BYU vs. Air Force

The Air Force Falcons have never beaten Bronco Mendenhall as a head coach.

Mendenhall and the Cougars are a perfect 5-0 against the Academy since Mendenhall took over the reigns in Provo in 2005.

The all-time series has been dominated by BYU with the Cougars holding a 24-6 edge.

In fact, the Falcons haven’t beaten the Cougars since 2003, a 24-10 victory over a lackluster 4-8 Gary Crowton-led team.

To put it another way, if the Cougars get the win in Colorado Springs this Saturday, it will mark the fourth consecutive Air Force senior class to go winless against BYU.

A large part of the Cougars’ success over the years has to do with their ability to contain the triple-option veer offense deployed by the Falcons.

Perhaps no team in the country has had more success against the option attack over the last three decades than BYU.

The key to the Cougars success lies in their many years of experience seeing the offense, their disciplined approach, their preparation during the week leading up to the game, and the execution of their assignments on the field.

When defending the Falcons there are five things a defense must handle well.

1) Cut blocks

The first thing defenders must do is to keep the Falcon blockers off their legs. The undersized players at Air Force are notorious for going for the legs of their opponents in an effort to chop bigger, more athletic defenders down to the turf.

The block is legal and the the Falcons take full advantage of the rules. Their use of the cut block is the main reason that Air Force opponents hate playing the Falcons.

BYU coaches do a great job of preparing their players for the tactic and few teams are better at dealing with it. The key is in anticipating the block and using one’s hand as leverage against a blocker trying to get into your legs, pushing a diving blocker into the ground.

2) Stop the fullback

On running plays the Falcon quarterback makes two reads. First he will read the defensive tackle and middle linebacker as the fullback goes through the line.

If the play is open he will give the ball to the fullback on a dive up the middle, if not he will keep the ball and continue down the line of scrimmage to his second read.

It is imperative to stop the fullback dive in the triple option or its becomes a very long day for a defense. Anytime the Air Force fullback gets 100 or more yards rushing, the Falcons are virtually unstoppable.

BYU has consistently shut down the fullback over the years, forcing the quarterback to make reads and plays on the outside. During the Mendenhall era, the Cougars have gotten great efforts from their nose tackle, who has the main responsibility to stuff the fullback in BYU’s 3-4 defensive alignment.

3) Tackle the Quarterback

The quarterback’s second read in the triple option offense is the defensive end or, in some instances against BYU, the outside linebacker in the 3-4. The quarterback will read to see if that player pinches down or stays to the outside.

If  there is a seam available the quarterback will keep the ball and cut it up field. If there is no opening, then he will pitch the ball to his running back on the outside.

Again the defensive end or linebacker must tackle the quarterback and force the pitch, otherwise a big play can result from the defense being stretched horizontally.

As a defense you also want to make the quarterback pay in this offense. Anytime you can get a hit on the quarterback you want to make good on it, as BYU did last year, knocking starting Air Force quarterback Tim Jefferson out of the game.

4) Cover the pitch man

The final assignment to stopping the the triple option lies with the BYU safeties. The safety to the side that the Falcons are running to is responsible to anticipate, just after the snap of the ball, where the pitch man will be and get there to stop him.

The responsibility falls to the safeties because the Falcons typically try to engage the corners with their receivers as blockers, or run them off in pass patterns.

BYU’s safety play against the option has been stellar over the years, and with a big hitter like Andrew Rich in the defensive backfield, the pitch man can tend to start looking up field to see where Rich is, rather than keeping his eye on the ball.

5) Be aware of the play action pass

The Air Force offense is essentially the same play run from various sets and with different men in motion. It can look confusing, but in the end its the same fullback, quarterback or pitch option.

The only real wrinkle in the Air Force offense is the play action pass, which can be a dangerous weapon, especially when the Falcons have a quarterback that can throw the ball with some accuracy, as they currently have in junior Tim Jefferson.

Jefferson has completed 56 percent of his passes in his career for 1682 yards and 12 touchdowns. Many of the scores have come on big pass plays over the top of a defensive secondary that has been lulled asleep by constantly pressing the line of scrimmage against the run.

