I'm no football guru, but don't we have this wrinkle in our option?

[NorCalDawg]

Seems like I've seen us hit Jameon on this kind of play a couple of times, or at least it looked similar to what is being described in the article below. I'm just not enough of a student of the game to say for sure.

One part of the article highlights Ole Miss' use of the play-option-pass (POP). I may be completely misunderstanding this, but from what I can tell from this article the biggest difference between the pop pass and play-option is a second level read.

Interested to hear the experts on this board weigh in.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/8/20/6044003/read-option-pass-play-football-xs-os-diagrams

This is a good read, BTW. Especially for people as myself who are wanting to learn more about the game.

ETA: the article interviews Manny Diaz and goes into defenses against the pop pass play, too.

[tenureplan]

Seems like I've seen us hit Jameon on this kind of play a couple of times, or at least it looked similar to what is being described in the article below. I'm just not enough of a student of the game to say for sure.

One part of the article highlights Ole Miss' use of the play-option-pass (POP). I may be completely misunderstanding this, but from what I can tell from this article the biggest difference between the pop pass and play-option is a second level read.

Interested to hear the experts on this board weigh in.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/8/20/6044003/read-option-pass-play-football-xs-os-diagrams

This is a good read, BTW. Especially for people as myself who are wanting to learn more about the game.

ETA: the article interviews Manny Diaz and goes into defenses against the pop pass play, too.



The OL can't go to the 2nd level to block without an inneligible receiver penalty, so the safeties must see this and adjust to stop the pass option instead of coming in to stop the run.

[SheltonChoked]

We do. Mullen talked about it with McElroy during media days. Talked about a read option play where dak made the right read on the run option but missed mojo wide open because the safety cheated up in run support.

[War Machine Dawg]

We do. Mullen talked about it with McElroy during media days. Talked about a read option play where dak made the right read on the run option but missed mojo wide open because the safety cheated up in run support.

Yep. But he also said that you don't want so much going on that your QB is having to think too much. It'll be interesting to see how much of this we've incorporated this season. Also, the refs are going to be under even more pressure now on the "illegal man/ineligible receiver downfield" rule. Now y'all are seeing why we've prized speed on D so much. Guys like Matt Wells & Beni really let you be flexible against this stuff.

[TXDawg]

I'm no football guru, but the OM and OU plays called out in that article looked much more like a standard play-action pass than the play-option pass that the article was discussing. In both of those plays, the QB never showed the QB run fake. They just didn't hand the ball to the RB.

Also, didn't Meyer & Mullen essentially invent this play at Florida with Tebow's "Jump Pass"? It doesn't seem that Malzahn did anything "new" or "innovative" with that play except extend the run fake by having Marshall run more of a sweep than off-tackle.

[Political Hack]

he said Dak made the right choice, not the best choice. that's what they're focused on this year. and it's going to be huge if it pays dividends. That's actually something Bo Wallace does a great job at. he knows how to distribute the football, he just has a noodle arm and no inside running threat to hand of to.

[War Machine Dawg]

I'm no football guru, but the OM and OU plays called out in that article looked much more like a standard play-action pass than the play-option pass that the article was discussing. In both of those plays, the QB never showed the QB run fake. They just didn't hand the ball to the RB.

Also, didn't Meyer & Mullen essentially invent this play at Florida with Tebow's "Jump Pass"? It doesn't seem that Malzahn did anything "new" or "innovative" with that play except extend the run fake by having Marshall run more of a sweep than off-tackle.

Re-read the article and the first few comments. I got confused by that at first, too. Yes, it looks like a standard play-action pass play. The "tell" is in how the OL blocks. If you re-watch those plays, the OL blocks it like a run play. That's how you know it's a POP versus the standard play-action. In fact, the OL believes it's a running play, because they have no idea if the QB is going to give, keep, or pass. It all depends on the multiple reads the QB has to process post-snap.

They also specifically mentioned Meyer (and by inference Mullen) using some of these concepts with Tebow at Florida. They aren't saying Malzahn was the first to do it. They're using it as a starting point for the larger conversation about how offense is evolving.

[preachermatt83]

he said Dak made the right choice, not the best choice. that's what they're focused on this year. and it's going to be huge if it pays dividends. That's actually something Bo Wallace does a great job at. he knows how to distribute the football, he just has a noodle arm and no inside running threat to hand of to.


haha! Noodle arm Bo!

http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131019233314/imotwom/images/c/ce/Noodle_arms!.gif

[TXDawg]

Thanks for the explanation WMD. Not sure I have the vision to recognize the nuances of the OL blocking scheme. Your comments make it much more clear.

[War Machine Dawg]

Thanks for the explanation WMD. Not sure I have the vision to recognize the nuances of the OL blocking scheme. Your comments make it much more clear.

No problem. It's definitely tricky to see. Basically, look to see if the OL fires forward off the ball or if they "drop" into classic pass pro. If they fire off, but the QB winds up throwing, it's a POP play. If not, it's pure play-action.