Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Offense Part I

There's different elements of spread offenses. You can say Texas Tech and all these different spread offenses. The one thing that our offense that we always tried to take great pride in is Big Ten I formation power football. We just do it from a unique formation, sometimes do it with a240-pound quarterback. But the same -- if you look at our plays, it's the same plays that I was brought up on, split zone and off-tackle power. That's a staple here at Ohio State. Sometimes motion and fake a jet sweep, but we're still running hard, aggressive downhill football at you. We've added elements to it. But if you really cut it down and watch film and study, it's still I formation football. Just from a unique set of formations. It's just trying to be creative and outnumber people. That's all it is.

--Urban Meyer, November 28, 2011 Introductory Press Conference

Perhaps no term is more of a misnomer in modern football then the 'spread offense,' because it is over-applied to any college offense that bases its offense from the shotgun. It is used to identify offense as diverse as Mike Leach's airraid to Rich Rodriguez's read option run game.

Urban Meyer's offense is neither. As Meyer accurately describes above, his offense is predicated upon the one-back, downhill run game that every NFL team runs, mixed with the veer option, all from the shotgun. Smart Football's Chris Brown provided a fantastic recounting of how Meyer's offensive philosophy came about, which I cite below in full.

Strangely enough, I would say that the inspirational fathers of Florida's offense have to be Joe Gibbs and Dennis Erickson, who helped establish and pioneer the one-back offense. Indeed, as will be discussed below, Florida's main run plays are basically the same ones both guys made popular in the '80s, though from the shotgun and a bit more option sprinkled in . . .

Meyer bounced around as an assistant coach, finally as receivers coach at Notre Dame under the schematically brilliant but instinctively cro-magnon Bob Davie. Meyer has recalled losing to Nebraska in 2001, and being struck when, after they lost, he found one of his best players, David Givens, crying at his locker because he was unable to help his team win: he hadn't touched the ball the entire game. He swore to run an offense that got his playmakers the ball. While at Notre Dame, he began meeting with his intellectual mentor (his actual mentors were guys like Lou Holtz), Scott Linehan. (Yes, that Scott Linehan.) He was hired as Head Coach of Bowling Green, and decided that -- in years that just happened to be the rather formative ones for the spread -- he would have his staff learn at the masters' feet.

So, eschewing typical coaching visit hotspots like Ohio State, Michigan, Florida, and the like, Meyer directed his staff to make a midwest pilgrammage to learn from the likes of: John L. Smith and Scott Linehan at Louisville; Joe Tiller and Jim Chaney (now St. Louis Rams) at Purdue; Randy Walker and Kevin Wilson (now at Oklahoma) at Northwestern; and, of course, with Rich Rod at West Virginia. What all these guys had in common was they were one-back or spread coaches, they had the ability to run the ball (though Meyer focused more on passing with a team like Purdue), and they had an organized, conceptual way of thinking about football.

Most would be surprised to learn that Meyer's offense's foundation came from Scott Lineham, but Meyer's offense essentially took Joe Gibbs and Dennis Erickson's one-back power offense that now dominates the NFL and ran it from the shotgun to make the QB a threat in the run game. Meyer also likes to take these 'traditional plays' and use motion around the core; both by motioning a H-Back (TE) to get blocking angles, or using "(H)ic" motion to send a slot receiver into the backfield (the first letter signals which position will go in motion, the "ic" signals the type of motion. Even when under center, Meyer will generally have the H-Back motion across the formation and send a WR on fly sweep or reverse motion to try and hold the backside DE.

In my discussion below, I will examine Meyer's offensive philosophy and base run game. In part II, I will address Meyer's staple pass offense.

What do you Do Well?: Getting the Ball to Your Playmakers...

