The Zone Play In The Pac-10

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

This is a follow up to the Overview of Zone Blocking.

As I wrote before, zone blocking is probably the most common run blocking scheme in football today. It's a big part of most offenses, but every team uses it differently in their offense. I'm going to take a look at how a few Pac-10 teams use the zone concept. This will include the standard IZ/OZ (inside/outside zone) and some of the stuff Oregon and other spread-to-run teams have done out of the shotgun with the zone read and the gun midline option. But first, some general theory.

The defense always has a man advantage on the offense. Each side has 11 guys, but the offense always has one ballcarrier. If you lined up 10 OL and a back, and snapped it to him and let him run, every defender would be able to be blocked except for one (see image below). There will always be the back's counterpart who is unblockable on paper. You are successful running the ball if you can control who this unblocked defender is and stash him so far away from the ball that he cannot make the play. In the first play below, the FS is the unblocked defender. If everyone hits their blocks the FS will be able to reach the RB for little gain. In the second play, the FS is forced to respect the backside passing threats due to alignment is able to be blocked by a WR, so the unblocked defender is now backside up on the LOS - it will be very hard for him to make the tackle.

If a team uses a quarterback, then there are now two unblocked defenders - the ballcarrier and the QB who hands off. Below I've got a picture of the 2-back power we ran against Cal last season. Everyone is accounted for in the box, and there are 2 WRs and 4 DBs - 2 of them will be unblocked. Notice how the WRs are not split out very wide - for a defense this is a pretty good indicator that they are looking to block inside on a linebacker or a safety. Sure enough, they head inside to block the two safeties, and the CBs are left unblocked, and Franklin goes 74 yards.

So how does this relate to the zone? Assuming that you're not doing anything fancy, there is the one natural unblocked player deep, the free safety. The backside end is the second unblocked player, since everyone is stepping to their playside gap. However, on IZ, you need to find a way to block him, since the ball is looking to break inside and possibly cutback - he can easily make the tackle in the backfield if he's unblocked. One of the major differences in how teams use the zone comes to how they deal with this backside EMOL, and since he is basically the QB's counterpart, many teams use the QB to "block" him.

One of the early adaptations to force this backside DE or LB to "stay at home" was the bootleg by the QB. When the Denver Broncos were famous for popularizing the zone scheme, they began to bootleg the QB outside to prevent the EMOL from crashing down on the back. The threat of a bootleg allowed the QB to "block" the DE, even if he didn't have the ball, because the Broncos did in fact leave the ball in their QB's hands many times. If the DE is respecting the QB bootleg he cannot crash down on the back, and you can instead block the safety instead of worrying about the backside DE. They would run zone until the backside defender started to crash down, and then leave the ball in the QB's hands on the bootleg to do some damage and force the DE to play "honest". See here, here, here, and here and watch how this unblocked player crashes down on the back - he is essentially taking himself out of the play without the offense committing a blocker.

I got a pretty good idea of what you will see out of the Pac-10 teams in regards to the zone play from watching this season, as I got to see every Pac-10 team play at least once except for Washington State. Below are some of the wrinkles teams commonly use with the zone and some examples of these teams running them. 

Basic Outside Zone

To review the other post, the basic outside zone scheme has the line stepping to their playside gap, which should either get you to the outside or get the defense flowing that way to open up cutback lanes. Here are some pretty vanilla examples of the basic outside zone without any real bells and whistles. Note that the backside EMOL is left unblocked since he can't make the play vs. outside zone unless he is very quick and is cheating by crashing down. In several of the plays, he is playing disciplined and staying at home, respecting the cutback and the QB bootleg. Once the defense begins to cheat and fast flow to the zone side, you switch it up with the inside zone or by attacking this backside EMOL. In the last play, UCLA vs. Tennessee, the backside EMOL runs flat down the LOS and makes the play - when that happens then it's time to move on.

Basic Inside Zone

The inside zone is a complement to the outside zone when the defense begins to flow quickly to the sideline, as they run themselves out of the play. However, that backside man now has to be blocked. Generally this is done by pulling a wing, FB, or motion man across the formation to block the backside man. If the defense is flowing to the zone side and a player pulls across the formation moving full speed and hits his block perfectly, then you will have a pretty big hole. He doesn't even really need to block him - just has to keep the defender at home. He can simulate running the pass route or a fly sweep, something that Oregon State and Arizona did a lot last season.

Bootlegs, Fly Sweeps, Playaction

The next step is to actually force this backside defender to stay at home. Many teams have a playaction pass where they pull an H-back or FB across the formation to simulate IZ and instead release him into the flat while the QB also bootlegs that way. If the backside man chases the zone play, then the end is usually wide open for a scramble. If he sees that it is PA and chases the QB then the receiver in the flat is usually open. UCLA likes to have the TE backside step down as if zone blocking, then pivot outside behind the DE into the flat. Other teams will run playaction and boot out looking to pass to a TE or receiver who has dragged across the formation, or run the fly sweep away from the zone and hand it off every so often to force the defense to stay at home, which opens up room for the zone series. If the backside man is cheating down on the outside zone, or recognizing the inside zone and wrong-arming the cross block to squeeze the hole down, then this is a good call to force him to stay at home.

