Due to the level of competition, week 1 breakdown is going to be less of a breakdown and more of just a few highlights. The play calling was slightly vanilla but they took the oppurtunity to put a few things on film to fuel the constant ongoing mind games war between coordinators. As we move into the season we'll dive deeper into the games.
First look at tackle over, with Stogner lined up at LT. Something to watch moving forward, we don't utlize it here, but at some point during the season their will undoubtedly be a big shot taken off this look.
11 personnel, slot right wing left with a jet motion and a double play action vs a 4-3 set up in man coverage (arkansas state elects to roll coverage responsbilties here in the event of motion). The double play action does its job to pull the red wolve linebackers down to the line of scrimmage creating seperation underneath the safeties but ultimately it does not matter as you have Andrel Anthony on an island with a subpar DB. He nails the inside release and DG finds him comfortably in the seam. Welcome to Norman Mr. Anthony.
Creative press from the FS spot, just a good demonstration of what to expect more of than we got last season in regards to pressure. A lot of last season felt as though the defense was constantly playing from a position of on their heels, now that the roster is transforming and the guys have spent more time with the system, you should slowly start to notice the defensive becoming more and more aggresive in attacking the offense.
I wouldn't say they came out in max pass protection all game, but 6 was the minimum number of blockers per pass attempt for Arkansas State last saturday. The Sooner pass rush definitely did create some pressure, and used some of our more vanilla stunt packages, but you would of liked to see us get home more than we did. SMU will be a better gauge for where the pass rush currently is as they love throwing it and they love 10 personnel, so we should have a better idea come Sunday.
It appeared to me that Dillon Gabriel worked on his throwing mechanics in the off season, mainly on activating core muscles/rotating through the throws. Throwing from your core, much like a golf swing, produces more consistent results than a pure arm strength throw and we got to see some of that this game. If he can keep this calm demanoer to go with his smoother mechanics, Jeff Lebby's offense is going to click like we haven't see yet.
On the whole the offensive line seemed to of meshed well over the offseason with its new additions. They blocked cohesively as a unit and didn't seem to have much if any miscommunications. Barnes came back running hard as ever which was good to see, but I would like to see him develop a jump cut or another move for breaking himself out of the second level. He oozes raw talent as is, adding another layer to his game would elevate him to one of CFBs best in my opinion.
Lastly, at times Jackson Arnold looked young out there, but you can absolutely just see how good this kid is going to be shining through. The demeanor, the checks, the understanding of the concept's and what we are trying to accomplish on any given play, the awareness and the ability, he has it all in spades. If you take nothing else from this 73-0 blowout, just knowing moving forward to the SEC the program's offense is in the absolute best hands possible.
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