In tonight’s game against Syracuse, UVAs new offense will be under the microscope. Former offensive coordinator Robert Anae will be coaching the opponent, while the UVA offense continues to find its way in the new system brought in by Coach Tony Elliott and OC Des Kitchings. UVA has shown glimpses of success in the new scheme against Richmond and Old Dominion but enter the Syracuse game averaging only 17.7 points per game. They will likely need to surpass that average to have a chance to pull off the upset over the Orange.
We thought it might be helpful to get someone who played in last year’s offense to look at a few offensive plays from the game against Old Dominion and offer some insight into what he sees with particular focus on the play of the offensive line. Chris Glaser Jr started 44 games over his 5 seasons at UVA and was an integral part of the offensive line during UVAs recent success. Thankfully, he had a little free time from his job with the New York Jets to look at a few plays for us.
We will be using highlights from the UVA vs ODU game from the ACCs condensed game footage for this, which is not ideal, but is available for all to see. The timestamps included correlate with the video found at this link:
The first play Chris looked at can be found 2:42 into the video. It is a Perris Jones run from the ODU 18 for 16 yards.
Glaser: UVA comes out in duo 11 personnel against a 4-2 defensive look from ODU. This run is supposed to hit on the right side. However, ODU is in a cover two, the safety stays high, and the mike linebacker is playing the play side hole. Perris takes the play backside for a great run. The offensive line does a great job getting good double teams to the second level, and Perris makes an ever better read, recognizing the cover two, meaning that backside hole which he runs through will be vacant.
The second play Chris broke down can be found 13:45 into the video. UVA has the ball on ODUs 44-yard line. ODU gets pressure up the middle, but Brennan Armstrong is able to hit Wicks for a 24-yard gain.
Glaser: This play is supposed to look like the previous play I examined (Perris Jones run). It appears to be a 7-man protection with the running back and the tight end away from the slide. ODU is in cover 3. The center messes up and goes the wrong way. The halfback (Xavier Brown) is not supposed to be responsible for the rusher, but he is responsible for getting anything leaking or right in his face. I believe this is a mental error by the center (Ty Furnish). The OL appears to be trying to make their blocking look like the previous play as mentioned, but I would like to see the OL sell the run better to get the linebackers to bite more.
The next play Chris examined can be found at the 14:25 mark in the video. UVA is deep in ODU territory at the 6-yard line and Brennan gets sacked from his blindside and fumbles. Nearly resulting in a TD for ODU, but still resulting in a turnover.
Glaser: This appears to be a run-pass-option or RPO. Brennan sees man coverage and knows he has Wicks on a slant. The offensive line is taught to block as if the play will be a run. The running back is taught if he does not get the ball to get out of the way, but he should pick up the blitz from the defensive back since he does not have the ball.
Even if the ball was handed off to the running back (Xavier Brown), the blitz on the front side of the play would have led the running back straight into the backside blitz. This play shows some of the youth or lack of experience among some of the offensive players. They did not recognize the tight right side defensive end and the linebacker pushed outside. Plus, the blitzing corner is capped by a safety, another clue that this is truly a blitz. The offensive line must recognize this so they can predict where they are blocking and how that blocking is going to move with the blitz.
The final play Chris examined occurs at the 19:20 mark. UVA faces 3rd and 1 from the ODU 30-yard line leading 10-7 in the fourth quarter. UVA comes out in an inverted wishbone with two wideouts. Grant Misch and Sackett Wood are beside Brennan with Xavier Brown behind. Brennan ends up keeping the ball and runs to the left for a hard 5 yards.
Glaser: ODU is in a 4-3-man defense. UVA runs an inside zone blocking scheme on this QB read run play. Brennan reads the defensive end who closes on the running back (Xavier Brown). Brennan makes the correct read and keeps the ball. If the defensive end were to stick to the line of scrimmage instead of closing on the running back, the correct QB read would have been to hand the ball off to the running back. In that situation, the run was blocked to go backside in the left C gap.
We also asked Chris for some general thoughts, especially on the offensive line from the plays he watched for us and from what he has been able to see from the team this year.
Glaser: My general thought on the offensive line is that they are young. They know the plays and how to block them, but they are not always identifying what the defense is running and how that affects their blocking assignments. There is a lot on the center in an offensive line because you must know those coverages. If you don’t know the correct identification, then you leave everyone else wondering. However, he should realize that it is better to be all right or all wrong. If you are all right or all wrong, at least the entire OL is on the same page and gives the play a chance.
