Inside the Gameplan: Buechele and the Blitz

The blitz has always served as a cheat code for defenses that want to rattle a young QB and fluster him badly enough that he falls apart and can’t even execute simple reads and throws.

For Texas QB Shane Buechele to navigate the 2016 schedule he’s going to need particular skills and a knowledge of how the league likes to blitz and attack in order to keep his head above water when opponents throw complicated looks and pressures at him. His ability to do so much may prove to be one of the major themes of the season.

Buechele is in a better place than most to try and take on the blitz as a true freshman in part due to the system of offense he’ll be asked to run. The spacing and tempo in spread offenses are a natural deterrent against a team trying to get too cute with complex solutions on defense. The spacing makes it harder for defenders to hide where they’re going to be after the snap, especially against the wide splits in the veer and shoot, and if safeties or linebackers try to do too much they can get burned.

The tempo can make it difficult for defenses to even get lined up properly, much less to get complicated blitz or disguise calls in from the sideline.

However, over the last several years defenses have had time to develop enough variety in their anti-spread packages to be able to bring disguises and pressures. They’ve also gotten better at communicating their calls in from the sideline and developing their players to understand how to survive on the field. What’s more, they’ve all invested a great deal of time and effort into finding solutions for doing so against the veer and shoot.

Buechele will also be aided against the blitz by the fact that he’ll be surrounded by some really effective weapons, including a power running game, while going up against a league that doesn’t appear to be armed to the teeth with great pass-rushers in 2016.

Here’s what Buechele will have to master in order to lead the Texas O when opposing teams get tricky.

Opposing disguises

Texas’ 2016 opponents will have little choice but to sneak DBs into the box on standard downs in order to minimize the risk of ‘Forewarrened’ getting loose into the 2nd level with a full head of steam.

Just about every team in the Big 12 likes to add a DB into the box as a +1 defender anyways, but they’ll often keep them positioned deep (or wide as the case may be) until the last moment and then have them key the run and cover ground after the snap. That’s probably not a good idea for most of the league’s +1 defenders so opponents will have to be a bit more intentional about getting help in the box to stop up any creases before they start.

The best test that Buechele will undoubtedly be taught to read is the rotation and positioning of the weak safety on the boundary. Whether he rotates down into the box, deep into the middle, or deep on the hash can tell the QB a good deal about where the extra run defender is coming from and how to attack him.

For instance against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Texas might expect to see the following types of responses.

The Cowboys like to line up in a two-deep shell and they will play quarters coverage, but their preference is to play cover 3 and use either safety OR the “star” linebacker (their space-backer) as the extra guy.

One of their favorite options for playing quarters is to get free safety Jordan Sterns (100 tackles each of the last two seasons) as an alley defender in the middle of the field who keys the TE:

This look also allows the star Jordan Burton to be pretty aggressive against the run. The hang-ups are that it leaves the corners and strong safeties pretty isolated. Buechele will have to be connecting with John Burt and the other receivers regularly to stop teams from loading up the box like this.

Another coverage they like for getting extra help is to drop Sterns into the deep middle, rotate the strong safety over the slot, and relying on space-backer Burton (nine tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in 2015) to help control the box:

Buechele has to be able to look for pre-snap keys to help him out, but against these types of rotations from OSU, he’ll have to key the weak safety and figure things out after the snap. If he doesn’t know where the help is coming from he won’t know where the soft spots are in the coverage.

With regards to sending extra run defenders, Oklahoma State will probably be one of the trickier opponents since both of its safeties and the space-backer are all credible box defenders but every opponent will have particular defenders they’ll want to sneak into the box and different ways of doing it. Buechele will have a lot of homework for a freshman.

Run blitzes

Potentially worse than when other teams drop an extra guy or two to stuff the running game will be when defenses bring five or six pass-rushers and try to trap Texas’ young center or signal caller and create negative plays.

Baylor doesn’t get blitzed much these days since teams have determined it’s generally better to just be safe and sound with the game plan and see if they can catch the Bears getting impatient. Texas will probably not enjoy that same courtesy, at least not until they prove they can make people pay by firing the ball out to the right places under pressure.

Here’s the kind of standard down blitz that could prove difficult for Buechele and the offense to handle:

I drew up the defense as presenting a pre-snap look where the boundary safety is down in the box but then rotates deep and while pressure comes unexpectedly off the edge. That’s typical of the kind of disguise and pressure Buechele will see.

In this example, Texas is running power with a bubble screen to the field and the “Z” receiver (Burt) running a deep fade or breaking off and coming back if he can’t run past the corner.

The trap here from the defense is for Buechele to either fail to see that space-backer coming off the edge or to try and respond by throwing the bubble. With that free safety dropping down over the slot unblocked that’s not going to work. I can’t even tell you how many times Texas has blitzed the field edge and tricked opponents into throwing a quick bubble that Quandre Diggs, Duke Thomas, or a safety then immediately stuffed.

The better response is to nail Burt on a fade, comeback, or whatever route he’s running to get open against man coverage. The only problem is that response takes a good deal of chemistry and coordination from the WR and the QB. This is why Buechele needs to get majority of the starter’s snaps this summer. The more in sync he gets with Burt (and any other WR), the more impervious the Texas offense becomes to attempts to confuse and attack them with the blitz.

The “all or nothing” defense

Back in 2014 West Virginia’s defense came up with an approach to Baylor that has come to define how most of the league now defends the Briles offense.

The Bears typically made quick work of blitzes like the one above, either by throwing shallow crosses, landing deep shots, or just throwing comebacks all day. What’s more, they would often use max protection (seven blockers) to buy time for the QB to find the matchup and throw his receiver open.

So what West Virginia did was embrace the extremes that Baylor imposes on the game and alternate between zero-safety blitzes:

(if the RB or TE stay in to block the defender responsible for covering them will join the blitz)

Or max coverage:

The challenge this presents to the veer and shoot is that if it’s a blitz, it can overcome even max protection and force the QB to find a target and throw the ball quickly. But if it’s max coverage, then using seven blockers and trying to get one of three receivers open when everyone is double-teamed is probably not going to go very well.

Baylor’s response to that kind of tactic has been to use four or five receivers and ensure that its QB has WRs open quickly to beat the pressure. That’s not a great option for the Longhorns since it detracts from the run game and puts more pressure on Shane, the slot WRs, and the pass protection, which are all question marks.

If Texas sees this look, they’ll probably just run the ball and hope to break some long runs if the defense loses contain.

Keys for 2016

Texas is going to present a slightly different version of this offense against the league next year from what they’re used to seeing from Baylor. Buechele and the WRs are younger, less experienced in working together, and more vulnerable to tactics that Baylor has been shredding for some time. But the Longhorns also have a more fearsome run game than what Baylor has put on the field in the last several years that presents its own unique challenges.

Opponents are going to throw a lot at young Buechele and bring heavy disguises, man-blitzes, or the “all or nothing” approach and he’ll have to prove he can handle each one in order to get Texas to eight wins. That’s why it’s essential that Texas’ summer seven-on-seven drills are productive. Simple spring ball is over and Buechele is going to have to graduate early again next fall.