Good article on Meyer's spread offense:
American Football Monthly - The Secrets of Urban Meyer's Spread Option Offense - June 2006
Defining Meyer’s spread option
Meyer likes his quarterback in the shotgun. In fact, the quarterback in this offense is almost always in the shotgun. Behind him is usually just one running back, sometimes none. The four or five wide receivers are constantly in motion, trying to create confusion for the defense and find that perfect mismatch in talent or opening in the defense that they then can exploit.
“I consider it a split-back veer offense except they are in the shotgun,” said Air Force Academy Defensive Coordinator Richard Bell. “The biggest difference is that most option teams have a tight formation, but the thing that made it difficult was that you never had to defend four wide receivers or a three-by-one set with three receivers to one side. You now had to deal with the width of the receivers and being able to defend the pass as well as the run and that’s what made it very, very difficult.”
By creating space with the spread offense, Meyer is able to open up serious running lanes. And because of the threat of the run, especially the option, the use of misdirection and the often times quick and short pass routes, defenses don’t have time to blitz, let alone adjust. Defenses can’t get overly aggressive or the play could be behind them or going the other way in an instant.
Balance
One of the reasons Meyer’s spread offense has been successful is because it helps create space to run the football. Yes, despite what the blogs and message boards and radio talk show hosts say, Urban Meyer’s offense is about running the football. “One of the biggest misconceptions that defensive coordinators have about our offense is that they look at our offense and believe that we want to throw the ball a lot,” Mullen said. “The opposite is true though. We’d rather run than throw.” The statistics back it up.
Last year, Florida ran the football 455 times for 2,167 yards and passed 385 times. The team’s leading rusher was DeShawn Wynn, who led the team with 130 carries. But right behind him was quarterback Chris Leak, who threw 374 times and ran 105 times. “Our optimal run to pass ratio is 50/50 each time we take the field,” Mullen said.
“It’s a very, very strong running offense and when we faced it, (Utah) had some very good running backs and they did a lot of things off of it,” Bell said. “You have to be sound on who is going to take the quarterback and who is going to take the dive and the pitch or they will certainly burn you. It’s a lot more than a passing offense.
“A lot of people think you get in the shotgun to throw because he already has the depth he needs to throw. But you have to honor that dive back and honor that draw and the quarterback’s effectiveness coming off that dive is like coming off a point on any other option, whether it be a wishbone option or the split-back veer. The guy that can accelerate off of that can put a lot of pressure on a defense.”
Gun Zone
One of the more popular alignments in the Meyer offense is the Gators’ gun zone option, a modern day and very effective triple option. Most of the time this look features three or four wide receivers with a running back next to the quarterback and usually their best receiver parked in the slot. The slot receiver goes in motion but ends up most of the time in the backfield as the second RB to the right of the quarterback.
“You have to be prepared to treat the quarterback as one of the components of the offense as far as defending the run as well as the play action stuff,” said the defensive coordinator from a perennial Top 20 program. “What it looks like they’re trying to do to us is trying to create a one back alignment, but by shifting or motion they get back to a way in which they can make it a two-back offense.”
What the gun-zone option tries to accomplish is to see how the backside defensive end and the outside linebacker adjust to the shift. The quarterback will base his decisions on what these two players do. For example, he snaps the ball and prepares to hand it off to the running back with one eye on the defensive end. If the DE chases the running back down the line of scrimmage, the QB keeps the ball and turns his attention to the OLB with the slot receiver now his option. If the LB commits to the QB, he pitches, if not, he keeps it. “You have to be sound against the option and be solid against the dive back and the quarterback and you have to take care of the pitch,” the defensive coordinator said. “What they try to do is read the box and see how many you have to defend the run and what you are going to commit to the passing game. They are trying to locate your defenders and call the play based on your alignment.
On the Defensive
So, how do you stop this thing? Mullen knows what he would try to do if he were on the other sideline – without giving up the store, that is. “I would have the defense keep plays in front of them by dropping eight into coverage,” he said.