Ultimately it is difficult to encapsulate Meyer's offense. As Brown states, Meyer "wanted to be shotgun focused, to spread the field, to be able to throw effectively, and run the ball and run the option." The reason this is such a varied description is that Meyer's offense adapts to fit his personnel. As anyone who has watched Meyer's color commentary of Big Ten football this year, his primary focus is a) what does your team do best; b) who are your playmakers, and c) get the ball to your play makers within what your team does best and keep doing it. All too often, coaches get caught up in running their 'system,' regardless of whether it fits their team's personnel or execution. Meyer does not let that happen.

Nor is Meyer someone who gets enamored with his offense at the expense of the other two aspects of football. That is because, as Brown notes, Meyer never considered himself the spread's innovator or guru. I consider this a positive, because Meyer is not overly enamored with his own creation at the expense of the ultimate goal. Below, the Florida coaching staff laid out their offensive philosophy at the 2008 Florida Gators' Coaching Spring Clinic. While such bullet points often encompass banal coach speak, these points are quite illuminating.

POINTS TO STRESS:
1) COMPLIMENT EVERY RUN PLAY WITH A PASS PLAY AND VICEVERSA!
2) WRITE TOP 6 PLAYERS ON BOARD, AND GET THEM THE BALL!
3) OFFENSE MUST GET 2 FIRST DOWNS EVERY SERIES!
4) BALL CONTROL, DON'T PUT DEFENSE IN BAD SITUTATIONS!
5) UF GOALS:
A) PLAY GREAT DEFENSE
B) SCORE IN RED ZONE
C) NO TURNOVERS

I highlight the first three because I find them crucial to Meyer's success. I already highlighted the second piece. The first point simply encompasses Homer Smith's maxim that a play's initial action must threaten all 11 defenders, because this maximizes the offense's agency of action. By being shotgun-based, Meyer's offense can further advance this idea because many plays have wide receiver screen options built in to the run play. Finally, the two first down mandate may seem like an odd choice, but its usefulness is evident upon further thought. An offense that repeatedly goes 3 and out allows the opposing team to constrict the field. Eventually that gained field position becomes the equivalent of a turnover.

Run Game

The beauty of Meyer's run game is that for whatever may be going on in the backfield, all base plays are largely predicated upon 2 and a half blocking schemes: zone (inside and outside) and power. Long time readers will also observe that all these plays have been run by Jim Tressel's Ohio State offenses. The more important point is that Meyer runs these base plays from different formations, motions and with constraints built into the plays. This keeps it simple for the offense, while providing more for the defense to defend.

Power/Counter Trey

As noted, Meyer's offenses have taken traditional I formation plays and adapted them to the shotgun. To do so, Meyer utilizes tight ends and 'H-backs' in a way that other spread teams do not. The most obvious example is the emphasis on power blocking, through power-O and counter trey.

as with traditional power and counter trey, the line is going to downblock with the backside guard pulling, and then get a kick out and lead block combo with the guard and H-Back. The shotgun simply allows for more pre-snap variation. It also allows the quarterback to be used as the tailback, providing the offense a numerical advantage. For example here is counter trey from the I and then from the shotgun:

And here is Percy Harvin running counter-trey:

Meyer also runs power to the halfback's side or away from that side, and can also easily simply use the quarterback as ball-carrier. By using the quarterback, Meyer gains the numerical advantage he discussed above. (See all three options diagrammed here).

Speed Option

In Meyer's Utah days, the first two run plays installed during spring practice were the speed option and zone read. As OSU fans have witnessed this year, the speed option is a simple way to get athletes in space . The offensive line will outside zone block, and the QB and pitch back will immediately sprint to the read, with a one read option. It thus does not take as much preparation as a triple option.

For Meyer, the speed option also allows the offense to run the same play from a myriad of formations with different players as the pitchman.

Zone/Read

The ubiquitous zone read was the original staple of Meyer (and other shotgun to run) team's offense, and remains an integral part of the offense.

The base is simple--the line is going to inside or outside zone block, with the quarterback simply reading the backside contain player. Assuming that the end stays home, the play simply becomes a typical zone run. Depending on formation, Meyer will often use a motioned fullback or H-Back to gain angles and create creases. If the DE crashes, the QB will keep, both as a way to constrain the defense and to get an athlete in space. Built in to this play is generally an automatic bubble screen if the slot receiver's defender is cheating.

