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AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


Point-Counterpoint: The Two Minute Offense

by: David Purdum
© More from this issue

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Defending the Two-Minute Offense

Baylor vs. Edinboro

Tale of The Tape
Lee Hays

Baylor Offensive Coordinator

First Year

At West Texas A&M, led D-II in passing
offense in 2005, averaging more than 360 ypg.

WTAM was seventh in scoring
and ninth in total offense last fall
Coaches

Schools

Experience

Power Stats
Wayne Bradford

Edinboro Defensive Coordinator

8th Year

2005 Fighting Scots defense led Division II
in total defense

2004 Unit led nation with 42 forced
turnovers, including 30 interceptions.

Does your two-minute drill look more like a Chinese fire drill? Are players scurrying on and off the field in chaotic fashion? Are you having communication problems? Does poise no longer exist on your sideline? You’re not alone. The two-minute drill can be a stressful situation for coaches on both sides of the ball. Baylor offensive coordinator Lee Hays and Edinboro defensive coordinator Wayne Bradford are here to improve both your two-minute offense and defending it.

The Two-Minute Drill

With two minutes to play, Edinboro leads Baylor 23-20. The Bears have the ball on their own 20-yard line with two timeouts in their pocket.

A spread offense afficianado, Hays doesn’t change much in his two-minute offense, except to cut down his playbook. When time is an issue, being good at eight plays, he says, is better than having 58 plays to choose from.

Bradford also reduces his defensive package in a two-minute situation and counters with his base defense to open the series. “There are a lot of teams in their two-minute drill that are going to run on their first play,” said Bradford, who also gauges how big of a running threat the quarterback is. “We’re going to have a run-stopper on that first down.”

If he guesses right and thwarts the running play, Bradford likes to settle into a two-deep zone, unless the offense goes to an empty backfield. “We’ll have a check to an empty set, whether we’re playing a three-man front, playing 5-under, 3-deep against an empty set,” he explained. Seeing the deep zone, Hays emphasizes to his quarterback to remain patient and do not force anything deep. Two minutes with two timeouts is an eternity, he says.

“We don’t want to get in a hurry and take chances to pick up the big chunks,” Hays said. “That’s one of the biggest problems I see is guys trying to force it down field and try to get the 15-yard gains. If you’re moving the chains and hitting the sidelines, you’re in great shape. Obviously, they’ll come back and take away the sidelines so down the pipe opens up a little more. We also like the running back mismatches underneath too.”

Bradford is not overly concerned with keeping the ball in the middle of the field. He figures his two-deep shell with hard corners should protect the sidelines. He is worried about the yards after catch though. “We’re going to be very wary of the smash route, the high/low,” Bradford pointed out. “We’re going to play deep and try to make them throw it in the flat and try to rally up. Definitely, the biggest thing today, as much as they spread you out, is the underneath route that they throw for one or two yards as a crossing route or a check down that ends up being 15-yard gain.”

To disrupt the shorter routes that Hays prefers, Bradford will adjust by having an assigned ‘short dropper.’ “He’ll take away a lot of the drive and underneath routes, take away the check down to the backs, and if it’s a mobile quarterback take care of him as well,” Bradford said. “Really the yards after the catch are the most crucial. If they’re going to throw the ball underneath, we have to come up and make the tackle before they make the first down whether it’s on the sideline or not.”

Even when he sees a “short dropper” being used, Hays insists on not forcing the deep ball. “It depends on what he’s giving me over the top,” he said. “A lot of time you can hear those guys yelling, ‘Get back! Get back!’ I’d just assume trying something underneath and try to break a tackle before I try to force something deep.

“The biggest thing early on [in my career], was that I was so concerned about pushing, getting the big chunks that I ended up calling something that had the quarterback patting the ball and getting sacked. Obviously, you don’t want that to happen.” Eventually, if Baylor nears the red zone, Bradford will attempt to bring some pressure. “We might play some kind of man-under, 2-deep,” he explained. “Certainly, we may try to play some man-free, bring a fifth guy and try to find a breakdown in protection. Ultimately, if they’re throwing the football and you’re not getting any pressure with three or four and not forcing him to pat the ball dropping eight, then you have to come after him.

