Ole Miss’ senior wide receiver Ja-Mes Logan hauled in a 37-yard pass from junior quarterback Bo Wallace for a touchdown on the Rebels’ first drive against Idaho this past weekend. The importance of this play wasn’t that it started a huge day for Logan or that Wallace made a beautiful throw, it was the formation that Ole Miss used.
Early in the first half, Ole Miss lined up in a tight trips formation. Three receivers bunched up to the left of the formation beside the left tackle. Logan was split out wide to the right, while sophomore running back Jaylen Walton was in the backfield with Wallace.
To match up with the trips, Idaho had eight players within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Their remaining three defensive backs were only 8 yards off of the ball.
Ole Miss ran its three receivers on short or intermediate routes to draw the defense in. Logan ran a double move that Wallace pump faked, which allowed Logan to get a step on both defensive backs on that side of the field.
The key is the trio of receivers running short routes. This drew the attention of Idaho, despite Wallace never even looking that way.
Ole Miss can put multiple playmakers in that trio to force the defense to focus there. On this particular play, junior Donte Moncrief, senior Jordan Holder and freshman Quincy Adeboyejo were bunched up. Ole Miss can use those three or junior Vince Sanders or freshman Laquon Treadwell. Putting all of those threats together can open up one-on-one matchups for other receivers like Logan.
It also provides variety to the passing game. Those three receivers ran short routes, like a 5-yard out or a drag across the field. Under head coach Hugh Freeze, the Ole Miss passing game has been dominated by quick receiver screens and deep fly or post routes. They have also used a lot of play-action passes over the middle.
This formation will allow Ole Miss to get receivers open on different types of routes and make defenses defend the entire field.
Ole Miss also brought a receiver in motion out of the trips formation. This can help Wallace identify the coverage and get that motioning receiver open for a quick route, as they did with Moncrief when he came in motion and ran a 5-yard out.
Blocking scheme provides run game variety
The other adjustment Ole Miss tried out against Idaho involved using the tight end as a lead blocker for outside runs. Last week against LSU, Ole Miss used freshman tight end Evan Engram and junior tight end Nick Parker to help seal off the defensive ends to open up cutback lanes between the tackles for the running backs. This week, Ole Miss expanded on that role, as Parker and senior tight end Justin Bigham were used to create running lanes outside of the tackles.
Parker lined up behind the tackle and would be in charge of blocking the defensive end. The offensive line would push everyone else in the box one direction, and it was Parker’s responsibility to get outside leverage on the defensive end to seal off the outside running lane.
Here Bigham is blocking off the defensive end while two offensive lineman are pulling to lead block for an outside run. Also, check out how awkward that handoff is. Finally, the receivers are all running routes, which highlights a staple of Freeze’s offense that allows most plays to have the option of being a run or pass.
This is a variation on the scheme Ole Miss used last week to run between the tackles. It will allow Ole Miss to have multiple run designs out of this particular formation.
Wallace’s handoff on these outside runs is bizarrely different. Most of the handoffs in Freeze’s offense are either in front of the quarterback or to the side. This is based off the zone read, where Wallace has the option to keep the ball based on a certain defender’s aggressiveness.
But on these outside runs, Wallace pivots and faces away from the defense when he makes the handoff. This eliminates the threat of a zone read, and we could see the zone read less and less with Wallace in at quarterback, given the success Ole Miss has had running inside and outside with this lead blocking scheme.
That doesn’t mean the zone read is gone. Ole Miss will still use it, especially with senior quarterback Barry Brunetti. This gives Ole Miss more options in the running game.
When Alabama and Auburn stifled senior running back Jeff Scott and the zone read, Ole Miss didn’t have a backup plan to run the football. Now they do, and it should prevent Ole Miss from falling into another running slump.
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