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Dawson has "never run a snap of wildcat"

I would say they'll still use it as a gimmick just to throw off the D but I doubt it's run more than few times all year. He did say he wasn't opposed to it.
 
Dawson said it was not in his package, but that member of his staff our fond of the Wildcat. He said he was open to using it. So, I would not shut the door on the Wildcat just because Dawson has not run from that formation before.
 
Not a huge fan of the Wildcat myself. I just don't think it works all that well if you have a guy back there that the defense knows is going to run the ball. It means they can stuff the box and try to stop the run. Sometimes it is pretty effective, but I think it is best if you can run it with a guy like Cobb who the defense knows can throw the ball. Without that it just makes more sense to run a read option with a QB that can actually throw.

One of the advantages is to add an extra blocker. In a normal running formation you would have 9 blockers vs. 11 defenders because the running back and the QB are not blocking. In the wildcat you often replace the QB with a blocker. However, in our wildcat we often motioned the QB outside. At that point I don't think he garners much attention and doesn't become an effective blocker, so you lose the advantage of 10 v. 11 and go back to basically 9 v. 11. The only way this might work, IMO, is if you catch the defense off guard and snap the ball quickly. That doesn't happen too often though.
The wildcat can and does work, but it should be used sparingly IMO.
 
Comebakatz3 said:
Not a huge fan of the Wildcat myself. I just don't think it works all that well if you have a guy back there that the defense knows is going to run the ball. It means they can stuff the box and try to stop the run. Sometimes it is pretty effective, but I think it is best if you can run it with a guy like Cobb who the defense knows can throw the ball. Without that it just makes more sense to run a read option with a QB that can actually throw.

One of the advantages is to add an extra blocker. In a normal running formation you would have 9 blockers vs. 11 defenders because the running back and the QB are not blocking. In the wildcat you often replace the QB with a blocker. However, in our wildcat we often motioned the QB outside. At that point I don't think he garners much attention and doesn't become an effective blocker, so you lose the advantage of 10 v. 11 and go back to basically 9 v. 11. The only way this might work, IMO, is if you catch the defense off guard and snap the ball quickly. That doesn't happen too often though.
The wildcat can and does work, but it should be used sparingly IMO.
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the QB stays in the game and splits wide in most Wildcat formations so as to take the defense by surprise and not allow the defense to substitute. The QB does not stand out there all by his lonesome. If he did it would be an easy pitch catch for big yardage on every play. The QB occupys a defender so it doesn't really effect the 11 on 11 offense vs. defense.

The WildCat worked well for us against USCjr for two reasons. We got really good blocking up front especially from West and Toth, and Kemp was really good at anticipating the hole and running to it.
The reason the Wildcat did not work so well against other teams was it was too one dimensional. There are 4 basic plays you run in the Wildcat:

1. The HB Dive (which is what Kemp ran on virtually every play)
2. The RB sweep
3. The TE Perimeter route
4. The TE seem route

When you only run one of the main plays it allows the defense to spy the HB and stop the play for a short gain. After our future opponents watched the USCjr game film they knew actually how to deal with this formation.

I like using this formation situationally but I would like to seem them mix the plays up more. Now that we have TEs that are receiving threats, I would not be surprised to see that.
 
I just don't get the infatuation by so many with the "Wildcat". It is not an "offense" and it severely limits your regular offense by replacing the QB with a "non-QB". FWIW, I first recall seeing it done by UofL in a game at CWS during the JLS era (2001 ?). Deion Branch took several direct snaps and went nowhere and that was the end of it. AR popularized the set when they had McFadden. Kemp's reign of terror against USCjr was due as much as anything to some pretty bad coaching on USCjr's part.

The bottom line is you replace your "regular QB" with a player who is a "running threat". He takes a direct snap from center and (about 98% of the time), runs the ball. All you have really done is add the QB run to your offense.

So if your "regular QB" is a run threat, you really don't need to replace him; he is the Wildcat. If he is not a runner and moves to the WR spot he is nothing more than a decoy and adds little or nothing to the upcoming play. If you actually replace him on the field with a H-back type you now effectively add another blocker to the offense.

This can be advantageous in some situations, specifically short yardage, red zone and late game when trying to run out the clock.

