Isaiah Ford Concludes Record-Setting Sophomore Season in Independence Bowl

Scot Loeffler said after Virginia Tech's 55-52 win over Tulsa he devised "30-some odd different ways" to get wideout Isaiah Ford the football. With Ford's emergence as one of the premier playmakers in the ACC this year (No. 1 in the ACC with 89.5 receiving yards per game), I don't think anyone would disagree with that strategy. Ford went crazy in the Independence Bowl. He torched Tulsa on 12 receptions for 227 receiving yards and a score. He finished as Tech's single-season record holder in all three categories (75 receptions, 1,164 yards receiving and 11 TDs). The variety of ways Ford was able to do damage was impressive and showed just how versatile of a receiver he has become. While Ford lacks elite athleticism, he stays open by running precise routes, understanding the holes in zone coverages, and being hard to tackle in one-on-one situations.

Taking The Easy Yardage

Scot Loeffler's pro-style passing attack has attempted to take advantage of conservative defenses on early downs by completing easy short throws against off coverage. These short routes rely on timing between the quarterback and receiver as well as quick recognition from both players to see the opportunity.

On this first down the Tulsa defense is playing Quarters coverage to the field. Their cornerback and safety are going to drop and cover any vertical routes. The corner is responsible for routes near the sideline, and the safety is responsible for routes in his half of the middle of the field. The slot defender (No. 38) is responsible for any underneath routes. Bucky Hodges occupies the slot defender by running a curl route, leaving Ford open on the outside as the corner turns and runs to protect against a deeper route. Michael Brewer quickly recognizes the coverage and is in the process of throwing the football before Ford breaks his route off.

This was Ford's first reception of the day and it set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. If Tulsa was going to play conservative defense, Loeffler was content to rely on his senior quarterback to pick apart the secondary one five-yard reception at a time. Not only does this keep his offense ahead of the chains, it also gets the ball into the hands of one of his playmakers on the perimeter. Eventually Ford will break that initial tackle and get yards after the catch.

Defensive backs hate to give up receptions, even if it's a short catch their defensive coordinator is willing to concede. As the game wears on they start to react quicker to these short routes in an attempt to break up the pass, or at least deliver a strong blow to the receiver. When the offensive coordinator notices that the corners are starting to overreact, they attack with double moves.

Scot Loeffler deserves a lot of credit for hiding his intentions on this play. It looks identical to the clip above right up until the critical moment. Both plays take place on first down, at the same place on the field, they have essentially the same formation... It's no surprise that Tulsa lines up with the same defensive formation and uses the same Quarters coverage. Late in the game, Loeffler has set the trap. He has Bucky run the same short route as before, and Ford runs a stop and go route, faking the route combination he used in the first quarter. The cornerback sees Bucky's short route and Ford's fake so he comes forward to make a play on what he believes will be another short curl.

The second angle showcases just how good of a route runner Isaiah Ford has become. Ford and Bucky both "break" at the same time, giving the illusion of a route combination, but notice how Ford barely breaks stride and never stops his momentum from moving up field. Ford lets his upper body do the work on the fake, and chops his feet just enough to sell it which allows him to jump right back into stride up field. This conservation of momentum is how a receiver without great top end speed can still create tons of separation. His efficient route running does the work for him.

Creating Mismatches

The above clips are perfect examples of Loeffler allowing the defense to set the stage and reacting to their coverages. There are times though when an offensive coordinator doesn't want to allow the opponent to dictate when he can get the ball into his playmaker's hands. Loeffler did a good job at using formations and pre-snap motion to create the space needed on the perimeter for his star receiver to go to work.

This is a prototypical "Scot Loeffler" play design. It only works because he did the research before the game to know how the defense would react to the motion and because he worked the spacing of his receivers out perfectly. By bringing Ford across the formation from the boundary to the field, Loeffler knows the defense will resort to a Cover 3 defense. Both corners and one safety will split the secondary into thirds to protect against deep throws while the remaining safety and linebackers protect against underneath routes.

The spacing of the slot receivers is key. The outside linebacker to the field, Matt Linscott (No. 38), is responsible for any short routes that happen from the hash marks to the sideline. His initial concern is Malleck, but once Malleck runs past him on a vertical route he is free to slide over toward the sideline to undercut Ford's route. By having Ford motioned out wide and by keeping both slot receivers aligned tight to the formation, Loeffler is preventing Linscott from getting in the passing lane. Linscott simply has too much ground to cover. Keeping the slot receiver in tight is the only way Loeffler can run a nine-yard curl against Cover 3 without the outside linebacker undercutting. That was fun to watch.

Loeffler isn't going to limit his best route runner to curl routes and stop-and-go's though. By motioning Bucky across the formation and aligning Ford in the slot, Loeffler can run the smash concept against a Cover 2 scheme. Hodges runs a short curl route to occupy the corner in the flat, while Isaiah Ford, who is matched up against a safety, threatens a vertical route before breaking at an angle towards the sideline. Every offensive coordinator in the country loves throwing the smash concept at Cover 2, even those without Isaiah Ford running routes for them. With Ford at his disposal Loeffler was able to manipulate the defense to run one of the ACC's best receivers on an easy route against a favorable coverage. No matter what anyone says about Scot Loeffler did or didn't accomplish in Blacksburg, there has never been any question that the man knows football and knows how to scheme for a defense.