The Falcons run their play action off the option. Jefferson will typically fake to the fullback then slide down the line of scrimmage as usual, only to then fade back and try to hit a receiver, usually deep over the middle.

The Falcons will typically run this play to the side of the free safety, forcing the strong safety to cover the deep middle of the field.

The statistics show what a good job the Cougars have done over the past six years, holding Air Force to just 211 yards rushing per game, well below their average, and just 337 total yards per contest. BYU has defeated the the Falcons during that span by an average score of 40.5 to 21.7.

This season the Cougars bring a talented but less experienced defensive front seven into Colorado Springs. How disciplined and assignment sound these less experienced players are will determine to a large degree if the Cougars can push their winning streak against the Falcons to seven games.

For more insight on stopping the Falcons’ offense, check out articles from years past from Quinn and Markell under the “Air Force Week” category.

BYU TE Austin Holt

BYU’s playing of true freshman tight end Austin Holt on Saturday in the Washington game could be an indication to Cougar fans that coaches have some big plans for Holt this season.

With four talented and capable freshmen tight ends on the roster in Mike Muehlmann, Devin Mahina, Richard Wilson and Marcus Mathews, it was thought that Austin could be a candidate to redshirt in 2010.

However, it looks as though his talent was too much to pass on this year, even with the current log jam of talent at the position.

His appearance Saturday means that the 6′5″, 245-pound freshman will not be redshirting this season per NCAA rules.

Holt played at Bingham High, a perennial power in Utah high school football. He was regarded by some as the top prep tight end in the country in 2008.

Austin served an LDS Church mission to St. Louis straight out of high school and returned just weeks before the start of fall camp.

All four of the other primary candidates at TE had the advantage of having a spring camp under their belts, and in the case of Muehlmann and Wilson, a redshirt season in 2009. Holt began fall camp trying to playing catch up with the others and it appears the process is just about complete.

With Holt in the mix, the Cougars have five tight ends competing for playing time. Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall says that BYU will utilize the various strengths of each player in different roles as the season progresses.

But reason would indicate that Holt’s redshirt year was burned so early in the schedule because coaches see Holt playing a significant role as the season advances.

Notes:

BYU tight ends accounted for five receptions, 77 yards and no touchdowns in Saturday’s victory over Washington. By comparison BYU’s combination of Dennis Pitta and Andrew George averaged seven receptions, 95 yards and one touchdown per game in 2009. Richard Wilson led all Cougar tight ends on Saturday with three catches for 45 yards. Devin Mahina missed the game due to an ankle injury.

Our defense came out firing and was handling the option good. Then Air Force’s full-backs were able to find spaces for good yardage which opens up all the other AFA offensive options. We need to find a quick answer to AFA’s end around plays and would a defensive back please get off a block and make a tackle on a running back. It was painful to watch our defenders getting man handled down the field by those miniature cadets.
Our defenses second half efforts needs to begin with the full back. If we can stop the full back and force the Falcons to use other players we’ll make it out of this game with a win. If we can’t stop the full back all of the reverses, options, play action and quarterback runs will become more and more effective as the game progresses into the fourth quarter.
The offense simply needs to stop shooting themselves in the foot. Instead of running the ball near the endzone we decided to throw the ball into triple coverage.
Air Force is going into the locker room with the emotional momentum. Our defense has to come out of the locker room with their hair on fire.

They run a 3-4 with an outside linebacker putting his hand down every once in a while. They run a lot of twist stunts up front and blitz linebackers and safeties in key situations. Their pass rush, like ours, is most efficient if the DB’s provide adequate coverage to allow the lineman time to get a sack.  Besides Jake Paulson the other D-linemen perform well within their assignment and role. These guys really are a no name defense.

Air Force runs a lot of cover two with some Tampa two mixed in on third and long situations. They also run some man free coverages, but I would expect less man coverage  due to our advantage in the receiver/ defensive back match up. Air Force will also zone blitz to stop the run and as a change up to their man coverage.

It will be interesting to see how the Falcons will choose to handle our offense. Will they take the Utah approach and man up and bring pressure? Or will they drop seven and eight and play coverage? Last week the Cougar’s had some trouble against the eight man coverage of the mighty Aztecs, which forced Max to scramble.  Last year Max was able to use Manase Tonga and Harvey when they came out of the backfield after checking their blocking assignments.  In previous games BYU hasn’t used Harvey in this capacity, so it will be interesting to see how Coach Anae and Doman choose to attack the Falcon coverages.

