Winning with Arkansas\' Wildcat Formation: Going to Your Best Athlete

by: Mike Kuchar
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When All-SEC running back Darren McFadden lined up in a shotgun formation directly behind the center in the 2006 SEC Championship Game, the entire Florida defense was surprised, as were the 73,000 fans in attendance at the Georgia Dome. Catching the Gator defense by surprise, McFadden took the snap and connected on a two yard strike with Felix Jones, who was left uncovered in the left flank, cutting the deficit to 17-14. Although the score wasn’t enough to keep the Razorbacks in the game, it was the high point of the 'Wildcat' offense, a system established to showcase the talents of an excellent athlete and take advantage of defenses that couldn’t adjust to the new uncanny scheme.

THE CONCEPT

Truth be told, Arkansas had been using the Wildcat package in numerous key situations throughout the season. In fact, McFadden was 7-9 throughout the year and had three passing touchdowns using the unique formation. It was the product of first year offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, now the co-offensive coordinator at Tulsa. He came to the Razorbacks last season after being one of the most successful high school coaches in Arkansas prep history.

Malzahn knew that McFadden, who was a local product out of the Little Rock area, spent some of his time as a QB in high school. Malzahn had used the formation for over ten years during his stints at Springdale High School and Shiloh Christian High where he won a combined three state championships. He was known for his offensive ingenuity, using the no-huddle scheme to light up the scoreboard, outscoring opponents 664-118. In just one season he had similar results at Arkansas, transforming the Razorback offense from 66th to 20th nationally, while McFadden finished leading the SEC with 147 all purpose yards per game.

The idea behind the Wildcat is to get your best skill players as many touches as possible. Though it may sound simple, the idea often gets overlooked by offensive coordinators. So many times, coaches get wrapped up in drawing up schemes trying to outsmart the guys on the opposite sideline. But the key to victory is often just getting your best player the ball as many times as possible. As the old coaching mantra goes, “it’s the Jimmy’s and Joe’s that win, not the X’s and O’s.” Although Malzahn has since moved on to Tulsa, the Wildcat scheme is still utilized by Arkansas. Why stop a good thing? “It’s not something of great football evolution. It’s just that the guy we snap the football to is really, really, really good,” said Razorback running backs coach Tim Horton. “It’s just a way to get the ball in the hands of your very best player every play whether he’s the QB handing it off or running the ball in a counter scheme or reading a type of option. If you have somebody with great ability making those kinds of decisions, it’s a way to put a lot of pressure on that defense with speed.”

THE PACKAGE

The Wildcat package has its own identity. It’s a separate personnel package that Arkansas will use in various situations – except when they’re backed up in their own end zone. “It’s especially effective in the red zone because you spread people out. You force defenses to cover people often leaving your best player on a one-on-one match up,” said Horton. “A lot of times Darren had just to outrun a safety that was spying him, or he broke a tackle and a four yard gain became a forty yard gain. It helps when you’re dealing with perhaps the best player in college football.”

The base Wildcat formation is an unbalanced set (See Diagram 1). To one side of the center you have a guard and an eligible tight end with a slot receiver, usually backup running back Felix Jones off the line of scrimmage. To the other side of the center, you have a guard and two tackles next to each other with another receiver and your quarterback on the line of scrimmage. The QB is used for any trick plays or deception. Your best player, in Arkansas' case McFadden, is five yards behind center with a fullback directly next to him at the same depth. The unbalanced set is meant to put pressure on the defense, forcing them to make a decision as to what side they will overload. “You put your tight end in the tackle spot so you can see if defenses will change their strength,” said Malzahn. “Teams don’t work on it, so it keeps them off balance. If they start to overload to the tackle side then you have your base runs to the strength like QB power and QB counter. If they shift to the nub side (side with the backside tight end) you have speed sweep the other way. Like any other offense, you have to take what they give you.”

Diagram 1

Although Malzahn had over twelve plays in the Wildcat package, the Razorbacks are now utilizing about four: QB counter, QB power, speed sweep and split zone and a play action pass off each. “We’re trying to expand it and do other things, yet still keep it simple for our kids,” said Horton. “Darren will get the ball three out of five times. He may throw a pass or give it to Felix Jones or even hand it off to the fullback who is standing right beside him. There are other ways to get other people involved.” As far as practice time goes, Horton says that they may often devote an entire offensive session during two-a-days to work on the scheme. But during the season it will just be a matter of rehashing it and touching up the shotgun mesh between McFadden and the center. “We may run five Wildcat plays in team settings. We may run three Wildcat plays during offensive individual practice and then after practice we may polish Wildcat in five minutes and get a total of ten plays. It’s not something we spend a whole lot of time doing during the season because in reality for nine of the eleven players in the offense, the scheme is the same. It just changes for McFadden and the center.”

THE PLAYS

Without question, the most successful play out of the Wildcat package is the speed sweep (See Diagram 2). More often than not, defenses will start to shift to the side of the eligible tight end and Felix Jones, one of the better running backs in the SEC. This is when you counter with speed sweep. “It’s the best play in the system. The offensive line fill zones, blocking an outside zone scheme and the fullback blocks the support player,” said Horton. On cadence, the running back runs full speed across the formation, similar to what a lot of Wing T teams call ‘jet motion’ and gets the ball from McFadden directly on the snap. The play is successful because you have a quick running back hitting top speed by the time he gets the ball and the scheme is the same for the rest of the line. “For nine players on the field it’s just like the outside zone scheme you would run out of one or two backs. It’s different for two guys – the QB and the guy in motion. For everyone else it’s no different. You’re really running the exact same plays in normal situations but now you’re sugarcoating it by putting your best player on the field in the shotgun.”

Diagram 2

Just when teams start to account for the speed sweep, you come back with the QB counter, called Wildcat 7, towards the nub side of the Wildcat formation (See Diagram 3). In this instance, the running back still executes the same motion in an attempt to get the linebackers to overshift. When that happens, McFadden will fake the handoff to the motion man and run the counter scheme. The front side of the play blocks down while the backside guard pulls and kicks out the EMLOS, usually the defensive end. The fullback leads up on the weak side linebacker while McFadden takes the ball up into the B gap, usually only having a safety to beat. “It’s the same scheme that Arkansas runs out of the I formation,” said Horton. “Again for nine people it’s blocked the same way, just a bit of difference for the backs. You’re running the same plays over and over again but running it out of different formations. That is the key to having a good offense.”

Diagram 3

Another one of Arkansas' favorite schemes out of the Wildcat is the split zone scheme, a basic inside zone run (See Diagram 4). Not only do you have a tremendous numbers advantage to the unbalanced side of the formation, with a guard and two offensive tackles to one side, you also have a tremendous size advantage. On this scheme, you would not make use of the slot motion because it would only draw more players to the playside. On the direct snap to McFadden, he would take the ball and run directly down hill. His aiming point is the outside leg of the playside guard and he will read the first down lineman past the center. If he gets any time for a stunt across his face, he will make a jump cut and cut the play back across the field. Again, since McFadden is used to running the inside zone scheme as a tailback in the I formation, it’s nothing new.

Diagram 4

Since Arkansas has had tremendous success developing and implementing the Wildcat scheme, it will only be a matter of time before most teams start to piggyback off the idea. While it may be innovative by nature, both Horton and Malzahn stress the idea of keeping things as simple as possible. Though it is difficult sometimes as a coach to fight the urge to install new schemes or plays, the most effective form of learning is repetition. This is why Mulzahn and Horton feel that the package should just be a changeup to whatever system you run and not the entire basis of the offense.

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