Zone Read and Zone Read with Bubble Screen

Many teams have begun to base out of the shotgun, and have used some form of the zone read. There's plenty of stuff floating around the internet about the zone read and its hundreds of variants and how it works, so I don't go into a lot of detail - if you have questions post them in the comments. The basic premise is you run outside zone to a side, leaving the backside man unblocked. The QB receives the snap and turns to face this rusher. QB will hand off to the back on the zone play unless the DE crashes down, as you saw earlier in the outside zone video. If he crashes down, the QB will pull the ball and full the hole that the DE came from. He is looking to hand off, and only will pull if he gets an excuse to - if the DE is crashing down on the back. The only reason for this read is to prevent this guy from running down the back from behind and force him to stay at home. Most teams would like to run the ball with their back behind their line rather than leave it in the hands of the QB, and at this point you basically have a regular zone play. A team that is successful using the zone read is just a good zone team.

Although many teams read, some teams will pre-determine who receives the ball. I read an article from a clinic by Chip Kelly, Oregon HC, who said that they actually don't do a lot of reading, and usually just make that call beforehand. They will run this series like an under-center zone team, and if the backside man is crashing often then they will just pull it and let the QB run with it rather than pull guys across and do the bootleg/fly sweep thing.

One way that teams have begun to defend the zone read is to use what is known as a "scrape exchange". They will have the DE crash down every time to force the QB to pull the ball and have the LB scrape backside. If the left tackle steps playside there will be no one to block, as the end will slant in behind him towards the back and the LB will scrape backside into the QB. The QB pulls the ball and has a LB in his face.

via smartfootball.com

Other than the backside, defending the zone read is the same as stopping the zone - you have to be able to stop that. You just have to be smart, and your defenders can't be dancing left and right trying to figure out where the ball is going. If you are a LB and you are waiting to read the handoff and get pinned inside, the OL is going to get outside leverage on you and the back is going to get to the sideline - you just have to do your part and hope that your backside support is sound. Some teams like TCU have gone to put more speed on the field in response to stuff like this - they have guys like Jerry Hughes, who was a RB in high school, and put them at DE and let them play both the RB and the QB, which frees an extra player up. If you are quick enough you can step to the QB to force the handoff and then crash down the line on the back from behind. You can also give sort of a grey read and step between the QB and the RB which may lead the QB to pause for a second to think about what to do. Unfortunately, sometimes this will put you out of position to defend either threat. Hopefully a talent like Owamagbe Odighizuwa will be able to do this for us in a few years - the speedy pass-rushing DE has more value today in defending the run against some of these zone read teams.

One of the ways that zone read teams have adapted to the scrape exchange and other defensive adjustments is to tag the receivers on the backside with a bubble screen, and the play basically becomes a triple option, as the QB will toss the screen once he runs into a defender. Teams like Oregon and Washington have also flipped their back if they do not get the look they like and run it to the other side. They can easily change a run left to a run right before the defense can adjust. Another adjustment has been the 3-technique read, which is explained in the next section. Below are some clips of the zone read and the zone read with the bubble screen. As you can see, many teams have started running this series out of a 3x1 formation because of the stress it puts on defenses. When we played Oregon, they didn't really do much against us until they went to that 3x1 formation towards the end of the second quarter - that was when they really started to get the ball moving. If you watched the ASU game, you probably remember them having success running the ball against us in that 3x1 look early on in the game until ATV picked off a pass and ran it back for a score.

3 Technique Read

The 3 tech read is a fairly new concept out of the shotgun. Old school coaches know this as the midline option which is nothing new to football. A 3 tech is a defensive lineman lined up outside shade of the guard. Teams that run the option read a man on the end of the line, usually a 5 technique (outside shade of the tackle) - the midline reads an interior lineman, usually the 3 tech, in the middle of the line.

The first time I saw it run from shotgun, it was Oregon against Oklahoma State in the Holiday Bowl a year ago. Okie State had a hell of a time stopping it, and teams this season had trouble as well. This was the play that gashed USC in Oregon's big win over them this year. Success breeds copycats, and other spread-to-run teams have caught on and imitated it - Washington ran it against us a few times this year, and next year we'll probably see it even more. This is one way to deal with a dominant player like Brian Price or Nebraska's Suh - if you can't block them consistently, then you don't bother wasting a player on them and just let them go free and option them off so that they're wrong every time. Force them to play either the QB or the RB and put the ball in the hands of the other player. There has to be at least one unblocked player so it might as well be them - if run correctly you will have the DT crashing down on the back who doesn't have the ball while the QB is running through that gap, or you will have your back running zone against a DL that is minus their best DT.

