Sidebar

Link: SmartFootball on Bama and Clemson's Wrinkle on the Inverted Veer/Power Read

RTR91

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
39,407
6
0
Prattville
The Evolution of the Inverted Veer/Power Read … and of Alabama and Clemson’s newest wrinkle, the “Toss Read”

For the last five or six seasons, the so-called Inverted Veer (also known as the Power Read) has been one of the most effective plays in football, and it has been the weapon of choice for some of college football’s greatest talents, including Cam Newton and RG3 and now Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson and Jalen Hurts. Yet, as is always true in football, defensive coaches do not stand idly by as offenses innovate and have begun devising better and better ways to shut down the play.

But the cat and mouse continues, as while defenses have gotten better at defending the Inverted Veer offenses have, in turn, responded with new wrinkles, particularly this season and particularly from the two teams who will be playing in the National Championship Game, Alabama and Clemson. But to appreciate those wrinkles one must understand why the Inverted Veer was developed and why it works.
Click to expand...
Yes, it's lengthy, but you should read it. Helps understand our offense a little better and what we'll face Monday night.
 
Snuffy Smith

Snuffy Smith

All-American
Sep 12, 2012
3,551
653
162
Huntsville, AL
Good read -

If we give up a long pass to Clemson on that toss read I will probably throw something at the TV

I guess you lose the slot receiver, but I have often wondered why teams didn't go back to the old "Veer Option" (two back option) offense. You can still throw to the "slot" if you get 1 of the backs out and it gives you better running options.
 
Last edited:
crimsonaudio

crimsonaudio

Administrator
Staff member
Sep 9, 2002
63,469
67,425
462
crimsonaudio.net
I love - LOVE - the articles, thank you for posting.

And goodness, that fake toss sweep counter is brutal! Better have incredible discipline and speed on D or that will eat you alive...

And that fake toss sweep pass that OM used against us - that's an amazing play.
 
AlexanderFan

AlexanderFan

Hall of Fame
Jul 23, 2004
11,217
7,738
187
Birmingham
Wasn't that Harrison that got roasted on that throw just after coming in the game? I think he's improved vastly since then. Very fascinating read and the next wrinkle may be the back even wider or the inside pitch Pitt used going in the guard/center hole and, Presto!, triple option football again.
 
G

gtgilbert

All-American
Aug 12, 2011
3,211
4,206
187
AlexanderFan said:
Wasn't that Harrison that got roasted on that throw just after coming in the game? I think he's improved vastly since then. Very fascinating read and the next wrinkle may be the back even wider or the inside pitch Pitt used going in the guard/center hole and, Presto!, triple option football again.
Click to expand...
it's highly likely that was his assignment, but without knowing the call, it might have also been the responsibility of the guy covering the slot to ride the receiver deep in man-to-man since that's what we did on the other side of the field. We do have some coverages where the S has underneath coverage and the CB has deep responsibility so it's not always clear cut to us looking in from the outside. Either way, one of those guys had deep coverage, and BOTH bit in the fake...

Harrison hadn't just come into the game though - he was the starter at one of the safety spots in every package all year.

I think the bigger issue on that play was UM caught us in a bad personnel grouping for that formation. They went 4 wide and with that we would usually be in a dime package with 6 DBs on the field, but it looks like we were in nickel and had to flex SDH out to that flat covering the guy who went deep and that isn't a matchup we were going to win often and chances are even if he had not bought the fake, that's not going to be a good play for us.
 
OakMtn4Bama

OakMtn4Bama

All-American
Jan 10, 2007
2,179
1,660
187
Trussville
Excellent link. One thing for us is that we have good lane discipline on D and we might figure out a way (with our speed) to blow up the mesh point
 
J

JDCrimson

Hall of Fame
Feb 12, 2006
5,410
4,546
187
51
The only way to remotely defend these to read option plays is to play what we play on defense - a 2 gap defense. If you are playing a 1 gap defensive philosophy you really have no chance in defending these type plays where you guess which gap to defend or penetrate and all the offense has to do is read your guess. Its really amazing at how advanced the running game as has gotten the last few years. For so many years teams invested their strategies in developing a prolific passing game that running game strategies were kind of stale. But not it seems its just the opposite.
 
AlexanderFan

AlexanderFan

Hall of Fame
Jul 23, 2004
11,217
7,738
187
Birmingham
JDCrimson said:
The only way to remotely defend these to read option plays is to play what we play on defense - a 2 gap defense. If you are playing a 1 gap defensive philosophy you really have no chance in defending these type plays where you guess which gap to defend or penetrate and all the offense has to do is read your guess. Its really amazing at how advanced the running game as has gotten the last few years. For so many years teams invested their strategies in developing a prolific passing game that running game strategies were kind of stale. But not it seems its just the opposite.
Click to expand...
The rule changes have effectively advanced the passing game. Why worry about the passing game when you can under throw the ball and get an interference call, or back shoulder fade and push off and not get an offensive pass interference call? The picks in the passing tree are getting more physical as well, allowing for much safer throws.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
G

gtgilbert

All-American
Aug 12, 2011
3,211
4,206
187
JDCrimson said:
The only way to remotely defend these to read option plays is to play what we play on defense - a 2 gap defense. If you are playing a 1 gap defensive philosophy you really have no chance in defending these type plays where you guess which gap to defend or penetrate and all the offense has to do is read your guess. Its really amazing at how advanced the running game as has gotten the last few years. For so many years teams invested their strategies in developing a prolific passing game that running game strategies were kind of stale. But not it seems its just the opposite.
Click to expand...
One gap defenses don't guess what gap is their responsibility - they have assignments just like a 2 gap does. 1 gap technique is just more simple and based on penetration to beat your guy into that one gap. In this defense the LBs are not as free to roam as they have specific run fit gaps just like the DL. two gap guys will fight on the DL to a stalemate or just a little on the other side of the LOS, read the play then shed to where the play is, with the LB being more free to play to the ball.

What really makes our defense able to defend this better isn't the scheme, it's that we've got some real hosses on the DL who don't get blocked and can handle the inside run fits without help from the edge defender. Allen Payne and Tomlinson are going to beat their blocks inside a vast majority of the time. That means the guy on the edge has less of a reason to bite inside since he has full faith his teammates down the DL will take care of business, and he can focus on the edge. Everyone do your job, and trust your teammates to do theirs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Posts

Latest threads

TideFans.shop - NEW Stuff!

TideFans.shop - Get YOUR Bama Gear HERE!”></a> <br /> <!--/ END TideFans.shop & item link \--> <p style= Purchases made through our TideFans.shop and Amazon.com links may result in a commission being paid to TideFans.

Top Bottom