3 cool ways FSU ran GT Counter against Miami
A good lesson on doing more with less
Today we will look at 3 different ways FSU ran GT Counter in their win against Miami last year.
Counter is a versatile scheme that provides the opportunity for a lot of creative presentations. FSU certainly invested in the play for this game.
Here’s a diagram of the offensive line’s base blocking assignments:
FSU runs the play from 11 personnel, but the tight end rarely blocks anyone in the box, and instead arcs out to an outside linebacker or down safety.
The magic in the play and what differentiates each play is the backfield action. The above drawing is the most simple way to run the play — and it’s what they end up running to score a touchdown in the third variation. But the first two use the “bash” concept where the quarterback is the inside runner and the running back or wide receiver is the outside runner.
The first time they ran the play, here’s what it looked like:
Counter Bash with Pitch
**To easily watch the videos embedded in the article, please click the title of the article**
From a 2x2 set in 11 personnel, FSU was able to even up the numbers by leaving the end unblocked and arcing the tight end to the down safety.
FSU was playing with tempo and Miami couldn’t get set correctly adding to the success of the play even more. The beauty of the play is that it attacked precisely where the defense was not — the goal of any good football play. And it did so quickly with the pitch.
The interesting part of the play is the somewhat counterintuitive blocking by the offensive line. Because the ball carrier does not go with the pullers, the down blocks are essentially shoving their defenders in the same direction as the ball carrier.
But it doesn’t matter all that much here. But it does matter a little — see below.
Counter Bash with Jet Motion
We’ll get to the creative formation and motion in just a second, but watch the play again and look at who makes the tackle.
When you’re running an outside bash play like this, you wouldn’t think that this player would even be able to keep up with the play.
But it’s the nose tackle who gets the tackle.
The nose tackle looks like he might be involved in a stunt, but the center was going to take him that direction anyways. And because the play is going the way of the down blocks, the nose tackle runs free and chases the ball carrier down.
Regardless, the play was still a successful gain of 6 yards and a creative use of an unbalanced formation.
By placing both wide receivers to the left on the ball, they can bring the single receiver in motion for the sweep.
This now allows both the tight end and the running block to be lead blockers for the sweep. And it renders the backside cornerback, linebacker, and defensive tackles completely out of the play.
I guess if you want anyone with a chance to run down your wide receiver, you’ll take a nose tackle over a defensive back.
Counter for the TD
And with all the fun the first two times they ran the play, they returned to old faithful to get the job done for the 12 yard touchdown.
The 2x2 set in 11 personnel with the two receivers into the boundary left the linebackers out of position and to close to the box. The formation into the boundary also prevented the field safety from providing any help.
And allowed FSU to run their base Counter into the end zone after the presenting the previous two theatrics.
Final thoughts
These 3 plays occurred in the first quarter of the game and the trend continued. FSU’s commitment to Counter and its variations was fun to watch and more importantly, effective.
It was also a reminder that before you think about adding a new play, think about what you can do the play you already have in order to address the problem you are trying to solve with a new play.
Building out an offense that answers the problems it faces seems to call for more plays, but that’s not necessarily true. Under Coach Mike Norvell, FSU has repeatedly demonstrated a commitment to getting all they can out of a play with creative and various presentations of the same play.
Until next week —
Emory