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Point-Counterpoint: The Rocket Sweep vs. The 4-4by: David Purdum© More from this issue According to coach Chuck Klausing’s title of his book, he “Never Lost a Game: Time Just Ran Out.” That’s not bad for someone that spent 46 years on the sidelines, including five as Bobby Bowden’s assistant at West Virginia. He’s now a charismatic motivation speaker, who claims to be “31-years-old looking.” The 81-year-old’s specialty is the Wing-T, more specifically jet and rocket motion. C.W. Post defensive coordinator Frank Chimienti’s specialty is stuffing the run. His attacking 4-4 defensive scheme has led Division II in run defense for four consecutive years, allowing less than 43 yards per game. Klausing and Chimienti broke down rocket motion and how to stop it with American Football Monthly...
Breaking down Rocket Motion Chimienti: “Against a wing-T team, our defensive end to the tight end side would be head-up against the tight end in six technique. Our tackle to the tight end side would be in a three technique, outside shoulder of the guard, and we’d have a one technique or two-eye nose tackle with a five-technique backside. “The main thing for our outside linebackers is for them not get out-flanked by the wing or the slot. So they’ll be one-by-four off the slot to the strong side and the wing backside will be one-by-four outside the wing. Our MAC will be in a 20, head-up to guard to the slot side, and the backer will be inside eye of the tackle. The free safety, his original alignment is B gap to the passing strength, but we probably put him in A gap against a Wing-T because you’re going to motion back and forth so fast. We want to have him end up in the B gap to the passing strength side.” Klausing: “The way we would try to block that defense is starting with our tight end. He would reach out on the defensive end.” Chimienti: “Our defensive end is a C-gap player. He’s going to read the reach block and drive the tight end back and read the hip of the tackle. We’re not really worried about getting reached there because we are a C-gap player. We just want to jack our hands up right through, eye to eye and fall off C-gap.” Klausing: “We tell our tight end if that guy [defensive end] tries to run with us and stays in a 9-technique, he has to stay with him. If he goes behind his back, we have him head for your 3-deep halfback. Our wingback is reaching out for your outside backer.” Chimienti: “We’re reading the wing. We consider him No. 2, even though he’s lined up at No. 1. Once he arch releases to us (linebackers), we want to take our inside hand and move it through the V of his neck and keep the outside hand on his tricep. He’s going to be the edge of the defense. He’s going to be our force player.” Klausing: “We’re trying to hook him [outside backer]. If he won’t be hooked, we’re going to try to push him to the outside. “Our tackle and guard align very deep off the line of scrimmage. We’re practically cheating to have them in the backfield. We do a crossover pull with those two people. The tackle is trying to get around and get to the safety man. I would imagine your backer in a 40 technique is pursuing to the play. My tackle pulls if that guy is trying to go in front of my face and I’ve got to block him. If he also would pursue inside, we can pass him up and go for the safety. We don’t care what the guys on the backside do. Our fullback has to stay out of the way. He’s headed toward your short side and he’s going to block your physical chaser. The split end is running some kind of cross. Our quarterback, after the pitch, bootlegs back away." Chimienti: “We’re going to see that motion and are not going to be able to check to any quick coverage. Once he goes in motion it ends up in an I-wing or Brown wing. We’d stay in cover 8. Our 3-technique tackle’s visual key is the guard and his pressure key is the tackle. Obviously with an outside pull, he’s feeling for pressure. He’s going to see both of those guys pull outside, so he’s going to try to bend. We don’t expect him to make a play on a toss there, but once that visual key pulls outside, he’s going to maintain his B gap and try to bend back. “Our 6-technique right there is reading the hip of the tackle. He’s going to get off the ball right in to the tight end and try to drive him back. Once he sees his visual key, which is the tackle pull outside, he’s going to try to come underneath that and try to pick one of those two guys off – hopefully, the guard. “Now usually, if our tackles’ visual key pulls outside and he doesn’t feel any pressure, he’s got to look back inside for influence traps. When we play a Wing-T team, we’ll put one linebacker to a three-man surface side, expecting more the outside pull and