By Coach Jim Meighan
Offensive Coordinator, Blairsville H.S., Blairsville, PA
From the February, 2002 Issue of Option Central (an excerpt)

Introduction:

As we scheme different blocking scenarios for an option offense, many times we neglect the backside, resulting in an unsuccessful play. How many times has a blitzing A or B gap defender caught us in the backfield? Or how many times has an untouched defender from the edge chased the QB down. These losses usually result from poorly schemed or poorly practiced backside blocking. In the following article two backside blocking schemes will be discussed. It should be noted that this discussion primarily focuses on plays where the Guard, Tackle and possibly the Tight End cover the backside. Plays like the Midline require that the Center block backside and are not included in this article. Also, this would not include the Inside or Outside Zone plays.

Any backside scheme needs to account for all three gaps – A/B and C. Please note that with certain plays it is not necessary to deal with the player on the edge. Unless you are facing superior talent, the edge defender would not be able to chase down plays such as the Toss. This being said, while breaking down a video of the 1996 Navy vs. Georgia Tech game, it was seen that Tech’s defender coming off the edge was so quick that he was able to chase down Navy’s QB on both the Inside Veer and the Counter Option. Thus it would probably be wise to incorporate in your backside scheme, a way to handle the edge. This will be dealt with later in this article.

Schemes:

Two schemes dealing with the backside will be discussed in this article.

Scheme One: Full Zone Scheme

The Full Zone Scheme requires the Guard, Tackle and the Tight End (if included) to do three things:
1. Recognize the Defense
2. Take the Proper Step
3. Properly Area Block

Defensive Recognition

Since the proper step is determined by the alignment of the defense, defensive recognition is the first thing that the backside lineman needs to be able to do. Each backside lineman needs to determine whether or not the defender in his area poses an IMMEDIATE threat to his inside gap. The following situations will constitute such a threat.
1. A defensive lineman aligned in the inside gap of the backside blocker.
2. A defensive lineman aligned head up on the backside blocker.
3. A defensive lineman aligned head up on the adjacent lineman to the inside of the blocker.
4. A linebacker within two yards in the same scenarios mentioned in 1, 2 and 3.
If one looks at the above situations, by slanting to the gap, by lining up in the gap, or by having a linebacker fire the gap, the defense can penetrate on the backside. A good blocking scheme will address this vulnerability.

This article appeared in its entirety in the February, 2002 Issue of Option Central.
For more details or to read the entire article, visit Option Central at www.optioncentral.net.