This week Oregon comes to town, one of the more prolific offenses in the country. They're high tempo and highly variable in their formation sets which makes them very difficult to prepare for. From five receiver sets to shotgun options, as shown below, this is an absolute nightmare for defensive coordinators.

Below is the option play Oregon ran last week for a 16 yard touchdown against Arizona State. It's different than the usual option as the quarterback is in the shotgun with two running backs stacked behind him. The option play makes a defense read their keys and properly assume responsibility for each option man. If one of the defenders ineffectively reads their keys, an option can go a long way.

In this situation, QB Darron Thomas will fake to the first running back (red arrow) and run an option with the back running back towards the top of the screen. ASU middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict bites on the first fake to the running back. The outside linebacker (orange circle) and the safety (yellow circle) have quarterback and pitch man responsibility. Look how far that safety has to run to get to the running back. You can see the two wide receivers to the top of the screen against man to man coverage (green rectangles). Their blocks will be crucial in making this a three yard run or a touchdown.

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This week we look at the Stanford offense for our film study. The Cardinal played UCLA last week. Of course we are going to highlight a passing play with Andrew Luck. In the first half, Luck went 10-12 for 85 yards. The Cardinal scored on all three possessions but Luck hadn't attempted a big pass downfield, methodically picking apart the Bruins' defense. Coming out for the second half it was Stanford's ball, they got a good return and completed a nine yard pass on the first play. Below is the second play of the second half for Stanford where Andrew Luck punishes the UCLA defense for crowding the line of scrimmage.

Second and nine, Stanford comes out in a double tight end set with a flanker towards the top side of the formation. This would be Stanford's power set with no wide receivers. UCLA is thinking second and one, Stanford is lined up to run the ball with this power formation. UCLA's safeties are within seven yards of the line of scrimmage and the remaining nine players are within five yards. Luck will go back and give a play action fake, freezing the safeties and linebackers.

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So I couldn't re-watch the Ohio State game, just couldn't do it. It was too painful the first time so why do it again? Therefore, the film study this week will focus on the next Colorado Buffaloes' opponent, the Washington St. Cougars. Wazzu was off last week but before that, they played a tough San Diego State team on the road. Washington State jumped out to a 24-14 lead behind a strong passing attack from QB Marshall Lobbestael to WR Marquess Wilson and WR Isiah Barton. Similar to Hawaii, Washington State likes spread the defense out with multiple receiver sets to create mismatches. With the Buffs being severely undermanned due to injuries at the cornerback position (Sherrard Harrington, Parker Orms and Travis Sandersfeld all out), Colorado's ability to cover multiple receiver sets is certainly a concern.

Below is Washington State's second touchdown of the game against SDSU to give them a 17 - 14 lead. Wazzu comes out in a shotgun single back formation with three receivers to the top, one receiver to the bottom. Only five offensive linemen.

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Against Colorado State, the Buffs finally showed signs of a run game developing in Boulder. In the second half, Colorado ran the ball 21 times for 92 yards and wore down the Rams in the fourth quarter with a ten minute drive that included 55 yards rushing. If the Buffs are going to pull the upset against Ohio State this weekend in Columbus, they need to be able to both pass and run with success. This is a relatively strong OSU defensive squad so attacking them in multiple ways is a must.

Below is a 12 yard run from Rodney Stewart in the middle of the second quarter. Eric Bieniemy and the Colorado Buffaloes get creative on this, moving right guard Ryan Miller (circled in red) to right tackle and right tackle Sione Tau (yellow circle) to right guard. This play calls for the right tackle to be quick enough and hit the first man outside the tight end. Ryan Miller gives the Buffs a much better chance to get down field and block then Tau does. You will also notice a two tight end set with WR Paul Richardson and WR Toney Clemons split out off the screen the right side. Stewart is set to run just outside the tight end. This sort of run requires the receivers on the strong side to make a block, if not, the play goes for no more than three yards.

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If you watched the Cal game, you know a big part of the offensive game plan was screen passes. Screen passes are a great way to slow down an over-aggressive defense. When a defense blitzes and screen is called, it is one of the best plays to watch form. On the surface, screens seem like a relatively simple play but it takes patience, downfield blocking and a good amount of acting. In the NFL game, you see a ton of screen passes being used and this is clearly something offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy brought with him back to the college game. The Buffs ran this play at least five times. Rodney Stewart ended the day as the Buffs' second leading receiver, hauling in seven passes for 86 yards. Below shows his largest reception of the day, a 26 yard completion.

As we talked about above, the best defense to run a screen against is one that blitzes and is aggressive. Even better is when the defense blitzes to the side you are running the screen. As you can see, the linebacker circled in yellow is coming on a blitz. Rodney Stewart will run a screen pass to the bottom of our screen as shown by the blue arrows. Perfect scenario, the more the defense gets up field toward the quarterback especially towards the screen side, the better.

