App State Film Review: ASU Fourth Quarter

App State really put the hammer down in the fourth quarter. They got their third interception of the game and just shut down the Arkansas State offense. The offense opened things up a bit and got the ball in the hands of different guys to make a few plays. The big takeaway I had is that the traditional run game early in the game started to pay off later because they started handing it off to motion guys and their misdirection stuff worked.

ASU Ball, 1st and 10

This is such an impressive play by the outside linebacker. The play is designed to draw him up the field with the action of the play being a swing screen to the running back. Then the slot receiver slips right into the vacated area. Akeem Davis-Gaither keeps his eyes on the quarterback and just gets back into position to tip the pass. You can see that all of the linebackers are staring down the quarterback instead of falling for the eye candy. Really good to see.

ASU Ball, 1st and 10

I got a question on Twitter the other night asking who would be the “edge rusher” in this defense. Well, there isn’t one. At least not in the sense that we saw in Todd Grantham’s defense. What the defense does do is bring pressure from different angles and areas. Here you can see the middle linebacker to the field side come on a perfectly timed blitz. He gets some help with the tight end doing absolutely nothing to try to stop him and ends up with the sack.

I also figured out something that I hadn’t noticed before today. The outside linebackers don’t play “strong side/weak side”. They play “boundary/field” which means that one guy always plays to the short side of the field while the other plays to the wide side. I’m going to keep watching to see if that holds true on every play, but I’m pretty sure Bryan Brown mentioned this in an interview.

ASU Ball, 3rd and 4

Bryan Brown was asked about what he looks for in certain positions and he talked about how he wants smaller quicker guys for his nose tackle position but they also have to take on double teams. This is 280 pound MyQuan Stout (#92) eating up two blockers on third and short and allowing other guys the space to make the play. Louisville doesn’t have anyone that has shown the ability to do this. Not from a talent standpoint but from a willingness standpoint.

ASU Ball, 4th and 3

Davis-Gaither (#24) isn’t a defensive back, but this is a great open field tackle so I’m posting it anyway. I love how he breaks down for two beats and then he keeps his feet to get to the runners legs. He doesn’t lunge or dive like you see sometimes.

App State Ball, 3rd and 7

Here’s a different triple option look that Malik Cunningham could definitely run. Zac Thomas rides the mesh point well and he gets a good block from the h-back on the edge man. That gives him a massive hole to run through and he has just enough speed to get to the third level. Then he just wins the footrace to the endzone.