How Not To Run The Option - By: Darron Thomas

One of the things that has left the football blogosphere a little bewildered were the expansive use of new sets by Oregon during the BCS National Championship this past Monday.It was highly suspected that both Chip Kelly of Oregon and Gus Malzahn would have some new tricks up their sleeve seeing that they had over a month for preparation. However, Kelly's use of so much new "stuff" at the beginning of the game would have one wonder whether he tried too much, or whether his QB was just not coached up enough on some of the new looks.

Oregon QB Darron Thomas looked specifically uncomfortable and befuddled running a few different option plays towards the beginning of the game.

Inside Zone Triple Option

The first was actually the second play of the game. Oregon aligned with an H-back and tailback in the backfield, two receivers to the left, and one to the right. Before the snap the slot to the left will motion into the backfield.



On the snap the motion man will become the dive back on the inside zone portion of this triple option play. I've highlighted the hand off key that Thomas will be reading. The H-back will release to block the force defender, and the set tailback will become the pitch man on the triple option play.



Here we see the end zone view.



The defensive end will come down the line of scrimmage during the mesh and Thomas will make the correct decision and pull.





At this point in time Oregon has the numbers and Thomas needs to be attacking down hill.



Thomas actually has a clear lane and if he accelerates should be able to at least get a first down. He needs to get up the field now.





Instead, Thomas takes a left turn and begins running towards the sideline.



Now Thomas has taken a wrong turn, and is only going to make it worse when he attempts a free throw over the Auburn's defenders head to get the ball to LaMichael James.



The play ends horribly for Oregon, when it should have been a first down.



Lessons Learned:
1 - Take what the defense gives you, Thomas should have had a first down.
2 - Don't pitch unless you absolutely have to and should, neither of which Thomas was forced to do on this play.

The Shovel Option

A play that was made popular by Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen at Utah and Florida, and has been adopted by numerous spread offenses across the country is the shovel option. It can be run as either a double or triple option and is characterized by a back running laterally down the line of scrimmage and the QB forcing the defensive end to play contain and tackle the QB or sit tight and tackle the trailing running back who could receive the pitch.

Oregon lines up with a bunch set to the right. Before the snap James the tailback will motion out of the backfield and past the bunch.



On the snap of the ball Thomas will run laterally to his left, hoping to draw the attention of the defensive end. The right guard will pull and lead on the play and the #3 man of the bunch will become the pitch man.



I have highlighted the flat footed defensive end, as we notice the pulling guard leading the play and the pitch man trailing the play. Thomas needs to keep moving laterally as the defensive end has not committed to either him or the pitch man.



Here we see Thomas prematurely pitches the ball while the defender, who he is supposed to be reading is sitting and waiting. Note the corner back to the play side has fallen down.



Lesson Learned: Thomas should have kept pushing laterally and if the defensive end did not show an adjustment should have worked to the sideline. At some point the defensive end would have had to adjust or risk losing contain. It is up to Thomas to open the hole for his pitch man, not hang him out to dry like he did in this instance.

Outside Zone Read

The final play I will look at was another interesting new look for Oregon. In the set below Oregon aligns with a dual H-back look in the backfield. Before the snap of the ball the slot to the left will come in motion and become the hand off man for the zone read play.



Here we see at the snap of the ball, the defensive end towards the top of the screen will be left unblocked and will be the hand off key. Both H-backs will go opposite the play and look to seal the backside for a QB keep (and help set up the two naked pass plays Oregon will run later.) Note that the defensive end will have to come down pretty hard in order to tackle the running back who has built up some momentum from coming in motion.



Here we see after the snap that the defensive end has gained depth and has put himself in a position to make the tackle on Thomas who has kept the ball. James most likely would have been able to make something out of the play as it appears Oregon is pretty well manned up on the front side of the play. And while Thomas would not be tackled by the defensive end, he would not make anything of the play.



Lesson Learned: When in doubt give the football.

Darron Thomas looked uncomfortable running the option during the National Championship game. I can only assume so much, but it would appear that Thomas did not have as much time practicing these plays as maybe he should have. If that was the case then only that can be put on Chip Kelly, but for all I know Thomas could have been executing at a high level in practice and the National Championship could have been an oddity for him.

On the shovel option play particularly I would blame Kelly, only because I feel the threat of the shovel being a true triple option by adding a dip pitch back could have opened up the play more than it was and would not have placed as much pressure on Thomas.

Overall, we can speculate to all hell, the fact of the matter is that Darron Thomas has shown us how not to run the option...and just so happened to do it on the biggest stage of college sports.

BCS Championship - Oregon's New Looks

Chip Kelly and Oregon unveiled a few new looks for the BCS Championship Game this past monday night. It definitely appears as though these new looks may be a glimpse into part of the base Oregon that Kelly and the Ducks will operate out of next season. With Kelly being one of the big innovators currently of the spread offense in college football (along with his counter part Guz Malzahn) it appears as though he is looking for more ways to use misdirection and the option while also involving the numerous athletes he has at his disposal.

No pictures yet, only diagrams.

The first look Oregon took to the field with was a two-back look with one being an H-back, very similar to some of Auburn's standard sets. Before the snap they motioned the slot into the backfield, who eventually becomes the dive back on the inside zone read. The H-back releases outside to block the force player, and the set tailback becomes the pitchman. In all reality this isn't something that's completely out of left field. Other teams have been motioning backs into the backfield and running zone read already.




