Breaking Half Slide Protection

One tired and true plan to beat half slide protection is to cover up all the OL. Half slide is half slide (zone) and half man technique. The rules of half slide protection define which OL are sliding and those who are in man. Often the rule is the first uncovered OL starts the slide. If you cover all the OL up you naturally break the slide by forcing all the OL to be in man. Got them in man now what? Twisting pass rushers is one good way to attack OL in man protection. Virginia Tech is rushing 5 from an odd front dime personnel.

The Rush:
Ends contain
The LB's and Nose work a 3 man twist game

The Coverage:
Cover 1

The OL identifies the twist and works to pass it all off. Out of 5 games of 1 on 1 VT was expecting to win at least one. In this case both the ILBs in the pressure use speed and athleticism to win their match-ups. Good stuff from Bud Foster and the Hokies. This pressure is very similar to a pressure Georgia ran which was featured previously. 

This pressure shows up on film for many defenses. This type of concept also shows up in the '85 Bears playbook from Buddy Ryan. 

Buddy Ryan was building bear front concepts in multiple ways. Out of the 4-3, blitz the Mike and twist with the two DTs and you have the same bear front stunt. Virginia Tech was instead using two ILBs and a Nose to build the Bear front. This blitz concept isn't new but it is still highly effective.

Virginia Tech Green Dog

Here is a 5 man pressure green dog dialed up by Virginia Tech Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster.

The Rush:
Will - Contain Rush
Left DE - Slant Inside
Left DT - Slant Inside
Right DE & DT - Twist (DT 1st, DE 2nd)

The Coverage:
Cover 1 - man free coverage with a LB man on the RB. If the RB blocks the LB adds to the pass rush.

 The green dog technique by the LB creates a 2 on 1 vs. the RB and a clean run on the QB.

If the turn of the Center in protection is to the twist side of the pressure the offense cannot block the 4 rushers (Will, DE, DT, Mike) with the 3 blockers (Guard, Tackle, RB) to the defensive left. The offense does have a 3 on 2 vs. the twist and should be solid picking it up.

What ends up happening is the Center sees the Mike's path and squeezes his pass set back to the pressure side. This creates two major problems for the protection. First, the Guard and Tackle would also need to squeeze back for the offense to pick up the Mike in protection. There is a low probability of the offense having the Center, Guard, Tackle all set one direction then identify, process, communicate and execute redirecting to block the rushers. The second problem is once the Center squeezed the protection back with the Mike, he created a 2 on 2 man blocking side against the twist. A Pass rush twist is highly effective against OL locked on in a man protection concept.

Here the Center stays in the slide to the twist side. The defense has an easy 2 on 1 overload against the RB.

This pressure is being adjusted based on the alignment of the RB. On the first clip #54 is the LB aligned to the wide field and the back, he edge rushes. #40 is aligned to the short side & opposite the RB, he green dogs. In the second example the RB is aligned to the short side. #40 is aligned to the short side and the back so he walks up a rushes off the edge. #54 is to the wide field and opposite the RB, he green dogs. In both examples the DL must also be aware of the RB alignment to know if they are pinching inside or twisting. Interesting and effective concept from the Hokies.