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Trick & Treat: Unique formations spark Monmouth football to 6th straight win
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- Trick & Treat: Unique formations spark Monmouth football to 6th straight win
WEST LONG BRANCH -- Monmouth football broke out the tricks with the treats this Halloween, and the Hawks had the Bryant defense seeing ghosts all Saturday afternoon at Kessler Stadium.
After hitting the road on six of their first eight games, the FCS No. 17 Hawks came home for the holiday and delivered an emphatic victory, their sixth straight, in their return. With several unique running designs to spark the offense, Monmouth (7-2) raced out to an early 24-0 lead and never looked back as the team cruised to a 34-21 victory.
Monmouth running back Kenny Smith Jr. takes off out of the wildcat formation. Monmouth football beat Bryant 31-24 on Oct. 31 in West Long Branch, NJ.
"I was very happy with how we played in all three phases. Guys had great energy. I thought we were the more physical team today, and that was a dangerous team," Monmouth head coach Jeff Gallo said. "We did a really good job from the start. We're trying to make it known what it's like to play us here at home."
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After a relatively slow start in the first half in a dominant 49-13 win over Hampton last week, the Hawks wasted no time setting the tone against Bryant (5-4) at home. On the opening drive, the Hawks marched 75 yards to the end zone before finishing the possession with a first glimpse at their offensive innovation: a pistol formation with the quarterback motioning out to receiver to reveal a wildcat formation. Elijah Jennings took the snap and ran a counter right up the middle for an 18-yard touchdown.
"Just banking those reps all week," center Kevin Shriner said. "It's really a shout out to our scout team, giving us a great look. It's a great job by the running backs rotating, no matter who's back there taking the wildcat, I know they're going to get through."
Monmouth center Kevin Shriner sets up for snap. Monmouth football beat Bryant 31-24 on Oct. 31 in West Long Branch, NJ.
All four of Monmouth's touchdowns came on some variation of that wildcat offensive concept, including two explosive touchdown runs of 37 and 55 yards in the first half that put the game firmly in the grasp of the Hawks by halftime. It was another banner day for the team's dynamic backfield duo, as Jennings finished with 175 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries while Kenny Smith Jr. had 157 yards and two scores on 18 runs.
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Combined with a lights out defensive performance for three quarters and a strong day for the much-improved special teams unit, highlighted by two field goals by Sky Sholder, the Hawks were unquestionably the superior team against a Bryant squad that had emerged as a potential contender for the conference title before losing to Stony Brook last week.
"Skyler's done a great job," Gallo said. "When it's time to kick a field goal, we trust that he can get those points. I think in general, our special teams coach Dennis Long has done a great job of improving every week. We've gotten better every week. Our kickoff team is really fun to watch right now, and we found some good returns."
The Monmouth defense delivered an early dagger with an interception by Omar Ibrahim on Bryant's first play from scrimmage in the second half. It was both a steady defensive performance and one shaped by the Hawks' ability to generate negative plays.
Monmouth linebacker Charlie Sasso during pre-game.
"We preach it all week, every week: we want to start fast and finish faster," linebacker Charlie Sasso said. "We want to start the game exactly how we did. We obviously want a better finish to the game than we had. Our coaches put us in a great spot to really finish through practice every day, and I think that's transitioning over to games where we're playing harder in the fourth quarter."
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The Bulldogs got two fourth quarter touchdowns, including one with 27 seconds remaining, to add some window dressing to the result. But it was arguably the best performance of the season for the Monmouth defense, which held Bryant to 94 rushing yards and 39 passing yards through the first three quarters. Linebacker Ryan Russo was another individual star in the game, finishing with two sacks.
"He works harder than anybody I know. We have team lifts every week, he's lifting extra on his own every week. He's in at night lifting, he's at home doing recovery," Sasso said. "He puts everything into this that he has and it really shows in the way he plays."
Monmouth linebacker Ryan Russo makes a diving sack. Monmouth football beat Bryant 31-24 on Oct. 31 in West Long Branch, NJ.
The lone blemish was the modest passing game, which was scarcely needed given the dominance on the ground. Quarterback Frankie Weaver finished 10-for-20 for 81 passing yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. It was Monmouth's lowest passing yardage total in a victory since 2002.
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"We're going to try to be balanced all the time. And balance means we can throw it when we want to throw it and run it when we want to run it," Gallo said. "We were having success early. We could stay with that. These guys did a great job of finding holes, and there were also some long explosive runs, which set us up for great success. But we're going to continue to fight to be balanced."
Ultimately, balance wasn't necessary Saturday given the Hawks ability to bulldoze their way to a victory against a Bryant front that was rated highly coming into the matchup.
"It fires us up every time. Everybody's working as one, everybody's on the same page," offensive guard Reed Collins said. "Seeing them bust those long runs gets us really excited and we're gonna be a really exciting offense as we keep going forward."
Monmouth running back Elijah Jennings battles through contact. Monmouth football beat Bryant 31-24 on Oct. 31 in West Long Branch.
Monmouth's 319 rushing yards were a testament to work of the offensive line, although they did concede two sacks after not allowing one through 507 snaps. It's proof the team still has more room to grow, a good point of motivation to counterbalance the team's immense success through the first two months of the season.
