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Introduction
2010 was a magical season for the Auburn Tigers. With the combination of former Florida QB Cam Newton and hotshot offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, Auburn finished with a national championship in hand! It was a total team effort, but most remember Heisman winner Newton dominating college football thanks to the help of a new spread offense Malzahn had been perfecting for years.
This mini scheme from NCAA Football 11 (PS2/Xbox) breaks down the Shotgun Normal formation from Auburn’s playbook. It has a little bit of everything Malzahn like to use to attack defenses such as jet sweeps, pulling runs, and play action. This formation is a great starting point for that entire scheme.
The Formation
Shotgun Normal is an 11 personnel formation (1 RB, 1 TE). It is also balanced with two WRs on the left and a WR and TE on the right with the HB to the right of the QB. Oddly enough, several plays in this formation have the HB to the left as you will see later on in the play breakdowns. This popular formation is a typical starting point for most spread offenses.
While you are in practice mode working on this scheme, I suggest you play around with its sub packages. Most of them involve switching players around or putting in backups. I’m a big believer in putting your best players out on the field, and sub packages come in handy for this. Read my QB Guide for basic tips as what I say below will make more sense.
The Plays
Arrows is a simple quick-hititng dropback play where all four routes are useful. It works best on the right hash due to the Flat route (Triangle) being more useful on the short side of the field against Zone. Against Man, look for the Wheel (L1) against Cover 0. Otherwise, look to the left Slant (Square) and then the other Slant (Circle). Against Zone, I suggest you hot-route the right Slant to a Curl. This gives you a hi-lo read on the right side. Read the CB and throw to which ever is open (Curl or Flat).
QB Choice is basically Zone Read but with a pulling tackle. This is where you can feel like your are running staple Malzahn concepts. The play is too fast to read anyone after the snap so I suggest you hand the ball off the to the HB (hold X) if the blocking numbers are there on that side. If the defensive line and/or linebackers shift to the left, it’s probably best to keep it with the QB. Your HB will probably outrun the pulling tackle so he is not useful on most plays. Like with most runs, you can run this on any part of the field.
PA Read is an RPO that lets you hand the ball to the HB or treat it like a play action play and pass it. This is a great compliment to QB Choice. The play works best on the left hash due to the HB being a safe short side Zone beater and the backside Post working better out wide. If the box (D-Line and LBs) is light and they don’t shift hard to the left, it may be best to run. Otherwise, agaainst Man, look for the Post (Circle) against Cover 0 and then the Crosser (L1) and the Dig (Square) next. Against Zone, look for the Post against Cover 2 if you have time to throw. Otherwise, throw to the Flat (R1). The Dig may be open quickly if the left CB goes low to defend the HB.
This series of plays work really well together as you have the same sweep action from the Slot WR. Malzahn was known for his heavy use of jet sweeps. I thnk all work best on the left hash so your Sweep has more grass to play with.
Slot Sweep is your typical jet sweep. You are limited to what you can do other than run to the right. The key is to follow your blocks and not use to the speed button until you are in the clear. Against Zone, you will have better chances to cut upfield due to defenders staying in their spots. You will more than likely run to the outside against Man. It still depends on the blocking though. Having someone fast here helps.
PA Slot Sweep is a left hash play due to what I mentioned above on the Sweep. You can still hand the ball to the Sweep (hold X). But for passing purposes, the only good Man beaters are the Comeback (Square) and the Crosser (Triangle). Read the left CB and throw to either the Comeback or the Flat (R1) against Zone. You may also want to practice this on the right hash so all routes going left have more grass to play with, treat it as a rollout if needed.
Fk Sweep QB Cntr is a QB run play to the left which is great when you’ve been showing the Sweep to the right so much. You can still hand the ball to the Sweep (hold X). Because of this, I would treat it as a Zone Read/QB Choice play. Pick the player that has less defenders to the side he is running to, especially run away from heavy shifts.
Corners is one of my least favorite plays in this formation and can be ignored, but I will cover it anyway. This can kind of work on either hash. If you need a short side zone beater, play it on the right hash to use the Delay (R1) as such. Use this on the left hash if you you want to roll out with the the Flag (Triangle) against Cover 2 Zone. The Drag (Square) is decent against Man and and against Zone if there is a hole above yout Center.
HB Off Tackle is your standard off tackle run play. It can not be flipped so all you can do is follow your blocks and hope for the best. You might want to motion your TE to the left for an extra blocker if needed. You can do the same with the right WR if the defense is in Zone.
WR Stutter Slant is left hash play that is solid with extra adjustments. Against Man, Go to either the Post (L1) or Flag (Circle) against cover 0. They unfortunately don’t work well against Cover 2 or 1 since their stems are too steep, and they are too close together. Otherwise, go to the In (Square). Hot-route the Stick (Triangle) to an Out route if you want an extra Man beater. Against Zone, read the Stick and the Post. Hot-route the In to a Go which will get the Post more open, especially Against Cover 2. Otherwise, the Stick will be open. Both it and the Post work well together.
