jmh21
Freshmen Member
Posts: 88
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Post by jmh21 on Feb 6, 2007 9:06:03 GMT -6
Coaches,
I would like your opinions on the above topic. If you have beaten a team you weren't supposed to or if you were a heavy underdog, how did you pull off the upset? Was it due to scheme, preparation, scouting, off-season work or all of the above?
What are the ingredients of an upset? How do the Davids of the world knock off the Goliaths? I realize it might not happen very often, but it is special when it does happen. I'd just like to know what you coaches think are the most important things in pulling off an upset.
Thanks for your input!
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Post by tribepride on Feb 6, 2007 9:15:18 GMT -6
The Goliath needs to come out and play bad while the David comes out and plays the game of their lives. Usually the David gets the most all the breaks during the game all the while keeping the momentum in their favor. The Goliath then begins to doubt themselves and it is to late in the game to get the shipped turned around.
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Post by fbdoc on Feb 6, 2007 9:20:54 GMT -6
Momentum is certainly a part of the equation. GAINING momentum is the key. In our recent upsets, I think getting a good scout on our opponent and convincing our kids that they could shut down certain plays of our certain looks (and then doing it!) was very important for us. The other factor come under the heading of the underdog playing well (in our case, just hanging onto the ball!) which lead to more momentum.
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Post by coachbw on Feb 6, 2007 10:05:31 GMT -6
I think the biggest things I have noticed in upsets is getting the kids to believe they can win, and finding 1 or 2 things scheme wise you feel give you an advantage. Maybe it is 1 motion you think they won't adjust well to, or 1 wr/db matchup you feel you can win, and then riding that advantage as long as you can.
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Post by realdawg on Feb 6, 2007 10:06:20 GMT -6
One of two things I see in upsets, the inferior team either slows the game down and grinds it out (see NC States upset of UNC this weekend) or the inferior team makes it an absolute shootout. (see Hawaii's game plan)
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Post by djwesp on Feb 6, 2007 10:40:21 GMT -6
We can all argue about the preparation it takes to get this upset. NO DOUBT IN ANY OF OUR MINDS THAT LUCK AND PREPARATION ARE DIRECTLY CORRELLATED! However, I think one of the greatest things for an upset is a message board. We have quite a large one down here ( www.fearlessfriday.com ) and we'll print off the stupid things that people say and put it all on a giant board labeled "doubters". The boys read it, as well as columns from our rival, and other teams we've played. I think stuff like that is a great motivation. When I was a teen (and still some to this day), nothing made me work harder and perform more than when someone doubted me and questioned my manhood. You may think that fire goes away after the first few plays, but it doesn't go away all week in practice when you remind them of what people are saying. This year we beat two teams in the conference that our school had never beaten in the entire history of the program, AWAY. Our team was better last year, but they were alot madder about things this year. We really sold them on the gameplan the entire week, and we opened up the bag of tricks early (especially considering we are UBER conservative 99% of the time). |
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Post by superpower on Feb 6, 2007 10:45:22 GMT -6
Very interesting ideas, and I agree with what everyone is posting. However, I am curious about how many upsets you see in high school football. It seems to me that there aren't very many upsets at the high school level. Usually the better team wins. What do you think about this?
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Post by CoachMikeJudy on Feb 6, 2007 11:06:01 GMT -6
We were on both ends this year- opened the season with a 13-9 win over #3 team in the state, snapping a 6 year home win streak. Great effort by both teams, they just made a few more mistakes than we did.
We lost to a team that had never beaten us 21-10. They came to play and we didn't. Had no answers to what they did. They smacked us in the mouth and our kids just took it. It was a bad night.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2007 11:24:33 GMT -6
We played a team in the playoffs that blew us out the first game of the season. I don't know that i totally convinced our players because the team we were playing was so talented. Their RB went to Auburn last year and played a ton as a freshmen. He's pretty good. We got film of all 10 of their games and studied their oline. We found two players with poor technique. We filled the box with 8-9, and pinned our ears back all night. We onside kicked, fake two punts. They on the other hand did their best to keep their play calling simple because they did not want to show their hand to other teams that were scouting the game. They argued with each other/ players vs. players/coach vs. coach/ and their qb started changing the play calling. It was beautiful to watch them fall apart.
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Post by wingman on Feb 6, 2007 12:27:58 GMT -6
Shorten the game. Run the ball. the longer you play, the greater the odds that he better team will wear down the other. Most importantly, usually team that upsets the other is beneficiary of turnovers.
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Post by spartancoach on Feb 6, 2007 12:48:28 GMT -6
Agree with shortening the game. We almost pulled off a major upset (lost by 6 to a team that was favored by 4 scores) by going no-huddle so they couldn't make defensive substitutions and call in schemes, then had the QB just stand at the line until the play clock was down to 3. Frustrated the heck of our opponent by keeping their high powered O off the field. We were tied after 3 quarters. Also, know what Goliath's top 5 plays are and game plan to stop them. Make them beat you with something out of their comfort zone.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2007 15:00:11 GMT -6
I like the old saying from driver's training, "an accident is something going somewhere to do something." In terms of an upset I think you have to go out and steal the upset. You can't go out and play the game expecting the upset, you have to meet it part way.
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Post by wingt74 on Feb 7, 2007 10:05:00 GMT -6
Very interesting ideas, and I agree with what everyone is posting. However, I am curious about how many upsets you see in high school football. It seems to me that there aren't very many upsets at the high school level. Usually the better team wins. What do you think about this? I've noticed this too. I think it has to do with the running game. Most HS teams rely heavily on the running game. When you have two teams that run the ball a lot, the better team usually wins because you are able to run the ball or you can't. Now, with Passing. it's a different story. Typically, huge upsets are a result of the weaker team being able to throw the ball. The QB has a great game, receivers make some good plays...and you get some lucky breaks. Just my thought. Basically, if you are weak throwing the ball (Most HS teams), your chances of pulling off an upset are slim to none. |
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