Utah played USC twice in 2022. One was a 43-42 shootout in which Utah won. The other game was a 42-24 victory over USC in the Pac 12 championship. Both games were interesting but the way Utah defeated USC was impressive in game 2. I thought it was mostly because of the adjustments Coach Scalley made on the defensive end. Let's look at 2nd game and you will see the adjustments in closer detail.
In the first game they played, Scalley ran some various coverage concepts and fronts. Surprisingly he stayed away from the odd front and primarily went 4-2 and bear. They played zero snaps of the odd look that was very successful game 2 and helped them win the Pac 12 Championship.
Also, in game 2, they brought continuous pressure. This hurt USC run game as well as their great play action game. The game plan of bringing pressure and playing more zone defense was very effective. Game 1 rushing , USC was 27-175 yards with their tailback getting a big chunk at 15 for 92. The rest came from Williams and Addison on a few jets. But all in all, game 1 they really ran the ball well.
In game 2, USC was 27 for 56 yards with their half back accounting for 15 carries for 35 yards. The ineffective run game definitely was a major factor as they also got away from their play action game. The constant 5 man pressures gave Williams fits all game and the odd front especially caused confusion.
Another key stat in this game was that they held USC to 1/12 on 3rd down. That is 8% efficiency on 3rd down and that was a major key to the game. Don’t let the passing stats fool you. Although, Williams threw for 363 yards, Utah shut them down on 3rd down. That was key as the defense put heat on Williams and the coverage was very good downfield on 3rd.
Lastly, the final part that was key was the 2nd half adjustments made by Coach Scalley. They decided to go primarily zone in coverage and it was highly effective. They ran 21 snaps only ran 2 snaps of man concepts and 19 of zone when in odd in the 2nd half. The changeup led to success as they held USC to 7 points in the 2nd half.
As you remember, they let up 17 points early and played pretty solid d from the 13 minute mark of the 2nd quarter til the end of the game.
Lets compare the 2 games from a strategy standpoint:
Fronts used by Utah in game 1
Total snaps 65
Bear 7 snaps 11%
4-2. 58 snaps 89%. 1i mug looks from the 4-2(zero double mug looks game 2)
odd. zero snaps!!
IN GAME 2 , the Pac 12 Championship Game
Utah played primarily 3 fronts without subbing and shown below:
Out of the 68 plays on defense they ran the following fronts in game 2
4-2. base 31 snaps. 46%
bear front 8 snaps 11%
odd front 29 snaps. 43%.
Notes
Of those od fronts they brought 5 or more 60% of the time! 18/29 was the amount of times they brought 5 players or more. That is a very high percentage of blitzes and pressures but the game plan was very effective.
When they went bear they brought 5 or more 8/8 times which is 100% from the bear front.
Lets take a look at the fronts implemented in this game and how Utah was effective in their game plan.
4-2 front
4-2 was the other front they played a ton of. 21 and 20 are the inside linebackers and #8 is the strong safety.
#8 is the strong safety.
Odd Front
This was the biggest change that Scalley made in the pac 12 championship game.
What they did is they lined #91 in that spot for a number of snaps, but always brought him in pressure. It was brilliant and highly effective in their 4, 5 and 6 man pressures throughout the game. They brought him every time and didn't use him in coverage for 1 snap.
They would also play the look on 3rd down and substitute a safety for the defensive end at the mike LB. This was a very effective plan and was one of the major differences in the game.
Bear Front As you can see they played it with the same personnel.
The 2nd odd front was the Bear front. They would kick the DE down away from the strength call and walk the OLB up to the line of scrimmage.
