Tag: defending the slot t

Defending 20 Personnel – Over vs Under

How to attack 2o pers. using the offense’s tendencies.

There is a reason so many spread teams are using 2o personnel as a base formation. Slot-T teams like Auburn use jet motion and pulling guards to out leverage the defense, even using RPOs to find wide open receivers downfield. Florida St. uses a split-backfield to 01-pop-setsattack the defense with speed to the edge. Teams like Baylor and Ole Miss use 20 pers. formations to use RPO style attacks, Baylor with the third level vertical option routes and Ole Miss with Arc-Read RPOs. There are multiple ways to attack a defense from 20 pers. just using the backfields alone. Each set can create a different read for the QB (all this without using unbalanced and motion). The diagram to the left depicts some of the more popular backfields an offense likes to run out of 20 pers (this doesn’t even include Pistol or “I” sets). When breaking down a 20 pers. offense, each backfield creates a new formation. If an offense uses each one of the above backfield sets in their offense, it forces the defense to look at the formational data with a more critical eye.

For a defensive coach, 20 pers. causes problems not only in the backfield but with the three receivers. There is a tendency by some DC’s to spin against 20 pers. The thought process behind spinning is the offense has added another blocker, and potentially another gap, so to counteract tspin-to-hhat, a DC will spin. The diagram to the right depicts a defense that has spun to the H-back. This allows the Sam to work back to the box. Though the defense has created a plus-one to the field, they have left themselves exposed to the boundary. All an offense has to do is run a simple Arc-Read to the boundary and the offense has a numbers advantage. If a defense is going to spin against 20 pers., it is in the defense’s best interest to spin weak. Leveraging the boundary allows the pass distribution to the field stay intact, and a defense can play a hybrid quarters scheme to the boundary. The issue with spinning to the boundary is the third-level RPO read off the dropping safety. Teams that run a backside choice with the single receiver will see the dropping safety and run a post/slant right behind him. The best plan of action versus a 20 pers. offense is to stay in a two-high scheme and use the safeties as extra box players. The question now is, what about the front? Continue reading “Defending 20 Personnel – Over vs Under”

Defending the Wing-T

Counteract one of the most difficult offenses to prepare for.

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The spread version of the Wing-T is gaining some steam at the lower levels of football, but the old school version is still around. The most popular of the new age Wing-T teams is Auburn. With the slot-H and the jet motions, Gus Malzahn has transformed the old smash mouth Wing-T into a sleeker version that fits the new age spread model. In the spread version, the passing game has been able to expand and many teams turn to RPOs to challenge the defense even more. With a lot of moving parts, the Wing-T can do some serious damage on a defense’s psyche.

Like the Triple Option, the Wing-T is an offense that is hard to prepare for and rarely seen by many. In some parts of the country, it is still run, but for most, it is seen once a year, if ever. The Wing-T and its pulling guards, buck sweeps, and trap plays are difficult to defend. Overload the strong side, and the offense runs weak. Play in a base Over/Under front and they will trap the defense to death or run midline down the defense’s throat. The key to any Wing-T offense is its guards. The pulling of one, or both in the buck sweep, establish extra gaps to the play side and traps for defensive linemen. It is important for a defense to stay even against any Wing-T formation.

There are several ways defenses attempt to attack the Wing-T outside of the base 3-4/4-3 defenses. The first is the Double Eagle (or 303). Even with the OLBs walked up to make the Double Eagle a 5-2, there is still room for the guards to pull and the Wing-T offense can still Belly Trap the 3 tech. If the Nose shades to one side or another, it makes it easy for the offense to run midline and read the Nose. The second is a 50 front where the Ends align each in a 4 or 5 tech. The problem with the 50 front is again, no one is addressing the guards. To counteract the pulling and trapping of the Wing-T offense, the defense has to eliminate the guards. the Double Eagle is probably the safest of the two five down schemes because someone is at least lined up on the guard, but the outside shade makes it easy for the Wing-T offense to pull the guard outside, trap the 3, or read him in the run game.
Continue reading “Defending the Wing-T”

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