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"I'm proud of how hard these guys work every week," Gallo said. "There's still a lot of football left, and we're gonna focus NC A&T and that's a one-week season. And that's what I'm proud of these guys to be able to do is compartmentalize—learn from the win or the loss and then focus on the next opponent. That's what I'm the most proud of and we've done a good job of that and we're gonna keep doing that."
The Hawks now sit alone atop the CAA standings with a 6-0 record in conference play, the last unbeaten team. No. 25 Albany, the team that ruined Monmouth's playoff bid a year ago, has emerged as an unlikely ally of sorts after toppling No. 15 Campbell in a 45-35 win. Monmouth beat Albany 28-20 on Sept. 19, which means the Hawks have the clear path to their first conference title since 2019 and their first as a member of the Coastal Athletic Association.
Monmouth football beat Bryant 31-24 on Oct. 31 in West Long Branch, NJ.
Monmouth also knows all too well the pain of being undercut by a loss late in the season after that season-ending loss to Albany last November. With three games left, there's still plenty of room for variables. With two upcoming games against teams with losing records, it might seem like a manageable slate. But the double-edged sword means any losses would be more damaging to the Hawks' playoff hopes.
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As this week's results demonstrated, there are no guarantees in the CAA. And next week's opponent, North Carolina A&T (4-5) has now won three straight games.
"We said it all offseason. Our motto was leave no doubt," Sasso said. "We don't want to leave anything up to anyone else other than how we perform on the field."
Wildcat wrinkles spark Monmouth's explosive run game
There are plenty of games in which Monmouth's offensive innovations require an astute eye, but it was clear what the new look was in the win over Bryant. All four touchdowns came out of the Hawks' variation of the 'wildcat' formation with the quarterback motioning out to the receiver spot and the running back taking the direct snap.
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Monmouth has used this type of concept before, typically in the lower red zone or short yardage situations. But it became a staple concept within the offense on Saturday, producing multiple explosive runs.
On the first touchdown, Monmouth initially comes out in a pistol formation with two tight ends in tight to the left and twin receivers to the right. Weaver motions out to the short side of the field, and Elijah Jennings takes the snap and sets up the counter with guard Michael Petito pulling to clear the way for the 18-yard score.
The second touchdown run by Jennings came out of a nearly identical formation with two tight ends to the right and the twin receivers to the boundary, but Weaver motions to the wide side of the field as a slight tweak. The shape of the blocking appears to be more of power concept than a counter, as Jennings quickly got downhill for the 37-yard touchdown.
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The third touchdown run might be the most fun of the bunch. It's still a very similar formation, but the receiver is in a split back position to the left with the two tight ends to the right. Weaver motions out to the right wide of the tight ends, and this time it's Kenny Smith Jr. taking the snap and getting behind pulling guard Colin Goetter. Bryant appears to slant the wrong way, easily being washed down and springing Smith for the 55-yard touchdown.
And in the final touchdown, it's another encore performance. Nearly an identical formation as the third score with Tra Neal in tight as the split back on the right and two tight ends to the left. Weaver motions to the short side beyond the tight ends, and again it's Petito pulling to clear the space although he has to find a shallow block in the hole. It's no issue as Smith goes off to the end zone for the 8-yard touchdown run.
The reason why these plays worked so well is a straightforward numbers game, which can be seen most clearly on the first and last touchdown runs. Monmouth appears to have identified a weakness in Bryant's defensive motion rules, as the safety has to move to somewhat respect the presence of Weaver as he motions out wide. It isolates the linebackers for clear blocking assignments, and they're completely occupied on the first score. On the last one, Smith makes a great move to make the lone unblocked defender miss in the hole.
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It's another reminder why Monmouth is one of the most respected offenses in all of the FCS, and just how sharp they Hawks can be when they identify a weakness in the opponent.
Monmouth defense gets boost from LBs and DBs
The front four of the Monmouth defense has earned a lot of praise for their ability to suffocate opposing run games and generate a quality pass rush. But against Bryant, it was a linebacker and a corner that were the stars of the day.
Senior linebacker Ryan Russo has been outstanding this season, and has made a leap even after a very impressive junior campaign. The former Rutgers Scarlet Knight has become a perfect fit at the Shore with the Hawks, demonstrating tremendous coverage ability, especially against running backs, with his superb athleticism. On Saturday, that speed translated to terrific pursuit of the quarterback as he finished with two sacks.
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The 6-foot-2 and 230-pound linebacker is second on the Hawks with 59 total tackles, leads the team with two forced fumbles, and is now up to three sacks in addition to an interception. Along with capable linebackers Spencer Kishbaugh and Charlie Sasso plus emerging redshirt junior Ryan Alexander, this has become a really strong unit at the second level.
And although the secondary still has a lot of moving parts, Omar Ibrahim finally got his first interception of the season after several earlier close calls. The tenacious transfer from Hampton and prior to that Temple has become a staple as Monmouth's top cover man, leading the team with seven pass break ups. He can get a little grabby and always has to be mindful of how any given officiating crew might perceive his physicality against opposing receivers, but he sets the tone on the perimeter along with the Hawks' two tremendous safeties in All-American Jaeden Jones and breakthrough performer Donovan Fey.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Trick & Treat: Unique formations spark Monmouth football to 6th straight win