For a screen to be legal, Stewart must remain behind the line of scrimmage to avoid offensive lineman blocking downfield to be deemed "illegally downfield." WR Tyler McCulloch's (green arrow) main job is to run a deep fly route to clear the cornerback from the area where Stewart will catch the ball. If the defense is in a zone, that cornerback will be in the area so one of the lineman blocking downfield will have to block him. Good news, the Bears are in man to man defense so the cornerback will be forced to cover McCulloch all the way downfield and therefore, one of the lineman will not have to waste his block on him.

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Last week, the Buffs faced a team in Hawaii that wanted to create mismatches through spread formations with four or five receiver sets. Hawaii succeeded. They spread the Buffs out allowing for running lanes which QB Bryant Moniz capitalized on. This week, CU will face a team in California known for a sophisticated west coast style of offense where it comes down to spacing, attacking weaknesses of a defense and assignment football. Attention to detail is a big part of the California offense and when executed correctly, it is one of the best offenses to watch in the country. As we saw last week, the Buffs either weren't prepared for the quarterback run or assignments were missed. This week for Colorado to win, they can't miss assignments and they have to beat California up front at the point of attack.

Below is a perfect example of an extremely well executed play California had against Fresno State for their second touchdown. Personally, this is what the Colorado offense must strive to look like. This play requires six players including wide receivers and tight ends to hit their blocks. You will see, each player hits their block and due to a delayed reaction by the Fresno cornerback, California RB Isi Sofele goes untouched for a 39 yard touchdown run.

Cal comes out in a three receiver bunch set left (labeled one, two, three in yellow) and a lone receiver on top of the screen. Fresno St. shifts their three linebackers over towards the trips formation (labeled one, two, three in orange), an appropriate response to a strong side formation. California RB Isi Sofele will get the ball and run towards the trip receiver side as shown by the blue arrow.

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When you think of Hawaii, you immediately think about the high flying offensive scheme. Last year, the Warriors threw for 5,520 yards with QB Bryant Moniz leading the NCAA with 5,040 yards, 39 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. It also has a formidable running attack that catches defenses off guard trying to play the pass. What makes this offense difficult to defend is the mismatches it creates, putting pressure on every defender. Below is a breakdown of what Hawaii tries to do on offense which helps create an efficient running game.

Hawaii comes out in trips left (three wide receivers to the bottom of your screen) and one wide receiver up top. The running back is in the pistol formation directly behind the quarterback. USC comes out with three cornerbacks and two linebackers. The two linebackers are circled in yellow and red. You will notice that the linebacker circled in red has responsibilities for the running back, the linebacker circled in yellow is responsible for the first receiver on the trips side. Mismatches are what Hawaii is trying to create. First off, it is difficult for that linebacker in yellow to cover the wide receiver. He has help over the top with the safeties but the fact that the safety has to three receivers to his side adds pressure to maintain his depth, not letting anyone behind him.

USC, under this situation is only bringing pass rush of four meaning Hawaii has five offensive lineman to block four rushers.

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Last year, we broke down a few Colorado Buffalo plays with screen shots of the game and it seemed to be a fan favorite. So this year, hopefully we can bring it to you for all the televised games the Buffs play in. Today, we will look at the crucial play early in the game that helped the Buffs establish control of the game.

In the first quarter, Colorado State decided to take a chance going for it on 4th & 1 from their own 44 yard line with the game barely underway. A very questionable decision that in hindsight, head coach Steve Fairchild would probably love to have back. What made the call even more questionable was the pre-snap set up. CSU took out 6'5" 220 pound Pete Thomas and substituted in WR T.J. Borcky, placing him five yards behind the line of scrimmage in the shotgun. Immediately, Colorado State turns a 4th and 1 into a 4th and 6. If I was going to go for it and I need a half a yard, keep Pete Thomas under center and just let his 6'5" frame fall over for a first down. But what Fairchild also did is completely took the threat of the pass out when you remove Thomas for a wide receiver. The Colorado Buffaloes' defense recognized the CSU formation and took full advantage.

As you can see from the yellow circle, it is good to have very solid corners. Up top, Jalil Brown is playing the CSU receiver one-on-one, with no safety help. CU can afford to do that this year in these type of situations. Further, Colorado, without Pete Thomas in the game and therefore little threat to pass the ball, stacks the line (orange square) with all 10 remaining players within five yards of the line of scrimmage. CSU comes out in a double tight, double wing, shotgun formation. Colorado has CSU outnumbered with 10 tacklers and only nine green blockers. WR T.J. Borcky is circled in red, he will be our ball carrier.

So this play gets me very excited because #83 Will Pericak and #50 Curtis Cunningham single handily blew this play up. Jon Major and Anthony Perkins will get all the tackle credit on this play but it was the big guys up front taking care of business on this one.

see more after the jump...

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