Defending Stretch Read

Betz and Andrew Coverdale reminded me on twitter recently about an old video I had made on Defending Stretch Read. I lost all the tags for these clips on my old computer, so this film has been burnt twice and is not high quality production. 

Mistakes

A big mistake in defending Stretch (and one clip of Pin and Pull Sweep) is the DL to the frontside not getting Vertical.  The DL must get upfield and help to "Build a Wall" to the frontside of the play.  The backside DL must pursue in their gaps.  The godfather of the Wide Zone or Stretch Play is Alex Gibbs, who was adamant about cutting on the backside to eliminate pursuit so the Running Back could safely cut the ball back.  The backside DL must stay on their feet and stay in their moving gap.

Manipulating 1 and 2 High Defensive RPO Reactions

College football in 2019 saw a huge tilt in the epic eternal battle of Offense vs. Defense, and Defenses are now scrambling to catch up.  My last post, Defending Pistol Spread RPO from 2 High, detailed the steps that Defenses can take to help vs. Offenses running RPOs (Run-Pass Options).  I showed the problem of Defenses slinging their fits pre-snap based on the side of the Back and showed how Defenses can sling their fits post-snap by reading the eyes of the QB to take away the player the Offense wants to throw to and add a player into the box to the other side vs. the Run.  In the diagram below, the Will is playing the Pass to the side the QB is looking and the Strong Safety ($) is adding to the box away from the side the QB is looking.

4-3 vs. the Oregon Spread - DB Play / Coverage Fundamentals

Introduction

Chris Vasseur will write this piece at a later date, but I wanted to add a couple of diagrams to go with the video.  The FS destroying the QB on the Gun Triple Option is a beautiful thing, as you will see when you watch the cut-ups.  However, it is a bit susceptible to Play-Action as you will also see.

4-3 vs. the Oregon Spread - Defending Bash and Midline

Introduction

Bash and Midline are two plays in the Oregon Spread offense that are giving a lot of Defensive Coordinators headaches.  Both plays have recently burst onto the scene, but they both have actually been around for some time.  I saw Texas A & M run a form of Bash in their 2006 bowl game (Editors note: I found out in 2019 that it actually was Bash) and North Alabama ran the Midline from Gun as far back as 2003.  I will talk about Bash and Midline, but I will talk about defending Midline only.

4-3 vs. the Oregon Spread - LB / Nickel Play

Introduction

How you defend the Spread formation depends on what kind of Spread formation you are facing.  Some teams are better at throwing the ball than running the ball.  The Oregon Spread of 2010 is a more dangerous beast than earlier versions in that it can beat you both running the ball and passing the ball.  Still, the explosive Oregon run game is what opposing DCs must stop first.  Most 4-3 teams play Quarters coverage vs. the Oregon Spread to help to defend the run.

LBs like Quarters coverage because it allows them to run and play fast.  The safeties will be involved in run support and they will take care of the cutback, which allows the LBs to attack and play downhill.  The Quarters Safeties will also take care of Gap Exchange and scraping to take the QB on the Zone Read play, allowing the LBs to only to focus solely on the RB and the Dive portion of the Gun Triple Option.

4-3 vs. the Oregon Spread - Fire Zones and Blitzes

I cut up all the Fire Zones and Blitzes vs. Oregon from the Boise St., Arizona, and USC games from last year.  I don't have time to diagram and talk about each and every blitz right now, but I will try to get more in-depth analysis at a later time.  Meanwhile, make sure to check out Blitzology's blog, which is back rocking and rolling again if you want to learn about the science of getting after the QB.  Some of the blitzes were ran from more than one front and I named these blitzes without naming all of the fronts as I made the video, so I hope the nomenclature police doesn't get after me too bad. 

4-3 vs. the Oregon Spread - DL Play

The Oregon Spread - definitely "blurrier" this year

I am starting a five-part series on defending the Oregon Spread offense that will run up until the National Championship game.  This series was inspired by watching the DL play of Arizona and Boise St. vs. Oregon last year.  I have always heard that the 4-3 DL's top priority was to not get reached.  This made sense since the 4-3 is a gap-control defense that is dependent on each defender playing his gap.

I heard a different viewpoint of 4-3 DL play last year on the Coach Huey site.  Coach Currier said that he taught his DL to work vertically vs. a reach block.  He also mentioned that this is the way that Nebraska teaches their DL.  I looked at all the Oregon Stretch plays from 2009 vs. Boise St. and Arizona, and these words came back to mind as I saw this same technique being used very effectively.