ITYT Film Study: Strengths and weaknesses of Cover 1
Inside Texas’s Coach Charlie Williams, a former Texas high school coach and college support staffer, joins the very talented Texas Homer to break down one of the most common coverages in football — Cover 1.
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‘Coach Dub’ offers a quick summary of the video:
This week Homer and I had a chance to break down Cover 1. We discussed strengths and weaknesses of the coverage, why teams run it, and ways you can exploit it if you’re on offense.
The first clip is Texas versus Alabama. We illustrated what Quinn Ewers was looking at when he broke the huddle and saw Alabama in a two-high safety look. Texas used motion with JaTavion Sanders to see if Alabama was playing man or zone. After the motion, one Alabama safety rolled down into the box giving a one-high single safety look. That let Quinn know the ball needed to be thrown outside the numbers as the middle of the field was closed by the free safety. Quinn looked at his matchups outside and chose to throw the fade to Adonai Mitchell vs Alabama’s No. 2 cornerback. It ended up being a big time catch for a 1st down.
The second shows the disadvantages of playing Cover 1, as Houston lined up in an empty formation with a bunch set. The Cougars ran a mesh concept, and when you play man versus mesh concepts, it makes it hard to keep up with the receiver you are covering. The purpose behind the mesh concept is to set picks for your teammates just like in basketball thus making defenders run into each other, which will leave one or two receivers open.
The third clip shows Baylor versus Texas with the Horns playing Cover 1. Like Texas did in the first clip versus Alabama, Baylor used motion to see what kind of coverage Texas was in. Once Texas declared its coverage, the Baylor quarterback looked for his best matchup on the field, which happened to be one of the fastest players in the country lined up on former Texas safety Jerring Thompson. Typically you don’t want slot receivers, who are typically shifty receivers, lined up against a safety in one on one coverage. This led to a huge catch as the receiver got ope running a curve route where he fakes an inside post and breaks back outside.
I hope this helps break down the advantages and disadvantages of Cover 1 and demonstrates why teams run it, and how teams attack it.
I look forward to more videos like this breaking down coverages throughout the rest of the offseason and season.
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