Breakdown Sports

Along the offensive line, it is important to have various techniques and calls that can optimize player strengths, match ups, and angles, and give the opponent different looks. A "Club Block" is a backside combination block in which the backside end man on the LOS (EMOL) will work immediately to the second level, and the blocker inside of him will work out to the end. Club Block 2014 49ers Playbook In our case, we'll use it as an exchange block between the Back Side Guard (BSG) and Back Side Tackle (BST) as well as between a Back Side TE (BSTE) and BST, with the caveat that it is always the EMOL that is releasing directly to the 2nd level.

Previously, we looked at why throw back plays work. Next, we looked at OSU taking advantage of the throw back in their play against Minnesota This post will look at different version of the throw back that can be added to your playbook. Elsewhere - Leak Everyone has talked about leak, but at least on my blog, I've never explicitly wrote about it. So let's say this is the chance. Here is a diagram of leak: 2016 Falcons Playbook There are lots of iterations of Leak now, but I want to point out a few things that I like better than others.

Nebraska struggled to get much traction on either side of the ball against Michigan the past weekend, but it's not necessarily due to a lack of interesting scheme. On their first drive, they ran this interesting little wrinkle. While I liked it more before I dissected it further, it still is a nice scheme that could have likely resulted in a TD had it not been tipped by a DL. So let's take a closer look.

In an MGoBlog piece "Fee Fi Foe Film: Illinois Offense" , Ace pointed out an interesting wrinkle that Illinois utilizes on the backside of their inside zone, which I call "Pin and Fold". I had seen this wrinkle previous in an article from Ian Boyd at least partially about current Iowa St. coach Matt Campbell, and I've also written briefly about it on my own . Now that it has appeared again, this time in the Big Ten, I have the opportunity to write a little more about it.

Recently, I featured on Unsportsmanlike Conduct to discuss Nebraska against Wisconsin and what to expect going forward Warning, I believe it's autoplay after hitting the jump.

I got a chance to join Unsportsmanlike Conduct over at 1620 The Zone. Segment 14 on the day, take a listen if you get a chance. LINK

FRANCIS GARDLER/Lincoln Journal Star Offense: Mostly 11 personnel, mostly gun, but mixed in a bit more under center stuff than last year Defense:  Started heavy with Cover 4 (looked like MOD), switched to more single-high in 2nd half

We talked previously about the variety of Cover 4 coverages that allow defenses to mix up their look and reaction to routes while still playing what is essentially the same basic scheme. This time, I’m going to move away a bit from what is done post snap and look at how a defense can be benefitted by pre-snap positioning; that is: leverage and depth. In this way, you can combat some of the offense’s strengths while still maintaining your base scheme. This article will focus on the position of the front 7 and what they can do to benefit the coverage scheme.

At its most basic, Cover 4 plays as a four deep, three under defense; and at its most aggressive, it plays almost identically to a tight Cover 0. To the average fan, Cover 4 may sound like a passive, prevent-type defense, while to the more nuanced fan, it may seem like an aggressive coverage that can bring 9 defenders into the box. The truth is that it is all those things and more. One of the greatest powers of the Cover 4 is its ability to adjust, the intricacies, and tweaks that can be made to the same look to both confuse the offense, and remain fundamentally sound. In this article, we’re going to look at the basic elements of coverage in a Cover 4 defense.

Nati Harnik, Associated Press Base Offense: 11 personnel, mostly gun, lots of trips sets Defense: Mostly 4-3 Over w/ Apex LB to slot, looked like Cover 4 base.

Corn Nation has produced a couple articles that I'd like to take the time to review: Midway Through Spring Practice, Husker Football Looks Unsettled and Plumbing the Creek: Nebraska, CFB, and Uniforms (I don't think I'll touch on the uniforms). Both are interesting looks at what is going on in Lincoln at the moment. Both point to the uncertain nature that such a transition brings. Both certainly are some cause for concern, but they are not necessarily foreboding doom. I'd like to throw my hat into the ring and give my perspective of what I'm reading from Corn Nation. REBECCA S. GRATZ/THE WORLD-HERALD

Lots of people talk about the multiplicity afforded by a zone scheme. It can be run from a single back set or it can be run with several backs; it can be run in a straight forward way or with various tags; it can go to the strong side or the Weakside of the formation; and you can incorporate a couple of these aspects into a read based scheme. But the Power O scheme is really no different. Power O, at its heart, can feature any of the facets described above but maintain its principles. In this article, we are going to look at the many ways that Power O can be incorporated into an offense. vs

This is intended to be a look at the B1G players participating in the NFL combine (and a couple others that I think may get drafted). I include combine results, though that is only a small part of the equation for me. I put much more value into what I've seen on film rather than by how well someone has been taught to run the 40 yard dash. I try to give a basic overview of strengths, weaknesses, fit, and where I'd expect them to be drafted based on "norms". What that means is that I'm not really looking at mock drafts, I don't have my ear to the ground for what Mel Kiper is saying about a guy. It's just based on what I've seen on film. This will be five parts long, with teams coming in alphabetical order. MARK DAVIS/THE WORLD-HERALD Part I Part II