An effective running game will go a long way this week. With Air Forces dependence on the run, our offense will need to give our defense some rest. Three and outs won’t be long enough. Harvey should find success with Feinga and Bright pulling in order to pancake the AFA outside linebackers. I guarantee those guys haven’t seen the likes of Travis or Rey.

If we can get a run game going it will force Air Force to use more man-to-man coverages, which will put Austin, Mike, Dennis, and Andrew in space against mediocre cover men.

Like always mental mistakes and turnovers will lead to a close game. Our offense needs to be playing their best football, which will lead our whole team towards victory. The confident swagger displayed by our offense should be somewhat reassuring going into this weeks game. If our offense performs well and our special teams recover from last weeks vacation, BYU wins by 21.  If Air Force creates turnovers and the defense struggles with the option it will be a three point game.

I feeling a 38-24 win.

Schematically the offense takes on some different dimensions with Jefferson in the game. He isn’t the tough runner that Carney was, but he instead excels when he is in open space or on the edge. The offense is more prone to working the ball sideline to sideline when Jefferson has the ball in his hands.

Air Force’s fullback still plays a large part in the success of the offense, but with AF’s new found youth and athleticism at QB their offense looks to be more dynamic than past years. Jefferson has yet to develop the arm necessary to pick apart defenses, instead he relies on defensive errors to free up wide outs for easy throws.

After playing against Air Force I am still amazed at how many defensive backs are fooled by Air Force’s play action. Yes, they do a good job of disguising it, but if a DB can focus on the right keys he shouldn’t screw it up. Plus the Falcons only two or three recievers on pass plays so if one guys blows it, there is normally another DB that can help out.

Besides the quarterback the offense depends on the running backs. They use five or six different backs and to be honest, you can’t tell which one is which. They are all basically the same size, build, speed and agility. It’s like the AF coaches have a queue on the sideline and running backs simply take a number and wait their turn. The running backs this year don’t have the savvy and game breaking ability as Hall from last year. The big time runs tend to come from the quarterback. The running backs are in the game to fool the defense into thinking a run play is coming every time. Then just when you think your going to make a game changing play, a receiver runs past you for an easy score.

The receivers are identical to the running backs. None stand out, but collectively they block well, catch the ball when it comes their way and generally fulfill their roll.

Our defense needs to dominate their offensive line.  If our tackles/ends can handle the fullback alone it will free up Bauman and Doman to scrape quick and make sure the quarterback can’t make it into the open field.

Denny and Jorgenson will need to have great days. They’ll need to stay square to the line and avoid running up field against the run. The also need to keep their feet against the cut-blocks, if not, gaping holes will be opened and the cadets will consistently gain 5-8 yards a pop. In past years the defensive ends/outside linebackers have do a great job of neutralizing the quarterback, which gave the defensive backs enough time to run the alley and make a tackle for a minimal gain.

For the most part this game will hinge on our defense’s ability to keep their feet against cut blocks and recognize play action. Air Force will get their yards on the ground. It is up to our defense to make the Falcons earn their rushing yards in increments of 3-5 yards instead of 10-15 yards.

After our defense has stopped numerous running plays they will need to have enough concentration to recognize play action and stick to the receivers.  Our coverage package will be extremely simple. Air Force doesn’t run enough route combination’s to justify using a full coverage package.  We should only need three; maybe four core coverage’s to cover anything the cadets could throw at us.

Our offense can help our defense by scoring early and often. This will force the Falcon offense to use riskier plays and employ more drop back passes. The Falcon offensive line simply can’t block straight drop back pass plays. The quarterback won’t have any time to find receivers and their offense will have to resort to grinding the ball out on the ground. Which will run the clock down too quickly and BYU could leave Colorado Springs without needing a last second TD to Dennis Pitta or Austin Collie.

Worse case scenario is our defense struggles early, then rallies late to stop the Falcons when they need to in order to win the game. I would prefer the first scenario, but in all honesty it could go either way.

I am going to open the windows so I don’t sweat through my shirts.  You know…just in case.

