Death by a Thousand Cuts Round 8

For my review, the chess match between Bud Foster and Paul Johnson is a week that requires more intensive film study than any other on the schedule. Johnson's system is simple and yet elegant. He runs a base group of running plays again and again, yet can tailor each play to attack the most vulnerable area of the defense. The Georgia Tech coaching staff is one of the few groups that understands how to effectively run block. There's a soft spot in my heart for their approach because it is how I was taught football should be played. Their blocking technique emphasizes quickness and blocking low. It isn't a popular technique in today's football, yet the "low man wins" philosophy is still incredibly effective. As Bud Foster told The Key Play in the summer of 2014, "They're a pain in the tail. We change our whole scheme for that game. We probably had more [coaches] try to come and talk to us about that as much as anything.

The ABQBs of the Triple Option

Georgia Tech runs a flexbone triple option based offense. Johnson calls his own plays. He calls the game by feel. He watches how the defense adjusts, and when he feels the defense is starting to over-react to certain keys, he will call a play that takes advantage of those key reads to try to pop a big play. While the alignment can change, the base set is a "B-Back" that lines up directly behind the quarterback. Conventional offenses would refer to him as a fullback, but he's not just a blocker in the flexbone. Then the Yellow Jackets feature two "A-Backs" that align a step back from each offensive tackle. While sometimes the Yellow Jackets will use a tight end, most often they will use two wide receivers.

The bread and butter offensive play for the flexbone offense is the triple option. A triple option is unique in that a quarterback has three potential options each time the play is called: the "B-Back" (more of a traditional fullback) dive, a quarterback keeper, or a pitch to the "A-Back" (a wingback or slotback).

For the triple option, the offense will block it the same way on dive, keeper, or pitches along with play-action. On a triple option play, there are two unblocked defenders. First, the quarterback will create a "mesh point" with the B-Back and read the defensive end to determine if they will run a dive or a keep. If the defensive end crashes inside on the dive, the quarterback will pull the football and run to the edge. If the defensive end stays wide to take the quarterback, the quarterback will hand the ball to the B-Back. When the flexbone system is at its peak, the B-Back is a big play threat on those quick hitting dive plays. Georgia Tech lists two starting B-Backs on its depth chart: Patrick Skov and Marcus Marshall. Skov (Sr., 6-1, 235, Stanford transfer). Skov has been GT's starter for most of the season and is second on the team in carries (83). He averages 4.08 yards per carry, and has scored 6 TDs. Here is a Skov touchdown run on a triple option dive.

Notre Dame (normally a 30 front defense) is in a 40 front. The quarterback reads the defensive end across from the right tackle. The defensive end commits to take the quarterback. The right tackle squeezes inside the end to block the play side outside linebacker. The right guard blocks down on the one technique. The center stays clean, and is able to avoid contact before getting a piece of the middle linebacker. The key block here is the back side scoop (cut block) by the left guard on the one technique defensive tackle on the back side of the play. If not executed, the defensive tackle has a great angle to blow the play up. The guard just needs to get enough of him to prevent penetration, as the play moves downhill quickly enough that the defensive tackle doesn't have time to recover.

This looks simple enough, yet the blocking scheme is a nightmare for defensive keys. The defensive linemen at Virginia Tech spend the entire season keying the first step of the offensive lineman to take them to the football. On the triple option, the first step key of the offensive line is the same, even though the ball could go three different places. Assignment football, rather than reading keys, is critical. Tech's defenders have to remain true to their option principles, do their job no matter what their eyes see, and trust their teammates to do the same.

Based on the film I have watched (UNC and Notre Dame), Skov is a bruising downhill runner, but isn't a breakaway threat. Against Pitt and Florida State, Johnson moved freshman A-Back Marcus Marshall (Fr., 5-10, 209) to the B-Back position. Marshall impressed me as a quick back on the edge and adds some game-breaking ability on those dive plays. He rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries against Pitt, and 69 yards on 16 carries against Florida State. Although, Marshall could only muster 2.88 yards a clip against Virginia last time out.

With Skov's inability to create the big play and a bevy of injuries to the corps of A-Backs, Johnson has been more reliant on the quarterback position to generate big plays in the running game than I can ever remember.

Quarterback Justin Thomas (RS-Jr., 5-11, 189) is an electric player who made magic with both his arms and feet in Blacksburg last season. Thomas is very sharp at making the correct read in the option game and maintaining proper pitch relationship that is so critical, especially with inexperienced players receiving the pitch. In a nutshell, proper pitch relationship is making sure that the back is close enough to the quarterback to take an effective pitch, but not too close that one defender can defend two potential ball carriers. This clip is an example of how Thomas reads the play after he has decided to pull the football from the dive.

