OL Report: Full Game - Bowling Green

[GFBfan]

What a difference a week makes!!
Last week it was fun to watch and grade the OL as they were so dominant, this week not so much.
We had moments of playing well on the OL, but then would have a play or plays that we just were not good enough and some we were downright awful.
Pass blocking was our biggest issue as we struggled to identify who BG was sending and when the DL ran twists between the end and DT.

Andries: 65% on 17 plays - He played ok in the run game, but was beat a couple times by their movement.
Olson: 90% on 20 plays. He got after it all half
JMS: 80% on 20 plays. He did not dominate like he has been doing in prior games. Played well but not dominant
Dunlop: 71% on 14 plays His game improved again this week. Had less reps this half, which considering the altitude was a good idea. He has continually gotten better with each game.
Faalele: 90% on 20 plays - He had a good half of football when we were running the ball.
Schlueter: 40% on 20 plays Typically he is a great run blocker, but in this half he really struggled to get to his man and keep his legs going. Got overpowered a couple times and all in all it was not a good half of run blocking for him.
Ruschmeyer: 150% on 2 plays Did his job well on the 2 plays he was in
Kieft: 64% on 14 plays. He was not his normal overpowering self in this half.
BSF: 67 % on 6 plays His blocking remains a work in progress

As stated above we really struggled in the passing game to pick up blitzes and stunts.
Andries: 100% on 9 plays Worked well with Olson when at LT to keep BG at bay
Olson: 93% on 15 plays
JMS: 67% on 15 plays Not sure his grade being low is all his fault or not as I don't know what the protection should have been on any one particular play.
Dunlop: 88% on 8 plays He played well in the pass game by picking up the twists between the DE and DT, but see below.
Faalele: 40% on 15 plays - He was really good if he had a one on one pass blocking assignment. What got him in trouble was when BG would run a twist between the DE and DT. He would get caught flat footed and not look inside quick enough when the DE would leave his area which would allow the DT to beat him on the inside after Dunlop would pass the DT off to pick up the DE.
Schlueter: 57% on 14 plays His struggles were different that Big Dan as he had a tough time reaching the DE when lined up wide, similar to the OSU strip sack play. He wasn't able to get to his landmark as the DE's quickness would allow him to turn the corner and force Tanner to scramble.
Kieft: 67% on 3 plays

Not a great half of football by the OL
A couple of plays to highlight our struggles.
First a pass play. BG lines up with 3 DL covering our Center, LG and LT with a LB behind them and only 1 outside our RT with a LB inside of him. Guessing the OL call was to slide left from the way they moved. We had a couple problems. Potts immediately ran a swing route and the DE went with him. The Nose moved to our Right side and Blaise picked him up. The DT went wide left and Sam picked him up leaving Connor and JMS with nobody to block initially but both LB blitzed. JMS picked up the one on the left as I am assuming the slide left call and the one who was lined up to the right came free right up the middle pretty much untouched as JMS wasn't looking his way. He did get a slight arm on him but not enough to slow him down for the sack. With more time you can see at the top left of the screen Dylan W. breaking open deep and from the sideline view he had a receiver open for a short gain.
The second is a running play. This really shows it takes everyone to on the OL to do something to have a successful play. Blaise at LT missed his guy forcing Bucko to run right, and Sam at RE wasn't quick enough to pick up the Safety coming in from that side stopping Bucko for no gain. If either of those two can get a piece of their guy Bucko makes positive yardage as either the hole would have been just behind Daniel and Inside of Ko for a about a 3 to 5 yard gain or it would have been just off of Sam for a big gain.

 

[GFBfan]

The second half was better for the OL as a whole, but there were still some struggles.

