We have all been there… You are running some type of offense where you send one of your running backs in motion to try to gain an advantage in numbers. But what happens instead is that the defense, usually the linebackers, quickly shift to equal or maybe even gain a numerical advantage to that side.
What might that look like?
Let’s take a look at a base 5×2 defense playing against a Flexbone team. Before any motion it might look like this….
Now let’s say the left A back goes in motion and the defense shifts to this as the ball is snapped.
So what do we do? The defense has decided that the tendency to run a play in the direction of the motion must be aggressively responded to by quickly shifting linebackers and/or the secondary. For those that played in the D3 MIAC this was how Bethel reacted to our motion. Think about trying to run inside veer or midline triple against this? It just does not work. The right tackle has no chance to get the inside linebacker to his side so the defense is quickly +1 on the edge.
As an offense we have many ways to try to respond to this…
- Run a boot/waggle.
- Run a reverse.
- Run some type of counter.
In this blog post I want to show one counter that I have seen to be very effective. At Concordia College, in Moorhead MN, a D3 school, we called it 42/43 slice. 43 Slice (4 back in the 3 hole) against this 3×4 defense would look like this…
We are running this play because we expect the inside linebackers and the two safeties to be flowing like crazy to stop midline triple or inside veer to the right. So if the A back can get past the inside linebackers there usually is at most one safety to beat if any. Note we could easily send our A back on the right side more vertical to try to pick off a safety. But sending him wide makes it look much more like midline triple and inside veer. The key is most likely to mix it up just enough so there is not an easy tendency to notice.
Now in this video on Twitter from @JakeFranklinFB Army was running this play from a tight formation which I think is a really good mix-up. It allows the tight end or tight wide receiver to work towards those safeties in a way that would mimic a play-action pass. Also a tight-end was brought in on the left to block the outside linebacker to protect that edge a bit. I have very rarely seen that OLB make the play so I would just have him rip inside and go block the corner. It looks like this drawn up…
Another way we really liked to run in at Concordia was in a unbalanced formation that caused the secondary to roll and allowed the near A back to work to the remaining safety like this…
In all the above scenarios we usually do not have to block the outside linebackers. They have aligned them themselves on the line and are working upfield to attack the option. They are not folding under the line normally.
The hardest block in this play is by the play-side tackle, which is the left tackle in this case. He cannot purely cut the B gap / 4i player because with the timing of this play that defensive player can usually still come off an make the play it he is cut right away. The tackle must keep his feet moving and try to work low and downfield for a while before potentially throwing a late cut block with his body.
The A back must run ‘tight to the downblock’ to keep away from that ‘4i’. The downblock by the guard on the nose if typically a pretty easy block as the nose is seeing the center move to his right like it is option and the nose will naturally move with him.
You need an ‘A’ back with great timing to run this play because if he goes too fast he might get to the inside LBs before his guard and tackle get there. When coaching this, it is very much like teaching trap to a ‘B’ back when he reaches the 2nd level. The back must be using his peripheral vision as he breaks through the first line to see where his lineman are going to engage the inside linebackers in order to make the proper cut.
This play is best run against deeper inside linebackers. If you have inside linebackers playing at 1 or 2 yards off the ball ( and I have see that from a top 10 team in the nation at St. Johns University ), this play simply does not work. There are better things to run.
This play can also be run against a 4 man front but you do have to shift your blocking rules. This is not a gap or zone type scheme where you can give one rule to your offensive lineman and you can run it. It is blocked slightly different for each defensive alignment so it can be a costly play to implement. Basically you can tell your quarterback, that if they are not aligned to how your lineman blocked it in practice, then check to something safer so we can talk about it on the sideline before running it.
Here is how it might look against a 4×4 defense. Again, you want to run this to an A gap bubble…
The tighter the outside linebackers get to the line of scrimmage the better so they do not fold underneath.
Line split are a key here too as larger line split will naturally give the A back some more room to squeeze through.
The assignments are as follows…
- TE – Block Man On or scoop and work to 2nd / 3rd levels for cut off.
- WR – Block Man On or Work to Safety
- A Back – Ball Carrier – Take two steps towards front hand of B back. On the third step plant with outside foot and head downhill at the guard. Read the playside guard’s block for level 1. Stay tight to down blocks and away from reach blocks at the first level. Read the other guard and tackle’s blocks at level 2. Watch for the other A back or WR for a 3rd level block.
- A Back – Blocker – May either arc block to look like midline triple / inside veer. Or work vertical on normal inside path like you would against a 4×4 in triple for blocking #2 but instead head for safety at 3rd level.
- Left Tackle – Scoop the first man 4i to outside.
- Left Guard – Block man on if there is a 3, 2 or 2i. If those do not exist then block down on nose guard vs a 3×4.
- Center – Block first man to your right. It could be anybody in A or B gap.
- Right Guard – Work to playside inside linebacker. Against a 4×3 / 5×3 (Odd Stack) you will be working to the playside outside linebacker.
- Right Tackle – Work to backside inside linebacker on the right side. Against a 4×3 you will be working to the Mike. If that linebacker is chasing the triple option action head for level 3.
- B Back – Take fake from QB and block first man outside of whoever the center can block.
- QB – Quick two step fake to the right to the B Back. Then immediately 180 degree steps and take 2 steps to give A back the ball right down the line. QB should never get deeper than the plane at which the feet started at the snap of the ball. The steps are very quick as that A back is going to hit the hole very quickly. After giving the ball, continue the fake down the line to hold any edge or outside players. There are options plays that can be run off of this so that is what is being faked.
I do not like this play against a 3×4 defense playing 3s where the offense is in a Flexbone.
The defense has placed 7 defenders in 6 gaps so there are better plays to run on the edge in my opinion. If you have ideas on how to block this I would love to hear. Bring in a tight end helps and sometimes the defense really widens out of a tight formation, but those two 3s in the middle make running through the A gap very tight. You would really have to trust your center!
So this whole time we have been talking about the A back getting the ball, but I think this blocking can also be very effective if the B back gets the ball or if the QB keeps the ball. Here is how it could look if we called 33 Slice – ( B back in 3 hole). Same blocking up front.
Here is how it would look with the QB carrying the ball – 13 Slice ( 1 Back in 3 hole). I have seen this play go for 50+ yards so it does work as the QB just slips out the back door basically as the defense chases everybody else.
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