How would you Game Plan for UT?

[McDad]

Yesterday I read some threads on rival message boards about their game against us. I would estimate that the posters fall into 3 main categories for their game against UT. 1. Very Confident. 2. Cautious. 3. Tired of hearing our hype of our return to greatness since Kiffin/Dooley. Category 3 I don't understand at all. Seems to me we had hype with Kiffin, 4 years hopeless and hypeless, and some hype this year. The 2nd category pointed out our recruiting, returning starters, etc. as reasons to not overlook us

The 1st group were the most interesting. The general consensus is that Dobbs is an unproven passer but a good runner. Very little mention (if any) of our RBs, Recievers, LBs, and DBs. Some respect for our pass rush but certainly not anything that strkes fear in their hearts. Several mentioned our porous OL. They were confident the way to play us (defensively) now that there is film on Dobbs and everyone knows he is the starter:
- basic pass rush which will have success against our line
- LB spy on Dobbs for containment
- load up in the secondary and force Dobbs to make the throws he struggled with last year.

We have several posters who bring excellent football smarts to the table. I am not one of them. So, here are the questions:

1. Are the confident rivals mistaken on their game plans against UT?
2. If you were coaching a team against UT, how would you plan offensively and defensively against us?

 

[VolBricks]

I am not a coach or football talking head but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express one time.

If I were game planning against UT I would stack the line and make Dobbs beat me with his arm.

 

[Orange And Garnet]

Other teams won't overlook us. Fans have blinders on, including our fans, that doesn't let them see reality in situations. Coaches, however, do not. People will know soon enough we are back and here to stay

 

[Nocleats]

I would do everything possible to knock Dobbs out of the game, then I would put 8 in the box to stuff the run and force an 18 year old true freshman who has never played in a college game to beat me with his arm, knowing that he probably only understands 40% of the offense.

 

[McDad]

I would do everything possible to knock Dobbs out of the game, then I would put 8 in the box to stuff the run and force an 18 year old true freshman who has never played in a college game to beat me with his arm, knowing that he probably only understands 40% of the offense.

I call this the Gator Approach. Couple of those posters basically said to knock Dobbs out of game.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

On defense I'd stack the box, try to take away the middle of the field, and force Dobbs to beat me down the field long. It's the one aspect of his game where he is deficient/unproven.

On offense I'd try to establish the run and attack what is sure to be a very young middle and set up play action pass.

 

[LittleCat]

Make Dobbs pass. Use a spy, because you can't blitz and get away with it. You can't sit back either. Got to depend on your DL to generate pressure some way, or really time blitzes well.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Try to hit Dobbs on every play

 

[VolAllen]

Offensively....I've got no clue how to prepare for our defense. You won't be able to run with Maggit, Barnett, Tuttle, and Kmac on the line. You won't be able to pass over Sutton and TKjr. (And do we still have Randolph? Years are starting to blur together lol).

Defensively, you don't have to worry about the pass much until a receiver shows us he's for real. If you contain Dobbs and not let him slip away, and plug the middle so that Hurd is limited, you'll probably win the game. I'd personally have the D line push towards the center to stop up the gut and force Dobbs/RB's to run outside where faster LB's and SS's could get to them. Dobbs is very slippery though, so good luck with that.

 

[Kristy*]

On offense, I'd run a lot of screens or slants to take advantage of an overzealous line and see if the young LBs will miss their assignments.

On defense, I'd play 1-on-1 on the outside; load the box, bringing blitzes to test the OL; and force Dobbs to throw under pressure. (mistakes here could lead to some big plays though)

 

[McDad]

On offense, I'd run a lot of screens or slants to take advantage of an overzealous line and see if the young LBs will miss their assignments.

On defense, I'd play 1-on-1 on the outside; load the box, bringing blitzes to test the OL; and force Dobbs to throw under pressure. (mistakes here could lead to some big plays though)

Wouldn't your defensive strategy play into Dobb's strength as a runner?

