Sue called in to ask 2 questions: 1) What is the “RED ZONE”? and 2) What is the “WILDCAT”?  So, here we go…

1) The RED ZONE is the area between the 20 yard line and the Goal Line at both ends of the field. Of course, this is the “we are close to scoring” or the “they are close to scoring” area of the field. Its referred to the Red Zone when the offense is in that area, headed toward the goal line.

2) The short version is that the Offense lines up in an unbalanced-looking formation and a running back takes the snap from Center rather than the Quarterback. After the snap, a variety of options are available, including a pass by the running back, a hand-off to another back and a sweep run behind some blockers.

Hey Ladies…

Here is a YouTube video that gives prettty clear explanations about “Loading the Box“. This term, “loading the box” is a defensive one and the explanation here is good. I stopped the video several times because I cannot (yet!) see these plays develop in real time. Also, I should say that this explanation best suits girls who have a good knowledge of the game. Even so, you might want to review the “Mike, Sam, Will…and Jack, too?” post before watching.

Truth be told, I had to watch this 3 times to feel like I was following the lingo. Also, paused to “Google” some of the definitions of terms used liberally (!!) by our UCLA tutor. See what you think.

How ’bout we talk a little Defense and come up to date on the “announcer slang speak” as we approach this 2nd weekend of college football. We’ll keep it simple at this point, okay?

In a “4-3″ Defense we have 4 down lineman (1 or both hands on the ground) and 3 Linebackers behind them. The 4 down lineman are on the line of scrimmage and the linebackers are in back of this line. In this way, their position title actually makes sense-Yippee!! Nicknames have been given to these 3 linebackers according to the positions they take on a particular play. The one in the middle is called “Mike” as a nickname using the “M” for “middle”.

The side of the Offense where the Tight End lines up is called the strong side, in other words… the side where most players are concentrated on Offense.  On Defense, the strong side linebacker (SLB) is nicknamed, “Sam” taking the “S” from the SLB term. “Sam” lines up on the side where the Offensive tight end plays, i.e. the strong side. “Will” is the nickname for the weak side linebacker (WLB), taking the “W” from the WLB term. The ”Will” linebacker  lines up on the side that has fewer Offensive guys, i.e. the weak side.

Now in a “3-4″ Defense, there are 3 down linemen and 4 Linebackers. This means IN GENERAL that there are 2 outside linebackers and 2 inside linebackers. Here, the outside Strongside Linebacker is still called the “Sam”. The inside Strongside Linebacker is called the “Mike” and the inside Weakside linebacker is called the “Will”. This leaves the 4th outside linebacker on the weak side without a name, so they called him, “Jack”. I’m not kidding. “Jack” is kind of a blend- maybe a linebacker/Defensive End combo. Therefore, perhaps the “Jack of all trades”!

Two questions came in tonight after the Alabama vs. Auburn game was over.

 #1 was …What is the Buddy Ryan Defense?

#2 was….What is a “hip-pointer”?

I’ll tell you right away that #2 is the easier one to answer, so I’ll start with that. The Hip Pointer injury is a deep bruise of sorts to the hip bone in the abdominal area. This is the prominent bone that “sticks out” when you put your hands on your hips (mine was more prominent in 1979) . Often this refers to a bruise that affects the bone (called the iliac crest) and the muscle covering it. The pain can be intense. Walking can be painful and even laughing can set the pain off.

Hip pointers are common in contact sports and usually result from a direct blow to the area, like from a tackle or a helmet. Ice and medications can help reduce pain, but as with any deep bruise, rest for 1 to 2 weeks is the only way to effectively treat the injury.

Okay, #1 is something that announcers on the Alabama and Auburn networks mentioned to describe some seemingly unconventional defensive formations in the November 27, 2009 game. Buddy Ryan was an NFL coach who launched the Bears to great success in the mid-1980s. This defense was designed to shut down a team’s running game and force the pass (this might be why Auburn’s coaching staff chose a variation of this for the Alabama game). The defensive front was unique in the way they lined up; a ploy to confuse the QB.

Here is a direct quote from Wikipedia regarding the  the Buddy Ryan or “46 Defense”- named after Doug Plank, #46:

“The line was shifted dramatically to the weak side (the opposite end from the offense’s tight end), with both guards and the center “covered” by the left defensive end and both defensive tackles. This front forced offenses to immediately account for the defenders lined up directly in front of them, making it considerably harder to execute blocking assignments such as pulling, trapping and pass protection in general. Moreover, the right defensive end would be aligned outside the left offensive tackle, leaving the tackle ‘on an island’ when trying to block the end.”

