Cal vs Texas Holiday Bowl Preview: The Longhorn Rush Defense
by ManBearCal on Dec 23, 2011 3:00 AM PST
in California Golden Bears Football
Email
Print
Howdy, Bears fans. Hope everyone is getting excited for the Holiday Bowl against the oh-so-hated Texas Longhorns. This will be a very interesting game, as both teams seem to have much in common...including the fan appreciation of a certain guy writing this right now *ducks*.
Kodiak has already previewed the Texas rushing offense. Today we're taking a look at the stout rush defense of the Texas Longhorns. It's good. Have a gander at these stats from the season:
THE STATS
-
FBS Rank: # 11 overall
-
SEASON: 373 attempts for 1244 yards (14 touchdowns)
-
OPPONENT AVG YARDS PER GAME: 103.67
-
OPPONENT AVG YPC: 3.34
-
Runs of 10+ yards surrendered: 42
-
Runs of 20+ yards surrendered: 11
-
IN WINS (7): 205 att for 575 yards (2.80 avg), 3 TDs
-
IN LOSSES (5): 168 att for 669 yards (3.98 avg), 11 TDs
Those are impressive numbers. After the jump, we'll get to know the Texas defenders a bit and figure out whether we can move the ball on the ground against this unit.
(DT Kheeston Randall)
THE PERSONNEL
Defensive Line:
DE Alex Okafor (Jr), 6'4 260 lbs
DT Kheeston Randall (Sr), 6'5 305 lbs
DT Desmond Jackson (Fr), 6'1 285 lbs
DT Calvin Howell (So), 6'4 290 lbs
DT Ashton Dorsey (So), 6'2 295 lbs
DT Chris Whaley (So), 6'3 280 lbs
DE Jackson Jeffcoat (So), 6'5 250 lbs
Okafor and Jeffcoat are very good players, and their quickness from the defensive end spots make it difficult to establish the outside run. Jeffcoat leads the team in TFL with 14.5, while Okafor has notched 12.5 of his own. Jeffcoat has battled injury and inconsistency this year, while Okafor has been a more solid presence. These two will be a serious handful for Schwartz and MSG at the tackle spots. Quick and strong guys.
I've listed 5 defensive tackles because alongside senior monster Kheeston Randall, four other guys will see reps in the middle of the Texas defensive line. This means lots of big bodies with fresh legs being rotated vigorously. Bogus. Dez Jackson is a superfrosh who has an explosive first step and can really penetrate well. Strong on passing downs, but a little light still. Will be a force in the future as he bulks up and his technique continues to improve. Whaley is a converted running back (!!!) who, as you would imagine, brings a lot of speed and athleticism to the interior. He's a versatile guy and can make some plays. Dorsey and Howell are both good athletes and solid players who will continue to develop. Randall is the lead bull of this bunch, starting all 12 games for Texas. He was named second team All Big-12. The emergence of guys like Jackson has allowed Randall to be a more disruptive force in the middle. Galas, Schwenke and Cheadle will need to have a very good game for us to have any hope of establishing the run against this front.
(MLB Keenan Robinson)
Linebackers:
OLB Emmanuel Acho (Sr), 6'2 245 lbs
MLB Keenan Robinson (Sr), 6'3 240 lbs
OLB Jordan Hicks (So), 6'2 235 lbs
Strong and fast unit. They can cover a lot of ground and make getting the edge a tall task . Acho is the leading tackler for the Horns, notching an impressive 109 on the season with 13.5 TFL. He's had a great year. Robinson is solid in the middle with an additional 90 tackles. He can plug holes but has trouble once a lineman gets his hooks into him. Both guys have been pretty good at run fit recognition and assignments. Hicks is the youngster of this trio, but has a lot of promise. He comes off when Texas goes into its Nickel defense.
(One man to beat...it's Blake Gideon...and he beats him!)
