09-02-2013, 05:02 AM
Read the S.I. article on Mason teaching NFL defensive coordinators how to stop the spread.
If you don't have time, here's a quick summary.
Stanford spent all kinds of time last offseason before 2012 working on how to substitute its players, and getting them ready for Oregon and other spread teams. Then the Arizona game happened and Mason decided to junk his entire strategy. He went back to the drawing board and basically simplified the defense. Rather than worrying about the pace and substitutions, he focused on what he could control, namely, getting his defense to line up correctly and really hammering on assignment defense.
Against Oregon this means really preparing for the option, which gains much of its success by fooling the defense. Generally speaking, when players are tired, they make mistakes, so adding speed to the spread option is about as tough as it gets for a defense. What Mason did was focus on getting his defenders lined up correctly, and making sure they strictly followed their assignments. Nobody in the front seven deviates from their assignment. You have responsibility for the RB, and it's a handoff (or looks like one), you tackle the RB. Period.Â
Another thing Mason realized was that though his defense couldn't slow down the speed at which the offense can get plays off, it could slow the speed at which it can execute. For example, the option wants to make quick decisions on what to do with the ball. the longer the QB hesitates, the less advantage the option has, and the longer it takes to make a decision the more options evaporate. So instead of angling an outside rusher at a diagonal route to the QB (the fastest route to him), you have the outside rusher run straight upfield, and squeeze down on the QB. The whole key to the read option is reading the DE or OLB. If he attacks the QB, pitch to the RB. If he plays outside run, keep it and run with it. What Mason did was effectively take the read away from the QB, by having the OLB make the QB wait longer to decide what to do.Â
Of course, this is the plan to mitigate the effectiveness of the read option. It has nothing to do with stopping a pass-oriented spread. Generally speaking, the best way to stop a passing spread is to blitz the daylights out of the QB and pound him into submission, while keeping the Safeties deep to prevent long TDs. You give up ground between the red zones, then tighten coverage and rely on the compressed field and pass rush to make it difficult to complete passes. Those teams generally struggle to run the ball, but Arizona with Carey, can. WSU looks a bit stronger on the OL and ran the ball OK in red zone against Auburn this weekend.
Anyway, it's a great article and well worth reading.
Â
If you don't have time, here's a quick summary.
Stanford spent all kinds of time last offseason before 2012 working on how to substitute its players, and getting them ready for Oregon and other spread teams. Then the Arizona game happened and Mason decided to junk his entire strategy. He went back to the drawing board and basically simplified the defense. Rather than worrying about the pace and substitutions, he focused on what he could control, namely, getting his defense to line up correctly and really hammering on assignment defense.
Against Oregon this means really preparing for the option, which gains much of its success by fooling the defense. Generally speaking, when players are tired, they make mistakes, so adding speed to the spread option is about as tough as it gets for a defense. What Mason did was focus on getting his defenders lined up correctly, and making sure they strictly followed their assignments. Nobody in the front seven deviates from their assignment. You have responsibility for the RB, and it's a handoff (or looks like one), you tackle the RB. Period.Â
Another thing Mason realized was that though his defense couldn't slow down the speed at which the offense can get plays off, it could slow the speed at which it can execute. For example, the option wants to make quick decisions on what to do with the ball. the longer the QB hesitates, the less advantage the option has, and the longer it takes to make a decision the more options evaporate. So instead of angling an outside rusher at a diagonal route to the QB (the fastest route to him), you have the outside rusher run straight upfield, and squeeze down on the QB. The whole key to the read option is reading the DE or OLB. If he attacks the QB, pitch to the RB. If he plays outside run, keep it and run with it. What Mason did was effectively take the read away from the QB, by having the OLB make the QB wait longer to decide what to do.Â
Of course, this is the plan to mitigate the effectiveness of the read option. It has nothing to do with stopping a pass-oriented spread. Generally speaking, the best way to stop a passing spread is to blitz the daylights out of the QB and pound him into submission, while keeping the Safeties deep to prevent long TDs. You give up ground between the red zones, then tighten coverage and rely on the compressed field and pass rush to make it difficult to complete passes. Those teams generally struggle to run the ball, but Arizona with Carey, can. WSU looks a bit stronger on the OL and ran the ball OK in red zone against Auburn this weekend.
Anyway, it's a great article and well worth reading.
Â