After the first mesh point, Thomas runs to the sideline and maintains an appropriate pitch relationship to his play side A-Back. If the second option man takes the quarterback, the quarterback pitches the ball. If he takes the pitch, Thomas keeps. UNC middle linebacker Jeff Schoettmer (No. 10) is the option man. I initially thought Thomas made a mistake by keeping here because Schoettmer is much closer to him. Watching the play slowed down, you can tell that Schoettmer is actually just outside of Thomas when Thomas turns hard up field. Schoettmer is committed to the pitch man at that point, and Thomas makes the correct decision and earns a hard six yards rather than force a risky pitch with Schoettmer closing in on the boundary.

On this play, Thomas executes the pitch.

North Carolina tried to take away the dive and quarterback on the triple option with a scrape exchange on the play side. The defensive end stays wide to take the quarterback, and the outside linebacker attacks the dive.

As you can see, the strategy up front coupled with a soft cover 3 coverage, made UNC very vulnerable to pitch. UNC adjusted in the second half by crashing the end and letting the linebacker take the quarterback. In coverage, UNC played more cover 2 with their corners playing close to the line of scrimmage. The extra bodies around the line of scrimmage made it difficult for Georgia Tech to get to the edge.

UNC had better success stopping the run with the cover 2 approach. Still, if the defense doesn't mix up those looks, Johnson will find a way to attack the defensive scheme. When UNC started to scrape exchange and jump the pitch, Johnson used play-action to generate big plays.

The Yellow Jackets show the triple option. The boundary side A-back veer releases outside just like he would to seal the corner and then wheels behind him. The wide receiver runs a post route just like he would if he was cracking inside on a safety. Thomas fakes the dive and then sets to pass. Both the post route and the wheel route are open and Thomas hits the A-Back for a touchdown.

Virginia effectively shut down the Yellow Jackets' running game last week and held Georgia Tech to 144 rushing yards on 33 carries. The Cavaliers' commitment to stopping the run left them open for big plays in the passing game. Georgia Tech doesn't have its traditional massive outside receivers that could win jump balls against smaller corners. Ricky Jeune (R-So., 6-3, 212) is a very solid route runner against man coverage. The rest of Georgia Tech's receiving group doesn't impress on film, but gets open because secondary players get so conditioned to move up and stop the run. Against Virginia, four players had receptions of over 20 yards.
One trick defenses use against the triple option is to slant hard to the A-Back motion. Johnson counters that adjustment by running the counter option.

On this counter option, the A-Back motions to the right. Thomas fakes a B-Back dive. He isn't reading anyone on the play and you will see there isn't an unblocked defender to the right side. After the mesh point, Thomas pivots and reverses his field. On the left side, the Notre Dame defensive end has crashed hard inside and is out of the play. The right guard pulls and leads. The motion A-Back reverses field and serves as a lead blocker. The quarterback pivot allows the right side A-Back to establish pitch relationship without the benefit of pre-snap motion. Every defender is accounted for except for Notre Dame safety Elijah Shumate (No. 22). When he commits to Thomas, Thomas pitches the ball to the A-Back. This is beautifully executed, and only a terrific recovery and tackle by Shumate prevents a huge play.

Stopping the Triple Option

Foster seems to make changes to his defensive approach for stopping Georgia Tech every season. From shooting the center-guard gaps with quick defensive tackles to using Kyle Fuller as an extra linebacker to attack the B-back meshpoint, we have seen every conceivable alignment as the Hokies try to throw curveballs at Johnson and his quarterbacks. When the Hokies have had success, there have consistently been three keys.

1) The Hokies defensive line has been able to take away the B-Back dive with minimal help from the linebacker position. Foster has mixed and matched between crashing his defensive ends on dives to support his tackles, or using his mike linebacker and defensive tackles to take dive with the ends taking the edge. Last season, Foster incorporated a ton of Bear in an effort to allow the mike linebacker to "stay clean" and run to the outside to support on quarterback keeper and pitch.

It didn't work as well as Foster would have hoped. Johnson responded by widening out the dive so the B-Back was attacking the guard-tackle gap. This forced the edge defender to take the dive. This left the linebackers and safeties to take the quarterback and pitch and Thomas made them look bad much of the day.

With extra time to prepare for Georgia Tech and terrific defensive tackle depth, I could envision Foster using an approach similar to Notre Dame against Johnson this season. Notre Dame used an alignment with three gigantic defensive d-linemen up front to take away the B-Back dive. The Irish flexed their edge defenders back away from the line of scrimmage, which made it much easier to slow play the option without getting beat around the edge.

