The offense was far from perfect Saturday, but after a rough start to Big 12 play Messingham and staff rebounded a bit both in terms of execution and some creativity in play calling. Having a 85% or so Malik Knowles didn't hurt and though there were still far too many punts (60% of possessions), finding ways to get 3 TDs and only 1 FG was the difference in a close game, especially against one of the leagues better defensive coaches.
1st Quarter
K-State used motion vs TCU more than any other game this year, and one concept Messingham went back to multiple times was a motion to tight trips, then a 3 receiver combo route. This time Gill and Youngblood use short crossing routes across the middle to get Gill open, though he does come up just short of picking up the 3rd and long.
K-State's first TD was one of the more well designed concepts we've seen this year. 1st, there is 1 back zone RPO from Gilbert with a Thompson read of TCU's LBs. Lenners blocks momentarily, before releasing down the seam. K-State is in a tight end trips formation with 2 WRs to the bottom of Lenners (though Gill does push the limit of being off the LOS, which would make Lenners ineligible) and runs a now screen with Schoen. The run action and vertical to the top of the formation holds the top safety while the now screen holds the bottom safety, leaving Lenners wide open. K-State ran this same play later in the game, but Thompson made the run give read.
K-State used jet motion a lot vs TCU, but only with 2 gives in the game. This play paired the jet motion with inside zone run. Here you can also see one of TCU's defensive keys in this game; shooting the NG through the A gap. If you rewatch the game, you'll see this A gap penetration all day and it did a lot to disrupt both K-State's power and zone running games. Still, the jet does enough to hold the TCU LBs (circle) and this is a solid 5 yard run on first down.
Here is an example of how that A gap penetration really disrupts K-State's A gap power scheme. The TCU NG completely blows up the puller here which breaks down the entire play. Also, you can see that K-State is using the TE and motioning WR to block down on TCU's LBs and safety which does later lead to an opportunity for Gilbert to bounce an A gap power for a nice play.
One of the things Messingham's offenses have always done well is QB draw or QB runs on pass plays. TCU was hurt by ISU the previous game on similar concepts and Messingham did a nice job of mixing in 2 big runs on draws plus Thompson was able to scramble for big runs a couple of other times. This concept uses TCU's aggressive pass rush against them, plus Trotter is able to leak out an get just enough of a block on TCU's LB to free Thompson for the first down.
Here K-State uses motion to get Lenners to a stacked H position behind the TE and then a nice play action off of inside zone for the boot pass. These are passes that have to be caught because it is such a well designed play and would have gotten K-State into 2nd and short.
This is a different version of the jet sweep paired with QB power (inside puller with a read by Thompson) that Messingham has used quite a bit this season. The play is unsuccessful mainly due to a poor initial block by Wheeler against the TCU OLB which also ends up wasting Trotter as a lead blocker. However, I like that Messingham will run this concept once or twice a game to often get a young playmaker a touch. We saw it early this year with Knowles, we've seen it with Youngblood, and here we see it with Herron.
2nd Quarter
Here is K-State in split back gun, but with 2 half backs in Gilbert and Trotter. Messingham likes to run a similar concept to the jet/QB power run from this set, but with a stretch by the back side RB. This is play action off that same concept and this featured one of the poor decisions by Thompson. He does get some pressure, which forces him from the pocket. The combo of Youngblood and Trotter does seem to have TCU in a bind as Youngblood comes open, but its too late for Thompson to see it. Plus, here is where Thompson must find a way to throw the ball away once he gets outside.
Here is miss on a drop back pass with 3 crossing routes again designed to rub the TCU defenders. K-State gets exactly what they want from the TCU defender on Gill going over the top of Schoen's crosser, but Thompson makes the throw to a well covered Wheeler.
This is an example of a very short gain, but a well designed and executed power run to pick up 2nd and short. K-State is running a short power sweep with 2 pullers and gets a great kick out and pull up for a key block. The block at the point of attack isn't perfect and Gilbert still has to stretch for the first down, but this is the type of execution this offense has to give in short yardage situations.
Here is the same double motion jet action with Youngblood that we saw earlier from Herron. This time Thompson makes the give (reading the circled defender) to the RB with the little power concept (see the puller in the first circle) usually ran by the QB in Messingham's system. Not a game breaker, but another nice first down run for K-State.
K-State goes back to the double crossers concept, but this time with 2 back play action. The run fake does enough to hold TCU's shallow safety and Thompson makes a very good throw under pressure to Schoen on the post route.
Here is play action off of the double motion jet/power scheme. TCU has pretty good coverage on the 3 verticals, though Trotter tripping on the TCU defender doesn't help. However, Thompson makes the correct read and finds space to scramble for a nice 1st down gain.
A gap power hasn't been effective during Big 12 play, but here is a nice adjustment for a good gain. K-State does a great job of caving down the playside and picking up TCU's penetration up front, now allowing the play to bounce basically off tackle. Combined with some good blocking downfield, this leads to one of K-State's best runs by a back all day.
This was the first game K-State has used split back gun with a full back. Here is inside zone right by the offensive line with the FB coming across, very similar to K-State's inside zone with an H. The issue on this play is Dineen really ends up blocking nobody; he's probably taught to by pass the outside defender if he gets that far upfield and go the the backer that ends up making the tackle. Gilbert is still able to make a solid 1st down gain.