Meyer's base play at Utah was inside zone. As teams got better at defending the zone read, however, Meyer and his coaches added outside zone read to force the defense to widen.

Veer Option and Inverted Veer

Meyer's early offense's also ran veer option from the 'gun.

Unlike zone read which, as Chris Brown notes, "it is simply a traditional zone play to one side with an improved bootleg (because it’s a read rather than a call in the huddle) on the backside," veer is a true option--meaning that the offense can make the defense wrong every time. The offensive line blocks down, and the QB opens up reads the playside DE, either giving to the dive back or keeping. As diagrammed above, this can also be turned into triple option, either through a second back or motion.

More recently, Meyer's teams increasingly ran 'inverted veer' (along with the rest of college football). I have discussed inverted veer here, and Chris Brown has a fuller discussion here. Though it is referred to by other names, 'inverted veer' is descriptive in that it literally describes the play--it is still veer option, but the quarterback and halfback roles are inverted.

The beauty of this play is that it combines true option with power football. As diagrammed above, the offensive line blocks power but, rather than a fullback kicking out the DE, the end is blocked by being optioned. The offense therefore both stretches the defense horizontally with the halback's route, while also amassing a pulling guard at the point of attack for the quarterback's inside route. As Brown notes, like with speed option, for teams that run power this play takes little time to install, yet gives the defense an entirely different look.

Meyer will also build "slice routes" into the veer for the quarterback if the defense is cheating, again to constrain the defense.

Crazy Option, aka Shovel Triple Option

Perhaps no play is more associated with Meyer than the shovel triple option.

As you will quickly notice, just like with inverted veer, this play is another way to combine power blocking with option football. Here is Chris Brown's description:

The quarterback takes the snap and attacks the end man on the line of scrimmage, typically the defensive end. If the defensive end comes up for him or rushes hard, the quarterback will shovel pass it to the inside player; here, the "H-back."

The backside guard pulls and leads up into the gap; the shovel receiver should follow him into the hole and cut off his block.

If the defensive end crashes down for the shovel man, the quarterback keeps the ball and attacks the outside. The runningback's job is to get into a "pitch relationship" with the QB (five yards outside and one to two yards back) and be ready. The quarterback will pitch off the next defender that shows (usually the strong safety or outside linebacker, though sometimes the free safety). If they take the pitch man the quarterback keeps it.

Conclusion

As I previously discussed (and as Meyer describes above) nearly all these plays were staples of Jim Tressel's offense and other offense's throughout football. Meyer uses the same two run blocking schemes that dominate college and the NFL. What Meyer does well in how they are implemented. He uses motion, fakes, option, and automatic hot routes to constrain the defense. For example, below is a clip of Florida running the triple shovel:

Not only is the option a constraint itself, but Meyer also employs a fake jet sweep to further stretch the defense. In addition, the option and use of the QB as a run threat provide the offense a numbers' advantage for the same base plays.

Under Meyer, look for Ohio State to run these same plays primarily from shotgun , but also under center. Meyer spoke admirably this year of how OSU could provide both looks. For the offense the plays are the same for everyone but the backs, yet makes the defense prepare for two separate schemes. In addition, operating from shotgun and under center provides the benefits of both formations (the shotgun has been discussed above, for under center it provides better play action and downhill run game). But even if under center, Meyer's offense will assuredly have motion, jet sweeps, and automatic bubble screens built in to limit the defense.

But ultimately, Meyer's offense is best described as "power spread," mixing power and option football from the 'gun. I would expect for Meyer and OSU to employ such an offense next fall. Ohio State is fortunate in that it has two versatile players in Jake Stoneburner and Zach Boren that can mix easily between different looks and provide the tight-end/H-Back players that are crucial to Meyer's offense.

Part II: The Meyer passing offense.