Here are some interesting stats excluding (goal line 10 and in)
Coverage Breakdown by Odd and Bear
Odd 30 snaps
Rush Coverage Snaps
5 man rush. cover 2 11 snaps
5 man rush. cover 3 3. snaps
6 man rush cover 0 4 snaps
4 man rush. cover 4 3 snaps (late game over)
4 man rush. cover 0 4 snaps
4 man rush cover 2 5 snaps
Bear 8 snaps
5 man rush cover 3/42 4 snaps
6 man rush cover 0 4 snaps
This is some of the alignments fronts and coverages they played in the Pac 12 Championship. Part 2 will look more closely at some of the schemes that were utilized. His game plan was very effective as well as some of the adjustments he made in the second half.
Now let’s look at some of the schemes more closely.
First Stopping the Run!
Utah did a great job stopping the run. They were aggressive and attacking in their fronts and had a great play on the perimeter with their scrape exchange. Here are some clips on how they handled USC’s run game.
Odd Cover 2 5 man pressures
This was very effective as they would send the sam or will with the mike LB thoughout the game to get great pressure.
Heres some video of their 5 man pressures from the odd look while playing cover 2.
Heres the film that goes with it and you can see the great pressure that got home throughout the game, often forcing quick throws.
Bear Pressures:
As discussed, when they went bear, they brought pressure! 8 snaps and all brought a 5 man or 6 man pressure with them.
Bear below is a nice pressure with the sam off the edge and the olb to the boundary dropping. It looks like quarter , quarter, half.
USC 4 man slides and the pressure gets home as the guard is conflicted and no one takes the Nose. Nice design by Scalley.
The Nose gets the sack as the guard has difficulty picking up the stunt.
Another example, is going bear with a cover 3 fire zone. A nice 5 man pressure that forces the ball out quick. Nice job of disguise as they go cover 3 from it. Not sure if the DT is going the wrong way on this because they leave the #2 wr uncovered.
They drop the LB and DT to the field with the pressure.
The lb over the slot weak comes free. USC throws ho to the field, although the slot is open, again great pressure.
Here is the video that goes with the bear front.
These were some of the schemes implemented by Utah in the Pac 12 Championship. It was a great game plan defensively by Coach Scalley and the Utah staff.
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2022 Utah Morgan Scalley Defense vs USC, Adjustments and Pac 12 Championship Gameplan
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Utah played USC twice in 2022. One was a 43-42 shootout in which Utah won. The other game was a 42-24 victory over USC in the Pac 12 championship. Both games were interesting but the way Utah defeated USC was impressive in game 2. I thought it was mostly because of the adjustments Coach Scalley made on the defensive end. Let's look at 2nd game and you will see the adjustments in closer detail.
In the first game they played, Scalley ran some various coverage concepts and fronts. Surprisingly he stayed away from the odd front and primarily went 4-2 and bear. They played zero snaps of the odd look that was very successful game 2 and helped them win the Pac 12 Championship.
Also, in game 2, they brought continuous pressure. This hurt USC run game as well as their great play action game. The game plan of bringing pressure and playing more zone defense was very effective. Game 1 rushing , USC was 27-175 yards with their tailback getting a big chunk at 15 for 92. The rest came from Williams and Addison on a few jets. But all in all, game 1 they really ran the ball well.
In game 2, USC was 27 for 56 yards with their half back accounting for 15 carries for 35 yards. The ineffective run game definitely was a major factor as they also got away from their play action game. The constant 5 man pressures gave Williams fits all game and the odd front especially caused confusion.
Another key stat in this game was that they held USC to 1/12 on 3rd down. That is 8% efficiency on 3rd down and that was a major key to the game. Don’t let the passing stats fool you. Although, Williams threw for 363 yards, Utah shut them down on 3rd down. That was key as the defense put heat on Williams and the coverage was very good downfield on 3rd.
Lastly, the final part that was key was the 2nd half adjustments made by Coach Scalley. They decided to go primarily zone in coverage and it was highly effective. They ran 21 snaps only ran 2 snaps of man concepts and 19 of zone when in odd in the 2nd half. The changeup led to success as they held USC to 7 points in the 2nd half.
As you remember, they let up 17 points early and played pretty solid d from the 13 minute mark of the 2nd quarter til the end of the game.