Bell is in his 11th year at Air Force and was named the Assistant Coach of the Year in 1998 by the American Football Coaches Association. He has had to try and stop Meyer’s offense twice while the two coached in the Mountain West Conference. Utah defeated Air Force 49-35 in its undefeated season in 2004. Utah won the first triple overtime game in MWC history on Nov. 1, 2003, beating Air Force 45-43. It was a wild finish to a game that Utah led 23-7 through three quarters only to see AFA tie it up at 23 with 3:09 left in regulation. “You have to stop the run first,” Bell said. “When he was at Utah, if you didn’t stop the run first he would run you out of the ballpark. They are reading how many people you have in the box and if you tried to stretch it and just keep five in the box and put six out so that you can cover down on his four wides, that automatically meant that they were going to run the football. You have to try to bait them in the sense that you have to disguise and walk guys up so that you keep six or even seven people in the vicinity that they can come and support on the run as well as defend the pass. Of course, down and distance dictates some of this.”
“You can’t just say I am going to play the run with five people and I am going to get six back there to defend the pass because they will eat you alive,” Bell said.
According to one our defensive coordinators, you have to know your assignment and be patient or a misdirection can hurt you. Linebackers and safeties have to know how to play the option, especially against the shovel pass. Alabama did a great job of stopping the Meyer offense, which against the Crimson Tide at least, didn’t look much like the offense that pounded the WAC the previous year. The Gators scored only 16 points against Tennessee in Week 3, but they did win that game so all was forgiven.
Said Mullen: “I’ve gotten away from having the patience to let those things work out and let them go. You’re not going to have a great play every single play. You have to have patience to let the offense run.” Mullen did say that the greatest weakness of the Gators’ offense is when their athletes are inferior, therefore “we have a hard time creating the mismatches we are trying to develop.” But stopping this offense requires more than just good athletes. It requires defensive coordinators putting the players in a position to make the plays. And it requires those players then to make the plays. “(The spread) will always involve to some degree a pre-snap alignment,” the defensive coordinator said. “We try and give them a look and do something after the snap or just prior to the snap and try to force the quarterback to make his reads on the run.”
American Football Monthly - The Secrets of Urban Meyer's Spread Option Offense - June 2006
Defining Meyer’s spread option
Meyer likes his quarterback in the shotgun. In fact, the quarterback in this offense is almost always in the shotgun. Behind him is usually just one running back, sometimes none. The four or five wide receivers are constantly in motion, trying to create confusion for the defense and find that perfect mismatch in talent or opening in the defense that they then can exploit.
“I consider it a split-back veer offense except they are in the shotgun,” said Air Force Academy Defensive Coordinator Richard Bell. “The biggest difference is that most option teams have a tight formation, but the thing that made it difficult was that you never had to defend four wide receivers or a three-by-one set with three receivers to one side. You now had to deal with the width of the receivers and being able to defend the pass as well as the run and that’s what made it very, very difficult.”
By creating space with the spread offense, Meyer is able to open up serious running lanes. And because of the threat of the run, especially the option, the use of misdirection and the often times quick and short pass routes, defenses don’t have time to blitz, let alone adjust. Defenses can’t get overly aggressive or the play could be behind them or going the other way in an instant.
Balance
One of the reasons Meyer’s spread offense has been successful is because it helps create space to run the football. Yes, despite what the blogs and message boards and radio talk show hosts say, Urban Meyer’s offense is about running the football. “One of the biggest misconceptions that defensive coordinators have about our offense is that they look at our offense and believe that we want to throw the ball a lot,” Mullen said. “The opposite is true though. We’d rather run than throw.” The statistics back it up.
Last year, Florida ran the football 455 times for 2,167 yards and passed 385 times. The team’s leading rusher was DeShawn Wynn, who led the team with 130 carries. But right behind him was quarterback Chris Leak, who threw 374 times and ran 105 times. “Our optimal run to pass ratio is 50/50 each time we take the field,” Mullen said.
“It’s a very, very strong running offense and when we faced it, (Utah) had some very good running backs and they did a lot of things off of it,” Bell said. “You have to be sound on who is going to take the quarterback and who is going to take the dive and the pitch or they will certainly burn you. It’s a lot more than a passing offense.