Note how the play side 5-technique DT (to the top of the screen) crashes hard inside on the dive and all four linebackers stay deep and scrape to the outside. The edge linebacker (to the bottom of the screen) widens out and once he sees the quarterback pull the football, he goes forward to take the keeper on the counter option. That original depth allows him to read the play and use his athleticism to avoid the pulling guard. The inside linebackers depth allows them to flow without getting hit by down blocks. The mike comes up and gets blocked by the pulling guard, yet that leaves the safety unblocked to take the pitch.

Rather than playing Dadi Nicolas inside like he has often in the Bear this season, I would really like to see Nicolas and Deon Clarke exclusively at those edge spots and playing off the line of scrimmage so they can avoid down blocks. I expect Chuck Clark will likely join Andrew Motuapuaka as inside linebackers. Keeping Clark and Motuapuaka clean and both players making tackles is paramount to winning the football game.

2) Georgia Tech will get their yards. It is critical that the Hokies' defense get off the field when they have opportunities. Winning first down will be a huge start. Georgia Tech doesn't have as many big play threats as in past seasons. When the defense has a third-and-long situation, they must get off the football field. With such an inexperienced group of backs and so many reads on each option play, Johnson's offense puts the ball on the turf a bunch. Foster's group must force turnovers.

One way to do that is to mix up their defensive keys. Foster has done a masterful job in past seasons of taking the dive and pitch away early in games (letting the quarterback get a ton of yards), and then on key downs switching up those keys and overplaying the quarterback. The quarterback's timing gets thrown off and as result of a bad pitch or mesh point, a fumble is generated. After last season, I don't know if Foster will risk allowing Thomas to run wild early in the game. However, those extra carries and resulting hits have often lead to late game mistakes that fueled Tech wins in the past.

3) Most importantly, the Hokie linebackers and secondary must tackle in space. Thomas is incredibly elusive. The rest of Georgia Tech's A-Backs don't wow with their running ability, however they have decent size and have the advantage that they often only have to beat one defender to create a big play. All season, the Hokies' linebackers and safeties have struggled tackling in space. A terrific scheme will be for naught if the defenders can't make the tackles that they are put into position to make.

Quick Pitch and Midline Option

To go with their option package, the Yellow Jackets only run a handful of additional plays. The quick toss (a toss out to an in-motion "A-Back") has given the Hokies fits over the years.

In short yardage, the Yellow Jackets often turn to their midline series. There are two varieties that I have seen on film, a midline "blast" and a midline "seal". The blast is the basic midline. The quarterback fakes the dive to the B-Back, and then follows the B-Back (who effectively becomes the lead blocker) right into the hole. The play side offensive line all veer block to the inside, and the play side A-Back loops behind the offensive tackle. In essence, this looks like an option. However, it is actually a lead play with the A-Back and the B-Back lead blocking for the quarterback.

GT runs the blast both with the motion and without it. The challenge with running the blast too often is that the play side outside linebacker starts to overplay the inside run when he sees the A-Back curl behind the tackle. On the goal line, where just the slightest freeze by the play side linebacker can give enough of a bubble to allow the quarterback into the end zone, Johnson prefers to run the midline seal.

On the midline seal, the A-Back blocks straight ahead. The outside linebacker can't allow the A-Back to seal him inside on a normal option play, so he takes on the A-Back instead of crashing inside. Thomas gets behind Skov and gets enough push to get into the end zone.

On short yardage and goalline situations, the midline seal is Paul Johnson's go-to call. Often if Thomas feels a bubble, he will turn up field even before the B-Back gets to the mesh point. Stopping this play, especially when Johnson goes for it in fourth-and-short situations (and he will), is critical to a potential Hokies' victory.

The Yellow Jackets always prove to be one of the most challenging opponents for the Hokies. No game requires more emphasis on fundamental tackling and pursuit. The Hokies have been on the winning side of this rivalry because their defense has prevented big plays while forcing turnovers and then getting just enough offense to get the job done. Georgia Tech is in the midst of having a very unexpected bad season. Defensively they are missing several of their top lineman. Adam Gotsis, who had several big hits on Michael Brewer last season, was lost to a season ending knee injury against Virginia. On paper, they look very beatable. Still, this game is always an ulcer-inducing nail biter. If the Hokies' defense doesn't put together one of their best efforts of the season, the chances of a 23rd consecutive bowl appearance, and the proper send off for Frank Beamer becomes very long.