“Be sure you’re smart with your match-ups, though,” Bradford continued. “Do you need to press up and play and bring six or seven? Or are you going to play off and let them throw the slant or hitch and break up and catch it verses press up and make them throw a fade, make them make a great a throw and a great catch? Those are all the things you need to look at. You have to look at your individual match-ups. Can you cover those guys? Can you bring one more than they can protect?”

But in the end, both coaches agree poise and communication are the biggest keys to a well-orchestrated two-minute drill. And that starts with the coaches.

In order to keep calm, Hays keeps an “answer sheet” with him in the booth. It is tabbed with situational defenses he expects to face, such as the prevent, 2-deep, etc.

“If I’m one of those situations, I’m not going to sit there and stare at the ceiling,” he said, “I just flip to my prevent tab, where I’ll have several personnel mismatches written down. It sounds easy saying it, trying to get my best on their worst. But a lot of the times if you don’t have something scripted, then trying to get No. 10 on No. 32 in a matter of 10 seconds isn’t that easy.”

The same can be said for a defensive coordinator trying to avoid such mismatches, especially when the tempo is picked up and the offense is no longer huddling. “All 11 guys have got to have call. knowledge,” said Bradford. “Communication, everybody up front knows the game they’re playing, the linebackers have to know the coverage, the formation whether it’s an empty set or a 3 by 1. Communication is so important.

“You have to keep your poise. It’s a high-pressure situation. Guys are screaming, there’s a lot of excitement. Football is a game of reckless collisions, but there is a time when you have to be under control. You have to be able to control your emotions, get lined up and see the big picture.”

When There’s more Time Remaining
With four minutes to play, Baylor is clinging to a three-point lead and has the ball on its own 20. The Bears are a couple of first downs away from disposing of Edinboro. Bradford sends his defense onto the field, knowing he needs a three-and-out quickly. He’ll put eight or nine men in the box and tells his players to focus on stopping the offense’s best two run plays. But he refuses to go into a goal-line look, especially against a spread offense like Baylor’s. Forcing a 3 and out against the spread, he says, can be more difficult than slowing down a two-tight end, two-back power set.

“When they’re spreading you out in a four-minute drill,” he said, “you have to a demeanor to defend the run but they still have four or five out there.”

Hays sees a defense loading up in the box and ready to bring the house, he won’t hesitate to throw a play action pass or a screen. That’s something he might not have done earlier in his career.

“Two years ago, I played timid against Eastern New Mexico,” Hays remembered. “I played for a field goal. Pulled the old run right, run left, center it up and, of course, it got blocked.”

While forcing a 3 and out is nice, Bradford wants his defense to have a different mentality. “Defensively, our goal is not to 3 and out. It’s to get the ball back immediately every time we take the field. So we’re always trying to strip the football. First, guys hold him up, second guy gets the ball. Also, we want to get in and out of the huddle and get off the pile quickly to preserve time.”

In contrast, Hays instructs his players to take their time in and out of the huddle and off the pile, and most importantly, “Don’t turn the ball over.” That’s easier said than done against Bradford’s defense, which led Division II with a whopping 42 turnovers, including 30 interceptions, in 2004.

Victory Plays
They’re called victory or bonzi plays. Fans love them; coaches, not so much. But in a close game, like it or not, the last play is the deciding one.

“I’m not a big Hail Mary guy,” said Hays, who practices “bonzi plays” on Friday. “I haven’t had a lot of luck with those bad boys. But we’ll force a defense to respect that. We’ll put our three tallest guys out there.”

Bradford defends the victory plays by rushing five and play 3-deep. “We’re going to bump and jam three of the four most dangerous receivers,” he said. “If their coach is giving us a 3-by-1, we’re going to take the single side and line a guy up between five and 10 yards deep, and we’re going to try to eliminate that guy. To the trips side, we’re going to jam two and three, try to be physical with them and try not to allow them to get down in rebound position without holding them of course.”

But all the jamming and formations in the world don’t matter, says Bradford, if you don’t do the obvious – Knock the ball down.

“You can’t say it enough,” Bradford said. “In 2004, we had 4th and 11 against East Stroudsburg to go to the final eight and play Valdosta and we tried to intercept it instead of knocking it down. They caught it and beat us. Say it over and over and over again, knock the ball down. They get into the heat of the moment, the ball’s coming right to them and they want to catch that thing. They want that stat.”





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