Here is a look that the Aggie defense was giving the Mustangs all night. It is a 2-4-5 defense with with two down lineman (Eddie Brown #39 to the bottom and Galvin Stansbury #72 to the top) 4 linebackers (Sean Porter #10 at top, Charlie Thomas #9 at top ILB, Garrick Williams #8 at bottom ILB and Caleb Russell #12 at JOKER) and 5 defensive backs (Coyrell Judie #5 is at the top of the screen covering a receiver man, #3 Lionel Smith is at nickel corner, Dustin Harris #22 will be at boundary corner not seen, and the two safeties are Steven Campbell #2 who is playing over the top and Trent Hunter #1 who will be covering the inside most receiver).
This is a look the Aggie defense gave SMU most of the night, especially on 2nd & longs and 3rd and longs. For 1st downs, the Aggies would line up in their base 3-4 defense. This play is in fact a 2nd down and 10 play, after an incomplete pass on 1st down. This formation will give Aggies a lot of trouble throughout the game as the Mustangs will choose to run on it for most of the 1st half. The problem with this formation is simple. All of the defensive backs are covering the receivers (Judie, Harris, Smith, and Hunter with Campbell over the top of the 3 wide set) leaving the front six to defend the run themselves. Trying to run with 6 men in the box is a lot better than 7 men when the Aggies line-up in their traditional 3-4. As you will see, all SMU has to do is matchup one-on-on with the Aggies in the front six defenders and not block the 7th defender to the opposite side of the play. Advantage SMU, before the ball is even snapped.
Here is the play SMU will choose to run on this 2nd down and 10 yards to go. On the play side, the RT J.T. Brooks and the RG Josh LeRibeus will double down on DL #72 Galvin Stansbury, and Brooks will try to peel off from the block and block a linebacker after Stansbury is handled by LeRibeus. The Center will block the backside linebacker #8 Garrick Williams. The LT Beachum will cut block the other down lineman in Eddie Brown. Finally, the LG will pull around and block the OLB Sean Porter. The backside lineman/linebacker Caleb Russel will not be blocked on this play. RB Zach Line will try to run the ball right between the RT Brooks and the pulling LG.
Here is what the defense does immediately after the snap of the ball. Starting from the top down, Sean Porter (highlighted by yellow circle) will be in his backpedal on the play looking into the backfield. He will not be attacking the line of scrimmage. The first down lineman Stansbury is being double-teamed by the RT and RG. Charlie Thomas the ILB is reading his gap (highlighted by the red dashes) and tries to shoot the A gap. This is a critical reason why the Mustangs break this play open. Garrick Williams is reading the pulling LG and tries to go lateral and follow to where he is pulling (highlighted by red dashes). Eddie Brown the other down lineman is being cut blocked by the LT Beachum. Caleb Russel is moving up the field as he was probably a 3rd blitzer on the play.
Here is a second or two later in the play. Let's highlight two key components on this play. The first and biggest problem is the red circle. Three defenders are in one single area and have taken themselves out of the play. Galvin Stansbury has been effectively double teamed by the RT and RG, and stood up. They are now driving him back. Charlie Thomas decided to try and shoot the A gap (shown in previous picture). Because of this, he has taken himself out of the play as 1) that is not where the ball is going and 2) he is now trapped behind the double-teamed Galvin Stansbury. Garrick Williams who was running lateral with the pulling guard has been cut blocked by the Center who had the assignment. Either way, he would have also been caught behind the double-teamed Galvin Stansbury and other ILB Charlie Thomas. Eddie Brown has been cut blocked, and Caleb Russel, because he attacked up the field, has also essentially taken himself out of the play. Either way, there was probably little Caleb could have down other than stay neutral at the LOS, read the play, then take the appropriate angle down the field. Had he done that, it still would have been a nice chunk of yards for Line.
Now let's focus on Sean Porter. Porter was in his back pedal to start the play, reading what was going on in the backfield. Now we see the pulling guard coming around and Porter is still flat footed with his shoulders facing the line of scrimmage. At this point, he still has not decided or made an effort to attack the pulling guard that is heading his way.
Now we see that the pulling guard has engaged Sean Porter. He has now been blocked and taken out of the play. What could have Sean Porter done differently? He could have read the play better and tried to attack the guard and not let him come into his body. Also, instead of taking the guard head up in this case or with his right shoulder, he should have taken the guard with his left shoulder, allowing the right part of his body to remain in the hole that Zach Line is about to run through to try to at least make a play on the RB. The guard has cover him up completely and there is no play to be made. We also see that the RT and RG have walled off three defenders that include the down lineman Stansbury and the two ILB Thomas and Williams.
The red circle highlights that there was no safety help on this play and no one was in the next level for run support. If you go back to 1st picture, I tell you that Trent Hunter, the safety that is usually on that side, has chosen to run over and cover the inside most receiver with Steven Campbell playing over the top free of all three receivers. Because of this, he has abandoned his run-stopping position and the next level is open for Zach Line to run free.
Here you see Trent Hunter giving chase to Line already 15 yards down the field from the initial line of scrimmage. Hunter was out of position on the play due to the formation of the Mustangs
Not quite, but almost touchdown for SMU.
In summary, why was the long run broken on the A&M defense?
1) Lining up in the 2-4-5 defense on 2nd and long instead of the regular base 3-4 defense taking a defender out of the box meaning less people for the SMU OL to block
2) Trent Hunter rolling over from this safety spot to the other side of the field to man up against the inside most receiver of the Mustang formation
3) Effective double-team and peel off of the right side of SMU offensive line
4) Charlie Thomas making the wrong read on the play and getting log-jammed inside
4) Sean Porter taking on the pulling guard ineffectively
5) Garrick Williams taking a poor angle and also getting log-jammed behind Stansbury-Thomas as well as getting cut blocked by the center
Finally, here is a look at the adjustment the Aggie defense made in the 2nd quarter:
This is a 2nd and long play on SMU's first drive start the second half. Notice how much the defense has changed here than from the 2-4-5 look shown in the first half in a similar situation? The Aggies are in their base 3-4 defense giving a 50 front look with the two linebackers playing similar to stand up defensive ends on the line of scrimmage. Look at the receiver at the top of the screen who is in the slot here. There is another receiver near the sideline that is not shown on the screen. The Aggies don't even care about that receiver and are only using a safety over the top (again not shown on the screen) to defend against him. The Aggies are putting 7 in the box this time, all of the close to the line of scrimmage ready to attack the run instead of 5 yards back. The extra man here with a different mentality of run first versus pass first will make the difference here.
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