Point Mesh From the Flex

Several of you guys wanted to see the point mesh from the Flex…  and I’ve finally got a semi-efficient method to get game clips up again.

These haven’t been selected for any reason other than I was able to get them up the quickest.  It should however, give you an idea of how we looked during an average play from scrimmage this season.

 

Clip One:  ISV from Game 7

Trips Left ISV Weak vs. 43. w/SS alley(3 Clips)

Play One:  We’re cracking the psOLB and using the CB for the pitch read.  Not a bad job by the psSE on the crack, either.  The QB is flat (would prefer him to be up into the LOS a little more) but he makes a good descision on the Dive.

The QB is a Senior and this is his first year running the option as the bread and butter play.  Since I was broke by the end of summer and too proud to ask for help with gas money(long story), I didn’t begin coaching him until after school had started.  My thoughts were to rep the poop out of the point mesh, but not get too “bent” when he would inevitably swing the ball back or not get up in the LOS enough to suite me.  Like Jules Winfield in Pulp Fiction, I feel it is better to be a “little Fonzie” and stay cool and matter of fact – not screaming, ranting, and turning my play-caller into a hysterical basket-case.

Play Two: Trips Right, ISV Left. vs. 43 w/SS alley

Same blocking scheme as Play One, only we end up pitching off the Dive Read…  which is bad.  On a positive note, when you get speed in space, good things happen…  and we still get a decent gain on the play.  One of the risks of moving the Pitch Read farther out on the perimeter is that sometimes you just don’t make it there.  You might also note how the QB swings the ball back on this particular play…  and how he and the FB end up “fighting” for it.  This is precisely the thing the point mesh is designed to eliminate.

Play Three:  Trips Left ISV Right vs. 53 (?)

Well, they jumped into an Odd front, so the Crack call has to go…  (it didn’t.)  and versus a balanced defense, the first rule of thumb is to run strong  (we didn’t.)  Again, the nice thing about the Option is that ol’ speed in space thing…  and the fact that it can be pretty damned hard to find the football.  I honestly can’t recall if we had expected this team to get in an odd front (probably not.)  So remember, if you’re going to run the Option, there’s no free lunch.  You have to be able to check at the line to different blocking schemes as well as checking the play to the other side.

At least it helps if you can.

 

Game 7:  Midline

We use the Point method on Midline, too.  It’s quick.

Game 6 Midline

They didn’t have any film of us running Midline…  and I don’t think their 3 techs were ready for it.  I think it was just different enough to allow us some success in that first drive and get the momentum going.

 

Game 10:  ISV clips vs 52 with Safety alley

We wanted to get the ball more on the perimeter since teams were going nuts late in the season playing our FB.  This week we worked during our Indy periods on attacking the Pitch Read’s (gasp!) outside shoulder.  Just something George DeLeone used in his Syracuse Freeze Option to get the ball on the edge when facing feather DE’s, etc.

Game 10; ISV Clip 1

Over Left ISV Right

No complaints on this one.  Not up into the LOS enough for me, but I can live with what we’re doing.

Game 10; ISV Clip 2

Flex I Left, ISV Left

No complaints, but I think the QB could make the DE “sell-out” a little more before the pitch.  Then again, I’m not the one going to get cut in half by that Huge-mungus DE, either!

Game 10; ISV Clip 3

Nasty, ISV Right

The good, the bad, and the ugly.  I have no idea why the SE is chasing the Pitch read.  Or why our psT doesn’t block a soul.  Well, you’re seeing us warts and all on this clip.  Thank Goodness for “speed in space!”  The right WB (QB’s twin brother, BTW) does a good job on the “switch” call for the perimeter blocking…  I think we were setting up the Wheel Route for later out of Nasty Slot.  Like Coach Roark says, “you’ve got to love a system where you don’t block a soul and still make big plays!”

Game 10; ISV Clip 4

Nasty, ISV Left

At first, I got annoyed at how far back the QB bows it after keeping on the Dive.  On closer inspection, I can see why he did it…  the DT/FB collision is a little messy.  What looks like a little “blip” from the pressbox looks a whole lot different from the playing field.  It’s easy to forget how things look at game speed after all these years.

Game 10; ISV Clip 5

Nasty, ISV Right

(keybuster. Hey, we can run to the boundary.)

I have no complaints on this one concerning the QB.  We’re working the outside shoulder to force the DE to give us the pitch (which was successful)…  unless he feathers to a ridiculous degree and the QB can glide right on by.

 

Game Two ISV Clips.

I wanted to give you a comparison from earlier in the season.  You will notice that the new veer QB is more apt to give the Dive than not…  probably a good thing.  You will also note the tendency to reach the ball back – a hold over from the previous season’s ride-and-decide method.  Once that habit is learned, its hard to break it.  Our Soph QB started with point mesh and is quite happy to just point the ball while he reads the dive key.

 

Well, there it is…  point mesh out of the Flex.  Do I have clips where he’s doing it better?  Yeah…  but this is how it looked for us as a team selling-out to the option for the first time. 

I’ve never mentioned it, but our QB  only a year before was starting on the other side of the ball… worrying more about coverage calls and Blood stunts.  Personally, I think he did a hell of a job.  If he had been running option three years prior…  well, it’s scary to think about. 

 

Coach Smith

 

ps.  Here’s a clip of Counter Option from Game 10.  We pitch off EMOL and wrap pulling G up to backer…  although in this case, there’s “nobody home.”  Not sure why the SE and WB didn’t X on the perimeter, tho…  I thought I would include it so those that think I’m nuts might reconsider…