A bad O line cripples playcalling.

[Berry4Heisman14]

I agree that a lot of the playcalling has been lack luster, but for everyone wondering why we aren’t throwing deep as much, that requires a line that can block long enough for the receivers to get down field. Poor O line play hinders what you can run on offense drastically. I think we should focus more on why the O line is still piss poor. Elarbee hasn’t impressed me coaching wise and he’s notorious for being poor at recruiting,

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

Yep, football 101.

 

[MSHrebel20]

Our OL play especially at LT (looking at you Heard) was pathetic last night… lots of soul searching to be done there. That single handed changed the game…

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

Our OL play especially at LT (looking at you Heard) was pathetic last night… lots of soul searching to be done there. That single handed changed the game…

I thought Campbell at right tackle was even worse

 

[arkyvol]

I thought bad o-lines went out with Dereck Dooley.

 

[Sudden Impact]

When Nico did have protection UT had heavy protection. 8 in blocking means only 3 receivers.
Arkansas Defense exposed us with in the trenches. Lining up 7-8 in the box and rushing 5 - 6 at times.

 

[ntxVOL]

CJH is an offensive guy, it's his show. He needs to figure how to work around any offensive deficiencies. I know, easier said than done, but still his show.

 

[nomads-11]

It's a good question. Year 4. CJH is synonymous with offense, and for a good reason. Yet now the worst position group is clearly the OL? And not all that good last year either? Very, very counter-intuitive.

 

[tngivem6]

I don’t understand this at all.
This is the most experienced line we’ve had and they are above average talent.
Was also a strength heading into the season.
So what’s up with this.

 

[Godfatha]

Ellarbee needs to go.

 

[Volsbattle]

I don’t understand this at all.
This is the most experienced line we’ve had and they are above average talent.
Was also a strength heading into the season.
So what’s up with this.

They seem to me to be out of shape. Hands on their hips. Sucking air. Third quarter. Mays looked horrible. Go back and watch him.

 

[DaddyChad]

I don’t understand this at all.
This is the most experienced line we’ve had and they are above average talent.
Was also a strength heading into the season.
So what’s up with this.

Three of them aren’t 100%. Some aren’t even close to 100%. Why our backups aren’t better is a good question though.

 

[Midas]

This was the biggest problem last year too but everyone wanted to point the finger at one person. Not saying Joe was perfect last year and didn’t make mistakes but when the oline is sucking it can mentally affect the QB. The long developing routes every pass play don’t help either.

 

[DaddyChad]

They seem to me to be out of shape. Hands on their hips. Sucking air. Third quarter. Mays looked horrible. Go back and watch him.

Was banged up going into the game

 

[barney]

Arkansas was one of the worst pressure defenses in college football before last night and they got like 5 sacks.

Acting like you can't call plays to mitigate bad offensive line play is just not accurate though. We could roll the pocket and run Nico. We could do more stretch zone plays. We could run more short rpos to the middle of the field.

I saw four plays last night:
Zone run up the middle
RPO deep crosser
PA switch
Screen to the boundary

That was literally 90% of what we ran on offense.

 

[Vol524]

I agree the O line looked bad last night. I don't know why. They looked tired, out of shape, and banged up. All this coming off a by week. SMH Offense starts with the line, plain and simple. Having an Oline that looks like a sieve greatly limits QB play and play calling. CJH has to fix the problem this week. JMHO

 

[Orange931]

I agree the O line looked bad last night. I don't know why. They looked tired, out of shape, and banged up. All this coming off a by week. SMH Offense starts with the line, plain and simple. Having an Oline that looks like a sieve greatly limits QB play and play calling. CJH has to fix the problem this week. JMHO

I think alot of it had to do with Campbell and Heard not being on the field a lot this year (missing majority of the games) and they’re the anchors of the line. Seems to me like Heup wasn’t getting them hardly any reps during our bye week and they got obliterated on gameday.

 

[m1al]

Then they might want to adjust and go to shorter routes to get the ball out faster. That's assuming we have more than one receiver that can get seperation.

Also, Nico is just not there yet. He's young and he makes the mistakes most young QBs make and it's compunded by bad OL play..

 

[livefaith]

Yep, football 101.

When they say the SEC is a league that's won in the trenches, this is exactly what they're talking about. Remember how good Joshua Dobbs was when he came in and took over? Dobbs accuracy was about as pinpoint as a shotgun when he first came on the scene. But, the reason we fell in love with him and the team got better was because of his legs and Moxie, not his arm. Our offensive line was so bad back then that it made this one look like a Hall of Fame offensive line. But Dobbs legs gave us a shot because no matter who it was they were going to be running for their life.

 

[tncolt55]

Arkansas was one of the worst pressure defenses in college football before last night and they got like 5 sacks.

Acting like you can't call plays to mitigate bad offensive line play is just not accurate though. We could roll the pocket and run Nico. We could do more stretch zone plays. We could run more short rpos to the middle of the field.

I saw four plays last night:
Zone run up the middle
RPO deep crosser
PA switch
Screen to the boundary

That was literally 90% of what we ran on offense.

Exactly correct! If I never see another screen to the flat to Squirrel again ill be happy. I got so irritated watching them run that for 1-3 yards every time then run up the middle and punt.

 

[Carl Pickens]

When Nico had time to throw the ball…. It appeared no one was getting open.
The whole offense looked dysfunctional

 

[barney]

Exactly correct! If I never see another screen to the flat to Squirrel again ill be happy. I got so irritated watching them run that for 1-3 yards every time then run up the middle and punt.

I mean I honestly thought we didn't run it enough. Nico has got to execute the pass though. I don't think we should run it to the wide side of the field if Nico can't throw a catchable ball. He threw it into the dirt a few times. When he executed the pass, we got 7-8 yards.

There are other screen passes in our repoitore that I haven't seen since the nc state game. We have got to run more quick passing if the oline can't protect. We run way way too much play action deep for how bad the offensive line is.

 

[barney]

When Nico had time to throw the ball…. It appeared no one was getting open.
The whole offense looked dysfunctional

The way we are deciding who gets playing time at wideout is insane.

Matthews, Webb and Nimrod should all be getting more reps than Brazzell at this point. Squirrel is probably lost for a while. But he and McCoy are also getting way too many reps in this offense.

 

[volgr]

Some of you do realize we are currently 5th in rushing...not in the SEC but all FBS. You guys want to fire the OL coach? Come on.

Now, the OL hasnt played well the last couple games (had some injuries vs OK), especially pass blocking, but some of that is on Nico. I think some of you are looking to blame something that isnt our star QB, but he is part of the problem along with the OL.

 

[EZE]

Most times that Nico takes a deep drop, they have called a pass play down the field. Nico took a lot of deep drops.

The play call wasn’t the problem.

The problems were an OL that blocked very inconsistently; and a QB that never throws to the primary receiver (could be a lot of reasons for this). As a result of either scenario, the QB gets under duress and we end up with a negative play.