“The Quad Option”
Rick Martin - Offensive Line Coach - South
Pointe HS - Rock Hill, SC
About six years ago, while looking at some plays from the
“Maryland I”, I thought why not run a “quadruple option”.
This play would have the fullback dive to one side and the quarterback
open to him, then reverse direction with the middle back diving and the
tailback getting in pitch relationship (Diagram 1). Obviously the quarterback
cannot read a quadruple option, however it would give the defense four
players to account for. At this point I thought it was intriguing, but
probably not very practical.
Four years ago we used a gimmick play (Diagram 2) off of this package
to score a touchdown in a big game. We got in the “Maryland I”
for this play, but our base offense was the double slot option, similar
to what Paul Johnson ran at Navy and now runs at Georgia Tech. I really
had not given the idea much thought until I was looking through a couple
of old playbooks during the 2006 season and saw a play where the slot
back goes in motion until the ball is snapped and then dives back to the
same side he started on. The rest of the backfield fakes the inside veer,
and then the quarterback reverses and takes the ball to the slot back.
Since we were looking for ways to get our slot backs the ball running
downhill, we started toying with the idea. I do not know if anybody has
done this before, but we had never seen it. We already ran a sally style
trap (Diagram 3) to the slots, but had a problem against teams with an
outside linebacker who could crash down and make the play because we were
outnumbered. To remedy that, we decided to bring the other slot back around
in pitch relationship and hold the outside linebacker with the threat
of the quarterback and slot.
We run a lot of triple option, so this play is a counter off of that.
Of course we call the play, trap or keep. We really do not have four options,
but the defense still has to defend them all. We ran the trap play (Diagram
4) for an average of 10.3 yards per rush and 5 touchdowns. As you can
see, it very quickly became a valuable part of our offense. It is especially
effective in that it goes away from the motion which many defenses key
on in an offense like ours. It took several more weeks of practice time
to get the keep play (Diagram 5) down pat. It requires precise timing
and aiming points to get all players where they need to be. We did end
up running the keep play several times this season averaging 11 yards
per play.
Teaching the Trap & Keep
We always run this as a long trap. The pulling lineman
will trap the first defensive lineman head up or outside of our play side
offensive tackle. The play side tackle will attack his inside gap. If
there is a down lineman there, he will look to double with the play side
guard and they will combo to a linebacker. The play side guard will attack
any down lineman that is covering him on his outside half and execute
a combo with the play side tackle as previously mentioned. If the play
side guard is covered by an inside shade, he will have the man by himself,
so he must get his head across and not allow penetration. Finally if the
play side guard is uncovered, he will look to get a push on the nose guard
and then attack to the linebackers.
The center will block any nose guard and make sure not to allow penetration
to the backside, which would disrupt our pulling lineman. If the nose
plays straight up or goes play side, he will combo with the guard. If
the center is uncovered but has a down lineman in his backside gap, he
will cut that player, making sure to get his head across. If the center
is uncovered with no down lineman in his backside gap, he is responsible
for the backside linebacker. The backside guard will pull into the line
and kick out the “trap man”. The backside tackle will execute
a cutoff block through his inside gap. If the pulling guard has an outside
shade, the backside tackle must attempt to get his head across this down
lineman and cut him.
The play side slot back will go in motion, plant and turn sharply on the
snap of the ball, and attack the inside hip of the play side tackle. We
use a rhythmic snap count so that our players our stepping with the snap
of the ball and the quarterback’s “hut”. This allows
us to teach the slot to anticipate the snap and plant with it. He will
be sure to make a pocket and “run his track” until he secures
the football. The quarterback reverses out, takes the football to the
play side slot, and carries out an option fake. The fullback runs his
option track a gap wider to the backside and blocks anything coming off
the end. The backside slot must “bust it” to run through the
fullbacks waist (in his stance) and get past the quarterback and into
pitch relationship. The receivers block man on.
The keep play is run with basically the same rules with only a few adjustments.
The pulling lineman will now get more depth and “invite” the
“trap man” inside so he can log him, turn him in so the quarterback
can get outside. The play side slot must make a great ball fake and run
into the line. We teach him that if he does not get tackled, he is not
making a good enough fake. The quarterback will get a step deeper, ball
fake to the play side slot, and attack downhill looking to pitch off of
the force player. The backside slot must be ready, because against certain
fronts the pitch can come very quickly.
This package was very valuable to us and will be an even larger priority
in coming years. Even with speedy slot backs, running plays that have
them going sideways can only be so effective. The trap play allows us
to get our playmakers the ball going straight ahead where making one defender
miss can equal big yards. We had big plays of 59, 31, 31, and 21 yards
this season on the trap play. The keep can also get big yards when you
have begun hurting a defense with the trap. You want to call the keep
when they begin crashing down to stop the trap with their outside defenders.
We were able to get ten yards or more on the keep play several times this
year as it compliments the trap quite well.
