Useful analysis of UW's 2H Deck shutdown strategy....

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Not to get all detailed, but the first picture with the free safety moving with motion toward the bottom side of the formation would imply that stoudamire would be your first read. It appears that Webber was waiting for stoudamire, while reading the free safety (looks like he looking right at him in the pic) to make a move on the defender (was this guy a nickle or saftey type?), but stoudamire didn't get open and he went to the second option of green. Wasn't this the same formation/play in which stoudamire scored from a slant route in the beginning of the year against Syracuse?
 

He's the best I've seen in the conference since Manningham. Nobody owns space like he does. Even in good coverage, a ball in the area is his or nobody's. He takes a beating, however, and I hope he can stay healthy. I don't think he's a first round pick, and I think all teams eventually will be sorry they passed on him. He should have a decent NFL career.

I do think he was mauled on at least play against Wisconsin that wasn't called. This TD was (should be) routine for him, while spectacular for most other receivers. I love watching him and am glad he's off our schedule forever.

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Weber's position in the draft will depend on how he does in the combines. He doesn't have sexy speed, but if he impresses scouts he could move up the draft ladder. I agree he's probably not a first round pick. Maybe if he was on a highly ranked team he'd go higher. Heck, if he were on ND he'd probably be a Heisman candidate
 

When I think about Decker in the NFL the first guy I think of is Joe Jurevicious (sp?). Not sure what his dimensions are, may be taller, but he's sure-handed, super strong and probably similar speed. Injuries have plagued Joe and Deck, but hopefully it's what scouts are seeing.
 


Too Long in the Wasteland said:
Weber's position in the draft will depend on how he does in the combines. He doesn't have sexy speed, but if he impresses scouts he could move up the draft ladder. I agree he's probably not a first round pick. Maybe if he was on a highly ranked team he'd go higher. Heck, if he were on ND he'd probably be a Heisman candidate
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You mean Decker, right?
 

Re "stacking-up" Deck in the RZn: one interesting counter might be McKnight or Gray (both tall and athletic) in-motion on the side opposite ED to give Weber two "jump-ball" situations at the corners plus TE/NT-A at the center of the EZn...all off play-action.
 

I still like the play call. They doubled decker, free safety was forced to help stoudamire on the slant, which left green open in the front of the endzone. If Green doesn't slip, we have a touchdown. How can we complain about this one?
 




myleslong said:
He's the best I've seen in the conference since Manningham. Nobody owns space like he does. Even in good coverage, a ball in the area is his or nobody's. He takes a beating, however, and I hope he can stay healthy. I don't think he's a first round pick, and I think all teams eventually will be sorry they passed on him. He should have a decent NFL career.

I do think he was mauled on at least play against Wisconsin that wasn't called. This TD was (should be) routine for him, while spectacular for most other receivers. I love watching him and am glad he's off our schedule forever.

117951937.jpg
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Myles... I checked out your photos of the game and I really enjoyed them. Great stuff. Forgive me if I didn't have the heart to open up the ones of the Badgers celebrating with the axe. Maybe at some later date if the Gophers end up higher in the Big 10 standings or something like that (not much left to hold on to in terms of the Badgers)... :)

Your comments about Decker sound very familiar as we have heard them from the fans of each of the Gophers previous opponents. Unfortunately, I am getting some of those same feelings I got during the Barber/Maroney years... Decker is going to miss out on the national stage because the team's successes are no where near the level of his personal abilities. In similar fashion, I felt those Gopher rushing attacks were BCS bowl level quality earlier this decade but unfortunately they had the anchor of a porous D holding them back. All those rushing records were just a footnote nationally.
 

The story is titled "How UW slowed Decker."

Call me crazy - but:

1) Decker caught 8 balls for 140 yards and a TD. Not bad when that is considered "slowing you down."

2) The story goes on to say: "the UW secondary made Decker a non-factor during the key 30-minute stretch in which Wisconsin out-scored Minnesota 21-8," claiming some sort of genius strategical change in the 2nd half that limited Decker's touches.

Well, you know what? I think instead of some defensive genius, the main thing that kept the ball out of Decker's hands was the UW offense and the Gophers inability to get them off the field. In that 30 minute stretch where the writer claims the UW secondary was so great, the UW secondary had to defend a TOTAL of 16 plays. SIXTEEN!! And, 9 of those 16 plays were runs. So they had to defend a grand total of seven passes, one of which was a completion to Decker. Otherwise, the UW secondary was watching UW's offense roll through the Gopher defense to the tune of 44 plays!! FORTY-FOUR!! That's 44 plays to 16 plays. Time of possession in the third quarter was 10 minutes to 5 minutes. Time of possession in the fourth quarter was 11 minutes to 4 minutes. The Gophers had the ball for 9 minutes TOTAL in the 2nd half!

Do you think that may have had more to do with Decker's being "a non-factor" than some scheme that the UW coaches gave to the UW secondary? Just maybe??
 

I thought the analysis was pretty poor also even on the pics he was using to try to prove his point. However, I'm glad he posted the pictures because it reaffirms my belief that Weber is doing an excellent job on his pre-snap read, and is willing to check down if it isn't there.
 

Great point...TOP was probably their best Deck "slowdown" stategy...that said, they clearly weren't asleep at the switch re doubling up Deck when under O pressure, esp in the RZn. Brew/JF will have to continue developing answers for that going forward.
 



