Dominique Whaley was so good last Saturday night, he demanded a second edition of Freeze Frame to breakdown his fourth touchdown run of the night and arguably his most impressive run of the entire game. Just something to keep in mind as we go through this. Up to this point in the game, Whaley was just shy of the 100 yard mark and obviously had three TDs. I only mention that because it's not like Tulsa should be surprised by him at this point in the game, so I just think it adds to his performance in this game and specifically this run in particular.
Here we are pre-snap. Little bit of a stacked set to the bottom of your screen, Landry under center, with Whaley in a single back set.
Still pre-snap and Landry sends Millard into motion to the "weak" side of the play, this is the direction the play will go if you don't remember. Tyler Evans is in at right guard and Lane Johnson is actually in on this play at right tackle.
As the ball is snapped, it becomes pretty obvious this is a stretch play to the far side of the field. Evans and Johnson attempt to seal off the right side of the line, while Millard releases to the second level to take on the LB.
Kind of a lot going on there so we're going back to our trusty numbers to break things down. (1) Not necessarily relevant to the play, but on the backside you can see Stephenson has cut block his man to the ground ensuring no chance of him chasing down the play from the backside. (2) Johnson has actually come off his original block, a chip on Evans man, and released upfield about to take on the MLB. (3) Habern is fighting with his man and really just needs to slow him down just enough to allow Whaley to bounce it outside. (4) Evans, along with Millard who we'll get to, is one of the two key blocks necessary for this play to be successful. He actually kind of gets beat, but as you'll see in a minute Whaley's speed allows him to overcome it. (5) Millard, as usual, has locked onto his man and at this point would typically flatten him however we'll see in a minute that doesn't quite happen here.
Not intended to pick on the young man, but I just wanted to reinforce my comment above about Evans getting beat on this play. Again, to Whaley's credit he's able to turn on the speed to run away from him and turn the corner.
As I eluded to, you can see here Millard's man has actually broken free of his block and baring down on Whaley trying to prevent a first down run. This is rare for Millard who usually finishes his blocks quite well. To Whaley's credit, you can start to see him recognize this (with his off hand starting to extend for a stiff arm) and prepare to take on the defender.
The Tulsa defender dives for Whaley's leg and appears to have him wrapped up or at least enough to slow him down and allow his teammates to get there with help. If he only knew what was about to happen. Side note, the thought to be leg tackle appears to be enough for #94 of Tulsa to slow up considerably on the play which will prove to be very costly. You can also see #10 for Tulsa squaring up, thinking he's got Whaley in his sights with his teammate pulling at his leg.
So now you can't really see #10 for Tulsa from the previous picture because he's behind Millard due to him overrunning the play. Whaley has clearly run through the leg tackle at this point and his ability to do just that caused #10 to totally take himself out of the play. If #94 wouldn't have let up on the play, he might have been there to make the tackle as Whaley is in the process of regaining his balance.
Regain his balance he does and then again turns on the speed. #94, as a d-lineman, was never really a threat to catch him from behind, but #55 the MLB actually had an angle on him at one point. Whaley however outruns said angle and as you can see, has #55 diving just to attempt to make the tackle. Side note - you can see Broyles here starting to line up for a crack back block here.
#55 does manage to get an arm on Whaley as he streaks down the sideline, but no where near enough to slow him down. Whaley runs through yet another attempted arm tackle. Oh and that crack back Broyles was planning, he quickly realizes it would have been on a 260+ pound DE and thinks better of it, rolling off the block instead. Smart decision RB.
Just for good measure, Whaley runs through one more arm tackle before hitting pay dirt. Credit to Whaley for not getting pushed out of bounds here as he is clearly right up against the sideline, but able to maintain his balance and finish the run.
And with that, celebration number four on the night for Whaley and his teammates.
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