Monday, August 16, 2010

Warning: Actual Football Content.....


The guys over at Shakin' the Southland do more quality football X and O content that almost any other blog on the interweb. If you haven't been over there & checked things out, we highly recommend you do so. Last week DrB looked at the Double Eagle or "Bear" front as it relates to playing against our spread option. As usual, the analysis is solid & this can be an extremely effective front in defending the option. But it's far from foolproof. So how do we attack this defense which loads up the line & tries to take away the dive & midline?

It's pretty easy, you pound the edges. First let's look at the count:


We're looking for the number of players from the B-gap out within five yards of the line of scrimmage. In the above example the count is +1 to the right so we would run the play to the left side. The call? Let's stick with our bread & butter, the triple option. Against this double eagle, it's very difficult to get anything off the dive, particularly with players like Jarvis Jenkins & Da'Quan Bowers clogging up the middle. So Nesbitt will generally pull the ball & move down the line. In this scenario, the center and both guards block the men head up on them. If they can get even a stalemate we're in good shape. The playside tackle blocks the "Mike" LB while the playside A-back takes the free safety. That leaves the "Will" LB as the option key or unblocked man. If we get a good block from our "X" receiver on the CB, we're off to the races. As always, it's about EXECUTION. If we execute, the numbers are there for us to take advantage if. This is the exact front Clemson ran against us in the ACC championship game to open both halves when Roddy Jones had multiple carries for long gains before Clemson changed their defensive alignment. If there's one thing we know about CPJ by now, it's that he'll call the same play over & over until you prove you can stop it. Other effective series against the Double Eagle are the speed option & counter option. DrB is right, this is probably the best front to play against us & the one I would use if playing Tech. But's it's vulnerable. Which leaves us back at where we always start: it's all about execution.

2 comments:

  1. Another issue that you'd probably see stacking the line is if the backs penetrate the line the number of men to beat to the goal line thins out.

    The trick to stopping the offense is doing what Iowa did, beating the piss out of our linemen to allow numbers in the LB/secondary field of play.

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  2. An excellent example of one of this offenses great advantages. Because an option play goes where the defense allows it to go, adjustments are made automatically on the field (IF the team ececutes correctly, a big if) instead of on the side line. CPU doesn't need necesarily need to pull Nesbit aside and say, "The pitch is open, go to the pitch" By the nature of the offense, and if the offense is executed correctly, the ball should find the A-Back on the pitch. If the defense changes to a new tactic, and Nesbit makes his read properly, the ball should end up someplace else.

    FLW

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