The Wisconsin Offense and the OSU Defensive Response: Part I

It is no secret that Wisconsin is a downhill, physical, run-first football team.  What is more interesting is how Wisconsin accomplishes this ultimate goal, and how a defense can respond.  Here I want to take a look at the Wisconsin offensive philosophy.  In my next installment I will discuss how Ohio State will defend against these looks.

Wisconsin:  One-Back Power

Wisconsin's offense is a direct decedent of the one-back offenses pioneered by Joe Gibbs with the Washington Redskins and Dennis Erickson at the college level.

Wisconsin operates almost entirely from '12' personnel (1 RB, 2TE).  Though at first glance it may seem like a one-back offense is more geared for passing, coaches like Erickson went to the one-back offense to run the football.  A one-back formation theoretically makes running the football easier in two ways.  First, with 12 personnel it creates an 8th gap that the defense must defend.  (H/T:  Brophy).

Second, it presents the defense with four immediate vertical threats, forcing defenses to often respond with 2-high safeties.  These two components stretch the defense out, creating more running lanes for talented tailbacks with vision.

It is all About the Tight Ends...

The entire framework of Wisconsin's offense is premised around their use of 2-Tight Ends.  Coaching great Homer Smith's quote about a Tight End's value rings true to Wisconsin today:

It takes a sixth frontal player (not counting the QB) to pull an identifiable pass defender into the front and to give the blockers something to work with to keep the center off the island. It takes the sixth, just as it takes him to deal with a blitz.

Which is a better sixth [blocker, a tight-end or a runningback]? A TE is more of a threat with the delayed pass that makes the pass defender on him stay at bay while the TE blocks the rusher. I think a TE is the better.

Wisconsin's exclusive use of 2-tight ends also allows them to present a variety of looks to a defense.  Wisconsin can present a balanced 2 x 2 TE look, or a heavy overload tight wing (a tight-end with a wingback to one side and two WR to the other) or tight trips (a tight end and two receivers to one side, and a single tight end or receiver to the other side) formation.  In the latter case, Wisconsin can essentially establish 5-gaps to the two tight end side. In each case, Wisconsin is able to present a defense with a variety of looks they must adjust to, both in defending the additional run-gaps created by the 2-tight end alignment and the pass threat those tight ends present.  

Zone, Zone, Zone

Wisconsin lines up in a variety of two-tight end formations to attack with essentially 2 run plays:  Outside zone (or stretch); and inside zone.  Wisconsin's primary play is stretch--of both the base blocking and pin and pull variety:

Wisconsin wants to get their big offensive linemen moving people laterally and, in doing so, create cut-up lanes for their running backs to exploit.  If a defense tries to fill, the tailback will bounce outside.

Though this is just one play, here is where Wisconsin's multiple use of the tight ends come into play.  As I noted, Wisconsin will run the play into a tight wing or tight trips, creating five gaps for the defense to defend while simultaneously being stretched laterally.  But Wisconsin will also line up in tight-trips with a single tight end to the opposite side and run stretch away from the trips if a defense has over commited to the trips.  This is Wisconsin's base play and they would happily run it until the defense stops them.

If a team begins over-pursuing laterally, Wisconsin will come back with inside zone at the defense.  Wisconsin will again run inside zone both to the formation's strength and away from the two-tight end side.

Wisconsin adds wrinkles to the inside zone play by how they have the second tight end, or H-Back, block.  Oftentimes, they will have the H-Back motion across and back into an offset-I position to block on a lead zone.  Other times, the H-Back will aling as a wing to the TE and then block back across the formation away from the play-side to essentially kick out the backside DE and create a natural cut-back lane. 

Outside zone and inside zone are the basis of Wisconsin's offensive game plan.  Off the inside zone play, Wisconsin will run 'fly sweep' action with Toon, as either a decoy or attempt to get the edge (Wisconsin did this often against OSU last year because they could not run the ball consistently).  Wisconsin will also run the power play, as a change up to zone action. 

But their offense remains centered around the 2-Tight end, zone action.

"A TE is more of a threat with the delayed pass that makes the pass defender on him stay at bay"

That quote from Homer Smith seems particularly well authored for the Wisconsin offense.  Wisconsin does not want to get in a situation where they are consistently throwing the football.  Nor do they have the wide receiving talent to rely on the forward pass.  But what they do what to take advantage of is putting their talented tight ends in advantageous situations against a defensive back-seven that has overcommitted to the run game.

In particular, Wisconsin likes to fake heavy zone action one way, and then get the tight end to sneak into the backside.  They then want to throw back to the tight end past overcommitted linebackers.  

Wisconsin also hopes that a team will find a mismatch with a linebacker covering a tight end in space on a seam or deep crossing route. 

Conclusion

The Wisconsin offense is premised around a physical, two-tight end zone blocking scheme and play-action passing to a talented tight end.  A defense's goal is to get the Badgers into second and third and long situations, where they are forced to be one-dimenstion.  I will go over in more detail how OSU will try to defend Wisconsin in my next post.