During AFA’s offensive series in the 05′-06′ games the defense could hear the Air Force quarterback calling out signals at the line of scrimmage involving numbers and -if I remember correctly- colors. As the game progressed the quarterback kept repeating colors and numbers followed by identical run plays.

It was a difficult code to decipher, but the D managed.

As Cameron and Co. caught onto the signals he started yelling out where the players were going, who was getting the ball and what the running back’s girlfriend’s favorite color was.

You could just see Carney’s frustration mounting as Cameron would yell who was getting the ball and what gap they were running into. This friendly exchange proceeded for a couple of series until Air Force finally changed up the signals and decided they would rather play the game without Cameron being part of their offense and our defense.

There was also a moment late in the 2006 game where the back-up quarterback came in the game, looked to the sideline got the play and yelled it out to is teammates. As I heard the call I recognized the numbers and yelled out where the ball was going. The quarterback stepped back from center, looked at the coach who said,” run the play dammit!!.” They ran the play and I blasted the pitch player as he caught the ball.

I got up, shook my head, turned and trotted off the field. I chuckled the whole way back to Provo about that play…dammit.

Football is an easy game if you are able to understand your job well enough so you can start paying attention to the details. Isn’t there some kind of Chinese proverb that says “it’s all in the details”….maybe not, but there should be.

Personally I think our staff will be intact for another 2 years. After that BYU’s program will be in for some changes -but I could be wrong.

I like to speculate as much as the next guy and this coaching staff has produced three 10+ wins seasons since they have been with BYU. With that kind of success other programs have to be taking notice. Plus, with the rumors of Patterson to Kansas St. and Mora to Washington; could some of the BCS coaching changes effect Provo…..or even Utah?

Whittingham has also built himself a good wrap sheet and with big name programs and wallets in need to coaches, could the Beehive states coaches soon board a plane for a bigger payday??

Scout team players tend to pick-up the tempo as they sense the Coaching staffs urgency throughout the week. Gone are the Wednesday’s with little contact and less running. Helmet practices turn into full speed practices without the contact and walk-throughs turn into track meets as everyone’s expectations expand in anticipation of playing Air Force.

It’s not that the team feels inadequate or less prepared, but instead the practices and urgency demands a heightened sense of concentration. Assignment concentration for 75 plays is going to be key to winning in Colorado Springs. The cadet’s work ethic is comparable to BYU’s. The cadet’s heart and determination is also similar to BYU’s. So what sets us apart? In the past few years it has been our team ability to concentrate throughout every series and down until the final horn sounds.

The Air Force weeks practice schedules are designed to test a player’s concentration throughout practice. Practices normally get shorter as the week goes on, but during the Air Force week the intensity from practice will linger until Sorenson sends the ball through the thin air and out of the endzone.

I remember my first AFA practices when Coach Mendenhall had the defense practicing against two scout team offenses -in order to double the amount of reps during practice. It was a wild week of practice, but it paid off. BYU went into Colorado Springs and dropped the hammer -and I didn’t even play that year.

I wouldn’t expect any changes in AF preparations. This game means everything to Air Force and we can’t afford to travel north into red country coming off a loss. BYU has two games left to define their season and one game -this week- to set them up for the biggest game in the Holy Wars history.

This game is a whole lot more important then some might think.

BYU fans are left to question what team will show up in Colorado Springs on Saturday? Will the team that pummeled UCLA and Wyoming show up or will the team from the TCU and Washington -both road games- show up. Each day the season draws closer, I am astounded at what the coaching staff has accomplished with this years team after two dominate Mountain West Conference championships. It isn’t easy to win back-to-back championships. Let alone be in a championship position in the third year with an inexperienced, young defense -that honestly has been over achieving.

Ten and eleven win seasons are hard to come by and this year could be BYU’s third straight! Cougar fans have cause to be thankful. It could be worse, you could live in or cheer for Tennessee, Arizona, and Miami, anywhere in the ACC or Big East or Washington/Washington St. -oh baby that would suck.

I don’t know where this post came from because I want to write about this weeks practice schedule and how it differs from a normal week. Yet, as I think about how the BYU football program has improved, I can only look forward to this years bowl game and what needs to transpire during the summer in order to improve upon the past 3 years of success. TCU and Utah will have hosts of player returning next year and the conference is shaping up to improve upon this years non-conference successes. BYU will have its work cut out for them in order to four-peat and become that BCS buster I think they should be.

