Five Plays: Villanova Wildcats Second Half

The Cards closed out the game well against Villanova last weekend. The offense got going with the run and the pass, and they continued to play mostly clean football. The defense looked much better in coverage in the second half, though they did have a couple of plays where they had some issues with technique and assignments. Jeff Brohm got to play plenty of young guys, including some young running backs who looked very good.

Louisville scored a touchdown early in this game when they snuck Jaleel Skinner out of the backside off run action to the left. It was a pretty simple play design, but it worked, in part, because the defense keyed on the run action. You can see that even after that, no one on this defense looked for the fake. They keyed on Isaac Brown at the snap, including a safety who sprints downhill as soon as the ball is snapped.

The Cards will be able to continue to exploit this against defenses, and Jeff Brohm should focus on taking what the defense gives him with his calls and his directions to his quarterback. I don't think this is a called RPO based on how the line blocks, but it should be. Make defenses pay for ignoring the plays off of the run action. It will eventually lead to more space for the running backs as teams adjust.

I've been doing these film reviews for a long time now, and this is one of the more impressive individual plays I've clipped. AJ Green is being blocked by a tight end on this play, and he, quite literally, tosses him like a rag doll. There's not any deep analysis on this play. He just tosses the guy and then makes the tackle to end the drive.

It was later in the game, but we finally got to see the offensive line get some push in the run game. The camera change makes it hard to make out the numbers, but the interior linemen wash out the defensive line on this play, which pushes guys back into the linebackers. You can see the linebackers struggle a bit to pick up the ball, and that gives Marquis Davis a cutback lane to the third level of the defense. He needs to hold onto the ball here, but this is what it should look like for the run game.

Koen Entringer had a rough day with a blown coverage in the first quarter and a touchdown given up in the second quarter, where he was beaten in coverage. But this is where he brings real value. He is unbelievable as a physical presence in the middle of the field. He likes to punish people when he arrives at the ball, and he does it cleanly, which we all know is important.

On this play, he is playing as a "robber", which means that he is lined up as a deep safety, but he is responsible for sinking into the middle of the field to try to confuse the quarterback. The call works as Entringer meets the tight end right as he catches the ball. You can see that the quarterback leads him up the field because he thinks he has space to run. Instead, Entringer lays a textbook hit on the tight end to separate him from the ball. Ben Perry turns into a defensive lineman for some reason and can't make the interception.

It was great to see this adjustment from the defensive line. This is the same screen Nova had been running all game, and this was against the same defensive call UofL was running in the first quarter. Instead of this play going for a decent gain like it was early on, the defensive line identified the blockers, allowing them to pass through, and they hustled outside to make a tackle behind the line. Small details matter because SMU will be looking to hit them with screen passes this weekend.

This is another blown coverage from what I'm seeing. It looks like the same Cover 3 look we saw against Ole Miss. The corner at the bottom of the screen bails into a deep zone to take away the go route. The safety in the middle of the field gets depth in his zone in the middle of the field. The underneath defenders are all dropping into short and intermediate zones with their eyes on the quarterback. Then you have Jabari Mack following the receiver to his side into the middle of the field. Mark Ivey and Steve Ellis need these veteran players to be more disciplined and focused.

Worth noting that this is an absolute dime of a throw.

I always make it a point not to pick on individual players, but Mack had a rough drive. This is just basic man coverage, but his technique is poor, which leads to him getting beat badly on a go route. Mack gets hands on the receiver, which is what you want to see in press coverage, but his shoulders end up just over his toes, and the contact with the receiver then knocks him off balance. You can see that once he's just a bit off balance, the receiver ends up using his contact to push himself away from Mack, and now it's a race.

Mack doesn't win the race, and a slightly underthrown ball helps him to take the flag and stop the touchdown. At this point, I'm questioning just how much press coverage Louisville should be in. I don't know that the entire secondary can execute like they need to.

This is what physical press coverage should look like from Tayon Holloway. He lets the receiver free release, but he mirrors him while taking away any inside route. Once the receiver commits to the fade route, he gets hands on him before playing his eyes, which tell him when to turn to make a play on the ball. It's not apples to apples to the above play, but Mack could have played it the same way.

Brycen Scott gives another good example of how you can play tight man coverage and make a play on the ball. I honestly wouldn't mind seeing the corners play slightly off like Scott is here as opposed to trying to jam the receiver at the snap. He uses the sideline to his advantage very well here.

Watch how he gives the receiver a few steps so that he is in position to take away any inside route. He then allows the receiver to run himself into the sideline while angling himself to be ahead of the receiver before getting hands on him and playing his eyes. Once the receiver's eyes start tracking the ball, he gets his inside hand up to knock the ball away. They need much, much more of this.

I was really impressed with Marquise Davis in the spring, but it was mostly because of his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and his good speed for a bigger back. They weren't tackling, so we didn't get to see stuff like this. The way he tosses off the last defender on this run blew me away. It's like watching a dad wrestle with his kids.

It's tough to make out the number, but I believe this is Dillon Smith at defensive tackle taking on a block and shutting down this run play with pure strength. He stands up the left tackle and pushes him back into the play, which ends up tripping the pulling guard, causing the running back to stumble before Trent Carter comes in to clean him up. Good stuff from a young guy who can be a nice depth option on the inside.

This is really nice to see from Marlon Harbin. The true freshman not only gets a nice gain, but he lowers his shoulder into the safety and runs right through him. Briggs Cherry's ball is also great; he leads him upfield exactly how you would want him to. I know this is garbage time, but it's always nice to see young guys make good plays like this.

Mike pointed this out at the time, but it says a lot about Harbin that so many of his teammates couldn't wait to come over and give him some love after this play. At the end of the clip, you can see coaches and players come over one after the other, including a lot of defensive veterans. This goes on for another few seconds, but I couldn't fit it in the clip. It's rare to see this type of reaction.

This is the first sack of the season for the Cards, and it was a good one. Tyler Thompson was brought in for exactly this type of play. He sets up the right tackle with a quick fake inside, followed immediately by hopping outside while using his hands to rip down on the tackle's hands. He propels himself forward with that rip move, and he has a free shot at the quarterback. They need more of this, and they need it from all of the pass rushers on the team.