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AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


The Final Four

Can you snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at the last minute? Only if you practice.
by: Bill Unsworth
Head coach, Franklin College
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As coaches, we want to be prepared for every situation that may happen during a game. One of those situations is having 30 seconds left on the clock, one or no timeouts, and needing a field goal or touchdown to win or tie.

How many times will this happen to you? It's only happened to me once - in the 1992 NAIA I national championship game between Gardner Webb University and Central State (Ohio). I was offensive coordinator for head coach Woody Fish at Gardner Webb. I wish I could tell you that we drove the ball 80 yards for the winning touchdown or tying field goal. We didn't.

However, all the players and coaches felt confident we could do it. Our drive ended when we gave up two sacks to a future first round NFL draft choice, after driving into Central State's territory.

This is where proper planning helped lessen the stress that we faced and helped us get in a position to win. Before we went out, one of our players said, "We practice this every week, let's go out and do it for real!" Ever since then, with every team I have coached, we practice the Final Four (the last four plays of the game) in training camp and work on it twice a week during the season

Some things are certain

In this situation, time is more important than yards. And, we know when the clock stops. When there's an incomplete pass, when the ball goes out of bounds or when there's a timeout, the clock starts on the next snap. When there's a first down, a measurement for the first down, an injury, or a head coach's conference, the clock starts on the official's signal.

The defense knows this as well. So, you can be pretty certain, that the defense will not give up the big play. All deep zones will have people in them, the middle of the field behind the linebackers should be open. Further, when tackling, the defense will not let you go out of bounds and they will protect the sidelines so you don't catch the ball and run out of bounds.

Most of the time the defense won't blitz. However, all receivers and quarterbacks must follow blitz reads. Further, the defense will be in no hurry to get off the pile. You must get up quickly and get back to the line of scrimmage for the next play.

The only time the defense will risk a pass interference penalty is to prevent a touchdown. Your players should be able to catch the ball. The defense will make sure of the tackle, but may not try to strip it.

The all-important "Mayday" call

"Mayday" is one of the most important aspects of our Final Four and Two-Minute Drill. It's when the quarterback takes the snap and grounds the ball to stop the clock. We remind our players that the rule requires seven men on the line of scrimmage and that everyone must be set for a count.

Therefore, it isn't important that we align in one of our regular formation. We have all seen time being wasted by players getting into a proper formation. If we have a running back that is 10 yards behind the ball what does it matter? All we want is at least seven men on the line, if there are more then no harm is done. Remember, time is important! We can sacrifice a down to save time!

After you gain a first down, you probably either have no timeout remaining or have one left and are saving it. After second down, the clock is still running. After third down, the clock is still running, so your players should look to the coach for a play signal.

Here's what we tell our players: know the plays; hustle up from the pile, be in a hurry, but under control; make sure you are set and that we have seven men on the LOS; catch the ball; secure the ball; get a first down; get out of bounds, and if you can't get out of bounds and you can't get a first down go down! Time is off the essence.

The quarterback, meanwhile, is told that on first, second and third down do not take a sack or force the ball (intercept)! Throw it away! Also, any plays that have motion, he should align in Trips formation. And, because time is critical, go on a quick cadence.

If you need a field goal to tie or win you must know the effective range of your kicker and where he wants to kick from (the middle, right or left hash). Make sure the last play gets you there.

How to call the plays

Huddle the offense around the coordinator and get the play call. The offense then runs out on the field and executes the called play as quickly as they can. At the end of the play, follow the rules. If the clock stops, then huddle and get a new play. If the clock is running, call "Mayday" and stop the clock.

After second down with the clock still running, the quarterback should get the team to the line of scrimmage and look to the coach for the "Mayday" or one of the play signals. Calling a play and not stopping the clock may force the defense to go to a base defense or may shake them up so that they make an incorrect defensive call. Whatever they do, don't give them much time to make a decision.