On our two point conversion. They had Decker step back and pretend to take a quick hitch, while sending McKnight in front of him on a slant for a easy pitch and catch. Is that what you are thinking?
 

NewEngland_Gold said:
Great point...TOP was probably their best Deck "slowdown" stategy...that said, they clearly weren't asleep at the switch re doubling up Deck when under O pressure, esp in the RZn. Brew/JF will have to continue developing answers for that going forward.
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Do you think the UW coaches were the first to bracket cover Decker or double team him? Decker has been facing this exact coverage for two solid years now. It isn't some top secret defense strategy that the UW coaches dug out of the Pentagon basement files. The Gopher coaches likely have seen everything the UW coaches threw at Decker. And, I'm sure they are scheming up things as we speak to help defeat that strategy. It has been working to the tune of Decker being fifth in the nation in receiving and by far the top receiver in the Big Ten.
 

Exactly...that was smart and I assume that Brew/JF are working on various permutations of that type of deception to keep opponents guessing and as confused re Deck as possible.
 

I like how Decker goes in slight motion before every snap. Makes it easier for me to see what those defenders are doing ;).
 

I also like that and the fact that Brew/JF are putting a great deal of effort into making their main offensive weapon as elusive and difficult to target as possible...smart...but also more difficult to accomplish...as has been pointed out...as the tape continues to accumulate. We'll see just how imaginative and clever they can be in the next few weeks, especially with some of the "biggies" on the horizon.
 

I think the biggest factor will be time. If you can slow Decker down at the line and protect him over the top, the only way he will be able to get open is running a longer route. He will ahve to be able to cross the field, criss cross back across the zone, or wait for another route to force the deep coverage to pick up another route.

If our line can't give Weber time, then continuing to jam/slow down Decker's release with out having to be worried about the quick go route, then we will struggle to get him the ball. The counter to that would of course be isolation of stoudamire on his man, and I am not sure how many teams want stoudamire to catch the ball in space.
 

They should just make sure Decker's the third option on every play. I bet he still goes over a hundred yards plus we'd be much more balanced.
 

Schnoodler said:
They should just make sure Decker's the third option on every play. I bet he still goes over a hundred yards plus we'd be much more balanced.
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Pre-snap read should dictate what order the options are. Hoperfully, the goal of our o-coordinator is to call a formation/play to try to get Decker set up as the first option.
 

I'm not a bench weber guy, not even close. But we all see wide open options consistently. I think in some ways Weber might not be taking advantage of the attention Decker brings.
 

I feel like this is turning into a legend. Sometimes Weber makes a bad read (pre-snap or not). He is not immune to making mistakes. Sometimes there is a guy "more open", however, the guy he does throw to is also open. I would only make a guess that he isn't willing to check his second option if his first his open due to how many times his o-line has let someone free to lay a hit on him or flush him out.

I think we do have plays set up that specifically garner around the attention that Decker brings, ie, our two-point conversion. I just am in the football philosophy of trying to get your best player as many touches as you can. Maybe we just disagree on this?
 

Unfortunately, on TV, one can't view the entire field and the only game I've been able to attend was the Syracuse game. In that one, Cuse couldn't seem to handle Deck most of the game and it was just a question of whether Weber could get the ball to him with reasonable accuracy. Weber struggled in that one until the 4Q and then Deck came up with a circus catch on the final drive to tie...as I recall...with two Orange all over him.

What am I saying? Just continue to go to Deck until the opponent demonstrates that they can master JF's schemes defensively and shut Deck down. At that point, open it up to other options.

If they try to shut down Deck early by doubling...terrific...NT-A, Green, Stod, etc will have a beautiful day in the neighborhood!
 

tjgopher said:
The story is titled "How UW slowed Decker."

Call me crazy - but:

1) Decker caught 8 balls for 140 yards and a TD. Not bad when that is considered "slowing you down."

2) The story goes on to say: "the UW secondary made Decker a non-factor during the key 30-minute stretch in which Wisconsin out-scored Minnesota 21-8," claiming some sort of genius strategical change in the 2nd half that limited Decker's touches.

Well, you know what? I think instead of some defensive genius, the main thing that kept the ball out of Decker's hands was the UW offense and the Gophers inability to get them off the field. In that 30 minute stretch where the writer claims the UW secondary was so great, the UW secondary had to defend a TOTAL of 16 plays. SIXTEEN!! And, 9 of those 16 plays were runs. So they had to defend a grand total of seven passes, one of which was a completion to Decker. Otherwise, the UW secondary was watching UW's offense roll through the Gopher defense to the tune of 44 plays!! FORTY-FOUR!! That's 44 plays to 16 plays. Time of possession in the third quarter was 10 minutes to 5 minutes. Time of possession in the fourth quarter was 11 minutes to 4 minutes. The Gophers had the ball for 9 minutes TOTAL in the 2nd half!

Do you think that may have had more to do with Decker's being "a non-factor" than some scheme that the UW coaches gave to the UW secondary? Just maybe??
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+1

"breaking down film" aka looking at the freaking TV coverage with no preexisting knowledge of the scheme that is supposed to be executed on the play...only a Badger idiot would do this...what a freaking TOOL. I have to laugh at this guy if he thinks he is offering ANY insight, he is just making assumptions...wow.
 

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