Secondary:
CB Quandre Diggs (Fr), 5'10 200 lbs
S/Rover Kenny Vaccaro (Jr), 6'1 215 lbs
S Blake Gideon (Sr), 6'1 205 lbs
CB Carrington Byndom (So), 6'0 180 lbs
Nickel DB Adrian Phillips (So), 5'11 199 lbs
Interesting group. Some incredible talent, a lot of youth, and Blake Gideon. The cornerbacks are young but talented (a recurring theme) and have shown they can provide good run support when challenged. Vaccarro is the stud of the secondary. He defends the slot on passing plays but will not hesitate to try to sleep a fool if he smells out a running play. Great closing speed and instincts. Gideon is hot garbage. Incredible that he's actually started at Texas for so long. To be fair, he's decent in run support...as long as its not a one-on-one with a running back in open space.
GAME BY GAME
Here's a look at how each of the Longhorn's opponents this year have performed against them on the ground. FBS rushing ranking is in parentheses:
Opponent
Surface
Result
Att
Yards
Avg.
TD
Rice (69)
Turf
W 34-9
30
130
4.33
0
BYU (52)
Turf
W 17-16
23
43
1.87
0
UCLA (30)
Grass
W 49-20
34
141
4.15
2
Iowa St. (35)
Grass
W 37-14
38
129
3.39
1
Oklahoma (49)
Grass
L 17-55
19
86
4.53
1
Oklahoma St. (43)
Turf
L 26-38
27
202
7.48
3
Kansas (60)
Turf
W 43-0
20
-2
-0.10
0
Texas Tech (89)
Turf
W 52-20
27
30
1.11
0
Missouri (11)
Turf
L 5-17
45
152
3.38
2
Kansas St. (29)
Turf
L 13-17
39
38
0.97
1
Texas A&M (21)
Grass
W 27-25
33
104
3.15
0
Baylor (18)
Turf
L 24-48
38
191
5.03
4
Not much to conclude from this unfortunately. A hefty chunk of the yardage gained on the ground by both Okie State and Oklahoma came on long runs. Missouri lost their leading rusher halfway through the game. A&M was without its two best running backs when they faced Texas. The K-State numbers are very impressive, but Navy and Georgia Tech think Kansas State is too one-dimensional of an offense.
Oh, there is that one common opponent between Texas and Cal. UCLA. Luckily everyone knows that the transitive property can't be applied to college football. Right? Right guys?! Moving on.
CONCLUSIONS
First off, these guys defend the run well. There's a lot of energy and depth along the defensive line, speed in the LB corps, and more speed in the secondary...sans Gideon. There's a reason they've allowed very few big runs on the season. They're fast, and any holes that are created by an opposing o-line tend to close up quickly. They have big guys that will collapse the middle of the line and linebackers that are quick to fill holes in support. Outside, their DE's are quick and the secondary will fly to the ball. What to do?
Well maybe we could borrow Brandon Weeden or RGIII for the night. Texas surrendered their highest rushing totals of the season against teams wih great passing attacks (202 yards to Oklahoma State and 191 yards to Baylor). They were spread out and made vulnerable by pass-first teams. Cal has been most successful when using the run to set up the pass...just the opposite. But we're also not such a completeley one-dimensional offense that Texas could just stuff the run and win the day, like they should have done against Kansas State (blame a putrid and injured Texas offense for that one).
Bear with me here (pun!), but I'd say Cal shows at least some offensive similarity to Baylor. Baylor was able to effectively gash Texas on the ground thanks to RGIII. He had to be respected as a running threat, and thus Texas could not key as heavily on Baylor running back Ganaway (who went for 153 yards). Can Zach Maynard pose a similar threat as RGIII? LOL NO. But if he can make effective reads and allow Isi and CJ some breathing room, we should be able to sustain some drives and get in position to score some points.
There won't be many easy yards gained on the ground against this defense. But that's okay...as long as we can find some modicum of balance in our offense. If we abandon the run, we're screwed. I expect a similar grinding performance to the one we saw against Stanford. It wasn't pretty, but it was mildly effective.
Or not. Maybe the homer in me is just hoping we can run the ball because the idea of Maynard throwing the ball 35 times against a secondary this opportunistic is terrifying. Doom forever, forever Doom!
Go Bears!