This wrinkle is run off the outside zone. Everything is the same except that the backside tackle will block the backside end, and the rest of the line will zone to the playside gap. It is similar to combo pass protection, where you have a backside tackle locked up on the DE and everyone else sliding away from him. The QB faces the 3 technique defender (or a LB rushing through the B gap, if the 3 tech slants elsewhere) and reads him the same as in the zone read. If the read key chases the back laterally on the zone, then the QB will pull and run through that gap. This has to be run off of outside zone, as if it is inside then the 3 tech can play both options fairly easily, and you've left an unblocked player in your cutback lane.

Oregon likes to run this by reading the 3 tech, but I have seen them run it against a 1 tech (player over outside shade of center). Sometimes they will flip the back to get the look they want (here against Oregon State, they originally were set to run it vs a 1 tech, then flipped to read the 3 tech). The reason you'd rather not run it to a 1 is that you'll only have 3 OL blocking frontside and the DL will take a more vertical path to the mesh point, which makes it easier to defend both the QB and the RB. In the video against Arizona, Oregon runs it to the 1 technique - he shuffles down to force the pull and then shuffles back and is in position to tackle Masoli. A 3 technique that was crashing down on the back would have to take a sharper angle down the line and would have to commit to one or the other. 

Below is some video of Oregon running it both to a 3 and a 1 technique as well as Washington giving it a shot.

Overview of the Pac-10

And as you can see above, running the zone series opens up a wide range of complementary plays. It is series-based football. Watching Oregon is probably the best example - they'll run outside zone until the defense starts to cheat outside to stop it, then force them to stay at home and play honest with the inside zone/3 tech read/zone read game, and even tag it with a bubble to keep the defense guessing. These complementary plays are meant to discourage the defense from cheating to stop their base plays of inside/outside zone.

UCLA's run game was probably about 50% zone stuff - it seemed to me like it trailed off towards the end of the year and we ran more power with Chane Moline. With Johnathan Franklin and Derek Coleman it seemed as if we favored zone. Maybe next year we will see more of it after Moline's graduation, and if Franklin, Coleman, and our other backs can get on the field. As I said in the other post, the zone scheme is a system that pays to be all-in - if you dabble in it then I do not think that you're going to see the benefits. We ran both IZ/OZ, and did some playaction passes to the flat/bootlegs out to keep that EMOL honest when we did run it. From the videos clipped above, you can see a lot of it was from the KSU and Tennessee games early on during the year where we had most of our success in the zone game.

I think USC ran a lot more zone than we did. In the games I saw they liked the inside zone out of I-backs, with the TE off the line as a wing, pulling across the formation in the inside zone. They also ran playaction off of that look and throw to the guy in the flat. This probably will not change as Kiffin ran a lot of the same stuff last year at Tennessee. It seemed kind of out of place, but against Cal, USC showed a zone read tagged with a bubble screen and ran it at least once. Barkley pulled the ball and threw the screen, so I'm pretty sure it was just a bubble with a PA fake built-in rather than an actual read - seems like a waste of practice time to install and teach the read phase if you only run it a few times. Cal does a lot of the same stuff as SC, and they seem like they have shifted more towards the zone run game in recent years as they seem to like it with Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen. They even ran that zone read-bubble screen (or bubble with the PA) that SC used against them during their game at Oregon at least once, which seemed a little out of place. Stanford, on the other hand, ran mostly power and toss in the games I got a chance to see.

Arizona, despite running a lot of stuff out of shotgun, actually seemed to like to run zone from under center with 2-backs. They probably ran more power than zone, but used the playaction bootleg and the fly sweep (real and fake) to keep the defense honest on the inside zone. Out of the shotgun I did not see any zone or zone read - they throw so many screens that the screen game is basically their shotgun running game. Oregon State is similar to Arizona in that they like the fly sweep - both teams did well with this series against us with this when we played them last season. We have had problems maintaining the backside, staying at home, and keeping our force players outside, so the fly sweep in both directions has been good against our defense in recent years.

Oregon's been the leader in the zone game out of the shotgun, and many other teams have imitated them and the zone read, 3 tech read, bubble screen off the zone read, etc. They base out of the inside/outside zone and will use other variants to keep the defense off balance. They also like the power game out of the gun, and put their backs deeper behind the QB so that they get more of a downhill feel, like a pistol offense team. When they put their back in front of the QB, they usually will run outside zone and their 3 tech read (the back opens up to the sideline and runs parallel to the line to take the handoff). When he is begin and to the side of the QB they like inside zone (with a cross block and with a read of the backside DE), and their power scheme.

Washington looks like they're trying pretty hard to copy Oregon as they ran the zone read, the 3 tech read, and flipped their backs a few times in the games I saw. ASU is getting there as they also liked the zone read out of the 3x1 against us. That's the only ASU game I really got to see, so kind of curious as to whether that was their regular offense or a special package due to their backup QB being in. Next year may be interesting at ASU as they are bringing in Noel Mazzone as their OC, who previously coached under Dennis Erickson at Oregon State. Mazzone's most known for coaching Phillip Rivers at North Carolina State, where he built upon Norm Chow's offensive scheme and broke all kinds of records. I have an old copy of Phillip Rivers running some stuff from Mazzone's offense at NC State that is related to Chow's stuff, and I might throw them up here later on as the season gets closer.