Oregon State Football vs. Colorado State: Breaking down the film

Colorado State’s offensive scheme

Former Georgia quarterback Mike Bobo is the head coach at Colorado State. While Nick Stevens was benched mid-2016, he’s back and showed up in the Potato Bowl ready to fire. He has NFL ability and made some great throws against an improved Vandals squad that’s some how dropping down to FCS now that they’re respectable.

Watch Stevens is spread it out and throw a little more:

CSU isn’t going to veer too far from the base though, which is tight ends and fullbacks running pro style iso, toss, and play-action passing. Bobo is a Richt disciple deep down.

Here’s a toss out of 22 personnel (2 RB’s, 2 TE’s 1 WR). They’re using the wing’ed H-Back to reach block the stand-up end of Colorado. Then the fullback comes out of the back field to be an additional lead blocker. You don’t see this that often anymore.

As a fan you should always appreciate an old dog running new tricks. Colorado State runs power read (the play that made Andy Dalton famous) against Colorado. Many of us college football writers have covered power read, but it’s a nice wrinkle on an old play.

The back side guard will pull, looking to turn and block inside the b-gap on the play side. The H-Back leaves the defensive end unblocked as the read. The tailback runs a flat path outside. The quarterback reads the play side defensive end. If the end stays outside the quarterback pulls and keeps inside. If the defensive end “squeezes” (plays inside) of the tailback the quarterback gives to the tailback and it’s his job to outrun the defensive end.

Here’s what the diagrammed play looks like:

Colorado State’s defensive scheme

The Ram utilize a 4-2-5 scheme with a stand-up defensive end. It’s actually quite similar to Oregon State’s. Using a stand-up end to the tight end allows that player to jam him and also run to the flat to cover the tight end but he can also play the quarterback easily on inside zone read.

I love the press on the slot to the top of the screen. That will eliminate the threat of a bubble in any Run Pass Option (RPO) game.

Next: Who will be the ACC's Impact Players in 2017?

As you can tell, a game between Oregon State and Colorado State will show innovation from common sets. That’s the best part of football, when we see how guys can be creative in a game where “it’s all been done.”