All, of course, JMO.

Peace
 
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Comebakatz3 said:
Not a huge fan of the Wildcat myself. I just don't think it works all that well if you have a guy back there that the defense knows is going to run the ball. It means they can stuff the box and try to stop the run. Sometimes it is pretty effective, but I think it is best if you can run it with a guy like Cobb who the defense knows can throw the ball. Without that it just makes more sense to run a read option with a QB that can actually throw.

One of the advantages is to add an extra blocker. In a normal running formation you would have 9 blockers vs. 11 defenders because the running back and the QB are not blocking. In the wildcat you often replace the QB with a blocker. However, in our wildcat we often motioned the QB outside. At that point I don't think he garners much attention and doesn't become an effective blocker, so you lose the advantage of 10 v. 11 and go back to basically 9 v. 11. The only way this might work, IMO, is if you catch the defense off guard and snap the ball quickly. That doesn't happen too often though.
The wildcat can and does work, but it should be used sparingly IMO.
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Its the threat of the speed sweep by the motion guy that made it so effective against SC. It looked like they were expecting him to get it everytime and I can't remember him getting it once. Without some type of a threat other than the Wildcat running the ball it won't be effective often. Gurley Had UGA's longest pass completion in 14 running the wildcat, looked like a blimp floating down the field. If it hadn't taken 6 seconds to get 50 yards we would have scored on it, but receiver was waiting for it like a punt returner and they were able to tackle him.
 
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Wildcat plays are just about getting extra blockers in the run game rather than have a QB hand the ball off and then stand there useless not blocking or drawing a defender. if Coach Dawson doesnt feel in his system that it is the most effective way to move the ball & set up the defense to be burned later, I'm fine with not seeing it next year.
 
Not a fan of the Wildcat, especially when Kemp just kept the ball every time. It worked against USCjr because our OL was controlling the LOS and Kemp did an excellent job of reading blocks. Letting the defense know what's coming with your formation is a recipe for disaster unless your OL is dominating. We had one game where it worked exceptionally well and our OC thought it was worth trying a bunch more when it became obvious that other teams knew how to defend it and would stuff it. To me, a jumbo package >>>>>>>> Wildcat.
 
Smashcat said:
Jon Hale‏@JonHaleTCP 11m11 minutes ago
Expect a new role for Jojo Kemp this fall as Dawson said he's "never run a snap of wildcat" http://bit.ly/1dbMtQa
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So funny, I literally came to the board to start this topic after I read that quote and you beat me to it. :)

I didn't like that quote. That was one of our best plays last season and as a coach you should review enough tape from last season to see that and "want" to incorporate what worked well at times. I don't care if you've never ran it in the past.

I think any smart coach would make it part of our arsenal since it worked.

You can also run trick plays out of the Wildcat, which we did couple of times and it worked.

I really hope Dawson is smart and open minded enough to coach in the SEC against some of the best D-coordinators. The jury is out. I'll just say comments like this don't give me a warm-and-fuzzy.
 
I think we used the Wildcat over the past 5-7 yrs mainly out necessity. Cobb was a duel threat and it was a way to get him more touches. And since then we've often struggled and therefore needed another wrinkle to add to our offense.

Ideally we won't need it going forward since we are developing and recruiting a decent number of playmakers. And Towles/Barker ability to scramble may decrease the need for such a formation. However, we may still see it a few times next year since we likely won't be "there" yet.
 
Deeeefense said:
the QB stays in the game and splits wide in most Wildcat formations so as to take the defense by surprise and not allow the defense to substitute. The QB does not stand out there all by his lonesome. If he did it would be an easy pitch catch for big yardage on every play. The QB occupys a defender so it doesn't really effect the 11 on 11 offense vs. defense.

The WildCat worked well for us against USCjr for two reasons. We got really good blocking up front especially from West and Toth, and Kemp was really good at anticipating the hole and running to it.
The reason the Wildcat did not work so well against other teams was it was too one dimensional. There are 4 basic plays you run in the Wildcat:

1. The HB Dive (which is what Kemp ran on virtually every play)
2. The RB sweep
3. The TE Perimeter route
4. The TE seem route

When you only run one of the main plays it allows the defense to spy the HB and stop the play for a short gain. After our future opponents watched the USCjr game film they knew actually how to deal with this formation.