Mike Riley was introduced as Nebraska's new coach in early December and I've been trying to get around to put up a primer for a while now. This is a guy that has really been just about at every level of football, as long as it was on the west coast. He's coached in the NAIA, CFL, Division IAA (FCS), WLAF (that's the World League of American Football), Division I, and the NFL (he also played DB under Bear Bryant). He's also been in charge of both offense and defense at a high level, serving as the USC offensive coordinator and QB coach in the mid-90s, and as the New Orleans Saints DBs coach in 2002 (at the position where he rose in the ranks initially). The guy understands both sides of the football, and being an NFL head coach little more than a decade ago, combined with over a decade at Oregon St, he understands the wide array of schemes and concepts that can be used. That's a powerful coaching tool, even for a guy already 61 years old.

Tim Beck - Used to wearing red I'm quite familiar with Beck so I can push this out rather quickly.  This is an Interesting hire, but I like It. In general, I liked Beck's scheme at Nebraska. It's more of a stretch zone base, rather than OSU's tight zone, but it typically utilizes more zone based tag schemes than Meyer has in the past (read: more blocking adjustments within zone scheme, or a lot more of this ). It'll be interesting if some of that gets implemented into Meyer's offense, which I'm fairly certain will  still be the base O as it has always been under Meyer (though he has often allowed his OCs to add wrinkles). Warriner will almost certainly be in charge of play calling now, as he's more directly familiar with Meyer's scheme and a promotion is in order to keep him around. Meyer has tended to prefer to promote from within as well. Hit the jump for more on coaching ability, fit at OSU, and offensive wrinkles he may add.

Originally poster at Land-Grant Holy Land  on 12-5-14 Urban Meyer has developed the speed option into more than just a constraint play. Through the years, he has implemented multiple constraints that build off of the speed option threat. Against Wisconsin's 3-4 defense, the speed option can be a serious threat that isolates the OLBs away from the sealed defense. We'll look at the origins of the speed option, it's evolution, how OSU can work off of it, and why it will be so important in the 2014 B1G Championship Game against the Badgers. The speed option is one of the simplest methods of attacking the edge with an option play. Smart Football describes it as "simple" and "inexpensive" in that both the concept and scheme are simple and it takes very little teaching and practice time to do well. This is why the speed option has crept into offenses that tend to shy away from option elements, because it's a simple enough way to attack the edge with s...

Throughout the first quarter, the primary coverage for Wisconsin was a Cover 4. This, in theory, is a very good run defense, as it puts quasi-9 in the box. However, it also forces safeties to be aggressive downhill players and tackle while firing down. Against a RB like Abdullah, and the way Nebraska was running the ball, this isn’t necessarily an easy proposition for a DB. In this article, we’re going to look at how Nebraska started off attacking with read option with an arch block and attacking with the zone stretch scheme. Then, we’ll look at how Wisconsin adjusted, both their coverage and how they played their front, and eventually stopped the Cornhuskers potent run offense. Zone Stretch vs Cover 4 This may be Cover 3 or even Cover 1 (seeing the CB leverage makes me not believe it’s Cover 1) that Wisconsin is inverting late, but I believe this is a Cover 4 with the front side safety crashing down. Here we are immediately after the snap, where it is immediately clear ...

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images Wisconsin O: 12 and 11 personnel; a little bit more 21 personnel in this game than usual Nebraska D: 4-3 Under mostly Wisconsin D: One-Gap 3-4, mostly Cover 1 with Cover 4 mixed in Nebraska O: 11 and 12 personnel

Nebraska Douglas Jones - USA Today Sports Offense Schemed to defeat Cover 4 Inverted Veer and the FB Adjustment Inside Vertical Switch Concept Power Football Links Veer and Belly Plays Defense Nebraska Cover 1 Adjustment to Heavy Offenses Cover 1 Cover 1 Adjustments Nebraska's Base Cover 4 Defense Cover 4 Safety Play Coaching Points Nebraska vs Northwestern Nebraska vs MSU Illinois vs Nebraska Miami vs Nebraska Wisconsin Offense Base Run Offense Two RB Offense (Jet Sweep) Power O Football Links Play Action from Heavy Personnel Adjusting Routes to Coverage Utilization of an H-back Utilizing H-back to pass Defense Wisconsin's One-Gap 3-4 Defense Wisconsin's 3-4 D vs 12 Personnel Wisconsin Blitz Package Wisconsin's Base Cover 1 Defense Cover 1 Adjustments Cover 4 Defense Coaching Points Wisconsin vs Rutgers Wisconsin D vs Northwestern and Illinois

I went on Unsportsmanlike Conduct over at 1620 The Zone to discuss Nebraska vs Wisconsin. Also, they gave me a cool new "Interstellar" inspired opening, so I'll take it. PODCAST Perma-link