“Win the battle in the trenches” is probably the most often listed “key to the game” from football analysts. They throw in phrases like “control the line of scrimmage,” “get penetration,” “get to the quarterback,” and “command a double team” on the reg when discussing this ideal. A lot of times it comes across as basic analysis that’s somewhat canned and kicked out there in a pretty sterile fashion.
The thing is, they’re right. They are.
However, making it a generalization game to game sterilizes the issue and makes it more a nice catch phrase than a real ideal that teams subscribe to. Different teams “win the battle in the trenches” in different ways. What an offense like Oklahoma State considers a win would surely be a loss for Alabama. The last few years of Florida football winning on the offensive line is not going to be a W for the system Weis and Co. are looking to install.
This week’s big match up between LSU and Oregon is one of those battles where “winning the trenches” is not just lip service, it is a must. The Ducks need to control the line to open up running lanes, give Darron Thomas a chance to make his reads and give the junior a chance to complete passes down the field. LSU’s success will come through disrupting the mesh point and forcing the issue.
Oregon’s offensive line versus the Bayou Bengals’ defensive line is the most important match up of the weekend as these two highly ranked teams take the field. Sure Jordan Jefferson, Russell Shepard and Cliff Harris being absent will affect the game but the most critical point to watch Saturday night will be the Ducks’ OL against the LSU DL.
To avoid the sterility that we discussed previously we must define what “success” is for the Ducks offensive line. This team is not Alabama. They’re not Wisconsin. They’re not a road grading gang of behemoths up front. The Ducks have one three hundred pounder in their starting lineup, 322 lbs right tackle Mark Asper, and only two in their two-deep. Moving people backwards is not their goal, under Chip Kelly’s offense the Ducks get teams moving side to side up front so their backs can get north and south by slipping through seams.
It is somewhat similar to a zone blocking scheme but when you throw in the option, the tempo of play and the speed of the lineplay what Oregon gives you is a dangerous system. They have guys getting to the second level to create bigger seams for running backs, they force linebackers and defensive ends to commit before they’re ready and often times it results in an explosive play. When Oregon gets teams flowing sideways, they get body on body, stop a defensive line player from getting to where they are supposed to be, put a hat on a linebacker and then you get LaMichael James slipping through a window before the safety can wrestle him to the ground.
On the flipside of that you have LSU’s defensive line lead by the great John Chavis of long time Tennessee fame. He doesn’t have Drake Nevis anymore but what he does have is a gang of monsters down there that are strong, athletic and will come at the Ducks in waves. The success of LSU comes in a more traditional for than the Ducks as they look to do a few things; control the offensive linemen at, to behind, the line of scrimmage, get penetration, command a double team from their interior players, set a hard edge to the defense and keep their linebackers clean.
Those are the ingredients to good, traditional defensive lineplay and it plays toward the bigger goal of an overall defense; stopping the ball as soon as possible. Controlling the line, pushing linemen back into the back field and getting penetration make things happen quick. Running backs are forced to find a hole in a shorter time, quarterbacks must make their option reads faster and the quicker the timeline in the backfield the more opportunity for tackles for loss, fumbles and short gains.
When a lineman can command a double team it helps free up a linebacker to shoot gaps and make quick stops. As for the hard edge; forcing someone to cutback into the teeth of the defense is a must. That will give your linebackers a chance to make tackles and the pursuing defensive linemen a shot at gobbling up a back looking for daylight.
In this Oregon and LSU match up those are the goals each team has set before them. As we watch the game Saturday night whichever team sees success in their goal will be the one who wins the Ducks’ offense vs LSU defense battle.
For the Ducks that means getting LSU moving laterally, putting a hat on hat at the second level and giving LaMichael James, Kenjon Barner and Darron Thomas slivers of daylight to explode through. On the Bayou Bengals side if the defensive line is disrupting Oregon’s mesh point, not allowing the Ducks to get to the edge and giving their linebackers free run through lanes then this is an LSU victory.