LINKS:
Burnt Orange Nation - For Texas Longhorns Fans
45 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Interesting
They do look tough against the run. Man-Bear, do they hold their opponents to much lower totals than normal, or are these just teams that run poorly? I am somewhat worried about the pass setting up the run, as I do think we do better the other way around.
Am I known as Cugel the Clever for nothing?
Divides like this:
OK State was the only team to gain more than their average (+30 yards)
Baylor & Rice were the two teams to be slightly below their average (roughly -20 yards each)
Everyone else was held 50 yards or more under their average rushing total.
K State (-155.7), UCLA (-49.7), Texas A&M (-105.1), Baylor (+24.1) & Missouri (-84.3) were all in the top 30 in rushing yards per game.
by nobre on Dec 23, 2011 10:15 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
nice breakdown
i’d just add that the bulk of UCLA’s rush yards against Texas came long after the game was over and done. Garbage time yards and TD’s. The stats were too kind to the Bruin run game for anyone who actually watched that game.
also, Okie State benefited from a couple huge runs when otherwise they were held pretty much in check.
this is a very impressive run defense.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
I vote for
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!
Californian in Exile:
by secret ASian man on Dec 23, 2011 9:58 AM PST via mobile reply actions
if your QB goes all RGIII on us you'll gash us
In The Morning To You
by horns1025 on Dec 23, 2011 10:06 AM PST via Android app reply actions
i was wondering if Cal fans could help me
how would you rank our D compared to others you’ve played this year?
In The Morning To You
by horns1025 on Dec 23, 2011 10:55 AM PST via Android app up reply actions
statistically
Texas will be the best defense Cal has faced this year. Only Stanford and Utah would be comparable.
But by those same statistics, Cal would be the second-best defense Texas has faced (BYU being the first). Go figure.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
Our offense is better than BYU’s though, right???
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 23, 2011 11:19 AM PST up reply actions
It’s certainly better than that mess of an offense BYU had early in the season when it faced Texas. They’ve improved quite a bit since September.
"Some people watch adult videos on their computer - I go to YouTube and watch Jahvid Best highlight clips. That’s what gets me going."- Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions head coach
California Golden Blogs
by Berkelium97 on Dec 23, 2011 11:21 AM PST up reply actions
WOOO THAT MEANS WE CAN WIN
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 23, 2011 11:23 AM PST up reply actions
Utah and Stanford have good defense, but Maynard played really well in those games.
We scored the lowest against USC, but that was mostly because Maynard played his worst game.
It seems like our offense is more dependent on how Maynard plays, and how Maynard plays is not as dependent on how good his opponent defense is.
i could really see this being a 17-16 game
In The Morning To You
by horns1025 on Dec 23, 2011 11:26 AM PST via Android app up reply actions
sounds about right
although i think turnovers and short fields will lead to more scoring than long, sustained drives for either team. just depends on which QB has a worse day IMO.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
if it comes down to QB play...
then id like to say congrats on the win. hopefully it comes down to which team rushes for more which i think would favor Texas
In The Morning To You
by horns1025 on Dec 23, 2011 11:35 AM PST via Android app up reply actions
i actually think our defense matches up pretty well with your running game, especially with Fozzy out. he would have given us serious issues. I think the power running game without him plays into our strength.
we’ll see though. just hope its a good game.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
should be a great game
provided our QBs remember to throw to the guys with Burnt Orange. i thin you guys could contain our power run game but i think we’ll see a lot more sweeps with our speed guys and read plays with David Ash. i hear you guys have trouble stopping runs to the outside hopefully success doing that will open up some lanes for B&B inside
In The Morning To You
by horns1025 on Dec 23, 2011 11:45 AM PST via Android app up reply actions
Monroe and Goodwin on jet sweeps give me a sad
hope we’re ready for their speed.
the games where we really struggled with outside runs were UCLA and Oregon. Oregon is Oregon. They’re good, and they held a shitload.
But the UCLA mess is almost unexplainable. It was clear that our OLB’s were being instructed to crash down the line on the dive back when UCLA ran the Pistol read. That was supposed to leave the safeties to take Prince on keepers. For whatever reason, we weren’t consistently getting the safety there and if they did get to him, they weren’t making the tackle. they softened us up and buried us. still pissed about that.
