2
Draw up the middle and there wasn't any real hole. Birdsong blocked the defender down into the hole clogging things up (-1).
O4528Ace tightNickelRunCounterPendergrass19 (+15)
Best running play of the season so far. Nenon makes a great seal block on the counter (+1) and Pendergrass makes an excellent cut to get another 10 yards. Perfectly executed, and the late hit gets some extra yards, too.
W13110Ace tight4-3 baseRunCounterPendergrass13
This looks like exactly the same play as the one before, and it worked just as well. Nenon makes another excellent block on the pull (+1) and Pendergrass showed a great burst. I loved seeing Skinner immedietly go to Nenon and give him credit for the play. He knows how important those linemen are.
Drive Notes: Touchdown (Swank), 27-21, 11:30 4Q. Best drive of the day - 80 yards of excellence. Nothing to complain about, and I agree with kicking the extra point.
LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
W37110Ace tight4-3 baseRunBlastAdams0
No push at all from the left side of the line on the blast. Nothing terrible, but nothing good.
W37210Shotgun 5-wideDimePassQuick outAdams7
Skinner gets rid of the ball quickly to Adams on an out to the left. Nice play (CA, 3).
W4433Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassScreenWooster3
Rebels bring pressure and Skinner makes a quick bubble pass to Wooster. Not a perfect pass but a good catch (CA, 2). Didn't look like a very good spot to me but it got the first anyway
W47110Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassScreenBrinkman2
Quick screen to Brinkman on the left, but the ball was underthrown and kept Brinkman from being able to get up field (IN, 2).
W4928Shotgun 4-wideNickelPassScreenBoldin4
Another quick screen, this time to Boldin on the Right (CA, 3). He spins a bit for extra yards, decent play.
O4734Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassDeep inBrinkman0
Skinner gets good protection but throw high and a little behind Brinkman. Would have taken a rediculous catch to make, a costly innacurate throw from Skinner (IN, 1).
Drive Notes: Punt, 27-21, 8:00 4Q. This drive probably shouldn't have ended when it did, and it was almost very costly. Had Wake lost, this would be the critical drive we could point to for why. Didn't eat much clock, didn't make the important play when it mattered. Glad we don't have to worry about that.
LnDnDsO FormD FormTypePlayPlayerYards
W20110Shotgun 2-backsDimePassScrambleRinfrette7
Surprising amount of pressure on Skinner here, but he scrambles to the right side and finds Rinfrette who makes a good catch on the way out of bounds (CA, 2).
W2723Shotgun 5-wideDimePassQuick OutM. Williams5
Ole Miss brought a corner blitz but Skinner gets it off quick to Williams on the right sideline. Great catch by Williams on the ball that was slightly high (CA, 2).
W32110Shotgun 4-wideDimePassThrow awayBoldin0
Great protection but great coverage by Ole Miss. Skinner waits as long as possible but ultimately has to throw it away (TA, 0).
W32210Shotgun 2-backsDimePassPostBoldin22
Perfect protection from the line and Skinner finds Boldin wide open over the middle. This was a crucial play and I'm not going to complain, but Skinner actually throws this ball pretty low and I wonder if Boldin could have gotten a few more yards with a better pass (CA, 2).
O46110Shotgun 5-wideDimePassQuick outWooster2
Nenon got beat on a blitz here (-1) and Skinner had to get rid of it in a hurry. He makes a nice pass to Wooster at the right sideline, but Wooster gets tackled before making it out of bounds and comes up limping (CA, 3).
O4428Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassPass InterferenceAdams15
Ole Miss brings a blitz here and with Adams going out for a pass there isn't anyone to pick up the extra guy, so I can't blame anyone for that. Skinner makes an excellent side step to avoid the blitzer and get the deep pass off to Adams. The PI call (a good call for contact early in the route) nets 15 yards.
O29110Shotgun 5-wideDimePassQuick OutWooster5
Another blitz and Skinner gets it off quickly to a wide open Wooster who gets out of bounds with a five yard gain (CA, 3).
O2425Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassDeep outM. Williams0
Rebels still blitzing, Skinner gets off a quick pass to Williams but it's a bit behind him, would have been a great catch though (IN, 1).
O2435Shotgun 5-wideNickelPassThrow awayParker0
Ole Miss blitzes again and there just aren't enough linemen to block them all. Skinner throws it away in Parker's direction which was fine (TA, 0).
Drive Notes: Field Goal (Swank, 41), 30-28, Final. Excellently enginereed drive by Skinner and the Wake offense to go down and make this possible. This drive could be the one we look at later in the year as the one that made sure things stayed on the right track.

To be honest, I was actually surprised by how well the offense performed as a whole. Perhaps the way the Deacs managed to win the game has softened me up a bit, but I really don't feel like anyone was really terrible.

The thing that was most clearly lacking was consistency within drives. It's amazing how quickly a couple of silly mistakes will kill a drive. The reason Wake had so much success in the third and 4th quarters was because they finished their drives and didn't do stupid things to kill them before they could put points on the board.

I though Riley had an excellent game - he thew a very high percentage of catchable passes. Check it out:

QBDOCAINBRTABAPR
Skinner229713-2

Several smart throw aways and a couple of excellent passes (not to mention five touchdowns and zero interceptions through two games) all make me very happy.

The receivers had a good day catching the ball as well. Kevin Harris was the only one to drop a routine catch, and only a couple of "good catches" were dropped. Take a look:

Player0123
Boldin11/11/19/9
Belton---2/2
Adams1-1/11/1
Harris--1/21/2
M. Williams10/21/21/1
Brinkman-0/13/31/1
Wooster-0/12/24/4
Rinfrette--1/1-
Parker1---


Boldin was clearly the primary target, and fulfilled that roll very well. Of course, the one thing that gets lost here is the Pass Interference Josh Adams drew on the final drive. That was probably more valuable than any other catch in the game.

I was very impressed by Russell Nenon's play against the Rebels, partiuclarly in the second half. He was almost single handedly responsible for Brandon Pendergrass's touchdown run (and the run that set up the TD run). No one else had particularly great days, and Birdsong graded out the worst in my analysis.
Player+-T
Birdsong24-2
Nenon41+3
Bailey12-1
McMillin330
Griffin32+1
Looney-1-1
Rinfrette1-+1
Hoag-1-1
Wooster-1-1
Parker2-+2

We'll have to see how this metric works out in the long run, but I think it's a decent start.

So looking at all of this, I really am more encouraged than I am discouraged. There was a lot of improvement in the second half of the game which was particularly exciting to me. Not only did it show a bit more of what this offense is capable of, but it also showed that they aren't going to throw in the towel when things aren't going well.

One thing that I like right now is the platooning of fullbacks. Rinfrette, Belton, and Harris are all getting plenty of snaps, and all of them have been doing good things with their opportunities. If they can all continue to contribute and we can keep them fresh by rolling them in and out all the time then I think that's a great setup.

Hopefully whatever Wooster tweaked on that last drive will be fine by next week (I imagine it will be) and maybe we'll finally get to see Jordan Williams get in the game. The last trip to FSU was certainly a memorable one; I can't wait to see what these guys do this time.

Let me know what you think of this new feature and how you think it could be improved. It's definitely still in development, and if there are things you'd like to see done with it I definitely want to hear your suggestions.


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