9 Comments

  1. Cameron

    Upon seeing the movie for the first time, I figured the entire “strategy” for the final game was a bunch of Hollywood writer crap. But kudos to you actually trying to fit it somehow to make sense.

    Personally, my brain could not process the idea of playing a 4-4 the entire season, facing a shotgun spread team, and then suddenly switching to a 5-2 zone defense at halftime. At halftime! Really? You know how long it takes to install a 3-4 zone defense to match up with 3 wide receivers with motion? Just describing everyone’s responsibilities and adjustments for one call takes 20 minutes. And if you’re sending 5, which presumably they are because the problem appears to be a lack of pressure, it takes even longer.

    Great movie. Hated that part.

    • ianaboyd

      You have to assume that the 5-2 monster was already in their package or that part makes zero sense. I mean, I’m sure it’s just writer crap trying to copy real football jargon from the times, but that’s how you’d make sense of that.

      Things really unravel there at the end, tactics-wise, before that they were doing fairly well.

      • Cameron

        Even if you assume it was in their playbook, it still doesn’t make sense to trot that out in the second half of the championship game without at least re-installing it during practice leading up to the game. Which if they had that scene, then it might have made sense. Maybe even been cool.

        • ianaboyd

          We could assume that maybe they did though, or that they used it regularly throughout the season in addition to their 4-4 stack, even though that’s pretty improbable for a HS team.

          • Cameron

            That’s a lot of assumptions for me to suspend my disbelief.

            Of course, there’s plenty HS squads I’ve seen run a bunch of different fronts from base 3-4 personnel, like 4-3 Under, 2-4-5, etc., but never a 4-4 stack. Maybe the closest I’ve seen at any level is the Patriots in a game against the Jets back in 2011 or 2012.

            Anyways. Great movie. Enjoyed the breakdown.

  2. Anonymous

    I got the sense that the shotgun spread faced in the final game was something the opposing team (Marshall) installed for the championship. Based on the fact Boone and staff had like 15 films in the lead up he carried around (shown when he arrived home after semi final to his wife and kids outside – and when he and Yoast are disagreeing over the press conference). So the fact they seem unprepared for it makes sense. But according to one of the deleted scences they had a 5-man front and a 4-man front in. 5 man front offers more up pressure up front and allows their physical DL to just beat up the OL. Whereas a 4 man front may require an additional blitzer from depth. If Marshall is throwing West Coast style 5 man rush offers a more immediate rush.
    When it says Bertier had 42 sacks for like 400 yards in losses, in reading articles from that period, I believe that it is more intended that he hit the QB that many times (between QB runs like options and pass rush opportunities). Campbell hit the QB like 34 times himself. I believe it would be ridiculous for a team to amount 75 sacks between 2 people.
    But perhaps the most ridiculous football part of the movie for me is the winning play at the end. Sure the reverse could be a good call, defense may not be expecting it. Fine. Jet motion/hand off is something I don’t think I saw from that time so that is off too, but whatever. More annoying is how QB Ron Bass throws not 1, but 2 crushing blocks. Not just that, the kids are helicoptered out of the play. And QB is still standing to lead the way into the end zone after it. Too Hollywood for me.

    • George B Toole Jr

      It wasn’t a jet motion. It looked like double wing where one of the wing backs motions around every play (ie. Navy)

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