“A lot of people think you get in the shotgun to throw because he already has the depth he needs to throw. But you have to honor that dive back and honor that draw and the quarterback’s effectiveness coming off that dive is like coming off a point on any other option, whether it be a wishbone option or the split-back veer. The guy that can accelerate off of that can put a lot of pressure on a defense.”
Gun Zone
One of the more popular alignments in the Meyer offense is the Gators’ gun zone option, a modern day and very effective triple option. Most of the time this look features three or four wide receivers with a running back next to the quarterback and usually their best receiver parked in the slot. The slot receiver goes in motion but ends up most of the time in the backfield as the second RB to the right of the quarterback.
“You have to be prepared to treat the quarterback as one of the components of the offense as far as defending the run as well as the play action stuff,” said the defensive coordinator from a perennial Top 20 program. “What it looks like they’re trying to do to us is trying to create a one back alignment, but by shifting or motion they get back to a way in which they can make it a two-back offense.”
What the gun-zone option tries to accomplish is to see how the backside defensive end and the outside linebacker adjust to the shift. The quarterback will base his decisions on what these two players do. For example, he snaps the ball and prepares to hand it off to the running back with one eye on the defensive end. If the DE chases the running back down the line of scrimmage, the QB keeps the ball and turns his attention to the OLB with the slot receiver now his option. If the LB commits to the QB, he pitches, if not, he keeps it. “You have to be sound against the option and be solid against the dive back and the quarterback and you have to take care of the pitch,” the defensive coordinator said. “What they try to do is read the box and see how many you have to defend the run and what you are going to commit to the passing game. They are trying to locate your defenders and call the play based on your alignment.
On the Defensive
So, how do you stop this thing? Mullen knows what he would try to do if he were on the other sideline – without giving up the store, that is. “I would have the defense keep plays in front of them by dropping eight into coverage,” he said.
Bell is in his 11th year at Air Force and was named the Assistant Coach of the Year in 1998 by the American Football Coaches Association. He has had to try and stop Meyer’s offense twice while the two coached in the Mountain West Conference. Utah defeated Air Force 49-35 in its undefeated season in 2004. Utah won the first triple overtime game in MWC history on Nov. 1, 2003, beating Air Force 45-43. It was a wild finish to a game that Utah led 23-7 through three quarters only to see AFA tie it up at 23 with 3:09 left in regulation. “You have to stop the run first,” Bell said. “When he was at Utah, if you didn’t stop the run first he would run you out of the ballpark. They are reading how many people you have in the box and if you tried to stretch it and just keep five in the box and put six out so that you can cover down on his four wides, that automatically meant that they were going to run the football. You have to try to bait them in the sense that you have to disguise and walk guys up so that you keep six or even seven people in the vicinity that they can come and support on the run as well as defend the pass. Of course, down and distance dictates some of this.”
“You can’t just say I am going to play the run with five people and I am going to get six back there to defend the pass because they will eat you alive,” Bell said.
According to one our defensive coordinators, you have to know your assignment and be patient or a misdirection can hurt you. Linebackers and safeties have to know how to play the option, especially against the shovel pass. Alabama did a great job of stopping the Meyer offense, which against the Crimson Tide at least, didn’t look much like the offense that pounded the WAC the previous year. The Gators scored only 16 points against Tennessee in Week 3, but they did win that game so all was forgiven.
Said Mullen: “I’ve gotten away from having the patience to let those things work out and let them go. You’re not going to have a great play every single play. You have to have patience to let the offense run.” Mullen did say that the greatest weakness of the Gators’ offense is when their athletes are inferior, therefore “we have a hard time creating the mismatches we are trying to develop.” But stopping this offense requires more than just good athletes. It requires defensive coordinators putting the players in a position to make the plays. And it requires those players then to make the plays. “(The spread) will always involve to some degree a pre-snap alignment,” the defensive coordinator said. “We try and give them a look and do something after the snap or just prior to the snap and try to force the quarterback to make his reads on the run.”
