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The run-pass option has the SEC’s defensive masterminds baffled
By Will Ogburn
Published:
Over 100 years of football innovation have ended with one of the trickiest plays to defend — the run-pass option, and the best minds in college football are struggling to find its kryptonite.
The RPO is simple enough, but its combination of two plays makes the defense choose to defend one — and no matter what they choose, it’s incorrect.
The play starts off with the quarterback appearing to hand the ball off to a running back, similar to a play action, but instead of the decision being made ahead of time by the coaches, it’s made on the field, instantly, by the QB. The quarterback reads a specific defender as the play develops, and then chooses to either hand the ball off for a gashing run to the back (or run the ball himself) or pull it out for a pass if he commits.
The RPO is particularly effective when run by an athletic QB like Deshaun Watson, who can add a third dimension by taking off and running it himself.
When asked about these kinds of plays, three coaches often credited as defensive masterminds were at a loss, according to The State.
“I don’t think there’s any answer to RPOs,” said Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
“You can run a running play, and the offensive line blocks a running play, which the defensive player keys a run,” continued Saban, “and the quarterback sits there and does this (mimicking handoff) and then throws the ball, because the safety doesn’t come down or the safety does come down or whatever, there is no solution to that.”
Georgia’s Kirby Smart, who made his bones as a top-flight defensive coordinator with Alabama, echoed those statements.
“I don’t know that there is an answer,” said Smart.
Another elite DC turned head coach, South Carolina’s Will Muschamp, said it’s a mix of talent and scheme.
“You have to be able to play some form of man coverage in a lot of it because a lot of times it can eat you up in a zone,” Muschamp said, “but you have to be multiple in what you do.”
The solution might be as simple as “recruit really good players,” Muschamp said.
Because of this success against elite defenses, many teams are taking notice.
“I don’t think we played a team last year outside of Georgia Tech that didn’t do some of it,” said Smart.
Unlike gimmicks such as the wildcat, the RPO is a concept that can be built upon — and until the best minds in college football learn to stop it, the RPO is here to say.
A former resident of both Baton Rouge and the heart of Crimson Tide country, Will Ogburn handles multimedia content and news coverage for Saturday Down South.