I like using this formation situationally but I would like to seem them mix the plays up more. Now that we have TEs that are receiving threats, I would not be surprised to see that.
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After the SC game, it was basically useless. Everyone knew when it was coming. We always ran the same action, and only once gave it to the jet, which resulted in the TD throw by Towles. Every other time, Kemp kept it and it was worthless.

IF we wouldve given teams the same formation, then made adjustments to the action by taking advantage of our own tendencies; we could have been effective. Instead, we lined up and did the same thing. Every. Single. Time.
 
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IMO if UK is going to run any Wildcat they should just run it with their QBs since both are decent runners and can also pass the ball. Heck bring in Barker to run the wildcat to protect your starting QB from injury and get him some playing time. He is a good runner maybe even a better runner than Towles and he is definately a threat to pass the ball.

IMO the Wildcat is more effective if you have a dual threat QB and use him as the Wildcat where you keep the threat of a pass in the game.


At the risk of having Wildcard correct me I am going to say if your QB is a runner and you have the jet sweep, the pass and the QB run it kind of makes it a triple option. Than again that probably wouldn't be called the Wildcat.

I like plays where there is the chance of deception that makes the defense have to worry about different scenarios and what I described seems to fit that bill.
 
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We won quite a few games running this play. We would have won more if Joker wasn't such a petty and foolish coach. I hope this means he is getting ready for it since he now announced that he doesn't run it.
 
As we get more experienced playmakers at wr the wildcat will be more vetsarile. Kemp kept it too much but we did get lots of 1 on 1 match ups with the wr out of it.

It really is no different than the run spread offenses like osu and Oregon run... except if we hit the sweep and then lateral, you got your qb getting the ball instead of a wr. Our receivers just have to get better at beating dbs off the line
 
I like the formation as a change of pace. You don't often see the kind of repeatable success we had agains SC. I wouldn't expect that to happen again any time soon. At least not without another wrinkle. And frankly, the most obvious one would be to have a semi-legit passing threat at the RB spot. Another variation I like on it is simply using the direct snap with both QB and RB in the backfield. Would like to see this some, but I doubt either will find their way to being a staple anytime soon. It's kind of like the old veer in that you run it when you can't run anything else. I think we have improved personnel enough to do other things better.
 
bigblueinsanity said:
IF we wouldve given teams the same formation, then made adjustments to the action by taking advantage of our own tendencies; we could have been effective. Instead, we lined up and did the same thing. Every. Single. Time.
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I remember Neal Brown saying it was blocked differently from play to play. IIRC there were 4 different blocking schemes they mixed in.
 
Brock28 said:
I'm really liking Dawson. He just has that "IT" factor. Hopefully it will translate to the field.
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Pfffffft. No contract extensions because he talks boldly and has a cabbage patch dimple.

When we score TDs on a few SEC defenses, that's when we'll decide IT.
 
Beavis606 said:
I remember Neal Brown saying it was blocked differently from play to play. IIRC there were 4 different blocking schemes they mixed in.
Click to expand...

I watched pretty closely, and I didnt see it. Not saying it wasnt there with certainty, but I definitely didnt see it. Even if it were, teams started bringing everyone because they knew Jojo was keeping. If there had been a handoff once per game, or once every other game, then teams wouldve had to respect both the handoff and the pitch to Towles; which wouldve occupied more defenders. Instead, the entire focus was on jojo every time.

Just terrible concept and execution, following the SC game.
 
gamecockcat said:
It worked against USCjr because our OL was controlling the LOS and Kemp did an excellent job of reading blocks. Letting the defense know what's coming with your formation is a recipe for disaster unless your OL is dominating. We had one game where it worked exceptionally well and our OC thought it was worth trying a bunch more when it became obvious that other teams knew how to defend it .
Click to expand...

Actually after the SC game we hardly ran the wildcat at all.

There's a misconception out there that we ran it a lot or something just because we used it so much in the South Carolina game (out of necessity..which Neal Brown continues to get zero credit for even though it literally won the game) but name a game where we ran the wildcat more than a couple times for the rest of the entire season.

