Wild Wings Preview Part 2: The TCU Blitz Scheme

     In our second post previewing the matchup between TCU and Michigan State in the 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl we are going to take a quick look at the extensive blitz package employed by the Horned Frogs.  I believe TCU's ability to pressure Andrew Maxwell will be key to deciding who will win this matchup.

     The Horned Frogs of TCU have an extensive pressure package that can bring six man pressure up the middle or off the edge while playing Cover 0 in the secondary.  By rushing 6 and playing Cover 0, TCU can cover the threat posed by five possible receivers while overwhelming the pass protection.  The weakness to this scheme is a mobile QB who is by design unaccounted for by the defense.  Andrew Maxwell is definitely not a mobile QB and should pose little running risk to TCU's scheme.  The offensive line's ability to protect Maxwell and his ability to deliver the ball in the face of unblocked defenders will be crucial in Sparty's ability to maintain a balanced attack.

     I am not going to go into a ton of detail in the descriptions here.  The diagrams are pretty self explanatory.  Purple lines mean the defender is blitzing.  Dotted black lines connecting a defender to an offensive player mean that defender is responsible for covering that offensive player man-to-man if he releases for a pass.

• Bullets - Both Linebackers Blitz
• Smoke - Both Outside Safeties Blitz
• Dogs - Safety and Linebacker to Call Side Blitz
• Thunder - Safety to TE Side Blitzes
• Mob - Both Linebackers and Outside Safeties Blitz (8 Man Blitz)
• Cop - Defensive End Covers TE man-to-man (allows for Thunder or Mob Call)

Wild Wings Preview: Attacking TCU's 4-2-5 Defense

     Sparty fell short of its Rose Bowl ambitions this season and will square off against another team who had a bit of a disappointing season, TCU.  The Horned Frogs were once a power house in the old SWC back in the '30s and '50s.  The arrival of Coach Gary Patterson in 1998 marked a turning point in TCU football and a resurgence to national prominence.

     The modern TCU team is perhaps best known for its 4-2-5 defenses championed by former DC and current Head Coach Gary Patterson.  In this post we'll look at how the Spartan offense is likely to attack the Horned Frog defense in the 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.  These are the plays TCU must stop if they want to slow down the Spartans and these are the plays Sparty must execute if they want to defeat the Horned Frogs.

     The descriptions below make a lot of reference to the Boise State defense.  The Broncos are the only team that MSU faced this season that ran the 4-2-5.  The defensive alignments are very similar to what TCU will present on 29 December.  Also, due to the tight camera angles the networks insist on, its difficult to get a very good idea of the routes being run in the passing game.  Therefore, this post will focus on the running game.  Its safe to say that Sparty will run play action passes and some bunch passing concepts.  TCU's secondary is weaker this year (52nd in the country) and the Spartans should be able to maintain a balanced attack if the line can provide Andrew Maxwell the protection he needs.

Power

     If you had to pick one play to define Spartan football in 2012 you would have to pick the off-tackle power play.  They easily ran this play more than any other all season.  When Sparty needed to convert on a 3rd or 4th and short yardage situation, this was their go to play.

     This is the classic Power-O play.  To the strong-side of the formation, the Guard and Tackle will execute a combination block.  They will first double team the 3-technique defensive tackle and then one of them will release and block the backside inside linebacker (Mike in this example).  The Tight End (TE) releases inside of the 7-technique defensive end and blocks the first linebacker inside.  The center will block down on the 1-technique Nose, freeing the backside Guard to pull and lead through the hole.  The backside Tackle will step playside and climb to the linebacker level, cutting off backside pursuit by the Weak Safety (WS).  The fullback kicks out the defensive end, opening a hole for the running back to follow the pulling guard through.

     Sparty ran this play a lot all season, especially in their opener against Boise State.  To counter it, the Broncos began to crash the backside defensive end hard down the line of scrimmage.  He began catching Le'Veon Bell from behind and stopping the play for a loss.  Andrew Maxwell posed little threat on the bootleg.  With the WS available to cover the bootleg, their was little risk and everything to gain by the Boise State adjustment.

     Sparty countered this in two different ways.  The first adjustment Sparty made was to replace the SE with a second TE.  This caused a number of slight adjustments by the Boise State defense.  First, the nose guard shifted from his 1-technique to a 2i-technique and the End shifted to a 7-technique. The WS tightened his alignment and the Corner rolled back to a position 8-10 yards back directly over the TE.  For the Spartans, nothing really changed in the blocking scheme.  The backside TE was able to lock up on DE preventing him from chasing the play down for a loss.

      Going to a two TE set has another advantage as well.  Since Power can be run equally as effectively to either side, the offense can approach the line and determine which side of the defense is most vulnerable to the Power play, i.e., which side of the defense offers the best blocking angles to the offense.  The QB would read the front and audible to the best side.