I know Ash can run, so I do have some concerns about him successfully getting 6-8 yards a pop when he rolls and keeps. Its possible that B&B soften us up with body blows throughout the game, but our 3-4 is pretty stout and we’re deep along the DL with guys that are 270+. our two ILBs are seasoned vets. i like our personnel to do their jobs. of course, i thought we’d handle UCLA too.
if we have trouble early with your offense, game over man. game. over.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
What absolutely don’t get is, if they’re running the pistol, have the OLB/DE crash the QB every single time, and depend on the DL and MLB to get the RB up the middle if he hands it off. Put the QB on the ground every single time if he keeps it. Beat him up a little. If he’s punished for keeping it, he’ll be more likely to hand it off.
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 23, 2011 12:31 PM PST up reply actions
agreed
and i still have no fucking clue why Pendergast never made that adjustment. seemed pretty obvious to me.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
Maybe we could build a fire and sing couple of songs, huh? Why don't we try that?!
Everyone hates Texas, even though every college team has a player from Texas.
by hornyaustinite on Dec 23, 2011 12:38 PM PST up reply actions
trouble with our offense? HAHAHAHAHA
oh you’re being serious dont worry the only games where our offense gave anyone trouble were UCLA, KU and TTU we had some success against Baylor until our QB forgot what team he was on
In The Morning To You
the thing about B&B is if they have even a small hole they will get yards
maybe not 5 yards are so but they both keep moving their legs and will get 3 yards even on stuffed runs. Bergeron is really good at shrugging off hits and keeping his balance. against KU and TTU he just had guys bounce off him. i hate to say this but he does look somewhat like Earl Campbell when he runs because of his ability to break tackles and keep going. you gotta wrap up and hang on if you wanna bring down Mean Joe
In The Morning To You
Earl Campbell? That’s high praise indeed, he was beastmode before beastmode.
Am I known as Cugel the Clever for nothing?
he isnt Earl Campbell good its just his style of running is quite similiar
i probably should have worded that differently.
In The Morning To You
i see a lot of the same discussions regarding personnel match ups and some play calling....
what about the coaches that are guiding this talent and play calling? comparisons?….
Harsin for example: He seems to be an intelligent OC. it is his first year and i think he has done a good job with what all that transpired. i think he has got a lot of talent to work with except QB. (does Applewhite still have year of eligibility?) He should have a great game plan against the CAL D especially knowing he has a strong Defense to back him up.
Looks as though Harsin likes misdirection through pre-snap movement and trickery. i think he will actually use Ash in a few misdirections of what is the norm to this point. i mean, Ash usually comes in and it is a running play of some type. so instead of a run Ash pulls up for a long pass across the middle vacated by safety cheating. also, runs up the middle will be similar to what SF did against Detroit with a lot of pulling and wedge points of attack. and lastly, TEs will be huge for Texas. talk has been of Harsin utilizing our HUGE RB turned DE (Whaley) into a TE, plus Irby needs to go out as a playa with a TD in his last game.
I could go on, but interested in CAL’s OC game plan.
CAL OC?
Everyone hates Texas, even though every college team has a player from Texas.
by hornyaustinite on Dec 23, 2011 12:35 PM PST reply actions
someone has been reading their Barking Carnival
Tedford calls the plays, with the help of our OL Coach and Qb Coach. Curious as to what he has dialed up for this Texas D. I’d imagine a fair amount of zone read and rollouts…because that’s what Maynard seems to do well.
Harsin is a great offensive mind. He’s done more with the generally poor QB play of Ash and McCoy than i thought he could have. But at the end of the day, those guys will need to play well for you to have some offensive success. Harsin can put them in position, but they need to make the plays. Can they? We’ll see.
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
ftfy i think
Tedford calls the plays, with the help of our OL Coach andQb CoachWR Coach.
It’s Michalczik and Kiesau who helping with playcalling, not Arroyo, right?