They also showed the exact same play, they just moved the H-back to other side of the formation. This play appeared to be more of a double option than the first time they ran it, with the dive being simple a flash fake. I could be wrong or it could've been the comfort level of the QB and RB working the mesh.



Off of the same look as the first play, they ran a direct isolation play with the H-back leading through the interior of the line and the motion man taking the hand off.



Another look they showed was motioning James the tailback out of the backfield, creating an interior bunch with a flanker look. On the second play of the game they threw a spacing concept to the backside receiver out of this formation. Shortly after they would run a shovel option play using the #3 of the bunch as the pitch man. They ran shovel a few times that night.



Another prominent new look was a dual H-back look they used a few times. The first time they ran it they motioned the slot into the backfield and ran what could be considered an outside zone or jet sweep read. Thomas (QB) ended up keeping on this play, but wasn't really able to do much. The dual H-backs lead opposite of the play, apparently to seal backside if the QB were to keep it.



Off of this play they executed a few different pass plays. They ran two different naked plays away from the jet motion. The naked was set up nicely because of the dual h-back's flowing opposite on the original play.





Finally, Oregon scored a touchdown throwing a screen to the RB away from boot action.



In all honesty, I really don't think any of this stuff was revolutionary. Bits and pieces of what Kelly was doing Monday night have already been done by the likes of Urban Meyer, Dan Mullen, Rich Rodriguez, Tony Demeo and more. The thing that excites me as a lover of offense is the fact that I think Kelly was barely skimming the surface of possibilities. Kelly now has an entire offseason to tinker with these ideas and take his offense in an even more expansive direction, tailoring it to the fact that he will literally have a stable of runningbacks next year.

I definitely expect more dedication by Kelly to an actual option game (Thomas looked very hesitant pitching the ball). Along with that I would expect more formations and looks involving three backs in the backfield using motion to achieve this, but also out of set looks.

I think Kelly will also need to add some true counters in order for these kinds of looks to be as effective as they can be. Much like Malzahn at Auburn I think Kelly is reaching the point of combining the misdirection of the wing-t, with option, from both spread and condensed sets. Combine that with the break neck speed they (can) play with and the it now appears that Kelly is only starting to figure out what he can really do.

More than anything I'm just excited to see what comes.

Oregon's Inside Zone Series

In honor of tonight's game I figured I would try to throw together something to maybe look forward to tonight from Chip Kelly and Oregon. I'm going to briefly discuss Oregon's inside zone and the series that Chip Kelly has built off of it.

Inside Zone

First, we have their base inside zone play. Oregon is much more of a zone team than Auburn (whom I've covered recently). Oregon runs a lot of zone, both inside and outside.

Here is a diagram of their base inside zone play (taken specifically from their game against Stanford this year). LaMichael James, Oregon's star runningback aligns in the slot to the left and motions across the formation and into the backfield. Stanford is aligned in an even front. Like most of the teams running zone read, Oregon leaves the right defensive end unblocked and QB Darron Thomas reads him for either give or keep. Oregon will also have their #3 run a bubble route which is always an option for Thomas to throw to if he pulls.


Zone Bubble

The next play in the series is the bubble off of the inside zone action. While Thomas (QB) usually has the option to mesh with the tailback on the zone and run the play from there, he also is afforded the option to simply catch the snap and throw. I'm assuming this comes from a pre-snap read and determining if the trips side of the formation has leverage. Below we see an advantageous alignment which allows Thomas to throw the bubble immediately after catching the snap. The rest of the offense (o-line and tailback still execute the zone play as called.)


Bubble Now

For inside zone plays with two receivers aligned on the backside Chip Kelly will replace a bubble by #3 with a now screen by #1. On this play Thomas will ride James the tailback on his read, and make his decision from there. On this play specifically Thomas notices the NB creeping into the box before the snap and committing to the run after the snap. Thomas fully rides James and upon disconnect immediately throws the Now screen out to the #1. The offense clearly has leverage on the outside with the ability of the #2 receiver to block the CB and the NB having abandoned coverage responsibilities.



Bubble-Slant

Off of the zone bubble concept Oregon will throw a play-action bubble/slant series to take advtange of corners and safety's who jumping the bubble. Thomas will quickly ride the tailback then shoulder pump to the bubble and hit one of the slants behind it. Very simple stuff.


Bubble-Go

The final play in the series is just the next step from the bubble-slant concept. However, instead of throwing a slant after shoulder pump to the bubble Thomas will look to hit the #2 who has run a seam route past the creeping safety. The outside receiver will either run a slant or a curl and is also another option if the safety stays high and runs with the seam.



Now Oregon isn't the only team to run these series of plays, I saw Michigan on more than a few occasions this year utilize these. Oregon's big impact comes from the fact that they go fast...really fast. Along with that they line up and go from sideline to sideline across the field, getting defenders moving. During a few series alone Oregon would simply go from inside zone, to bubble, to screen, to bubble the other way, to inside zone. It appears to me that for the most part Oregon is definitely more uptempo than Auburn, yet like Auburn is still relatively simple scheme wise. They execute well and do this at a fast paced.

All I know is I am excited for tonight. Hopefully it's a great game and both offenses show some new things.