RPO

[Charlie Foxtrot]

So in watching several games today, I have been looking at what the defense does when an offense runs RPO. In almost every case, it causes the defense to hesitate for just a split second while they try to locate the ball. It keeps the ends from crashing down right away and also it makes the d line commit to their gaps as they try to hold the line of scrimmage. It also seems to discourage blitzing coming from the line backers and corners as it may put them out of position.

I have no idea how hard it is to implement an RPO scheme with a young QB, especially if there is concern for ball security on the exchanges or holding and pulling the ball etc., but it sure seems like a scheme that would fit Nate Johnson much better than what we have been running over the past few games. If nothing else, the defense would have to back off at least a little bit and it would probably help open up things for our run game and short passing game as well.

Watching Penix run RPO, and dink and dunk his way down the field mixed in with running back runs and the occasional QB run is a thing of beauty.

[Ute Dub]

Yup. And we do run some RPO, but Nate NEVER keeps it. F**k! You need to keep it a couple times to freeze the defense going forward. Instead, the defense just tees off against a QB that they know can’t burn them past 15 yards, and the ignorant Ute fans start blaming the OL when 6-7 defenders pin their ears back against Nate.

[22Ute22]

To me, that’s the most frustrating thing about NJ’s play. He keeps the ball when he shouldn’t, and hands it off when he should keep it.

[2008 National Champ]

1. Washington isn’t an RPO offense. They have those plays but rarely run them because Penix is too important to risk unnecessarily. They do a lot of play-action with the backs but that is mostly window dressing to keep the defense honest. It will be interesting to see if they incorporate more RPO action next year once Penix is gone.

2. It is no more difficult to install an RPO based scheme than any other and is actually more QB friendly than a pro style but not as an Air Raid. The design is such that you are trying to put specific defenders in conflict on every play and its effectiveness is based on the QB making the correct read instead of the one they want to. Huntley struggled with RPO in 2017 and 2018 because he played like he was the best option no matter what the read was. In 2019, he did a better job of following his keys which allowed Moss to really become even more dominant.

3. I played and coached receivers & DB’s so someone who played or coached line will need to help me out with how difficult it would be to change from zone blocking schemes to power, power to gap, etc. Being able to have your line capable of blocking to the play design is the most important part of any offensive scheme. I can give broad strokes on the O Line but there are much better resources than my limited knowledge.

4. Most of the best offenses today are incorporating aspects of pro, air raid and RPO. Lincoln Riley was an Air Raid guy from the Mike Leach tree but he’s incorporated power running and is really creative with his counter schemes. But the biggest thing to remember is that not every QB/RB mesh is an RPO. Wake Forest a couple of years ago with their slow mesh was really the only time I’ve seen a team run RPO on almost every play.

@Ute_Dub – Nate always kept against Florida and Baylor. He’s now gone to the other extreme where he isn’t pulling it. Part of that is trying to be coachable and not realizing that you need minor corrections to improve instead of wholesale changes. I also don’t think he is being allowed to audible and Utah is limiting their motion and formation shifts so it is not doing anything to help him by giving him better looks to work with. But I also wouldn’t discount the idea that Ludwig isn’t actually giving Johnson the option to keep. Designed runs are supposed to look the same as RPO through the mesh so that it makes the play-action more effective.

[SalUteopia]

The WF slow mesh O with Sam Hartman at the helm was so fun to watch. I was hoping we could get Hartman as a transfer but ND had already interfered.

[//r00t4Utes]

I assumed the few “RPO” called are all called to have Johnson hand it off and not to keep it. The reason or logic is what I see and what you said, there is no motion and everything on the offense is way over simplified.

[2008 National Champ]

In a perfect world, you have 3 or 4 calls that look exactly the same for the first 1 to 1.5 seconds of the play.

1. Designed handoff – QB sells that he is looking at his key and fakes the keeper so that the unblocked defender doesn’t crash.
2. Play action – RB/QB mesh is the same as 1 to sell the run action, QB finds his receivers and RB either picks up a rusher or becomes the outlet receiver.
3. Run option – exactly the same as 1 through the mesh but QB has the option to pull if the conflict defender crashes the RB.
4. Run Pass Option – again, exactly the same as 1 but the conflict defender is typically a linebacker or safety. If they bite on the run action, QB has the option to keep or hit the receiver in the vacated spot.

There are also minor blocking differences because you can’t throw past the line of scrimmage if a lineman is more than 3 yards downfield but the basic structure is the same. RPO is actually a play, not an overriding offensive scheme. And if done right, neither the people in the stands nor the other team should know which of the 4 you were actually trying to do. Because once the defense can predict what you are doing, it gets ugly in a hurry.

[Redblood]

They ran it early and Nate completed a pass. I was like, Nate will be tough to stop if he can hand off, keep (that is how he scored the long run against Florida, or pass (which he did on one play early. Then… they never ran the play again. I really don’t get it at all?!

[Yergensen]

Decoding Ludwig…