Welcome back to “Breakdown,” where we’ll look at some KU plays each week and try to go a little more in-depth into why they did or didn’t work.

For this blog, I have consulted a Div. II offensive assistant coach, someone we’ll just call “Coach.”

This week, I’ve put together two of KU’s highlights against Colorado: defensive end Toben Opurum’s forced fumble and running back James Sims’ go-ahead touchdown.

Let’s start with the biggest play of the game: Opurum’s forced fumble on the reverse.

What’s important to note here is that it’s not accident that the Buffaloes are running a reverse to Opurum’s side.

The CU coaches know that Opurum has only been a defensive lineman a few weeks, and they’re trying to take advantage of his inexperience here.

“They’ve probably got this schemed up, trying to get him to run down the line of scrimmage and trying to make a spectacular play and chase the quarterback down from behind,” Coach says. “You can tell that’s what they’re trying to do in that they’re not blocking him whatsoever.”

As we can see below, Colorado appears to have a speed option set up to the right.

The success or failure of this play for both teams depends on Opurum.

As you can see below, CU purposely doesn’t block Opurum, attempting to trick him into following the QB.

“What Colorado’s trying to do is influence him to running straight down the line and chasing the speed option play, and that way the reverse would be able to get outside the defensive end,” Coach says. “What the defensive end would be taught to do is squeeze the line of scrimmage, check for reverse and make sure nothing’s coming back his way.”

Even though KU needed a stop on second and 5 with 7:25 left in the game, and even though the crowd was amped and KU’s defense had been struggling all game, Opurum stays with his assignment on this play and doesn’t chase the QB.

“I teach my guys to do their 1/11th,” Coach says. “You’ve got a certain job to do on every play. Just do that job to the best of your abilities and don’t try to do someone else’s job.”

After reading the reverse …

all that’s left to do is make the tackle, which Opurum does, causing the fumble.

“(The Buffaloes are) trying to put the dagger in KU right here and get a big play and essentially end the football game,” Coach says, “but it comes back to haunt them.”

One last thing: Another KU defender also read the reverse play well.

After seeing the sprint option go away from him, KU nickelback Tyler Patmon is quick to see a reverse is coming.

Still, Colorado’s slot receiver appears to be in good position to block Patmon (Coach says that would be the slot receiver’s assignment on this play).

If we skip forward a second, though, we see that Patmon runs right by the CU receiver to go unblocked.

Patmon’s free run ends up playing a major role in this play.

Once CU’s Toney Clemons fumbles it, Patmon is the first one there to scoop it up before scoring.

It’s hard to tell from the video what would have happened if Patmon wouldn’t have beaten his blocker.

Would KU still have recovered the fumble? It appears KU probably would have. Would the Jayhawks have had a speedy enough player to score? Maybe not.

Though we can’t be sure what would have happened, Patmon’s quick instincts — and a missed block by a CU receiver — ensured that the Jayhawks turned this turnover into a touchdown.

Also, remember that iso running play we talked about in last week’s Breakdown?

Yep, it showed up once again last week against Colorado, and ended up being one of the most important plays of the game: Sims’ 28-yard, go-ahead touchdown.

As you can see, KU tight end Tim Biere goes in motion to the middle of KU’s line.

The blocking is the same as last week. Because Colorado’s nose tackle is lined up just to the left of the center, KU center Jeremiah Hatch and right guard Duane Zlatnik double-team him. Then, Biere goes through the middle of the line to take out CU’s linebacker.

Coach also says KU benefits from a good play call from offensive coordinator Chuck Long.

“One thing that Colorado’s doing here is they’re bringing double-edged pressure,” Coach says.

“When you bring double-edged pressure, a lot of times, you might be vulnerable up the middle, and KU takes advantage of it right here.”

KU essentially runs past CU’s blitz.

“If you can hit it up the middle, you’re going to have a good chance at having a nice play,” Coach says. “You definitely wouldn’t want to run an edge-type running play unless it’s an option-type running play.”

Biere gets a great block on CU’s linebacker.

That leaves CU’s safety as the only player who can make the tackle. He comes up too far, though, and gets pinned behind the linebacker.

It’s interesting to note that, on this play, CU is in Cover 0. That means CU has matched up with each of KU’s eligible receivers in man coverage with no safety help.

In other words, Colorado is daring KU to put the ball in the air in this situation. And KU still is able to break a huge play on the ground.

If I were Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, I’d expect much more of the iso running play from KU this weekend.