It's completely inaccurate and misleading to say Brown used it "a bunch more" because that's simply not the case.

We tried it a couple times against LSU and when it didn't work we basically completley abandoned it outside of using it once or twice in a game here and there. That's far from "a bunch". That's just a misconception by people who didn't follow the team closely.

I know it's the popular thing to do to blame every single thing that went wrong last year on Neal Brown, but let's at least bring some accurate facts.
 
AndyPopCat said:
My brother has spoken briefly with Dawson on several occasions. His comments..

Going to be exciting product.
Ball will be thrown down field more.
Talent level is deeper than he had at WVU.
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Great to hear that our talent level is deeper than he had at WVU.
But, remember this...... the talent level of the defenses Coach Dawson will be going up against will be deeper than the D's he ran up against at WVU, too. I'm sure Coach Dawson knows this and we would be wise to consider this when we "judge" Coach Dawson this season.
 
Rockford said:
Great to hear that our talent level is deeper than he had at WVU.
But, remember this...... the talent level of the defenses Coach Dawson will be going up against will be deeper than the D's he ran up against at WVU, too. I'm sure Coach Dawson knows this and we would be wise to consider this when we "judge" Coach Dawson this season.
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WVU played Alabama to start last season (23 points) and Texas A&M to finish the season (37 points)
 
No secret to the board, I'm a big big fan of Dawson. Not gonna be silly like some who judge Brown unfairly given the few weapons he had & call our new OC an "upgrade", but I think we have a future star on our hands. I expect him to be a fantastic OC for us for 2 seasons & then will be a major target for head coaching openings.
 
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CatsFanGG24 said:
WVU played Alabama to start last season (23 points) and Texas A&M to finish the season (37 points)
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Exactly. Dawson is in a totally different situation that is MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. For one, he keeps saying we are going to be "physical and run the football"....

Really? How are you going to do that with our present O-Line vs. the SEC defenses?

I'm sorry, but I'm not buying the hype until I see results. He will be LUCKY to get the same offensive numbers we produced with Neil Brown.
 
UKWinsAgainYep said:
Exactly. Dawson is in a totally different situation that is MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. For one, he keeps saying we are going to be "physical and run the football"....

Really? How are you going to do that with our present O-Line vs. the SEC defenses?

I'm sorry, but I'm not buying the hype until I see results. He will be LUCKY to get the same offensive numbers we produced with Neil Brown.
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o_O WHAT?
 
UKWinsAgainYep said:
Exactly. Dawson is in a totally different situation that is MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. For one, he keeps saying we are going to be "physical and run the football"....

Really? How are you going to do that with our present O-Line vs. the SEC defenses?

I'm sorry, but I'm not buying the hype until I see results. He will be LUCKY to get the same offensive numbers we produced with Neil Brown.
Click to expand...

In every article or discussion that I have read concerning Dawson, he has said he will run plays according to what the defense gives him. If they don't acknowledge the run, he's run, if they fill the box he's pass. I would think any coach would make the statement that he wants to be physical when it comes to the run game.
 
Poetax said:
In every article or discussion that I have read concerning Dawson, he has said he will run plays according to what the defense gives him. If they don't acknowledge the run, he's run, if they fill the box he's pass. I would think any coach would make the statement that he wants to be physical when it comes to the run game.
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Yeah, I mean I guess it's just coach speak. Obviously any good O-coordinator is going to "take advantage of what the defense gives me".

Coaching offense at WVU isn't nearly as difficult as coaching offense at UK in the SEC. It's a whole new level of difficulty.

I like the fact the players like Dawson a lot.
 
WVU played against 2 SEC teams last year along with their b12 schedule...I think he knows what he will be dealing with.
 
Rockford said:
Great to hear that our talent level is deeper than he had at WVU.
But, remember this...... the talent level of the defenses Coach Dawson will be going up against will be deeper than the D's he ran up against at WVU, too. I'm sure Coach Dawson knows this and we would be wise to consider this when we "judge" Coach Dawson this season.
Click to expand...

He emphasized that the overall talent was better, but he did not know whether he had WRs as good as his top talent, White. That kid was a high draft pick. But, the corps is better overall.
 
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