Andries: 93% on 14 plays - Played well in the second half.
Olson: 88% on 16 plays. Same here
JMS: 75% on 16 plays. Similar second half to first half
Dunlop: 73% on 15 plays Had a little dip in play this half but he is starting to come on overall
Faalele: 62% on 15 plays - Was a little better this half in the run game. Did not have a good overall game though.
Schlueter: 56% on 16 plays His struggles from the first half continued this half in the run game. Very surprised by this as he is typically very good on running plays
Kieft: 109% on 11 plays. He was back to being overpowering.
BSF: 50% on 6 plays His blocking remains a work in progress

The Pass game:
Andries: 89% on 9 plays
Olson: 89% on 9 plays
JMS: 89% on 9 plays
Dunlop: 86% on 7 plays Very nice half of pass blocking by these four.
Faalele: 43% on 7 plays - I look for him to bounce back this week.
Schlueter: 63% on 8 plays
Kieft: 100% on 4 plays

As I read other threads and in watching this game, there were three plays in the second half that show what other posters have been stating/questioning.
Staring down 1 receiver: The first play shows what happens on some pass plays and why Tanner is focused on just one receiver. It's because he really only has 1 option. On this play it is the inside slant. The outside WR runs a really crappy stop route, which makes me think he really is only out there doing that to tie up a defender. The TE doesn't run a route nor does he stay in to block. There is a WR on the bottom of the screen that you can't see. After the catch and run on the slant, he comes into the screen and is called for a block in the back. Based on where it happens, I am guessing he ran a similar route as the top receiver.
Play Calling is a Problem: The second play is the 3rd and 6, with the missed FG after. I'm not sure what Sanford is looking at on this particular play, but a run left on that defensive alignment doesn't even make sense with how BG is lined up. Then running wide and asking the OL to reach the next guy or get up field only makes it worse. They would have been better off with a RUTM or slightly to the right side. Now, the OL on this play gets beat or doesn't get any push all across the board. First time in my rating plays where everyone got a 0 (no block or not a winning block) or -1 (missed blocked).
Play Design and Not picking up a blitz: The final clip is later in the game and this view shows how long it takes for the play to develop, which against BG and their blitzing, we just didn't have time for something like this. The OL on the left does well to pick up the twist. On the right side they do ok with it, not great, but they did make contact and stick with their guy long enough for the most part. Tanner couldn't step up due to outside pressure that our RB didn't see. Not sure why on the play the inside receiver to the top of the screen is running such a deep route when the man over him blitzes. He had 20 yards of green in front of him that he could have stopped and it would have been an easy completion for 10 yards and who knows how long he could run after the catch.

 

[MplsGopher]

On the first play, that block in the back was Dylan Wright.

Maybe getting some frustrations out on Sanford's game plan of not having any throws to, and maybe telling Tanner not to throw to, any of the edge receivers???

 

[MplsGopher]

2nd play ... literally WTF. All four BG defenders on the LOS go right past our blockers and get immediate penetration. Like ... was it suppose to be a screen?

Did they all stunt in a direction that the OL weren't expecting??


The problem is we (fans) don't have access to the rear view. That's the angle you really need to get a good feel for what happened.

 

[MplsGopher]

3rd play ..... 10 personnel, with zero short routs by the four WR.

I guess the RB was supposed to pick that up, and just plain failed.


You'd think that the simple idea of "if you're the slot receiver, with a high safety over your guy, and your guy blitzes, break off your route and just sit there in case the QB needs to bail to you" perhaps would be baked in.

 

[MplsGopher]

One last point .... our OL is so friggin huge .... Tanner literally can't see over them. He's no midget, of course, but he's not tall.

Like on the first play, it turns into a big pile of bodies in front of him, but he can't see the slant route getting open until he moves to the side of the pile.

 

[GFBfan]

2nd play ... literally WTF. All four BG defenders on the LOS go right past our blockers and get immediate penetration. Like ... was it suppose to be a screen?

Did they all stunt in a direction that the OL weren't expecting??


The problem is we (fans) don't have access to the rear view. That's the angle you really need to get a good feel for what happened.

Those DL didn't slant that way, but because we were running wide left our OL all were to reach the next DL. They had no shot. At top of screen DE went inside of Sam and he had no help.
The play call was terrible and put all of the OL in a tough spot.