Larry McDuffey stretches for the end zone and comes just short of scoring after being tackled by DeShawn Grayson. | Justin Tijerina/The Daily Cougar
Manipulation and misdirection have been a staple of what quarterbacks’ coach Travis Bush has installed in the offense since his promotion to play caller.
UH has implemented new wrinkles and formation variations in an attempt to keep the opposing defense off-balance.
In Bush’s first game as play caller, redshirt junior running back Charles Sims was thrown more designed passes behind the line of scrimmage and finished with 11 receptions. In Sims’ following five games, he had 21 receptions.
“Misdirection not only helps the run game, but it also helps to get the defense focused on what they shouldn’t be focusing on,” said head coach Tony Levine. “It freezes the linebackers when you are able to run a successful misdirection play.”
Against UTEP the Cougars’ misdirection plays helped them strike quickly. They had four scoring drives with five or fewer plays, leading to a 45-35 victory on Saturday.
Sims’ 43-yard touchdown run in the first quarter came on a variation of a play the Cougars ran with their success against North Texas, Levine said. Sims finished with 119 yards.
“The second series with Sims’ long touchdown run was another misdirection play that our staff put in place this week,” Levine said. “We ran it against North Texas, but ran it tonight in a different look and different formation.”
UH’s diamond package — which involves a two or three running back set — was formed to get Sims and redshirt freshman running back Kenneth Farrow on the field at the same time, Levine said.
In the second quarter, freshman wide receiver Larry McDuffey was able to score on a 24-yard touchdown reception out of the diamond package. McDuffey lined up in the backfield — next to Sims and Farrow — but broke open because the play-action fake to Sims froze the Miners linebackers, Levine said.
“Larry McDuffey was back there in the three-set, which he doesn’t usually do,” Levine said. “That is a way to get our quick players in space and one-on-one against a safety.”
Redshirt sophomore quarterback David Piland said the diamond package still has room to grow.
“We’re just kind of getting the beginning parts of what we can do with it,” Piland said.
The Cougars have made similar adjustments on defense to get more pressure on the quarterback. Senior linebacker Phillip Steward played defensive end in passing situations, Levine said. UH finished with five sacks and six tackles for loss.
“We put in a new package this week where Phillip played defensive end on third and long situations,” Levine said. “He was standing up, so he may have not looked to the naked eye like a defensive end, but we pulled one out and put him in at end.”
Good to know that the coaching staff has had some thoughts and strategies and put them into the system. Our offense was not bad, but the D didn’t show up during the second half. We won, but I was not happy with what’s inside the game. Besides, my confidence level on David Piland has consistently been lowering mainly because of his inability to pass a long shot. One of the plays I expected before the season started was Greenberry, but has not happened because of Piland’s inaccurate long passes that have been mostly too long. I am not happy with his performance this year considering that he was a starting QB almost all year in 2010 and learned from Houston Great Keenum last year.
I agree about Piland not hitting the long pass. He over throws the long pass and many times under throws the short pass. He should be over that by now. One issue is the receivers do not have the deceptive speed of Patrick Edwards or Tyron Carrier who could run under the ball. You can’t coach speed and you can’t practice it. Speed is a God given gift that will have to be recruited.
The second half looked like the Coogs in the first game. Special teams were terrible and the offense was too off tempo. The coaches need to learn to put these teams away. They totally changed the game plan in the 2nd half and it showed when UTEP brought in their 3rd QB who ripped the UH Defense with combination of accurate passing and hard running. The Coogs still have a long way to go if they want to be in contention for the CUSA championship.
I think the D was just gassed … we lost in the time of possession category. Our offense just scored so quickly… not to mention the pick 6 putting the D right back on the field. It also maybe had something to do with rotating so many QBs in for UTEP that it was difficult to adjust. Either way… I’m happy for the W.
Time to rest up and get ready for cold weather ECU!