(photo credit: Melina Meyers)
When it was reported that FSU wasn’t going to use an offensive playbook, some in the fanbase bristled. But never fear – while it is simple, it works due to the speed of the offense. That’s the strong point – there are so few base run plays that everything is simplified for the offensive line – the same rules are followed regardless of the defensive front. This article will be similar – simple and fast. Let’s get to it.
Base Loop
This play has many names, depending on the system, like base loop or gut. As you can see, the premise is to hit it right up the gut, or the “A Gap” (Editor’s Note: Gap Assignments can be found here). The rules for the offensive line are simple – block the man across from you while the H-Back folds up and blocks his linebacker at the second level. One move by the running back to make a man miss, and this play goes for a huge gain, as this one does.This is effective under Briles because of the spacing on the field – look at the receivers “spittin’ on the sidelines – which opens up the middle of the field.
To the “Chalkboard”
Above, we’ve drawn out the Base loop with two different fronts – strong right (top) or strong left (bottom). Because the defense played a very vanilla game – as expected in a spring game – and didn’t make major adjustments to counter, this play to exploit the A Gap was a winner all day.
In the top drawing, the play-side guard and tackle have very simple rules – just block the man in front of you, in this case the 3-Technique and the defensive end. Garnet’s H-Back Cameron McDonald (#87) did a wonderful job looping into the A gap and fitting up with the play-side linebacker. In our Discord, we talked about splits giving the offensive line leverage against the defense. The wider the splits for the offensive line on this play, the easier it is to widen the running lanes.
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