Go Cougars.

Photo by Kevin Kreck

After a defense has successfully defended the veer option and kept their feet against a cut block. The defense next has to respect the Falcons ability when running play action passes. Air Force’s play action is unique because everything looks exactly the same -except for the uncovered linemen.

The running back’s action, the quarterback’s action and the cover lineman’s movements -linemen with a defender in front of them- all do what they would normally do on a run play. On a run play the uncovered linemen have to shoot outward in order to get to the second level of the defense and cut off linebackers and safeties, so on pass plays they aren’t as aggressive. They have to stand up or they run sideways and for the Falcon offense that doesn’t make sense.

Now there are occasions where the motion might be different or the personal might be different so a DB needs to be paying attention to everything that goes on before the snap. What type of motion, arch, fly, slow, fast? What formation did they start out in? How many running backs are in the game? Where are they aligned and what kind of spacing do they have?

All of these questions if answered before the snap can give little clues as to what type of play it might be. For instance in the home game last year I noticed that during pass plays the arch motion would slow down just before the ball was snapped, which allowed the running back to help block the defensive ends. It wasn’t much but it gave me a split second to get myself in better position against the play action pass.

Air Force doesn’t have a lot of route combination’s, but when they run their routes in combination with play action it leaves no margin for error by the defense. If a defensive back hesitates or is late making their decisions the ball will be flying over their heads to open cadets all over the field.

Once our team gets the feel for what the play action looks like all the motion and deception is a non-issue. The problem arises when you aren’t confident in how you’ve prepared during the week in recognizing the blocks and schemes. But, that’s why the week of practice is so demanding. That’s why there hasn’t been a player in the history of BYU football that looked forward to the AFA week of practice. Everyday is physically and mentally challenging and if you left you concentration at home that day, you could find yourself on the sideline during the game.

At 2:00 Monday-Friday class is in session and you better be at the front of the classroom.

Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images

There is another part of Air Forces offense, which makes them unique to defend, cut blocks. It’s not that the cut blocks are vicious or dirty; it’s just that they take a certain amount of focus to defend to insure that you aren’t left lying of your back as a cadet scurries for a first down.

When you look up “cut block” in the dictionary you will find a picture of a 5′10″ white male with a stocky build, decent speed, wearing a blue jersey with a lightning bolt across the chest. Air Forces is so good at using cut blocks that teams need to designate time during the week to teach the proper technique to neutralizing this type of block.

In order to survive a cut block without being upended you have to first focus only on the blocker. As a defender you tend to look through blockers to see where the ball is going to end up. With Air Force it is crucial that you forget -just for a second- that a ball carrier is running your way, so you can deal with the ankle biter coming your direction.

When the blocker approaches, it will look like he is going to lower his head and block you. Oh no, that’s just the type of mistake the cadet is hoping for. In defending the block the defender has to use his hands. As the block approaches the defender needs to place his hand on the cadets helmet and shoulder, with knees bent and his inside leg back. So, if the play is coming from left to right the defender should have his left foot back. Having your feet correct insures that if a hand isn’t in the totally correct position the cadet might still miss the defenders legs and some nasty cadets will roll after they dive at your legs. Having your front leg back keeps the ligaments in your knees tightly in place.

When the defender has his feet, hands and body in the right position. The defender has to push the cadet’s helmet and shoulder into the ground, while giving up a small amount of ground. Basically the defender absorbs the block, jamming the cadet’s face-mask into the ground, and then comes off the block ready to tackle the next 5′10″ 200 lbs cadet flying his direction.

It isn’t that defending the block is difficult but it takes quit a bit of concentration and practice to do it correctly. Seeing as some of our defenders are young this year. I would expect a few to be lying on their backs on the first couple of series.

It always took me one or two option plays to get used to the speed and look of the cut block, but once you get a feel for it; it becomes easier and easier.

