Yes Nobis, when Greg Davis (our OC) remembers that FB pass as well as throwing to the TE crossing the middle it is effective. The last few games he actually went back to the shotgun for long yardage situations much to the delight of our fans who have been calling for it. Sometimes he actually surprises us! Most of the time Simms will take the snap from under center, but it is almost always a 3-step drop.
I have a question: What percentage of the time do you play zone coverage? Do you ever zone blitz? Thanks.
I would say we rarely play zone or zone blitz. the zone is what got us beat at Ark....the CBs are used to playing man and shifted to the zone on the Hail Mabel (Ark hillbilly version of the Hail Mary).....to say the least they were lost in coverage. I would expect though they will practice it more the next 3 weeks to try to be able to use it some. But Saban being an NFL guy will likely stick mostly with man.
Thanks Hub, I wonder how you will deal with Roy W. Probably bracket him with a safety don't you think? That still leaves BJ and Sloan(if he's in there too) in man coverage. Interesting....
My best guess is that he will play him man and if it gets out of hand bring a safety over. I've talked our CBs down a bit which when I think about it really isn't justified. There typical games have been.....do well most of the game but give up that one big play. So it's not like they get toasted constantly. The trend this year has been to throw away from Hookfin.....not that he is a superstar but b/c on the other side (Webster or Gay) they are a lot "greener". Webster is a superstar in the making....he led the SEC with 7 Ints (picked Grossman 3 times) this year. He's a converted receiver with xclent hands he just needs more time at the position. Hookfin got eaten up by Kelly Washington last year but since then he has really played better....he can't catch a cold though, if he caught half the Ints he dropped he would probably have 10. Gay has been playing more safety and nickel/dime coverage.....we lost our starting free safety (D James - quit the team) and that has caused some shuffling.....Hunt is the new starter, another converted receiver, he does OK in coverage but is lackluster against the run.....he is not going to light you up. If D James was still around things would be much better...he was excellent in coverage and against the run. Hunt typically does a few safety blitzes a game. Both Hookfin and Webster have good speed so i don't think it's going to be the case of RW or any of the others being able to out run them.....what has gotten them in trouble is bad technique or wrong coverage.
I dunno Hub, I think if you go solely with man-coverage, there's going to be some major burnage deep unless y'all can get to Simms in a hurry.
LSU uses the blitz selectively, but doesn't rely on it. The line will pressure the QB alone in most situations. They haven't gotten many sacks this year, but have forced very many throw-aways because the QB doesn't have time to find an open receiver. The teams that protected their QB's the most effectively against the Tigers (Alabama and Auburn) did it by flagrant holding because the refs just weren't calling it. It will be interesting to see how the Bowl referee's call the game. Our defensive backs play a very tight man coverage game, as attested by our high national ranking against the pass. I think Texas will see a lot of man coverage and LSU may get burned a time or two, but generally Texas receivers will be covered very closely. I haven't seen Simms play, unfortunately. But he will have to have an excellent touch or risk interceptions and knockdowns from LSU defensive backs. I think LSU will challenge him to throw to single-covered receivers. The Kentucky QB was the only SEC quarterback that had the touch to get the ball through to a tightly covered receiver this year.
How tall are your corners? That's what makes covering Roy so tough. He has the speed to burn you deep, but is also 6'4" and highjumped like 7' in high school. He's a freak. If they're short, even if they're in his back pocket, Simms will just throw it up to him all day, and Roy will catch it over the top of them. I wouldn't advise any team trying cover Roy one-on-one. He took Nebraska's KeJuan Groce to school.
Webster is about 6'1 and was a good HS b-ball player with big-time ups but Hook is kinda small. I seem to remember a season-ending injury to your TE (ACL maybe?) before your first game. Is he still gone for the year? Will he be back? I want to say it sounded like he was a key to the offense and a big loss.
I think both are in the 5'10" to 6'0" range. One (Hookfin) can jump through the roof. We played somebody with a pretty tall receiver this year....i think it was Miami OH...guy was like 6'6"....Hookfin held him in check....not saying the guy is the equivalent of RW....but he did well against a much taller receiver. whether it's right or not LSU will play man coverage. I don't question that they'll get beat a couple of times but the receivers won't be open every play. the pass rush is going to be the key. i've said it many times, most of the year we haven't been able to pin our ears back on the D-Line and rush the passer b/c of so many running QBs we've faced...they've had to think contain. With Simms not being that mobile i think you'll see the D-Line come after him.....will it work?....we'll see.