Thanks again, to Chris Glaser, Jr for taking time to look at these plays for us. If his schedule allows it, we hope he can do it again for us in the future.
We thought it might be helpful to get someone who played in last year’s offense to look at a few offensive plays from the game against Old Dominion and offer some insight into what he sees with particular focus on the play of the offensive line. Chris Glaser Jr started 44 games over his 5 seasons at UVA and was an integral part of the offensive line during UVAs recent success. Thankfully, he had a little free time from his job with the New York Jets to look at a few plays for us.
We will be using highlights from the UVA vs ODU game from the ACCs condensed game footage for this, which is not ideal, but is available for all to see. The timestamps included correlate with the video found at this link:
The first play Chris looked at can be found 2:42 into the video. It is a Perris Jones run from the ODU 18 for 16 yards.
Glaser: UVA comes out in duo 11 personnel against a 4-2 defensive look from ODU. This run is supposed to hit on the right side. However, ODU is in a cover two, the safety stays high, and the mike linebacker is playing the play side hole. Perris takes the play backside for a great run. The offensive line does a great job getting good double teams to the second level, and Perris makes an ever better read, recognizing the cover two, meaning that backside hole which he runs through will be vacant.
The second play Chris broke down can be found 13:45 into the video. UVA has the ball on ODUs 44-yard line. ODU gets pressure up the middle, but Brennan Armstrong is able to hit Wicks for a 24-yard gain.
Glaser: This play is supposed to look like the previous play I examined (Perris Jones run). It appears to be a 7-man protection with the running back and the tight end away from the slide. ODU is in cover 3. The center messes up and goes the wrong way. The halfback (Xavier Brown) is not supposed to be responsible for the rusher, but he is responsible for getting anything leaking or right in his face. I believe this is a mental error by the center (Ty Furnish). The OL appears to be trying to make their blocking look like the previous play as mentioned, but I would like to see the OL sell the run better to get the linebackers to bite more.
The next play Chris examined can be found at the 14:25 mark in the video. UVA is deep in ODU territory at the 6-yard line and Brennan gets sacked from his blindside and fumbles. Nearly resulting in a TD for ODU, but still resulting in a turnover.
Glaser: This appears to be a run-pass-option or RPO. Brennan sees man coverage and knows he has Wicks on a slant. The offensive line is taught to block as if the play will be a run. The running back is taught if he does not get the ball to get out of the way, but he should pick up the blitz from the defensive back since he does not have the ball.
Even if the ball was handed off to the running back (Xavier Brown), the blitz on the front side of the play would have led the running back straight into the backside blitz. This play shows some of the youth or lack of experience among some of the offensive players. They did not recognize the tight right side defensive end and the linebacker pushed outside. Plus, the blitzing corner is capped by a safety, another clue that this is truly a blitz. The offensive line must recognize this so they can predict where they are blocking and how that blocking is going to move with the blitz.
The final play Chris examined occurs at the 19:20 mark. UVA faces 3rd and 1 from the ODU 30-yard line leading 10-7 in the fourth quarter. UVA comes out in an inverted wishbone with two wideouts. Grant Misch and Sackett Wood are beside Brennan with Xavier Brown behind. Brennan ends up keeping the ball and runs to the left for a hard 5 yards.
Glaser: ODU is in a 4-3-man defense. UVA runs an inside zone blocking scheme on this QB read run play. Brennan reads the defensive end who closes on the running back (Xavier Brown). Brennan makes the correct read and keeps the ball. If the defensive end were to stick to the line of scrimmage instead of closing on the running back, the correct QB read would have been to hand the ball off to the running back. In that situation, the run was blocked to go backside in the left C gap.
We also asked Chris for some general thoughts, especially on the offensive line from the plays he watched for us and from what he has been able to see from the team this year.
Glaser: My general thought on the offensive line is that they are young. They know the plays and how to block them, but they are not always identifying what the defense is running and how that affects their blocking assignments. There is a lot on the center in an offensive line because you must know those coverages. If you don’t know the correct identification, then you leave everyone else wondering. However, he should realize that it is better to be all right or all wrong. If you are all right or all wrong, at least the entire OL is on the same page and gives the play a chance.
Thanks again, to Chris Glaser, Jr for taking time to look at these plays for us. If his schedule allows it, we hope he can do it again for us in the future.
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