belly folds and our MAC linebacker to an open side for more of the belly, iso-type stuff. His reads would be the guard, tackle and tight end. With those two guys pulling outside, he would trigger step and fit right off that hip of that 6 technique. We like to say he’s shaving the hip, so he’s going to fall off nice and tight so we can hopefully take that crease away. “The outside linebacker is reading the wing to the tight. He’s got to be a force player not a contain player. If we use that word contain, we’ll get killed. They’ll just drive us to the sideline and open up a nice crease right there. We need to keep our outside arm free, our inside hand down the midline and we really need to a great force on that wing. Then, our free safety is reading the tight end. If the tight end down blocks and now he becomes an alley-filler, he’s the extra player that falls right in between the backer who’s scraping tight and the whip. We rally him through in that alley. “Backside, our nose will play the A gap. Our MAC now will trigger and scrape and our strike will stay back and be conscious of boot and anything coming out in the flat. He’ll be a vice player, anything back cutting inside.” Klausing: “One of the things we’re telling our ballcarrier, is to have him run parallel along the line of scrimmage, run to the hash, run to the numbers, then turn up the sideline. “If your outside linebacker is beating our wingback and not letting us get to the sideline, our back is taught to cut back. We’ve hopefully created a seam between the outside backer and the 40 backer pursuing. If we can cut back, a seam we want them to cut is outside again. We’re trying to run away from your pursuit.” The Rocket Pass Klausing: “Some teams are having great success with a rocket pass. You make it look exactly like the rocket sweep, same blocking. The wingback that goes out to block your outside backer, and as soon as your outside backer commits to stopping the sweep, he ducks in behind him and runs an arrow route about five yards deep. The tight end, who is crossover pulling outside and tries to go for your 3-deep halfback, runs a banana route on that 3-deep halfback. “Our onside tackle and guard who are pulling quite often get hit in the face with that defensive 6-technique. The linebackers sometimes blitz through that area, so the pulling guard is looking for him. The halfback gets that ball behind the tight end almost pushing it about five yards to that wingback. It almost looks like a fast-break basketball play. The outside backer is either going to stop the pass or the run. And if he stops the run, we’ve got an easy play right behind him. We’re concerned about the halfback getting blown up on real fast, but we have the tight end pulling toward that halfback area.” Chimienti: “We would definitely send our tackle, the SAM’s going and the backer would follow. We’d lose all three of those guys. No question about it. The main thing here for us is our weak-side outside linebacker. If he’s getting blocked, then he’s going to be in a force technique. Through game film, we’d know that we’d have to keep him off a little bit about four yards back. We read the wingback as No. 2, and he’s in cover 8. The outside linebacker has that wing to the flat man-to-man and to an up route. He takes it on any out or wheel route. The free safety is reading the tight end. Any time he sees him go five yards or more vertical, that banana route, the free safety is going to pick him up man-to-man.” 2 Keys to Executing the Rocket Sweep: 1. The timing of the toss: The snap must be a rhythmic motion, for example “down, ready, set, hike.” The motion player begins his movement on “down,” and the ball is snapped on “hike.” The motion player should go behind the fullback. The quarterback reverse pivots and delivers a 2-hand toss to the motion back, who should receive the ball behind the tight end. 2. Block the tight end, the outside linebacker and the free safety: Blockers only have to block people outside the C gap. Success depends on getting the outside linebacker and tight end blocked, with the tackle trying to get to the free safety as well. “Naturally we think if we can block that outside backer and if we can block that halfback and if we can block that safety, we’ve got a touchdown,” said Klausing. 2 Keys to Defending the Rocket Sweep: 1. Defensive end vs. tight end: The defensive end in a 6-technique has to jack up the tight end and try to get some penetration against him so the guard and tackle don’t have a free release. 2. Outside linebacker must get a good force technique on the wing to form a solid edge to the defense. He also forms a cutback lane for the free safety, after reading the tight end, to fill. |
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