Fulton Analysis: Run Game Defined

With 22 players on the field operating dozens of set plays from scrimmage, football is a relatively complex sport to begin with. But what makes it appear even more complicated is the terminology. Although many NFL and college teams use the same basic set of principles, coaches and analysts have a variety of different names for those same concepts. To help de-code some of this complexity, below is a description of the basic terms that make up the Ohio State offensive run game.

This is the primary run blocking scheme used by Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and his staff. Although primarily described as blocking an area instead of a man, the blocking scheme is best thought of as dividing the offensive line into covered and uncovered. A zone run is called towards the left or the right.

If an offensive lineman is ‘covered’ (has a defensive linemen across from him) he is going to block that defender. If the offensive lineman is uncovered, he is going to step the direction of the play call and block in tandem with the closest covered offensive linemen to create a double team. One of the two offensive linemen will then come off onto the linebacker in their area depending how the defense reacts. One big advantage of zone blocking in the modern spread era is that it can be run from a variety of formations and sets and with, or without, a tight end or lead blocker.

Zone run schemes can also be used to different aiming points. A staple of the Urban Meyer-era at Ohio State was ‘tight zone.’ This is a quicker, more downhill hitting play than traditional zone runs. The offensive line is going to work the same on/off principles but vertically, looking to use their double teams to drive the defensive line into the inside linebackers. From an offset halfback position, the running back looks to keep the play backside, aiming to press the football into the center and hit the backside A gap.

Wide zone, also known as outside zone or stretch, is the opposite of tight zone, both in terms of aiming point and the tempo of the play. It is a slow developing run, with the offense looking to get the defense moving laterally to create a crease. Offensive linemen will take horizontal steps with uncovered offensive linemen looking to overtake the next play side defensive linemen.

The running back reads the end defender on the line of scrimmage to determine whether to ‘bounce’ the football outside, plant and cut upfield, or ‘bend’ it back inside behind a defense over pursuing.

Longtime NFL offensive line coach Alex Gibbs – perhaps the primary proponent of the play for nearly three decades – provides a further explanation below.

Mid zone is a less discussed hybrid between inside and outside zone. The run resembles wide zone, but the aiming point is different. The offensive line executes the same zone blocking rules but more vertically, with the tailback reading the play-side 3-technique (defensive tackle between the guard and center) or the play-side gap outside of the guard.

In contrast to Meyer’s heavy reliance on tight zone, under Day, mid zone and wide zone have become Ohio State’s mainstay run plays.

Split zone is not a different play. Instead, it is a tag to any of the above zone runs, telling the Y-off (the tight end lined up off the line of scrimmage) to block back away from the run call.

The split creates a natural cutback lane and provides a blocker for the backside contain defender, meaning that the offense has every defender accounted for.

Like split zone, a read is a tag to any run play – meaning that, instead of blocking a pre-designated defender, the quarterback is going to read that player, determining whether to give or keep the football (see the tight zone read diagram above). This allows the offense to re-equate the defense’s natural arithmetic advantage by getting an additional defender ‘blocked’ with the read.

The rest of the offense generally runs the pre-designed run-play. Reads can be used with either zone or gap blocking.

Like crunch or a read, Bash is a tag to tight zone read. The offensive line will execute tight zone towards the play call. But now, the quarterback and halfback will exchange their responsibilities, with the quarterback running tight zone behind the offensive line, and the running back executing a backside sweep.

As Meyer discusses below, Bash alternatively takes advantage either of linebackers over pursuing the running back, or provides an opportunity to get the tailback in space outside of the defensive interior.

Along with zone runs, gap blocking is the primary run blocking method used in the NFL and college football today. With gap blocking, the play side of the offensive line generally blocks back/down on the first defender away from the call. The backside guard will then pull and lead the play.

Ohio State generally uses gap blocking either with one-back power or counter trey. With one-back power, the guard will pull and lead on the play side linebacker, with the play side side tackle or tight end base blocking the defensive end or outside linebacker (an offense can also use two-back power with a lead blocker kicking out the defensive end).

With counter-trey, the backside guard will kick out the playside defensive end, with the Y-off pulling and leading on the playside linebacker.

In 2019 under Day, Ohio State principally used gap blocking for one-back power, as gap blocking was generally a smaller part of the Buckeye offense under Day than Meyer

On the flip side ‘Duo’ – which is essentially power without the pulling guard – was added to the Ohio State offense for perhaps the first time in 2019. Duo has likewise become increasingly prominent in the NFL because it allows the offense to use power with multi-wide receiver sets.

As noted, with Duo, the front side of the offensive line still blocks down. But without the pulling guard, it is now the tailback’s job to read the front side Mike linebacker – and either cut inside or bounce outside.

Given the need for this read, in 2019, Ohio State generally ran Duo or Wide Zone from the pistol or under center. By contrast, they were more likely to run mid-zone when the halfback was offset.