 

[OrngeChkrboardVFL]

Dobbs has not proven his long ball but has definitely showed he can hit mid range throws, and is calm on the move. If you stack the box, he can easily chew up yards to our plethora of WR's. I would contain on the edges and play man on the WR's. Force the unproven O Line to open holes in the middle and make Hurd/Kamara/Dobbs break tackles for any meaningful yards.

On offense, I would not throw toward Cam if possible and I would use my tight ends often to keep the new LB's on their heels. Throw several different runs at them and then play action to a trailing tight end when the freshmen LB's bite in the middle.

 

[Kristy*]

Wouldn't your defensive strategy play into Dobb's strength as a runner?

Yeah, that's what I meant by big plays would happen when mistakes are made. But by keeping more guys up front, Dobbs would have to make more guys miss when scrambling and would be forced to throw more often.

 

[onevol74]

I am not a coach or football talking head but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express one time.

If I were game planning against UT I would stack the line and make Dobbs beat me with his arm.

It is not just Dobbs. I would make our receivers beat me as well. That group has yet to live up to expectations. This is sort of what Missouri did last year and it stifled our offense.

 

[cncchris33]

Stuff the run game, spy Dobbs, and make him beat you from the pocket. This is the one area that he has yet to show a high level of consistency. Same can be said for our talented, yet largely unproven and inconsistent WR corps.

Defensively, try to expose the middle of the field where we will be inexperienced at MLB, and hope to pick on the corner opposite of Sutton. You probably won't have much success running the ball vs that DLine, but if you can run away from Barnett and get to the second level, then you could again expose the inexperience at MLB.

 

[Kristy*]

It is not just Dobbs. I would make our receivers beat me as well. That group has yet to live up to expectations. This is sort of what Missouri did last year and it stifled our offense.

That and their DL pressure didn't let Dobbs allow routes to develop. Plus Mizzou wasn't playing against our WRs in a complete or healthy form.

 

[What'sInYou]

Stuff the run game, spy Dobbs, and make him beat you from the pocket. This is the one area that he has yet to show a high level of consistency. Same can be said for our talented, yet largely unproven and inconsistent WR corps.

This. Dobbs is still pretty elusive though, but with the lack of depth, he will probably be less inclined to run as much.

 

[KBVol]

Try to hit Dobbs on every play

Good luck. Kid is a bit slippery. I think I'd spy him, stack the box and make him beat me throwing the ball downfield from the pocket at this point. If he improves his accuracy down the field and outside the hashes, all you can do is pray.

 

[McDad]

Good luck. Kid is a bit slippery.

You're one of the peeps i had in mind when i started this thread. What's your plan, KB?

 

[JohnMarxism]

Opposing DB's would play off of UT receivers. This begs Dobbs to test the long ball. Multiple disguised blitz packages may be successful against an unproven offensive line.

 

[KBVol]

You're one of the peeps i had in mind when i started this thread. What's your plan, KB?

See addendum/addition to post directly above yours 😁

 

[McDad]

See addendum/addition to post directly above yours 😁

Cool. Gimme your offense.

 

[utvols74]

I call this the Gator Approach. Couple of those posters basically said to knock Dobbs out of game.

...and this ladies and gentlemen is why I hate UF. Perhaps one of the dirtiest football teams since Miami of the late 80s and early 90s.

 

[ManchesterV]

I think the consensus, even to us non-coaches, is to keep Dobbs in the pocket and make him beat you with his arm. Doing this also puts pressure on the OL to pass protect. On D, I would test the middle. Stay away from the DEs and corners. test the young DTs and the new middle LB..

I'm a basketball coach who happens to love football, but that seems like the plan to me.

 

[Ertel]

force dobbs to beat you with his arm and use a spy is the obvious answer on D, on offense i would throw to my TE on checkdown routes in the middle of the field constantly to try and expose a young MLB, id go vertical against either martin or mosely as much as possible and make them prove they can hang with a big, deep threat receiver. also i would run delays and screens and try to negate the rush of maggit and barnett and see if the young dts stay disciplined.