Offensive Key to the Game: OSU Must Establish the Run

On offense, the primary key for the Cowboys this Saturday will be to establish a running game. Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando’s scheme is very similar to that of Iowa State’s, in that they are primarily in a three defensive linemen-front.

If teams are unable to run against the three lineman-look, the Longhorns can drop eight into coverage and make it extremely difficult for offenses to move the ball through the air. Last year against UT, Justice Hill and J.D. King combined for only 3.6 yards per carry. Since Oklahoma State was unable to find success on the ground, Texas was able to focus on limiting the Cowboys’ high-powered passing attack. It worked out pretty well as Mason Rudolph threw for 282 yards, almost 100 yards below his per game average, and no touchdowns.

We saw OSU struggle to run the football against Iowa State’s three-man look earlier this season, and you can be sure Texas will primarily operate out of this look on Saturday. Hill only had 66 yards and averaged just 2.8 yards against the Cyclones, as the ISU front was able to clog the middle and the linebackers were able to chase Hill down we he tried to bust it outside. An example of this is shown in the clip below.

In last year’s matchup, the Longhorns found a lot of success with their “Lightning” front (which they learned from Iowa State) against the Cowboys. In this set they replace their “B” linebacker, which is a defensive end/linebacker hybrid, with a defensive back. This formation gives them more speed to chase down running backs on the outside, while also improving their pass coverage with the addition of another defensive back. They give up some ground in the pass rush, however, it worked out perfectly for them a season ago in Austin as 365_Schemes explains in the video below.

So, how do you establish the run against this talented Longhorn defense? Well, we saw Maryland have success last season, and some success again this year by using misdirection. They used heavy dose of fly sweep motion, either faking it to the motion man or handing it off to him as you see in the video below.

Cody Alexander of MatchQuarters.com explains this play how this play was effective.

“The zone action by the RB holds the two ILBs and allows the two TEs to the unbalanced side to arc and reach the second level. They wall the outside secondary players and the safety overruns it. The result is a quick strike TD.” [Match Quarters]

We’ve seen the Cowboys use the fly sweep motion to open things up, as you see in this next clip, and they will need to incorporate this into their game plan against UT.

I would also like to see the motion man get the ball more often in Yurcich’s game plan, which we haven’t seen much outside of the red zone this year.

In addition, the zone-read can be effective against the Longhorns as we saw OU have success with it earlier this season.

We’ve see Oklahoma State have success on the read-play and they hit one big early on against the Cyclones’ three defensive lineman-front.

Adding the threat of the quarterback run allows the offense to gain a numbers advantage against the defense. If the linebackers bite on the inside zone run, with the defensive lineman already looking to clog the middle, there’s not anyone left in the first or second level to stop the quarterback on the keep.

Another way to attack this Texas defense is utilizing the Cowboy Backs to create ways of getting to the linebackers at the second level. We saw OSU accomplish this last season on their only touchdown of the game by running outside zone with the Cowboy Back as the lead blocker. With Texas in a “Tite” look, left tackle Aaron Cochran has no one lined up in front of him and he’s able to easily get to the linebacker and seal the edge. Jalen McCleskey also helps out with a nice crack back block and King is able to get into the end zone.

Two running back-formations, whether it be split-backs or the diamond, will also be advantageous for Oklahoma State this weekend. These sets will cause Texas’ linebackers to think more than usual on typical rushing downs. Additionally, when you incorporate the two running backs with the fly sweep motion, it will put the UT linebackers into a conflict and could open things up for the Cowboy ground attack as it did against K-State in the video below.

In conclusion, the last time the Cowboys faced a defense similar to the Longhorns, they lacked creativity in their game plan. Against Iowa State, OSU barely used any two-back sets, had only a few instances of fly sweep motion, and didn’t really get their running backs involved in the passing game. This Saturday against the Longhorns, Yurcich and company will need to mix things up and keep trying to find something that works to establish the run.

If Oklahoma State isn’t able to get anything going on the ground, it will be a long day for Taylor Cornelius in the passing game. If UT doesn’t have to respect the run and can drop eight into coverage, it will be tough for the Cowboys to emerge from Homecoming weekend with a W.