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 23, 2011 1:01 PM PST up reply actions
ah, yes
you’re right. i think Arroyo helps with things he sees but most of the input comes from Kiesau and Coach M
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
honestly don't know what barking carnival is...
zone read and rollouts? hmmmm…. that would mean potentially safety biting on run… that could spell trouble for us with gideon. i just wish gideon would buy into the bend dont break and stay home and only move after the ball is placed. but, eh… otherwise Diaz likes to point blitz, and that could blow up those plays, less they are in the opposite direction of point blitz at which point the other guys need to stay home… usually they are pretty good about that, less our DEs overpursue, which they do.
just in case who is CAL’s back up QB :^)
Everyone hates Texas, even though every college team has a player from Texas.
by hornyaustinite on Dec 23, 2011 1:45 PM PST up reply actions
aaahhhh another Longhron website to help my fix and waste more time at work :^)
Everyone hates Texas, even though every college team has a player from Texas.
by hornyaustinite on Dec 23, 2011 1:55 PM PST up reply actions
You will love BC - particularly Scipio Tex articles.
Proud of your offense? Manny badger don't give a shit!
The backup QB is redshirt sophomore Allan Bridgford. He was hurt all of last year, but he competed for the starting job this year and came in second to Maynard. He’s supposedly more accurate than Maynard but he’s still pretty raw. He’s seen very limited snaps as the backup, probably because Maynard needed as many snaps as possible to get up to speed with the offense, and also because the coaches felt Maynard gave us the best chance to win. Bridgford is more of a pocket passer and less of a running threat than Maynard. If you’re looking for film, he saw a little time in second half of the Oregon game after Maynard got a little dinged up and things were out of hand anyway. He seemed pretty fearless, which is good, and he was fairly on target, but was the victim of several dropped passes, at least 2 of which would have gone for TDs… But still, he threw a lot of passes into double coverage and nearly had a few picks as well. I’d say he’s mostly an unknown quantity though. If we had to see him in anything other than garbage time in the Holiday Bowl, Cal fans would be pretty nervous.
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 23, 2011 2:04 PM PST up reply actions
I doubt that Cal will able to score 30 on us
And damned nigh impossible for us to score 20 with our offense!
Proud of your offense? Manny badger don't give a shit!
so are Texas fans
I am THE DOOMBRINGER. We Are Cal.
by ManBearCal on Dec 23, 2011 1:13 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
yes hot garbage burns..
Everyone hates Texas, even though every college team has a player from Texas.
by hornyaustinite on Dec 23, 2011 2:02 PM PST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
GoldenBlogs' FAQ and Community Guidelines
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recommended FanShots
Recent FanShots
I recorded the entire last out as Cal clinches the first ever PAC12 Softball Title! It was also a...
Pac-12 On SBN
Pacific Takes (Pac-12) NORTH AddictedToQuack: (Oregon)
UW Dawg Pound: (Washington)
CougCenter: (Washington State)
BuildingTheDam: (Oregon State)
Rule Of Tree: (Stanford)
CaliforniaGoldenBlogs: (Cal)
SOUTH
BruinsNation: (UCLA)
ConquestChronicles: (USC)
HouseOfSparky: (ASU)
Arizona Desert Swarm: (Arizona)
TheRalphieReport: (Colorado)
Block U: (Utah)
Golden Bears Football Schedule
| Fresno St. | Sat 09/03 | W 36 - 21 |
@
Colorado
|
Sat 09/10 | W 36 - 33 |
| Presbyterian | Sat 09/17 | W 63 - 12 |
|
@
Washington
|
Sat 09/24 | L 23 - 31 |
|
@
Oregon
|
Thu 10/06 | L 15 - 43 |
|
USC
|
Thu 10/13 | L 9 - 30 |
|
Utah
|
Sat 10/22 | W 34 - 10 |
|
@
UCLA
|
Sat 10/29 | L 14 - 31 |
|
Washington St.
|
Sat 11/05 | W 30 - 7 |
|
Oregon St.
|
Sat 11/12 | W 23 - 6 |
|
@
Stanford
|
Sat 11/19 | L 28 - 31 |
|
@
Arizona St.
|
Fri 11/25 | W 47 - 38 |
|
@
Texas
|
Wed 12/28 | L 10 - 21 |