Drawbacks are that short passes can be executed when the defense is blitzing. Also, with so many players lined up on the line of scrimmage, it leaves passing lanes open for the offense.  Seems to me that some really outstanding players on defense are necessary to make this defense work consistently. Auburn definitely confused Alabama with their version of this in the first half of the ’09 game.

Of course, none of the coaches confirmed that the “Buddy Ryan Defense” was being used, but it sure looked similar! Admittedly, I have spent a lot of time this year just trying to grasp some basics of defensive football so this “new twist” made my head spin. So, bring on the helpful comments that will condense this and clarify my ramblings!!!

What is a Blitz, anyway? The Blitz is simply a defensive plan where 1 or more linebackers or defensive backs charge into the offensive backfield when the ball is snapped. Normally, these guys would have remained behind the line of scrimmage.

One of our readers asked, “Why wouldn’t a team ‘blitz’ on every play?” Naturally, as with all things the Blitz has it’s pros and cons.

On the “pro” side, this maneuver can mess up the offensive play by putting pressure on the QB. In other words, he sees all these guys running toward him in a crazed manner with the clear intent of knocking him flat. This makes him a little edgy and might cause him to throw a bad pass or even fumble the ball.

But on the “con” side there are lots of issues as well.  Offensive players are trained to pick up clues that the defense may show that indicate “blitz”. When they see the blitz coming, they have a planned way to communicate with each other before the ball is snapped so that they may strengthen blocking to stop the damage.  So, often the blitz is expected and therefore less effective. 

Also on the “con” side, wide receivers may get away from the cornerback who usually covers them and therefore be able to catch a pass for a gain of yardage. Of course, the most glaring “con” is that if the safeties have no help from the cornerbacks (because the CB’s are blitzing), it means there is a lot of open field uncovered and a long pass might turn into long yardage for the offense.

As I write this, I am thinking it sounds well….complex. Really though, I am only scratching the surface on this stuff. There is SO MUCH I just can’t comprehend about defensive schemes (YET!!). I remember mentioning this early on in this process and it still seems that the more I learn, the less I know!!

We have had a suggestion that we describe some of the defensive “pass coverage” terms that we hear about.  There are a couple of coverage types that we can discuss here, in a very general way. Maybe that will help us as we are watching these last few games to close out the 2009 Season.

The two main categories for pass coverage are:

A)     Man to Man – Each offensive receiver is “covered”  by a defensive back or linebacker

B)      Zone – Here, defensive players have an area or “zone” of the field to cover.

Sometimes we hear the announcers say things like, “cover 1 or cover 2” or even “cover 0”.

Cover 0 is just a case of plain ol’ man to man coverage with no help from the safeties. Often this accompanies a blitz play by the defense where at least 5 men cross the line of scrimmage.

Cover 1 is man to man coverage with one safety helping out with downfield pass coverage.

Cover 2 can be Zone Coverage or Man to Man.

       a) Cover 2 Zone has the 2 safeties play deep and each covers half of the field.

       b) Cover 2 “Man” is where the safeties cover a specific receiver as do other backs and linebackers.

Cover 3 Zone is where the Strong Safety/Cornerback helps the safeties and the three of them divide the field into thirds (instead of half).

Cover 4 Zone is where both Cornerbacks join the Safeties and they divide the field coverage with each taking a fourth.

Those announcers are throwing around more terms that don’t make sense. This time it is about spare change. They were saying things like, “that’s that little dime package in action” and ‘they keep switching back and forth between the nickel and dime”.

Okay, these are defensive schemes. Remember when we talked about the “4/3 Defense and the 3/4 Defense”? You may want to refer to that post to help with this one.

Nickel – this defensive scheme has 5 Defensive Backs (the 5^th one is called the Nickel Back), 4 Down-linemen and 2 Linebackers.

Dime – this one has 6 Defensive Backs, 3 Down-lineman and 1 Linebacker. The “6^th” Defensive Back is also called a “Nickel Back”. So……., I guess the 2 Nickel Backs would make a DIME. 5 + 5 = 10

Trica and Joni were watching the Florida / LSU game this weekend and heard Gary Danielson (he drives me crazy with his comments, by the way) and Verne Lundquist referring to a “dive play” quite often. They’d like a little info on that topic so I’ll give it a shot.

A “dive play” is very common as far as running plays go in football. Usually, it is used for short yardage or maybe goal line offense.  A running back takes the ball ( via handoff as a rule ) and “dives” into the center of the line for short yardage. There are variations on this of course, including faking the dive play to get the defenders to focus on the wrong man which in turn, allows the QB to throw downfield (a play action pass). They probably heard a lot about this “dive play” because Tebow is relatively famous for taking the ball himself and diving through the line for necessary yardage with no apparent regard for his own well being. This “no regard” seems to have climbed to a new level as evidenced by his “starting” last night’s game after having a nasty concussion only 2 weeks earlier. I ask you, “how can anyone possibly know what damage would have been done if he’d received another random blow?” But that of course, is just my opinion….

