SOTG: “I’d Steal That” Pass Run Pass Option

We are still searching the collective universe for cool and creative plays as if we were Thanos tying to amass infinity stones. Can the University of Miami Hurricanes become that elusive 40 point per game offense?

The Ohio State Buckeyes use run pass options. Of course they do. Everyone these days does. However on this one particular play it was a great design to add another element. A tertiary component to the standard run pass option that allowed Justin Fields easy money.

In run pass options it is very common for teams to use the quarterback’s vision for him. A quarterback places the ball in the running back’s belly at the mesh point and naturally his vision is leading him somewhere. That somewhere is when a pass catcher is running a route to day light.

So that is the common. What you notice from OSU how the pre-snap component to add another “sight” pass option away from the confines of the common. What you will notice here is Fields has three options here and not just two.

There is a zone run element, a quick screen to the boundary and a hitch to the field side with the X receiver. This is when the unnecessary slander for Justin Fields was just unwarranted. So many of these reported “first reads” and him being a “one read QB” were lost in the layers.

You have back end quarters coverage, 7 vs 6 in the box, 3 on 3 to the boundary and cushion to the field. That is a lot of information to process before that simple pass can even begin. But this is what the Miami Hurricanes can do.

The defense is simply stretched beyond measure here and the spread forces them to tip their defensive alignment. (Especially with tempo) With a quick glance Fields finds the simple offense and the Buckeyes stay on schedule.

If I am amassing my offensive infinity gauntlet, this RPO stone is in it. Look at all your pass options and see if you can add more. Hello my name is Roman and I like having options as a quarterback. #gocanes