     The second adjustment that MSU used to hold the backside DE in check was to bring the Flanker in orbit motion away from the play.  After handing the ball to Le'Veon Bell, Andrew Maxwell would fake to the Flanker going in the other direction.  The defense was forced to honor this fake or risk getting beat for a big play.

     If the defensive end did not honor the threat posed by the Flanker, the Spartans would tighten the alignment of the SE and have him crack the WS.  With the defensive end flying inside to stop the power play and the WS sealed inside by the SE, the Flanker would be free for a big gain.  This is a constraint play designed to force the defense to play honest so that Sparty can continue to ram the ball down their throats with a steady dose of Power.

Quick Pitch

     Le'Veon Bell is a north and south runner and he does not have break away speed.  If MSU wants to get him to the perimeter, especially against a defense built around speed like the 4-2-5, they must do it quick and get Bell running down hill as soon as possible.  The goal of the quick pitch is to get the edge, fast.

     The Spartans align in a bunch formation and the defense responds to the trips look by playing 2-Solo coverage.  The key to the play is leverage and MSU has the defense out flanked.  The outside reciever in the bunch blocks down on the SS.  The middle receiver in the bunch blocks down on the Sam linebacker and the inside receiver in the bunch blocks down on the defensive end. The tackle is now free to pull around the outside and lead the back down field.  The playside Guard and the Center combo block the Nose up to the Mike backer.  To the backside, everyone reach blocks into their playside gap.  The SE looks to block a safety setting up the potential cutback by the running back.

     When it came time to execute, a false start penalty, an excellent play by the Sam linebacker, and a stumbling Fou Fonoti limited the effectiveness of the play against Boise State.  However, properly executed, the play could lead to a few solid gains.

Stuffing the Run - Defensive Line Play

     In our first post we looked at the base alignment of the Spartan defense vs a couple of formations.  Over the next few posts, we are going to look at how Sparty shuts down the opponent's run game from this base alignment.  We'll start by focusing on the defensive line.

      In the diagram above you can see the base alignment of the defensive line versus 21 personnel (2 backs 1 Tight end).  The End aligns to the strong side in a 9 technique.  The Tackle aligns in a 3 technique and the Nose aligns in a 1 technique.  The Rush End aligns in a 5 technique.  The linemen are responsible for filling the gap they align in and spilling the play to the outside.  If they do this, the ball carrier is forced to run parallel to the sideline.  If the ball carrier is running parallel to the sideline, he isn't gaining yards.

     While the defensive linemen align in a gap, they are also aligned over the shoulder of an offensive linemen.  The defensive linemen must read the movement of the offensive linemen they align over and react to that movement.  The offensive lineman can essentially only do three things:

1. He can release inside of the defensive lineman to block someone other than the defensive lineman (down block or scoop block)
2. He can fire out and block the defensive lineman (base or reach block)
3. He can pass block

     In this post we are concerned with the run, so we'll ignore number three for now.  If the offensive lineman releases inside, the defensive lineman should squeeze the defender further down, preventing a free release to the next level, compressing the next gap inside, and filling the gap the defender is responsible for.  If the offensive lineman blocks the defender, as in a base or reach block, the defender must maintain outside leverage.  He must work to compress the offensive player back inside while keeping his outside arm free and filling his gap.

     In this first illustration we'll look at the reads the End and Rush would get on a Power play.  The tight end releases inside (down block) to block the Sam linebacker.  The End must collision the tight end with his inside arm and attempt to prevent this release to Sam.  In doing so, he compresses that C gap and fills the D gap with his body. keeping the outside arm free to tackle the ball carrier if he attempts to run to the D gap.  On the weak side, the offensive tackle is steps into the B gap and climbs to the Will linebacker (scoop block).  The Rush End plays this inside release the same way the End plays the down block.  He compresses the B gap with the tackle's body (preventing the release to the Will backer) and keeps his outside arm free to secure the C Gap.

     In this second illustration we'll look at the reads the Tackle and Nose would get versus an inside zone play.  The Nose's read is exactly the same as the Rush End on the last example, squeeze the offensive player into the gap and fill your own gap.  The tackle gets the second of the two reads we mentioned above.  The offensive guard is attempting to reach block the Tackle.  The Tackle's job is to maintain outside leverage, shove the guard back into the A gap and fill the B gap with his body.

     As far as the run goes, that's basically it.  If the defender tries to block you, maintain outside leverage and shove him back inside.  If he releases inside to block someone else, shove him inside to prevent the release to the second level.