The girls also had another point of confusion after a full Saturday of watching football. I find this very confusing as well and have previously asked the very same question as Joni and Tricia: “How can there be 2 players on the same team with the same number?”

Well, the NFL has some fairly clear guidelines about numbers corresponding to positions played. For example: 

• 1 to 19 are usually worn by quarterbacks, kickers and punters BUT sometimes wide receivers can choose to wear these as well.
• 20-49 are for running backs, cornerbacks, and safeties. (40-49 might go to tight ends if 80-89 are not available )
• 50-59 are linebackers and offensive linemen.
• 60-79 can be worn by both the offensive line and the defensive line.
• 80-89 are for wide receivers and tight ends.
• 90-99 are for linebackers and defensive linemen.

Now, some college teams adhere closely to these NFL rules, but most follow it much more loosely. The one real requirement seems to be that offensive linemen (centers, guards, and tackles) that play in ineligible (not ball carriers)positions must wear numbers between 50-79. The lower numbers are more “in demand” and seem to be more prestigious. 40’s and 90’s often go to kickers and punters because they are not as in demand.

But practically speaking, you can see why there is a problem with today’s large college rosters. There are only 99 numbers and they simply run out of numbers and have to duplicate. Usually, they will give the same number to a player on defense and then, one on offense. It is fine as long as the players aren’t on the field at the same time. ‘No matter,  because this confuses me anyway. I have said aloud at a game, “hey, why is JJ playing on defense”? Naturally, a student who sits near us looks at me with disgust and says something like, “that is NOT JJ, it’s so and so”. This leaves me feeling like a total loser who has not taken the time to memorize the entire roster of my team. This kid knows all of them, it’s amazing.

There are some traditions regarding numbers worn that you may find as interesting as I do. Certain numbers may even carry superstitions. The top “walk on” player at Texas A&M might get the number 12, referencing their “12^thMan” tradition. At Ole Miss, the number 38 was worn by Chuck Mullins who was injured in a game and died 2 years later. The #38 was given to a defensive player each year that exemplified Mullin’s spirit of performance until it was retired in 2006. Michigan gives great honor to the number “1”. The University of Alabama gives prestige to the number 12, which was once worn by Coach Bryant, Kenny Stabler, Joe Namath others.

So, there it is. I agree with Joni and Tricia that it is just confusing, and until I memorize the roster and each of the 110 + player’s positions, it is likely to remain so.

We need to start talking a little more about Defense. So far we haven’t described the positions filled on the Defensive side of the ball. The positions are easy enough to define but, to be completely honest, I find defensive schemes/plays harder to identify that the offensive plays we have discussed. Maybe it’s just me, but they seem more difficult to catch, from the arm-chair perspective, that is.

For starters, I’ll try to define a few of the more common Defensive terms used. As far as the defensive “schemes”……. well, I’ll leave that alone right now.

So here we go….

Linebacker- These players generally line up “in back of the line” and stand upright, sometimes moving and adjusting their positions before the ball is snapped. The upright position allows them quicker response time in pursuing the ball carrier or covering a pass receiver.

Linemen – These guys line up opposite the offensive line, most often with one or both hands on the ground. A “down lineman” has a hand on the ground. One hand on the ground = 3 point stance. Both hands on the ground = 4 point stance.

Nose Guard – Defensive tackle that lines up opposite the offensive Center.

Defensive Ends – The two defensive ends play on opposite outside edges of the defensive line and are sort of split out to the sides. They attack the passer and stop runs toward the outside.

Defensive Tackles – Defensive tackles are side-by-side linemen who are between the defensive ends. They function to stop the running plays up the middle and to rush the passer. Sometimes they are called Defensive Guards.

Safety – Defensive backs that line up about ten yards or more behind the line of scrimmage. Safeties are the last line of defense so they need to be good tacklers and strong runners. The duties of these guys really depend on the defensive scheme being used at the time.

The “4 – 3” Defense – This is a traditional type of defensive formation with 4 down linemen and 3 linebackers. The “3 – 4” Defense? You guessed it…… 3 down linemen and 4 linebackers.

Pass Rush – The object is to get to the QB before he throws the ball.

Blitz – The defense sends 5 or more players to break through the offensive line to get to the QB. The object? Sack him.
I am going to suggest a couple of websites for you to visit if you’d like more detail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football_positions
http://www.footballbabble.com/football/defense/plays