The worst cut block I ever experienced was in Colorado Springs the second time I played Air Force. As Markell mentioned the safeties have to read the motion and run across the formation to run the “alley”, tackling the “pitch man”. I was doing just that -watching the ball carrier, mistake number one- and as I approached the ball carrier I saw a flash of blue diving for my knees. Luckily I got my feet off the ground just as the cut block made contact sending me head over heals. I thought it was an illegal block, but there weren’t any flags on the ground.

I let the referee have it for about three plays after that and I think I got a pity call later in the game.
During film on Monday everyone had a good laugh watching me do front flips on the field. The tape was even funnier because of the way I disappeared from sight the moment I was hit.

Moral of the story, pay attention at all times, keep your eyes in the right spots and use your hands not your shoulders and you’ll be fine.

AP Photo by Douglas C. Pizac

This may be my shortest post of the year because defending the Veer Option is not a complicated task on paper.  The AFA offense tries to out-execute their opponent by getting the defense frustrated and having players trying to do too much, or more than their responsibility.  But if you study their offense you realize that they run the veer the exact same every time.  There are no variations.  It all comes down to who will be more disciplined.

There are three options on the veer: 1. The fullback gets the ball and hits the A Gap. 2. The QB keeps the ball and hits the C Gap.  3. The QB pitches the ball to the RB.

The first option -the fullback- is taken away by the nose tackle playing off the block of the center and filling the FRONT SIDE A gap -or the first play side gap- and the designated player on the backside playing the BACK SIDE A Gap.  ALL THESE PLAYERS DO IS TACKLE THE FULLBACK.

When these two players do their jobs the FB option is shut down.  In the last 4 years there has only been 1 play where the FB got the ball for yards and that is because the back side A gap defender tried to do too much and left his gap unmanned.

The second option is taken by either the defensive end or outside linebacker -depending on the play call.  ALL HE DOES IS TACKLE THE QB.
This player is unblocked and is commonly referred to as the “option man.”  The QB reads this defender to see whether he will keep the ball or pitch it.  Sean Carney  -the old AFA QB- loved to fake the pitch, which would get the defender off balance and then tuck the ball and run for a good chunk of yardage.

When you do someone else’s job, you give up big plays.

A player in the secondary handles the third option.

At the snap of the ball they go through their read progressions and those keys will take them right to the ball -if they are paying attention. On the snap, one of the safeties runs “the alley” to where the pitch will be and tackles the running back. This needs to happen on all option plays NO MATTER WHAT with the fullback or quarterback!  If the safety sticks to is responsibility the play will result in a zero or 1.5 yard gain.

So what does it boil down to? You have to be unselfish and you have to tackle the man you are responsible for no matter what you see.  On every play you only have one person to look at.  Coach Mendenhall makes the assignments easy by simplifying the play calling. He keeps it really simple, which frees players minds up so they can concentrate on their specific responsibilities.

In the 4 years that I was at BYU the cadets struggled to move the ball against us.  The option was useless, because we played very disciplined.  The only success AFA had against us came in 2005 when we knocked their starting QB, Carney, out of the game in the first quarter.  The back up came in and that is sometimes scary for one reason, back-ups have nothing to lose.

That is how he played.

In the second half he started slinging the ball all over the field -13 of 24 for 265 yds and 2 INTs- and they abandoned the option.  Our coaches were searching for adjustments on the sidelines because we hadn’t practiced our coverage’s in the weeks practice. But, the coaches made the changes and the final score was 62-41 with Air Force scoring 27 points in the 4th quarter.

No need to fear, Air Forces passing attack worked for one simple reason.  We had worked tirelessly in order to stop the option and in order to prepare a young secondary our defense had to sacrifice coverage reps for option reps. We were a bit stubborn in that we didn’t revert back to our normal defense until late in the 4th quarter. A wins a win right?

Last year AFA tried to throw the ball against us and spread it around and they weren’t successful because the 3-4 is better equipped to stopping the option offense.  In that 2007 contest the cadets completed 33 passes for 98 yards.

In conclusion I wanted to give you a little FYI.  Shaun Carney the 4 year starting QB for the Air Force Falcons beat every team in the MWC at least one time in his career, EXCEPT FOR BYU!  We had a pretty friendly rivalry (he and I) and after the game he was pretty ticked off.
Ah, I love the smell of defeat in the morning.

Written by Markell Staffieri