After third down with the clock running, we cannot call "Mayday." If we have a timeout left then we may want to use it. The quarterback must know where the referee is (he is aligned behind and to the side of the offense) so he can run to him as soon as the whistle is blown, stopping the play. The quarterback should give him the timeout signal if the clock is still running.

If we don't have a timeout left, we must get to the line of scrimmage as quickly as possible and get a play number from the sideline. Run the play and get the first down or touchdown.

If there is a very short yardage situation and we run a quarterback sneak and get the first down, we align quickly and run a "Mayday." All players must realize this and must hustle to get aligned correctly.

Special plays for the Final Four

The plays we choose to use in the Final Four are regular plays in our offense. We give them numbers that we use only in this situation. These plays are chosen to attack the defenses we most frequently face.

The prevent defenses we usually see are three-man rush, with a Cover 2 underneath coverage, and a three-deep alignment. The three-deep may be a Cover 2 look with a nickel back in the middle, or a traditional three-deep alignment. We must remember that all blitz rules apply!

Play No. 1: Quarterback Sneak, this is used only when we must get a first down and there is very short yardage. After we get the first down, run Mayday!

Play No. 2: (Diagram 1) Our offensive line provides base protection. The playside wide receiver aligns two yards inside the numbers and runs a 10-yard out. The playside wing (R pushes upfield, looking "hot." If the outside linebacker blitzes, look for the ball up the seam. If there's no blitz, then run a corner route at 15 yards. If there is someone in the corner area then find the open area and gear down in it. If there is man coverage, keep running.

Meanwhile, the backside wing (L) releases to the outside on an angle that will get you eight yards deep on top of the numbers. He should push back inside at an angle working to first-down depth. He should find the open area and gear down in it. If there is man coverage, keep running.

The backside wide receiver runs at an angle inside getting three yards outside the hash and eight yards deep as quickly as he can. Push up to twelve yards and, based on the coverage, run a dig or a post. If running the dig, if it is man coverage, keep going. If zone coverage, gear down in the open area. The superback (S) should go to blocking assignment playside, if no one shows, hen release upfield, eyeball the quarterback and mirror him if he starts to run, get to first down depth.

Have the quarterback take a five-step angle set up (Jet Setup), read OLB for a blitz. If there's no blitz then look at the playside wideout, the playside wing, the backside wideout, or the backside wing. If no one is open and there's no time left on the clock, tell him to make something happen with his athletic ability. If there's a little time left and it's not fourth down, tell him to throw it away.

Play No. 3 (Diagram 2) Again, the offensive line provides base protection. The playside wide receiver aligns three yards inside the numbers, takes an outside release to the numbers at 10 yards, pushes back inside at an angle. If there's man coverage, he should keep going hard inside. If it is zone coverage, then he should find an open area and gear down in it. The middle trips receiver (L) aligns two yards inside the hash, takes an outside release and looks for a "hot" read. If there's no blitz, then he should run 12 yards on a corner route. Tell him not to gear down - keep going.

Inside trips receiver (R) aligns a yard off the tackle, releases straight up the field, looking for blitz and a "hot " read. If there is no "hot" throw, then he should keep going deep. He should look for the ball if the middle magically opens up. The superback (S) releases straight at the corner, who is covering the playside wide receiver, looks over his outside shoulder for the ball and mirrors the quarterback if he runs. The backside wide receiver aligns at the numbers, runs a 10-yard post and aims at the safety.

The quarterback should jet set up to the trips, look for blitz and then look to the middle receiver on the corner route, the playside wide receiver on the post and the superback. If there is time and downs, he should make something happen or throw it away.

Play No. 4 (Diagram 3) The offensive line again provides base protection. The wide receiver to the trips should align two yards inside the numbers and run a streak. The middle trips receiver (L) should align five yards away from the inside receiver, look for blitz and a "hot" throw. If there isn't a blitz, then he should push up to twelve yards and run a breaking route to the inside. If there's man-to-man coverage, he should keep going; if zone, gear down in the open area.

