Play of the (other) Day: QB Draw RPO vs. Rutgers

Penn State’s newly-elevated play-calling Orthrus wasted no time putting the Scarlet Knights on notice that they’d have to respect Beau Pribula as a runner.

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The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Despite our unrealistic hopes and dreams, Coach Seider and Coach Howle’s first career game as co-playcallers, the offense was kept pretty vanilla. Bummer.

Although a lot of us hoped they would reinvent the wheel in their 6 days as interim lever-pullers of the Nittany Lion offense, the risk of coloring too outside the lines against an inferior opponent and jeopardizing Penn State’s shot at a NY6 by playing too fast and loose far outweighed the reward of showing potential employers how cute and clever they can be when picking plays off a laminated sheet.

When a coaching change like this happens at the quarter pole of the season, it’s tough to produce seismic shifts in game-to-game output because, well,  it’s impossible to install an entirely new offense during the season. You’re kinda stuck with what you got…which in Saturday’s unexpected scenario, worked out swimmingly.

During Mike Yurcich’s tenure, when Beau Pribula was in the game, Penn State ran the rock. Same formula, same results with Seider and Howle picking up the baton. One play after Drew Allar went down with an apparent right upper body injury, Pribula was able to provide a chunk play via a common, but effective concept that forces the defense to make a choice that will always be wrong — Quarterback Draw RPO.

The Seider/Howle offense comes out in a 2×2 formation with wide WR splits. I feel like I’ve typed that sentence a couple times this season…anyways, this formational “stretching” causes the box to lighten. Rutgers has to make a decision: 1. put a safety overtop of the two receivers on the wide side of the field or 2.  leave the two DBs on an island and add another helmet in the box to defend the run. Before the snap, Rutgers choice appears to be the former.

Rutgers has 4 down linemen and a Mike linebacker, for a total of five defenders in the box. Judging from Pribula’s pre-snap POV, Penn State should have draw option (the R of this RPO_ blocked up perfectly, and they do. PSU has 6 in the run blocking unit, counting the five OL and the lead blocker, 13-Kaytron Allen. Had Rutgers put seven in the box, Pribula likely would have thrown the ‘P’ portion of this RPO == 84-Theo Johnson running a slant from the slot.

At the snap, Rutgers inserts the boundary safety into the box and rolls the other to the middle of the field. It’s now (technically) 7 on 6 as the play begins. Schematically, the draw concept is simple. The tackles will try to ride the edge rushers around the bend and take them out of the play. The interior OL will “set, set” and release if they aren’t engaged with a defensive lineman. Usually there are at least two OL releasing downfield, but due to the 4-down front that Rutgers lines up in, almost the entire OL is tied up with someone.

The beauty of draw is that multiple rush lanes open, that way second and third level defenders can run themselves out of the play without being blocked by over-penetrating gaps. That’s what happens to the box safety, and great perimeter blocking sends Pribula down the sideline.