The Trojan Horse: How Troy University Outsmarted WKU with a Clever Screen Pass
In football, the running back is often your go-to playmaker, crucial in nearly any situation. Troy University’s strategic use of their running back against Western Kentucky in 2023 demonstrates this perfectly. Today, we’ll dive into how Troy brilliantly adjusted their game plan to exploit WKU’s defensive tendencies, leading to key plays and ultimately, a victory. Let’s break it down!
Both offenses utilized zone or split zone as their primary run plays. However, for pass protections, Troy used a heavy dose of Full Slide protection with the H-back and running back protecting the opposite edge.
Throughout the first half, WKU brought 6- or 7-man pressures on every 3rd down, almost always from the field. Since Troy’s running back was in the protection, this triggered the 7th man as an add on to the pressure. This is commonly referred to as “green dogging” the back. Realizing this, Troy made a halftime adjustment designed to exploit this situation in the second half.
Q3 | 12:20 | 3rd & 7
With 12:20 left in the 3rd, Troy faced a 3rd and 7 at the WKU 35-yard line from the left hash. Based on the first-half tendencies, they expect a field pressure (from offense’s right).
Troy starts from an empty formation with the running back into the boundary. They do this to identify any man coverage and set up a rub concept for the running back crossing the formation.
Troy motions their back to the near side of the quarterback, again in full slide protection (left). The running back releases into the opposite flat avoiding contact with the defensive blitzers and gets into the flat clean. Notice that the receiver duo to the field play slow and through the defense to create a downfield screen. The offensive line has no concern with the screenplay and pushes toward the boundary to create movement and reaction from the linebackers in the box. The running back is on the receiving end of an easy pitch-and-catch and turns it into a 16-yard gain and first down.
Run game, pass protections, and screens should all be married from the same concept to give the same look but different results for the defense. This prevents the defense from picking up on tendencies.
Q4 | 12:49 | 3rd & 5
In the 4th quarter, Troy is backed up on a 3rd and 5 in the middle of the field. Once again, they show empty, motion the running back to the near side, and release him on the screen.
Notice a couple of things during this play. First, there was a simulated pressure, bringing only 4, on this particular 3rd down. After running a ton of pressure on 3rd down for the previous three quarters, WKU was more tentative bringing pressure here after Troy’s earlier screen on 3rd down. Additionally, #10 for the Hilltoppers is more cognizant of the back and chases him down across the field, which was a nice adjustment for WKU.
This pattern screams for the offense to make an adjustment and work the seam in soft coverage later. It always helps to understand what the defense’s adjustment was and refocus your efforts to attack their new weakness. Every defense has a weakness, and it’s our job to find it and attack!
Q4 | 7:45 | 3rd & 5
With about 7:45 left in the 4th quarter, Troy faces another 3rd down situation with the ball on the left hash. They motion the Y into a wing position and show full slide protection. At this point, WKU is keen on defending the screen, so they bring a firezone pressure and try to drop into the passing lanes. They are particularly keying the running back, who stays in protection this time. The pressure is now run directly into the full slide, which is exactly what Troy wants. Troy shows the same backfield action, but this time they work to the slot in the seam for a huge 3rd down conversion to keep the pressure on WKU.
Q4 | 2:21 | 3rd & 7
Late in the 4th quarter, the game is on the line with 2:21 left. Troy is backed up on their own 28-yard line for 3rd and 7 from the left hash. To seal the game, Troy must get the first down.
Troy lines up in empty and motions the running back to the near side of QB again. WKU looks to bring a defender over in man coverage for the back off of motion, even reloading to the side of the offense Troy has run these screens to. I’m not sure if it was a called pressure or if he decided late to rush the open lane, but he aggressively rushed the quarterback, leaving the running back an alley behind him on the screen. Not only does this result in a Troy first down, but they also gain 25+ yards and all but seal the victory for the Trojans.
Conclusion
Troy was calculated when they called this screen: always on 3rd down, always to the field, and for the most part, into defensive pressure where WKU was vacating the flat. Troy was able to marry a zone scheme, full slide protection, and a screen pass into a nice package of plays.. This allowed them to control the defense on 3rd downs and force WKU out of their game plan.
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