Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott is good at running. Saturday, Kentucky ended up showing him a front with three defensive linemen and ... let me count ... zero linebackers in the box?
Kentucky used a formation even worse than that time it had 8 men on the field
The Wildcats had three entire defenders in the box against a 230-pound dual-threat quarterback.
Kentucky with the rarely used "3 man box" against a Dak Prescott QB draw https://t.co/qeixSGFKlg
— Chris B. Brown (@smartfootball) October 25, 2015 Let’s examine this in detail!
That’s six Kentucky defenders on four Mississippi State wide receivers. (There’s a fourth off the bottom of the screen.) Seems a bit unnecessary, considering there are, you know, zero players spying the QB.
That guy on the far right is an offensive lineman blocking a dang safety. A dang safety!
Three MSU offensive lineman easily blocked the three rushing Kentucky players. That left the other two free to sprint downfield and block whoever they could find. There were really only two options!
The right guard got a little chip on the only linebacker within 10 yards of the ball, although he probably didn’t need to. The left guard got nine yards downfield and blocked the safety, the only person who could’ve conceivably made a play on Prescott. There was nobody else for him to worry about.
That’s a cornerback covering the only WR at the top of the screen. He never turns around to check whether the play is a pass or a run. He just runs alongside the wide receiver. He could’ve at least steered Prescott back toward the middle.
At one point, the wide receiver blocks him, which wouldn’t be legal 10 yards downfield on a pass play. He just drops to the ground, tucked and folded away for easy storage. Prescott jogs in for the TD.
A three-man rush with no linebacker in the box is something teams use when there are 30 seconds in the game and they’re up seven, and even then it’s criticized for bringing too little defensive pressure and allowing the QB too much time. I can’t fathom how Kentucky ended up in this set on second-and-13 while down by two scores, other than major miscommunication, like the time two weeks ago when UK had eight men on the field for a punt return, but at least that was only a punt return.
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