How to Stop Cam Newton?

[BlazersBlood]

That will be THE biggest factor in the Natty. So how is Aliotti going to scheme against the Heisman Trophy winner?

1-Spy: Do you guys feel Matthews or Paysinger have the athleticism to stay with Newton when he tucks and runs? South Carolina completely failed at containing Newton on 3rd down. Every time I flipped to that game, it was 3rd down and Newton just sat back, scanned the field, and tucked and made a big play with his legs.

2-The Pass Rush: Will we have our DEs play contain and not try to crash the edge? I think our best chance will be to try to keep Cam in the pocket and not let him make some big plays with his legs. The front 4 needs to stay in their lanes and not let Cam exploit and over-aggressive pass rush.

3-The Blitz: I'm hoping Alioti mixes in a lot of zone blitzes to keep Newton out of rhythm. Also, when we do bring the heat, they have to close out plays and wrap up. How many big plays does Newton make after he shakes off a defender?

4-Coverage: I think we'll be forced to go into zone most of the time to keep our eyes on Cam. If we go man-to-man, Cam will be licking his chops and waiting to pull the ball down to run.

5-Tackling: They have to tackle well & swarm the ball. One guy is not going to bring him down in the open field. The defense has to be aggressive and go for the stick and not let Newton dictate the tempo with his legs. They need to punish him every chance they get. He's a load, but he leaves himself open for big hits if they can get a good angle on him.

 

[TehChad]

I think you gotta have Matthews or Paysinger spy on him. They're both very good tacklers, and if anyone can slow him down, they can. Also our O line has to get some good pressure. They did pretty good against the Beavs...they need to do the same against Auburn.

It's gonna be a challenge, but I think these Ducks can do it.

 

[ABM]

I've watched very little of Auburn this year. How does Newton's game compare to Terrelle Pryor's? Obviously, Pryor was the difference during last season's Rose Bowl. But, then again, this is a very different Ducks team than the one that faced those Buckeyes.

 

[Wheels]

Not sure you stop newton but I agree you spy him and make him beat you with his arm. He's not a horrible passer but he is a lit more dangerous with his legs. I almost think you look at cals gameplan against the ducks and use some of that. Minus the faking of course

 

[Entity]

The thing that worries me the most is now Auburn has five plus weeks to let their second string offense play 10-15 second downs on their defense. If Auburn manages to prepare well for the pace, can Oregon win in other ways? I know their defense isn't all that great, but Auburn is going to get their points on the other side of the ball.

 

[Natebishop3]

I just don't think we can allow them to get out to an early big lead. It will be much harder to stage a comeback against Auburn.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Not sure you stop newton but I agree you spy him and make him beat you with his arm. He's not a horrible passer but he is a lit more dangerous with his legs. I almost think you look at cals gameplan against the ducks and use some of that. Minus the faking of course

He's better than just "not horrible"--he's very good. He's the 2nd-highest rated passer in the country. 2nd nationally in yards/attempt, 2nd in completion %, 3rd in yards/completion. And 1st in attempts/pass TD, at just over 9 (Kellen Moore is the only other QB under 11).

South Carolina took the same tactic today that you propose (since he ran all over them in their first meeting), and he demolished them primarily with his arm. Look at today's play-by-play. 2 completions for 84 yards on their first drive. 3 for 38 on their second. 2 for 72 and a TD on their third. Three incompletions total. That's 7-10 for 194 yards and 2 TD...in the first quarter.

Honestly, I don't know how we stop him, and I don't think we can. Oregon's best hope is to score every time they have the ball, hope for a couple turnovers, and rely on superior special teams play.

South Carolina completely failed at containing Newton on 3rd down. Every time I flipped to that game, it was 3rd down and Newton just sat back, scanned the field, and tucked and made a big play with his legs.

Nice hyperbole. That happened exactly twice today--once in the first quarter, and once in the third. Newton passed more on third down than ran, and he converted more third downs with his arm than with his legs.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Just have Uncle Phil make Cam's dad an offer he can't refuse.

 

[Natebishop3]

The more I've watched Auburn, the more I'm scared of what they can do on offense. Our defense has played well, but they're not world beaters. I think we've got a good chance of stopping the run, but our secondary hasn't been very good. We've given up a lot of third and longs.

 

[Wheels]

The more I've watched Auburn, the more I'm scared of what they can do on offense. Our defense has played well, but they're not world beaters. I think we've got a good chance of stopping the run, but our secondary hasn't been very good. We've given up a lot of third and longs.

Check the 3rd down stats that I posted in the game thread

 

[Wheels]

And Comparing the passing d to south Carolina doesn't add up either. Newton faced the 77th rank pass efficiency defense in south carolina. But will face the 6th ranked pass efficiency d in oregon

 

[BlazersBlood]

Nice hyperbole. That happened exactly twice today--once in the first quarter, and once in the third. Newton passed more on third down than ran, and he converted more third downs with his arm than with his legs.

What hyperbole? I'm busy watching the Duck game and each time I flipped to the Auburn game, Cam made some very nice conversions with his legs. He shook off a blitzer on one play and scrambled for at least 20 yards. The next time I saw him, the RDE crashed the edge and he stepped up and rushed for another 1st before getting up-ended for a solid gain. Obviously you are confused by my observations. I'm not discounting his arm. He's a dual threat. He's very dangerous on broken plays and it's going to be tough to contain him.

 

[BlazersBlood]

And Comparing the passing d to south Carolina doesn't add up either. Newton faced the 77th rank pass efficiency defense in south carolina. But will face the 6th ranked pass efficiency d in oregon

True, but SC was 3rd in the nation in sacks entering the game. Their defense is very solid. Auburn just rolled them. We're gonna have to find a way to pressure Newton and force him to do whatever he's the worst at (which doesn't seem to be much of anything).

