Point-Counterpoint: Goal Line Offense vs. Defense

by: David Purdum
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GAME TIME: INSIDE THE FIVE

West Georgia and San Diego are located 2,103 miles apart. But in today’s transcontinental showdown, only four yards separates these two teams from a big win or disappointing defeat. Trailing by eight late in the game, San Diego has marched inside West Georgia’s five. Harbaugh has all his time outs left, so time is not an issue. Putting the ball in the end zone against a fired-up West Georgia defense is.

Harbaugh: “We’d like to get into two tight ends, two backs and a receiver or we’ll get into a muscle group, which is three tight ends and two backs. We cut our splits down, cut it down to a foot split, and we always use inside footwork and inside hat placement.”

Banko: “If they come out with two tight ends and two backs, then we’re going to change our personnel (normally 3-4 nickel) and go to standard personnel. We’re going to bring at least another defensive lineman in. We’re going to play the tendencies, because in that situation, we know that the percentages are against us but we’re going to take away what they do best. Most people are going to bring in the muscle people, run off-tackle, use the play-action pass and use the naked play that (Harbaugh) did so well as a player.”

TALE OF THE TAPE
Jim Harbaugh Head Coach, San Diego Toreros A balanced, west-coast system with multiple personnel groupings. Hailing from San Diego, this former NFL quarterback is in his third season as head coach of the Toreros. Last year, he led the program to its best season ever with an 11-1 mark that included a PFL championship and a No. 1 ranking among all I-AA Mid-Major programs. A member of the Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor, he produced five All-Americans last season.	Coaches Schools Scheme Experience	Phillip Banko Defensive Coordinator, West Georgia Wolves   A 3-4 with a nickel back Hailing from Carrollton, Ga., this longtime assistant has produced stifling defenses at all levels. He spent three years working under high school legend J.T. Curtis before moving on as a graduate assistant at Miami under Butch Davis. As defensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns, he helped direct a goal-line stand against the Atlanta Falcons, securing a trip to the playoffs.

Harbaugh: “We have a signature play. It’s an iso play. It can go to the wing, tight end or it can go back to what we call the U tight end. We’re going to try and live and die on that play. We believe we can block it verses all fronts and all defensive looks. So we’re going to rep the heck out of that iso play, and then everything will come off of that. The play-action pass, the QB sucker, the naked back to the weak side, we’ll also have that in place. We’ll be able to shift out of that heavy muscle personnel group too.”

Banko: “When we’re in our heavy people, we know the basic pass routes that people are going to try to hit on us and basic ones. We’re going to work on those things. One of the biggest plays that they’ve got in the last five years is what we call the belly-flip, fake to the fullback and then the tailback takes off the backside. You’ve got the strong safety who comes in the box and over commits when he’s not supposed to, into a gap that’s already covered. Now it’s a foot race to get that one yard. We work hard on that play.”

    It’s tough sledding, but San Diego’s signature iso play moves the ball down inside the one-yard line. With three seconds left, it all comes down to this.

FOURTH AND INCHES AT THE GOAL LINE:
QB SNEAK TERRITORY

Harbaugh:  “(With the quarterback sneak) there are two things. We can get our linemen in their tight, pack them in there tight and double the low technique. The line needs to be put in one-foot splits, inside hat placement and inside technique is critical. No exotic snap counts. We do not want a false start penalty when we get inside the five-yard line.

    “The key for the quarterback is to take a step back, so he can see how the double team transpires and pick a hole. Get low; we don’t like our quarterbacks to dive over the top. We’re looking for a double team on the quarterback sneak with our linemen packed in tight. The other thing you can do on a quarterback sneak is not tighten the linemen’s feet down, spread the formation, then again look for that low-technique double team and then run off of that.”

Banko: “It’s the low man that wins. We’re going to tell our guys their nose is going to be on the ground and their butts are going to be in the air. We call it a low-knee run. We’re trying to get up underneath these offensive linemen, and just crawling up and trying to grab a foot. At the same time our linebackers are cheating up to the line, and the mike linebacker is keying. He’s going to have to hit it. We’re going to have to get that push so we might have that chance to go over the top.

    “We’re going to stunt our guys. We’re still going to do the low-knee run, but we’re going to do it at an angle. And we’re going to try to get somebody through.

We’re going to get somebody to make a pile, make the guy have to run a so-called hump, even if it’s a quarterback sneak, so we have a chance to get to him.”
    Just like his coach used to do, San Diego’s gritty quarterback manages to break the plane on the sneak for a touchdown as time expires.

TWO-POINT CONVERSION

    It all comes down to this. The Toreros must go for two to send the game into overtime.

Banko: “We’re waiting to see what their personnel is going to be. If they’re coming out with the muscle people, then we’re going to bring out the muscle people. If they’re coming out with the regular people, then we’re going to play our regular, nickel defense and match-up. But whatever their personnel, we’re going do the same thing out all three personnel groups, whether it’s standard, nickel or goal line.”

Harbaugh:  “A lot of teams on the goal line want to play a picket fence on the goal line. They’re playing quarters coverage. They’re covering seven quarters across the field or they just get into quarters where they’re playing four across the board and other teams like to blitz.”

Banko: “Every defense has a hole. And the good offenses know where that hole is. I’m a big fan of playing picket fence. But they know where the hole is, and I do too. I do like to blitz as well. You’ve got to disguise it, though. You have to show them one thing and bluff them into something. We’re going to show that we’re blitzing and you’re going to bump it into your man deal and we’re going to bump it right back into the quarters coverage and let our athletes go against their athletes and hopefully make a play.”

Harbaugh: “Our philosophy is to be able to beat both the quarters coverage and the blitz. We do it with an audible kill package, where we call a play to beat the quarters zone and we call a play to beat the blitz. So when the quarterback then comes to a line, if he sees the blitz, he can kill it, we can get maximum protection, and we have a man-beater called. If he comes to the line of scrimmage and he has a quarters zone look then he will keep the original play called in the huddle. It’s usually going to be a pass that we’re killing at the line of scrimmage verses zone or man.
 
   “The advantage is ours because we have the last look. We call a man-beater or a zone-beater; we’ve got them both called. It’s a chess game. We feel like that we’re going to call a play that has answers whether it’s zone or man. If we’re a man-blitz beater with protection, there are times that our backs and tight ends are in protection, and if they get the zone look, then they’re out into the route as well.”

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