Lets compare the 2 games from a strategy standpoint:
Fronts used by Utah in game 1
Total snaps 65
Bear 7 snaps 11%
4-2. 58 snaps 89%. 1i mug looks from the 4-2(zero double mug looks game 2)
odd. zero snaps!!
IN GAME 2 , the Pac 12 Championship Game
Utah played primarily 3 fronts without subbing and shown below:
Out of the 68 plays on defense they ran the following fronts in game 2
4-2. base 31 snaps. 46%
bear front 8 snaps 11%
odd front 29 snaps. 43%.
Notes
Of those od fronts they brought 5 or more 60% of the time! 18/29 was the amount of times they brought 5 players or more. That is a very high percentage of blitzes and pressures but the game plan was very effective.
When they went bear they brought 5 or more 8/8 times which is 100% from the bear front.
Lets take a look at the fronts implemented in this game and how Utah was effective in their game plan.
4-2 front
4-2 was the other front they played a ton of. 21 and 20 are the inside linebackers and #8 is the strong safety.
#8 is the strong safety.
Odd Front
This was the biggest change that Scalley made in the pac 12 championship game.
What they did is they lined #91 in that spot for a number of snaps, but always brought him in pressure. It was brilliant and highly effective in their 4, 5 and 6 man pressures throughout the game. They brought him every time and didn't use him in coverage for 1 snap.
They would also play the look on 3rd down and substitute a safety for the defensive end at the mike LB. This was a very effective plan and was one of the major differences in the game.
Bear Front
As you can see they played it with the same personnel.
The 2nd odd front was the Bear front. They would kick the DE down away from the strength call and walk the OLB up to the line of scrimmage.
Here are some interesting stats excluding (goal line 10 and in)
Coverage Breakdown by Odd and Bear
Odd 30 snaps
Rush Coverage Snaps
5 man rush. cover 2 11 snaps
5 man rush. cover 3 3. snaps
6 man rush cover 0 4 snaps
4 man rush. cover 4 3 snaps (late game over)
4 man rush. cover 0 4 snaps
4 man rush cover 2 5 snaps
Bear 8 snaps
5 man rush cover 3/42 4 snaps
6 man rush cover 0 4 snaps
This is some of the alignments fronts and coverages they played in the Pac 12 Championship. Part 2 will look more closely at some of the schemes that were utilized. His game plan was very effective as well as some of the adjustments he made in the second half.
Now let’s look at some of the schemes more closely.
First Stopping the Run!
Utah did a great job stopping the run. They were aggressive and attacking in their fronts and had a great play on the perimeter with their scrape exchange. Here are some clips on how they handled USC’s run game.
Odd Cover 2 5 man pressures
This was very effective as they would send the sam or will with the mike LB thoughout the game to get great pressure.
Heres some video of their 5 man pressures from the odd look while playing cover 2.
Heres the film that goes with it and you can see the great pressure that got home throughout the game, often forcing quick throws.
Bear Pressures:
As discussed, when they went bear, they brought pressure! 8 snaps and all brought a 5 man or 6 man pressure with them.
Bear below is a nice pressure with the sam off the edge and the olb to the boundary dropping. It looks like quarter , quarter, half.
USC 4 man slides and the pressure gets home as the guard is conflicted and no one takes the Nose. Nice design by Scalley.
The Nose gets the sack as the guard has difficulty picking up the stunt.
Another example, is going bear with a cover 3 fire zone. A nice 5 man pressure that forces the ball out quick. Nice job of disguise as they go cover 3 from it. Not sure if the DT is going the wrong way on this because they leave the #2 wr uncovered.
They drop the LB and DT to the field with the pressure.
The lb over the slot weak comes free. USC throws ho to the field, although the slot is open, again great pressure.
These were some of the schemes implemented by Utah in the Pac 12 Championship. It was a great game plan defensively by Coach Scalley and the Utah staff.