In a big moment, Messingham goes back to the motion to tight trips, 3 WR combo. This time the seam by Lenners and crosser by Schoen open up the middle of the field. Gill does a great job stemming the route outside before cutting back inside. Just a great combination of scheme and execution on this play.
2nd half coming in another post in this thread.
1st Quarter
K-State used motion vs TCU more than any other game this year, and one concept Messingham went back to multiple times was a motion to tight trips, then a 3 receiver combo route. This time Gill and Youngblood use short crossing routes across the middle to get Gill open, though he does come up just short of picking up the 3rd and long.
K-State's first TD was one of the more well designed concepts we've seen this year. 1st, there is 1 back zone RPO from Gilbert with a Thompson read of TCU's LBs. Lenners blocks momentarily, before releasing down the seam. K-State is in a tight end trips formation with 2 WRs to the bottom of Lenners (though Gill does push the limit of being off the LOS, which would make Lenners ineligible) and runs a now screen with Schoen. The run action and vertical to the top of the formation holds the top safety while the now screen holds the bottom safety, leaving Lenners wide open. K-State ran this same play later in the game, but Thompson made the run give read.
K-State used jet motion a lot vs TCU, but only with 2 gives in the game. This play paired the jet motion with inside zone run. Here you can also see one of TCU's defensive keys in this game; shooting the NG through the A gap. If you rewatch the game, you'll see this A gap penetration all day and it did a lot to disrupt both K-State's power and zone running games. Still, the jet does enough to hold the TCU LBs (circle) and this is a solid 5 yard run on first down.
Here is an example of how that A gap penetration really disrupts K-State's A gap power scheme. The TCU NG completely blows up the puller here which breaks down the entire play. Also, you can see that K-State is using the TE and motioning WR to block down on TCU's LBs and safety which does later lead to an opportunity for Gilbert to bounce an A gap power for a nice play.
One of the things Messingham's offenses have always done well is QB draw or QB runs on pass plays. TCU was hurt by ISU the previous game on similar concepts and Messingham did a nice job of mixing in 2 big runs on draws plus Thompson was able to scramble for big runs a couple of other times. This concept uses TCU's aggressive pass rush against them, plus Trotter is able to leak out an get just enough of a block on TCU's LB to free Thompson for the first down.
Here K-State uses motion to get Lenners to a stacked H position behind the TE and then a nice play action off of inside zone for the boot pass. These are passes that have to be caught because it is such a well designed play and would have gotten K-State into 2nd and short.
This is a different version of the jet sweep paired with QB power (inside puller with a read by Thompson) that Messingham has used quite a bit this season. The play is unsuccessful mainly due to a poor initial block by Wheeler against the TCU OLB which also ends up wasting Trotter as a lead blocker. However, I like that Messingham will run this concept once or twice a game to often get a young playmaker a touch. We saw it early this year with Knowles, we've seen it with Youngblood, and here we see it with Herron.
2nd Quarter
Here is K-State in split back gun, but with 2 half backs in Gilbert and Trotter. Messingham likes to run a similar concept to the jet/QB power run from this set, but with a stretch by the back side RB. This is play action off that same concept and this featured one of the poor decisions by Thompson. He does get some pressure, which forces him from the pocket. The combo of Youngblood and Trotter does seem to have TCU in a bind as Youngblood comes open, but its too late for Thompson to see it. Plus, here is where Thompson must find a way to throw the ball away once he gets outside.
Here is miss on a drop back pass with 3 crossing routes again designed to rub the TCU defenders. K-State gets exactly what they want from the TCU defender on Gill going over the top of Schoen's crosser, but Thompson makes the throw to a well covered Wheeler.
This is an example of a very short gain, but a well designed and executed power run to pick up 2nd and short. K-State is running a short power sweep with 2 pullers and gets a great kick out and pull up for a key block. The block at the point of attack isn't perfect and Gilbert still has to stretch for the first down, but this is the type of execution this offense has to give in short yardage situations.
Here is the same double motion jet action with Youngblood that we saw earlier from Herron. This time Thompson makes the give (reading the circled defender) to the RB with the little power concept (see the puller in the first circle) usually ran by the QB in Messingham's system. Not a game breaker, but another nice first down run for K-State.
K-State goes back to the double crossers concept, but this time with 2 back play action. The run fake does enough to hold TCU's shallow safety and Thompson makes a very good throw under pressure to Schoen on the post route.
Here is play action off of the double motion jet/power scheme. TCU has pretty good coverage on the 3 verticals, though Trotter tripping on the TCU defender doesn't help. However, Thompson makes the correct read and finds space to scramble for a nice 1st down gain.
A gap power hasn't been effective during Big 12 play, but here is a nice adjustment for a good gain. K-State does a great job of caving down the playside and picking up TCU's penetration up front, now allowing the play to bounce basically off tackle. Combined with some good blocking downfield, this leads to one of K-State's best runs by a back all day.
This was the first game K-State has used split back gun with a full back. Here is inside zone right by the offensive line with the FB coming across, very similar to K-State's inside zone with an H. The issue on this play is Dineen really ends up blocking nobody; he's probably taught to by pass the outside defender if he gets that far upfield and go the the backer that ends up making the tackle. Gilbert is still able to make a solid 1st down gain.
In a big moment, Messingham goes back to the motion to tight trips, 3 WR combo. This time the seam by Lenners and crosser by Schoen open up the middle of the field. Gill does a great job stemming the route outside before cutting back inside. Just a great combination of scheme and execution on this play.
2nd half coming in another post in this thread.
