Welcome to the week 5 breakdown of the2014 Fightin' Texas Aggie offense.

For those that are reading my breakdown for the first time, here are the threads from the first four weeks:

Week 1: http://texags.com/forums/5/topics/2518225/
Week 2: http://texags.com/forums/5/topics/2523533/
Week 3: http://texags.com/forums/5/topics/2527229/
Week 4: http://texags.com/forums/5/topics/2529841/

Wow, what a game. I know a lot of people want to criticize various aspects of the offense (including Spavital), but after watching the game several more times the only problem we had was mental mistakes. I could argue that our offense would have put up just as many points as they did against South Carolina if it
weren't for the self-inflicted miscues. I counted 17 points alone in the first half that we left on the field. I'll dive into that later in the post.

The run/pass ratio obviously skewed due to the Aggies getting down 14 points late in the 3rd quarter. If there are any Dallas Cowboys fans reading this, this game felt very similar to games of the
past few years where they got behind early and had to ditch their game plan to catch up. As you can see, we averaged almost 8 yards on 2nd down. I dug a little deeper and found that when we ran the ball on first down our average 2nd down distance was only 7.15. When we passed on first down, that number jumped to 8.5. When we weren't successful passing on first down (i.e. we didn't pick up 10+ yards), we were putting ourselves in second in long all game. That led to more 3rd & longs and fewer 3rd down conversions. To me that was the most frustrating aspect of the game. We had a lot of success running the ball but I felt we didn't run the ball enough early in the game.

Data from Week 5


Next we will look at the various personnel packages the Aggies ran out against Arkansas.

Here's a brief description of the 7 formations we ran on Saturday.

Personnel Group Descriptions


Personnel Groups


I made the not-so-bold prediction that we would utilize Cam Clear more this week, and I was partially right. He played 20 registered snaps plus the plays wiped away by penalties. The odd thing was he never saw a
pass come his way. We only threw 5 passes when he was in the game, although 2 of those passes went for touchdowns. He was also wide open on the called-back goal line play but Kenny chose to hit Compton instead.

You also probably noticed the lack of the "23" formation. As Verne and Gary pointed out, every time we attempted to run this formation we were penalized. I was also irritated when on 4th & 1 our first drive of
the second half we decided against this formation in favor of one of our typical spread formations. Hopefully they don't make that mistake again, and hopefully our guys will actually wait for the ball to be snapped before they get out of their stance.

As I was saying earlier, it appeared to me our offense was running at its normal effectiveness. Spavital made the correct play calls, the problem was the players didn't execute. With a short field set up by Trey on
the opening kickoff, Brandon Williams made a nice run to score our opening touchdown. I'll break his touchdown run later.

Our second drive would have lasted all of 2 plays but the Hill to Kennedy connection over the middle was not to be. Store that play away in your mind for later in the post. Seven points gone right there if he hauls that pass in.

The third drive in the first half was the only one that seemed out of sorts. We went three and out with all three plays being passes. My only thought into this drive was that by this point Brandon was already out
of the game and Trey had just went to the sidelines after an undisclosed minor injury so Spavital's game plan was thrown for a loop. Eventually Trey was able to come back and we were back to the normal running back rotation with Tra and Trey. Like I said it's just a thought, who knows what was actually being discussed.

Our fourth drive was a good mixture of run and pass that ended in a strike to Pope in the back of the end zone.

The fifth drive started out promising and saw the Aggies get into Arkansas territory after a great catch by Sabian Holmes. After a solid run from Tra on 2nd down, we were called for our second false start penalty on
3rd & 1. The 3rd & 6 play call was perfect, and Kenny made a perfect pass to Josh Reynolds who couldn't handle the pass. 4th down came and we saw Lambo's first miss of the season. I assumed we would have
scored a touchdown if Reynolds would have hung on to that 3rd down pass.

Our final drive started with only 1 minute left, but if you know anything about our offense that is an eternity when we still have 3 time outs. After a first down run from Trey, Reynolds got behind the defense but
again couldn't hold on to an outstanding pass from Kenny. At the very least we get a crack at a field goal before the half if Josh could have hung on to that ball.

That's 13-17 points left on the field. And if it weren't for the fake punt returned for a touchdown the game could have looked completely different heading into halftime.

Targets


Malcolm saw a ton of targets but only caught 3 balls. None of that matters much because he saved himself by hauling in the touchdown in overtime. Once again Cam was shut out. Makes me wonder if they see him as more of a blocking tight end and not a receiving threat.

Season Total Targets


Red Zone Targets /Touches


Not much to glean from this chart. Our 4 red zone plays all came in the first 20 minutes of the game. We were 2/2 in the red zone so I guess that's a plus.

Season Total Targets/ Touches


X's & O's Breakdown

Here's a great example of Cam Clear's ability to block along with the offensive line doing work. Brandon makes a nice cut and by the time he's touched he is already falling into the end zone. Notice the fantastic motor on Matthews as he rides the Arkansas linebacker #51 into the end zone. Poor #51 will make another appearance later.





I picked this play not only because Tra took it for 24 yards but also for the different perspective. You'll see from the still picture before the snap that Mike is responsible for the linebacker. He blocks him just enough for Tra to sneak by and pick up another 15 yards.





For Edward Pope's first touchdown, we lined up in pistol formation with trips left. Pope was on the edge with Ricky and Malcolm lined up inside. Both Ricky and Kennedy ran 5-yard outs while Pope ran a quick post
toward the middle of the end zone. The throw was perfect and Pope managed to land in bounds before the rest of him touched the white line. I'm glad we scored here because that illegal man downfield penalty was a kick to the gut after a perfect play call on 1st down.





The final offensive play is steadily becoming a staple of my breakdowns. We've run the same play against South Carolina and Rice for big plays. We also used it in the first quarter, although the result of the play
was an incompletion due to a poorly placed throw by Hill to Kennedy. Here's a screenshot of the play from the first quarter.



You can see our buddy #51 bite on the play fake while Kennedy slips behind him.



Now to the play in overtime. The same play is called except we are in the formation where Cam Clear lines up in the backfield and goes in motion. Normally we have Cam block a defensive lineman to create a seam for the running back.



This time we run Clear into the flat while we fake the pass to Tra in the opposite flat. Once again #51 is fooled and Malcolm slips behind him into the center of the field where he receives a great pass from Kenny and takes it in for the touchdown.



I don't have many closing thoughts for this week other than I hope we don't make as many mental mistakes. I feel like the Arkansas fans when I say this game shouldn't have been this close, or at least it shouldn't have
required overtime for the victory. Either way a win is a win and this post is a lot more enjoyable to write.

Thanks for reading and I will see you guys next week.