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Drew and Coach Holderfield are back to take a look at Purdue’s RPO game.

Welcome back to Coach’s Corner. I hope everyone enjoyed the off week and spent some time away from the chaos, granted, occasionally beautiful chaos, of Purdue football. I’m back with Kyle Holderfield, head coach of the Harrison Raiders.

Coach Holderfield notched the first conference win of his burgeoning coaching career last weekend over McCutcheon, 21-7. Harrison currently sits atop the Sagamore Conference with an unblemished conference record of 1-0 and an overall record of 3-3.

The Raiders will take on the 5-1 and tenth-ranked Indianapolis Bishop Chatard Trojans on Friday at 7 PM under the lights at A.J. Rickard Field in West Lafayette. This will be a stern test for the Raiders, but we know they’re in capable hands.

Now that I’ve shined Kyle up a little, it’s time to get down to business.

The RPO or Run/Pass Option

Drew:

I wanted to take a look at one of Purdue’s more successful running plays of the year, which could have also been a successful passing play.

Coach, can you give me a brief rundown of the mechanics of a run/pass option play?

Coach:

Absolutely. It is all a numbers game. Do you have more numbers in the box? Throw the ball. Body for a body in the box? RTDB.

Fourth and One RPO

Drew:

It’s fourth and one on Purdue’s opening drive of the game, and Barry Odom is going for it on his own 34-yard line; a bold, but understandable move considering the USC offense and Purdue defense. Purdue’s in 11 personnel with tight end George Burhenn tucked neatly behind the left tackle.

I’ve identified the relevant players.

Mockobee (red box) is going to end up in a race with a USC linebacker (red box) on the front side of the play.

On the back side of the play, Browne has the option to pull the ball and throw it to Michael Jackson (blue triangle) if he likes what he sees from the corner (blue triangle). Also, keep an eye on the safety (green triangle) lurking in the middle of the field.

Remember, Purdue only needs a foot on this play for a drive extending first down.

Now that I’ve bored everyone with the setup, let’s get down to business.

Coach, let’s pretend this is your team, and you’ve decided to roll the dice. Are you having second thoughts and pulling a hamstring running down the sidelines to get a timeout, or do you like what you see from the USC defense?

Coach:

It is a bold move on your own 34, but Coach Odom probably saw this as an opportunity to extend a drive and try to set the tone. It looks like he has a body for a body here, so rolling the dice looks okay.

Run / Pass Option Mesh Point

Drew

Initially, I thought the pass option in this RPO was the back side slant to Jackson (blue triangle), but after further review. I was incorrect. Jackson is running a whip route. It looks like a slant, but after I let the tape run, he stops and cuts it outside.

I like the whip route over the slant in this situation because I have seen one too many slant routes get jumped by the safety (green triangle) and taken the other way for a pick six, and the whip route takes that out of play.

On the front side, it looks like Purdue’s offensive line is doing its job. The linebacker (red box) is waiting because if Mockobee gets the ball, it will be a race to the B gap.

A couple of questions, Coach:

If this is your team (let’s say your team also has Purdue’s exact skill set), are you calling for the whip or do you want your QB to gun in the slant?

As I mentioned above, the whip route keeps the receiver out of the traffic in the middle of the field and takes the pick-six off the table. As a bonus, a throw to the outside cuts down on the chances that a defensive lineman gets a paw on the ball.

On the other hand, Browne firing the quick slant is the easier throw.

Moving on to the front side, do you like how the offensive line is holding up?

I can’t decide if the right tackle is supposed to give some ground and then turn out the edge defender, or if he got pushed backwards and still made it work.

Finally, if this is your team, and you have the power to stop time and make the decision for your quarterback (Let’s call you Coach Strangerfield), what’s your call?

Are you throwing it, or are you putting your faith in Mockobee to get you a foot?

Coach:

They are doing a good job up front. I think the triangle is the read here. If he takes any step back or to the outside, it should be a give.

If he sits, which is often the answer to RPOS, he should get the ball out on the pass.

Not Sure If This is How It Was Drawn Up?

Drew:

I can’t tell if Purdue was trying to block the play up this way, or if Mockobee is making it happen on his own. I find it hard to believe that you’re going to have your hard-charging running back run horizontally to the line of scrimmage on fourth and less than a yard.

It seems like you would want to get him running downhill, rather than across the hill (I don’t think that’s a saying, but it should be), but my opinion is worth absolutely nothing.

What’s your call?

On the back side of the play, Jackson’s whip route has whipped the corner.

As a coach, even though the quarterback gave the ball to the back, do you store that whip route in the back of your brain for later use?

Coach:

For sure!

I don’t think the RT was trying to give up ground here. Mockobee just makes a great read and bangs the ball to get the yards needed.

First Down and More!

Drew:

It’s weird, it looks like Mockobee and the scraping linebacker are going to meet in the hole and fight it out for the first down in the previous clips, but because Mockobee is running sideways, he just sort of keeps running.

Instead of a collision, we get a foot race across the field. I think it catches the linebacker by surprise.

As a coach, you’re telling everyone this is precisely how you drew it up, even if it’s not how you drew it up…correct?

Coach:

Great players make great plays at great times!