 

[Wheels]

Lol I agree there isn't much of a weakness but I still rather try and make him beat me with his arm against the 6th ranked pass efficiency d. A stat just popped up on espn through the first 8 games Newtons pass attempts of over 20 yards he was throwing 34% completion and 4 tds to 5 picks. The last 4 games he has hit a hot streak and is completing 66% of those but with almost 40 days off those hot streaks can cool off I.e. Masoli last year.

 

[Da_O]

I think it comes down to how well our goal line defense is. We have a perfect type of defense to stop their big plays with the bend don't break philosophy. I'm confident the Ducks will be able to score on that Auburn defense so holding them to field goals will go a long ways in winning. As teams have found out all year, you can't trade TD's for FG's with us. Also preaching tackling would help.

 

[Natebishop3]

Just can't give up big plays.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Personally, I wouldn't place a spy on him. We have speed like they haven't seen before. That and tackling him low should be enough to hold him to an average day.

They won 5 games by a TD or less. In fact 4 of the 5 were 4 points or less. That tells me that while they can dominate, their offense isn't quite as dominant as people may think. If we tackle well and play fairly tight coverage, I think we'll be OK.

 

[Natebishop3]

I just wondered how our stats are skewed by facing some subpar passers. Obviously Luck is amazing, and Barkley is pretty solid, but that guy at Cal was awful. How do the QBs in the PAC10 rate against the QBs of the SEC?

How did we play Andrew Luck? That guy is just as good as Newton, imo. Probably a better passer overall.

 

[huevonkiller]

Newton has outplayed Vince Young so far, he has all the talent to have another big game.

Thing is, it is a team sport so Oregon is actually favored by a couple of points.

I don't think you stop him much at all, it'll just be pure offense. Auburn has a good rush defense though. Not sure how to compare the Pac-10 to SEC this year, but congrats for making it this far.

 

[huevonkiller]

He's better than just "not horrible"--he's very good. He's the 2nd-highest rated passer in the country. 2nd nationally in yards/attempt, 2nd in completion %, 3rd in yards/completion. And 1st in attempts/pass TD, at just over 9 (Kellen Moore is the only other QB under 11).

South Carolina took the same tactic today that you propose (since he ran all over them in their first meeting), and he demolished them primarily with his arm. Look at today's play-by-play. 2 completions for 84 yards on their first drive. 3 for 38 on their second. 2 for 72 and a TD on their third. Three incompletions total. That's 7-10 for 194 yards and 2 TD...in the first quarter.

Honestly, I don't know how we stop him, and I don't think we can. Oregon's best hope is to score every time they have the ball, hope for a couple turnovers, and rely on superior special teams play.



Nice hyperbole. That happened exactly twice today--once in the first quarter, and once in the third. Newton passed more on third down than ran, and he converted more third downs with his arm than with his legs.

He has a higher rating than Tebow in his prime season, and he's a much better running back too.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Newton has outplayed Vince Young so far, he has all the talent to have another big game.

Thing is, it is a team sport so Oregon is actually favored by a couple of points.

I don't think you stop him much at all, it'll just be pure offense. Auburn has a good rush defense though. Not sure how to compare the Pac-10 to SEC this year, but congrats for making it this far.

First, thanks for the congrats.

The concern I have when a team gears its defense to stop one person (especially a QB like Newton) is that you now are defending with 10 players. And that usually doesn't work. It's a matter of the linebackers being very aware of what's going on. Oregon has more speed on defense that Auburn has seen all year. Routinely other teams have 10 yard gains reduced to 5... In addition, they are a small defense so they will have to tackle his legs or he will shed them. We also have to tighten up our pass defense and narrow his passing lanes. He's a good, but not great passer.

I would make Auburn a slight favorite.

 

[Natebishop3]

First, thanks for the congrats.

The concern I have when a team gears its defense to stop one person (especially a QB like Newton) is that you now are defending with 10 players. And that usually doesn't work. It's a matter of the linebackers being very aware of what's going on. Oregon has more speed on defense that Auburn has seen all year. Routinely other teams have 10 yard gains reduced to 5... In addition, they are a small defense so they will have to tackle his legs or he will shed them. We also have to tighten up our pass defense and narrow his passing lanes. He's a good, but not great passer.

I would make Auburn a slight favorite.

I agree on all counts.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

You cant stop him. You just need to outscore him.

 

[BGrantFan]

I just wondered how our stats are skewed by facing some subpar passers. Obviously Luck is amazing, and Barkley is pretty solid, but that guy at Cal was awful. How do the QBs in the PAC10 rate against the QBs of the SEC?

How did we play Andrew Luck? That guy is just as good as Newton, imo. Probably a better passer overall.

Nick Foles isn't a slouch, neither is Jeff Teul, nor is Stephen Threet. The Ducks have played some great QBs this year. None as diverse in game than Newton, but I like our chances because I don't think Auburn has a very complicated offense.

 

[Natebishop3]

Nick Foles isn't a slouch, neither is Jeff Teul, nor is Stephen Threet. The Ducks have played some great QBs this year. None as diverse in game than Newton, but I like our chances because I don't think Auburn has a very complicated offense.

If anything, our defense should be completely comfortable playing against the spread. Hell, those guys play against James, Barner, and Thomas in practice all the time. Someone like Newton shouldn't be anything special

I'm mostly worried about our smaller guys trying to tackle Newton's big frame.

 

[Wheels]

Aliotti mentioned that Newton is bigger than 8 of the Starters on Defense.