Football Defense Cover 0 Variations

Northwestern will play some cover 0, straight man on the backend with 3 underneath rat players. The 3 underneath defenders will not blitz but be responsible for zone underneath help. They play this in various situations on the field, but liked it especially in the red zone in 2020.

Here's a clear picture. They play cover 0 vs Iowa with 4 secondary players in man to man. The LB's have hook/curl and underneath help.

They played the coverage vs Wisconsin in 2020.They had success with the coverage and it was an integral part of their defense. 

 

Clemson will play some 3 under technique with straight man coverage on the backend. It is an excellent philosophy to get man coverage on 3rd and short situations while getting the linebackers to help on some of the shallow crossing and mesh routes in those situations.

Some teams will run cover 0 without help but this technique gives you a 4 man rush with 3 underneath defenders. 

101 and 25 min mark

Here are 2 examples of the concept vs Boston College in 2019

Oklahoma State was another team that utilizes the coverage under Jim Knowles. They play it with a mug look at times in 3rd down situations and as part of their base package.

Vs Texas Tech

3rd and 5

presnap cover 0 mug pressure look

post snap cover 0 but only blitz 4. The LB have zone underneath help as DB forcing everything to the inside.  Most college teams will play with a free safety with this kind of look but Knowles is aggressive and plays it with zero middle of the field safety help.

Cover 0 with pressure.

vs Notre Dame

Mike Hankwitz brings a nice inside LB blitz with the safety with the DT dropping to the hook as a rat defender. They almost get the pick on the play.

Cover 0 same  pressure vs Wisconsin

Northwestern vs Wisconsin

These are just some of the cover 0 concepts you will see at the college Level. 

Great run and pass plays every offense should have vs Man coverage

 Run Game-

1 really like 3 plays vs man to man

1. Speed option

2. Pin and pull

3. Toss Toss/wide zone with  Crack blocking- you often get a 2 for 1 blocking on the perimeter  off toss crack type plays. Can also run pin and pull but you need something on the perimeter vs man concepts. 

4. jet sweep with zone slice the other way. Very effective vs teams that spin with motion and run man concepts without combo underneath coverage.

1. 3x1 speed option to the boundary

This is an important play to have vs teams that play man to man. You can either motion to it or line up 3x1. You often get only 3 run defenders to that side so it's an easy pitch read and effective play vs man to man. You can easily run off the cb with the WR.

Speed option to the boundary:

2. Pin and Pull

 11 personnel

They knew they were getting cover 1 so they run it to the boundary. They get nice 2 for 1 with the WR cracking on the LB. They also know Ohio State was trying to spill and sending the DE down hard. It allowed the guard to not even block him(read key) and get on the edge with the nice toss crack scheme.

3. Toss Play

12 personnel- TOSS PLAY

Play variation, they toss it and block pin and pull.

Motion man cracks on the de

On ball TE blocks and cracks 2nd level. 

LT and Center pull after TE seals the edge

The 2nd time they run it they do it out of 12 personnel with a flexed TE and off ball TE in twins. They get man coverage. Hard to crack replace when in man coverage. 

11 personnel.

Same play as earlier. This time with the H Back in motion. Nice design, different look, but pre snap motion tells the offense it's man coverage. They get a 2 for 1 on the Edge with the crack vs man coverage.

Here are 5 versions of how they attack the boundary with their pin and pull blocking scheme.

4. Jet sweep Slice
UCLA Offense:
Jet with wide zone off slice blocking to the opposite side.
Here you get jet motion followed by a slice blocking scheme. Very effective when going against a team that runs man coverage concepts with secondary spinning.

Here's 2 clips of the play. Jet/Slice Zone

Pass game

2. Using the RB out of the backfield off pick/rub routes. Great vs man to man sending the back to the opposite side of the formation. Tough to defend in traffic.

3rd and 3

The Packers do it vs the Patriots 2x2. They get the rub and easily completion vs the Patriots who are notorious for their man free concepts.

Nice design and rub with the 2 slants for the RB as the primary receiver.

Utah free releases the RB vs the double dog blitz. Again opposite side of the back.

The nice thing about the route design is their are probably peel rules in place for a de to pick up the back. But the back releases inside so no one peels and takes him and he 's wide open for a 5o yard gain. If the back swings on this the DE would see him and pick him up. 

motions back in backfield, LB comes back, easy pre snap man to man read for the qb.

Bring the double dog pressure. RB releases across the formation inside the DE.

QB avoids the pressure and hits it for a 52 yard gain.

 The QB avoids the pressure and their is no one on the back. 

Notre Dame vs Oklahoma  State

Oklahoma State is known for their cover 0 pressures. They bring 7 and someone messes up the responsibility on the RB. 

Notre Dame sneaks the back out opposite down the middle of the field and he's wide open.

It's a simple 4 vert concept which is good if Oklahoma State runs it's cover 2 or zone, or if man the back should be open. They hit the back.

Wisconsin Crack Screen

This crack screen is mostly run vs 3x1 with some type of man coverage on the backside. Excellent play to run vs those type of coverages. The WR will crack on the man covering the running back, and the tackle will block the CB. Easy play and design to run as it takes advantage of angles and leverage.

Wisconsin runs it for a nice 20 yard gain.

Here Maryland runs a crack screen swing route with the RB, easy play to run on those 3rd and 5 situations.

They go empty, get the presnap read and play they want and then run the swing route vs man free coverage. 

Stack Formations and Rub Routes

Maryland does a great job of using leverage from stack/condensded  formations vs man coverage.

Here you see a nice slant concept they ran 2x vs man in their Penn State matchup. They ran this play 2x for 102 yards. One was a 62 yard touchdown, the other was a 42 yard touchdown.

Example #1 

Example #2

UNC Rub Route 

UNC comes out and checks to the wheel route as Notre Dame gives them man free coverage. Easy presnap read as Notre Dame has #1 and 3 in a man alignment. 

UNC runs a wheel route by #3 with a pick from #1 and #2. Nice design by Luongo.

These are just some of the man concepts you should incorporate into your offense.