Explanation of Gaps and Techniques

    Before getting into a detailed discussion on any topic, it is important to establish a set of terms to make sure we're all on the same page.  This post will cover two key aspects of defensive football that are vital to our ability to communicate defensive schemes and concepts: Gaps and Techniques.  Nothing revolutionary here, just ensuring we all are working from a common vocabulary.

Gaps

     Gaps are, quite simply, the spaces between offensive players.  Physics tells us two objects cannot occupy the same space, therefore, it is through these gaps that the offense attempts to run the ball.  It is also these gaps that the defense attempts to fill on run plays, and penetrate through on pass plays.

     Gaps are identified by a letter.  The gaps on either side of the center are the A gaps.  The gaps between the guards and tackles are known as the B gaps.  The gaps between the tackles and the tight ends are the C gaps.  The gaps outside the tight ends are the D gaps.

     The offense can create additional gaps by using offensive backs.  A fullback or H-Back is typically employed in this manner.  A full back leading up through a hole on an iso play turns the one gap into two.  This creates one additional gap that the defense must fill.  Similarly, the offense can move gaps along the front.  The backside guard could pull and lead through a hole on the playside.  This reduces the backside gaps by one and increases the playside gaps by one.  Wing backs can used to create additional gaps outside the tight end.  A tight trey formation can be used to create two additional gaps.

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Techniques

     Proper alignment is key to defensive football.  Coaches communicate alignment in terms of techniques.  A technique describes where a defender aligns in relation to the offensive players.  A 0 technique describes a heads up alignment directly over the center.  A 2 technique is a head up alignment directly over the guard.  A 4 technique is a head up alignment directly over the tackle, and a 6 technique is head up alignment directly over the tight end.  Odd numbers describe an alignment on the outside shoulder of an offensive player.  A 1 technique is the outside shoulder of the center.  A 3 technique is on the outside shoulder of the offensive guard.  A 5 technique is the outside shoulder of the tackle and a 9 technique is the outside shoulder of the tight end.  A 2i technique describes an alignment on the inside shoulder of the guard and a 4i technique describes an inside alignment on the tackle.  An inside alignment on a tight end is known as the 7 technique.

     The same numbering system is used to communicate the alignment of line backers as well.  A 0 is simply added to the end of the technique to indicate that the player should align off of the line of scrimmage.

Base Defense - Alignment

     In his 6 years as the Defensive Coordinator at Michigan State, Pat Narduzzi has forged a formidable defense that ranks among the best in the nation in virtually every defensive category.  Today we are going to take a look at the base alignment of Sparty's Over 4-3 defense versus a couple of fronts.

     Pat Narduzzi's defense is based on the famed Miami 4-3.  It's built around speed.  High School safeties are moved to line backer, line backers are moved to defensive end, and defensive ends are moved to defensive tackle.  There is no place for slow players in this system.

"There is no place for big, slow linemen to play.  Our offensive line coach will make out well because all those players will end up as offensive linemen.  We are looking for speed on the defense, and if you do not have speed, you have to play some other position."

     The defensive line consists of 4 players.  Two Defensive Ends, a Tackle (T), and a Nose (N).  The call side defensive end (E) will align on the outside shoulder of the Tight End in what is known as the 9 technique.  If there is no tight end, he shifts down to the outside shoulder of the defensive tackle.  The rush end (R) aligns in a 5 technique on the outside shoulder of the offensive tackle away from the call side.  The Tackle aligns in a 3 technique on the call side.  This technique puts him on the outside shoulder of the Offensive Guard.  The Nose aligns away from the call side in a 1 technique, shading the away side shoulder of the Center.  The ends do not flop from side to side.  The terms "End" and "Rush" simply apply to the technique, not specific positions.  The Tackle and Nose do flip-flop from side to side.  The tackle is always aligned to the call side, while the Nose is always aligned away from the call side.

     There are three line backers in the 4-3 defense: Sam, Mike, and Will.  All three align themselves in two point stances 4 feet from the line of scrimmage.  Same aligns to the call side in a 50 technique.  Will aligns in a 50 technique away from the call side.  Mike aligns in a 10 technique to the call side.  If there is a second detached receiver to their side, Will and Sam will apex, or split the difference between, this receiver and the end man on the line of scrimmage.

     Michigan State's secondary play is based on a quarters coverage concept.  This coverage allows the defense to put 9 defenders in the box versus the run while still placing the secondary in an advantageous position versus the pass.  The corners align tight to the #1 receiver and play press coverage.  They align inside shade of the #1 receiver, forcing an outside release for the pass and preventing the receivers from blocking the safeties on the run.  The safeties align nine yards deep and one yard outside the end man on the line of scrimmage, either a tackle or tight end.  The safeties read the end man for a run or pass read (high hat/low hat).  If they receive a run read, they play force on runs to their side and play cutback and reverse on run action away.

     Below we'll see how these alignment rules bear out against some common offenses.