We have spent a lot of time talking about the passing game in football, but there is another offensive component to football that can be just as devastating as the passing game: the run game. In its early years football was a running game and it’s most popular play was the Flying Wedge. The Flying Wedge was a play where players interlocked arms and formed a V shape with the ball carrier following behind them. This formation was soon outlawed and thanks to Walter Camp the concept of blocking was introduced and legalized. Now there are as many philosophies on running the ball as there are for passing the ball. Today we will focus on one of the most devastating schemes, the triple option.
Option offenses are based on giving the QB the option to keep the ball himself or hand it off to a running back based on what the defense is doing. There are numerous ways one can run the option, but the most popular and famous is the triple option. A typical triple option play involves the QB, FB, and a half-back. Pat Dye, former Auburn coach, summed up option football pretty well when he said, “When you can eliminate one defender with a read and one with the pitch, if my numbers are right, that puts 11 on nine.1’” The goal of the option is to force the defense to make a decision and then exploit that decision. The height of popularity for the triple option was from the 1960’s to the 1990’s. During this time, teams running some form of a triple option offense would win 11 National Championships in college football.1
The triple option came into being during the 1940’s in the form of the T-formation. Army and Notre Dame used this set to rule college football during the 40’s. After WW2 Bud Wilkinson, OU head coach, would take the T and create the Split-T and use it to turn OU into a powerhouse. Since this time every triple option has it’s roots in the Split-T. The most famous triple option offense is the Wishbone. The Wishbone was invented by Emory Bellard at the University of Texas in 19682 and it quickly became the offense of choice for teams that wanted to run the ball. The Wishbone has been used by football teams on all levels and has had a devastating effect on the game of football. The Wishbone formation makes use of the basic triple option principles, but moves the half backs into a split formation behind the full back. A typical triple option play would look like this:
- The QB takes the snap and if they don’t pick up the FB he gives it to him.
- If the defense picks up the FB, the QB keeps the ball and moves down the line of scrimmage. The play-side defensive end is left unblocked on purpose. If he attacks the QB, the QB will pitch the ball to the half back.
- If the defensive end comes up the field and attacks the pitch-man, the QB turns up the field and runs with the ball.
As you can see from the above play the wishbone, triple option is a very simple but devastating play.
OU averaged 472 yards rushing during the 1971 season and twice scored over 50 points in a game while using the wishbone.
Today the wishbone has morphed into what has been termed the Flexbone. The Air force Academy and Rice University are the two places that the flexbone was developed and rose to prominence. In the Flexbone the half backs move from the backfield into a wing back position. It uses motion and a balance between the run and pass to be effective. By splitting the half backs out you force the defense to respect the vertical passing threat that they now represent.3 The base Flexbone formation looks like this:
The triple option works the same way just with the added element of motion by the wingbacks(A,Z). Recently, Georgia Tech and the Naval Academy have used the Flexbone to achieve success. Both of these schools are small for Division I schools and have very tough admissions standards. Their coaches have found a scheme that has made it possible for them to compete and be competitive without having a team full of blue-chip recruits.
Much like the passing game the run game has changed a great deal over the course of time and coaches have continued to innovate and find ways to exploit the defense. The triple option much like the Air Raid has leveled the playing field. The triple option is not a gimmick but a deadly offensive philosophy that has stood the test of time.
References
1History of Option Football - the beginning. (2009). Retrieved February 28, 2016, from http://compusportsmedia.com/the-history-of-option-football-the-beginning/
2American Football
Monthly - Triple Option Means Triple Threat. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28,
2016, from http://www.americanfootballmonthly.com/Arena/NS_Magazine/Current/clinic01.h
3Inside the Clemson
Offense: The Wishbone to the Inverted Wishbone. (2011). Retrieved February 28,
2016, from http://www.shakinthesouthland.com/2011/7/11/2265209/inside-the-clemson-offense-the-wishbone-to-the-inverted-wishbone
4Football is Life:
The Flexbone Offense-Philosophy, Myths and Things to Consider. (n.d.).
Retrieved February 28, 2016, from
http://footballislifeblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-flexbone-offense-philosophy-myths.html
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