The Tactician

While Loeffler deserves praise for getting a lot of production out of Ford, no one deserves more credit than the young man himself. Ford spent a lot of time this offseason transforming himself into a great route runner. Regardless of where he is lined up or what coverages he is facing, Isaiah Ford has the ability to get open.

The key to being a great route runner is deception. The best athletes on the field are normally at corner, but that's because they are always at a disadvantage. Corners are always reacting to the movements of the receiver. The longer a receiver can mask his intentions, the less time the corner has to use their athleticism to make a play on the football. This is why all the great corners study game film religiously, they are trying to see if they can spot any tells that a receiver has when running certain routes. All great receivers make routes look identical until it's too late and Ford has that same talent.

This corner had know idea that the post was coming until Ford was already past him. Ford came off the line of scrimmage and ate up the cushion that the corner had given him. As the corner came out of his backpedal and turned his hips to run with Ford, Ford planted his outside foot and made a great cut aimed right behind the corner. The corner had no idea the cut was coming and there was also no wasted motion, allowing Ford to get back up to his top speed quickly after changing direction. At this point the corner's only choice was to try and get away with a hold.

Another area of his game that Ford has improved since his freshman year is his understanding of Loeffler's offense and defensive coverages. This is important when working against zone coverages, as it allows Ford to find the "soft spots" in a zone and sit in space for his quarterback to pick him out.

On this play, Ford comes out of his break and immediately recognize the zone coverage. He breaks off his route and sits down in the zone, turning to locate Brewer and provide an easy target for his quarterback. When Fuente starts installing his offense, he will ask Ford to attack coverages in slightly different ways. It's going to be up to Ford to put just as much time in this offseason as last to ensure he masters the playbook. Chemistry with a quarterback is also key for defeating zone coverages. Quarterbacks have to trust their receivers will see the same things they do, and will be in the right spots when they release the ball. Last summer Ford had the benefit of knowing Brewer was likely to retain his grasp on the starting position, and they worked all offseason together. Ford needs to cultivate the same type of working relationship with whichever quarterback comes out on top during spring camp.

The Playmaker

Up until now, the story the film tells is Isaiah Ford is a great route runner. If he is going to take the next step from All-ACC player to All-American, Ford will need to continue to improve as a threat with the ball in his hands. He can't be content to just run a good route and make a nice catch, he has to make defenders miss and get extra yardage to really make defenses pay. Against Tulsa, I think we may have seen a sign of things to come.

Isaiah Ford lined up to take a jet sweep handoff from Brewer from the same position that Greg Stroman did a few times after he switched to offense. Personally, I prefer to see a traditional wide receiver used in this capacity because it makes it more difficult for the defense to prepare for the sweep. If the opponent sees a player run into the huddle that is only used on sweep plays, they can alert their players and start setting their defensive set early. Even lining a running back like Travon McMillian or J.C. Coleman out wide was too quick of a tip off for my taste. Bringing Isaiah Ford across the formation will give the defense even less time to prepare.

Ford doesn't have the jets of Travon or Stroman, but he does have good speed. If he gets the solid blocking on the perimeter that he did on this play, Ford is more than capable of picking up good yardage if green grass opens up in front of him. Isaiah probably doesn't get enough credit for his elusiveness as a ball carrier, as he has shown a good ability to make people miss one-on-one. Justin Fuente likes to use this jet sweep play and likes to use wide receivers, so there's a good chance we'll see more of Ford in this role moving forward. The only problem is it does take the team's best receiver out of the equation for a possible play-action pass off of the motion.

This was Ford's biggest play of the bowl game, although he didn't have much to do other than run in a straight line as fast as he could. Tulsa sent an all out blitz, leaving every receiver in single coverage. Bucky and Jonathan McLaughlin do a great job of getting out in front and cutting the two secondary defenders down. Additionally, Wyatt Teller shows off his athleticism by getting out in front of the play and executing a textbook cut block of his own. Ford shows off good speed and outruns the defense to the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown screen pass. I'm not sure we'll ever see Ford house another 70+-yard screen pass, but Fuente loves throwing wide receiver screens. Ford is going to get plenty of chances on the perimeter with the ball in his hands. Not every play will be as well blocked as this one, but if he can become a greater YAC threat, he could easily turn himself into a first round NFL talent.

Isaiah Ford had the greatest statistical season of any Virginia Tech receiver in history. I think he is just getting started though. As good as he was, Ford was limited at times by quarterback play. Ford did most of his damage on short and intermediate routes because of a lack of overall accuracy on deep balls this season (rewatch the second clip above, that stop and go route should have been an easy touchdown). The three frontrunners to take over next year (Motley, Evans, Lawson) all have bigger arms than Brewer did. If Fuente can quickly teach his system in Blacksburg, Isaiah Ford will have enough talent around him to fully unlock his potential. The future is bright for this rising junior and, if he keeps working as hard as he has been since he arrived in Blacksburg, Ford has a chance to be remembered as the best Hokie wide receiver ever.