The inside trips receiver (R) should align one yard off the tackle and look for blitz. If there's no "hot" throw, he should push up to 15 yards and run a corner route and keep running! The superback (S) should align slightly to the side away from the trips. He should release to the signal receiver if blitz shows pick it up. If not, run at the corner. The wide receiver away from the trips should run a 10-yard post, looking for the ball off the break.

The quarterback should jet set up to the signal receiver side. (If you get a blitz pre-read, then straight drop back five steps and throw "hot.") His orders should be: 1) get the ball to the wide receiver off his post break; 2) readjust your feet and look to the middle receiver; 3) hit the inside receiver on the corner, or, 4) if there is time and downs remaining, just make something happen.

Practicing for the Final Four

We work on the Final Four twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, during the season. Monday is a great day to work on this aspect of the game. We do this at the end of practice and it gets us running and we finish on an upbeat note. Regardless of the outcome of the previous week, we finish with a score to win the "game." The Final Four is the second to last play we work on during Thursday's practice, (the "Hail Mary" play is the last). Again, it lets us end practice on a positive note.

When we practice the Final Four and the Two-Minute Drill we always go against air. We used to use a "demo defense," or our No. 1 defense. We found that it wasn't productive enough and took too much time in the drill. We always had problems getting the "demo defense" aligned correctly and our Prevent Defense wasn't what we were going to face. After I saw the Atlanta Falcons in a pre-season practice working against air with their Two-Minute Drill, I decided that going against air would be more productive.

We have three offensive coaches on the field. The first coach lines up behind and to the side of the offense. He is the timekeeper and checks to make sure all are set. The second coach is the lined up on the LOS. He checks to make sure that there are seven men on the LOS and that all are set. After the play has been run he sets the ball for the next play. The third coach lines up at first down depth in the middle of the field. He alone determines if a first down has been gained.

Most of the time we don't have anyone on the chains. It takes too much time to set them and we want to force our players to get set quickly. The coach who is the timekeeper determines when the chains are set. I tell the coaches on the field to be as picky as possible. The coach who spots the first down should always rule against us when it's close. The same goes when the ball is caught on the sideline. If it's close, then it's out of bounds.

When we have experienced players we can sped things up and make things tough on them. We can put them in difficult situations that they may face in a game. There have been times early in the season where we don't allow them to score. This serves as a lesson that if we don't perform correctly we won't succeed. We may be going against air but our opponents are lack of time, the coaches on the field, and our lack of execution. If we have young players in we can slow it down, ease up a bit and make sure that they have success in this drill.

We script this drill at times to make sure we cover various situations that we may be face. Most of the time we will not script it because it serves as a training exercise for the coach calling the plays. He is forced to make the correct call in a pressure situation. The whole offense gets into a "us against them" (against the coaches on the field) mentality which helps enliven practice.

Field goal hot

The last part of our Final Four drill is not done until Friday's practice. Again, I stole this from another coach, Randy Awrey, then head coach at Lakeland College, who is now at Saginaw Valley State. We have a period where we are going up and down the field against air with the No. 1 offense. The ball is placed on the 15-yard line after a first down, there are ten seconds left in the game and the clock is running.

The field goal team is on the sideline and as soon as the ball is whistled ready to play everyone on the sideline starts yelling, "Field goal hot!" I begin the count down, "10, 9, 8,..." The team must run onto the field, get set and kick the field goal before I get to zero. This is the last thing we do at Friday's practice and we end up on a positive note. If the field goal is missed, a penalty is called on the defense and, since a game can't end on a defensive penalty, we kick again.

We may never be in these situations, but if we are we have worked on them and will feel no extra stress if they happen. Our players feel that we are doing our best to cover every situation that may arise. It helps with our Two-Minute Drill and if we are ever forced to go no-huddle we are comfortable with it.






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