Scissors In may be the best deep dropback concept and my preferred 3rd & long play in this formation. The play works best on the right hash due to the Swing (R1) being a great safe short side Zone beater. Against Man, motion the TE Dig (Traingle) to the left to give the other Dig (Circle) more room to breath. Go to either the Post (Square) or Flag (L1) against Cover 0. Otherwise, look for the Dig (Circle) and your new Out route (Triangle). Against Zone, the scissors concept is your best bet. The Post is good against any coverage, and the Flag is best agaainst Cover 2 as long as you have time and space to roll out with it. Otherwise, throw to the Swing (R1).
Speed Option is perhaps the simplest and most effective option concept from Shotgun formations. Flip the run (Triangle + left/right), and run away from shifts and impact players. Treat it like any other option play by reading your blocks and pitch it if a defender is about to tackle the QB. Don’t use the speed button until nobody is in front of you.
HB Angle is a great pass play as it attacks Man and Zone well, and route spacing is good (stresses the defense) so the routes compliment eachother. This is left hash play. Against Man, look for the Go (Triangle) against Cover 0. Otherwise throw to the Out (Circle). The Angle (R1) might get good separation too so it is a nice backup option. Against Zone, look for the Angle if there is a hole above the Center. Otherwise, read the left CB to throw to either the Flag (L1) or the Hitch (Square). Hi-lo reads like this are great against Zone.
This series of plays is similar to the other jet sweep series we talked about earlier. All three work well together to accomplish the same thing: show the defense the same look and movement to throw them off. It is probably best to play all of these on the right hash so the Sweep has more grass to run with to the left side. Also notice how the HB is now to the left of the QB, a nice little wrinkle to this formation.
Motion Dbl Pass is a hit an miss trick play as the game forces the QB to throw to the motioned Sweep which can take forever to develop so keep your expectations low. Becuase of this, I would treat this as an audible whenever you see Zone. The Sweep will get tackled immediately against Man. Throw it to anyone who is open but again, keep your expecations low as the WR will more than likely be a terrible passer.
Flanker Sweep is your typical jet sweep. You are limited to what you can other than run to the left. The key is to follow your blocks and not use to the speed button until you are in the clear. Against Zone, you will have better chances to cut upfield due to defenders staying in their spots. You will more than likely run to the outside against Man. It still depends on the blocking though.
PA Sweep Slide is a nice compliment to Flanker Sweep. You can still hand if off the the Sweep (hold X) which makes this an RPO, but we will focus on the passing side of things. Be carefule as righty QBs have a delay once they fake it to the HB due to the HB being to his left. A left QB won’t have this issue if you don’t flip the play. Against Man, throw to the Post (Square) against Cover 0. Otherwise, keep reading left to right and look for someone open. Against Zone, throw to the Post if you have time against any coverage. Otherwise, read the right CB and throw to eaither the Flag (Triangle) or the Flat (R1).
This is another set of plays with the HB to the left of the QB.
SE Drag is a solid yet oddball pass play. It can work off either hash depending on what you need it for. If you have a fast TE then you might want to run it on the right hash for Slot Post purposes. Otherwise, I will break down the left half version as I feel it has slightly better attacking opportunities. Against Man, Throw to the Go (Circle) against Cover 0, the Post (Triangle) against Cover 2, or the Drag (Square) against anything, especially if you need to get the ball out quickly. Against Zone, throw to the Drag if there is a hole above your Center. Otherwise, read the left CB and throw to either the Flag (L1) or the Swing (R1).
HB Draw is suprisingly a solid run play. In past games, HB Draws from Shotgun formations were terribly slow. Not so much here so you can treat it like any inside run play. Watch for good blocking and don’t use the speed button as you weave your way through the line to pick up whatever yards you can.
PA Indy is fun play action play that has two hi-lo concepts to either side so you can run this on either hash. All four routes are good Man beaters. Against Zone, look at the route combo that is closest to a sideline (for example, the Flag/Hitch if on the right hash) and read that CB, throw to whichever of the two routes is open.
This is another set of plays with the HB to the left of the QB.
Seam Attack is your typical Vertical concept. The problem though is that in this game, two Go routes beside eachother don’t work well together. You need to hot-route a slot Go to an Out for example so both can work better together. This is mirrored concept so it can work on either hash. For this example we will use it on the left hash. Hot-route the left slot Go (L1) to an Out route. You can also hot-route one of the two Gos on the right to a Curl or Out if you want another Man beater. Against Man, throw to the left Go (Sqaure) against Cover 0. Otherwise, throw it to one of your new Out or Curl routes. The Circle (R1) can sometimes get open against Man too. Against Zone, throw to the Circle if there is a hole above your Center. Otherwisr, read the left CB and throw to either the Go or Out.
Zone Read is no different than QB Choice from earlier except it is better for two reasons. First, the HB is running to the TE side so you have an extra blocker. You also have better blocking due to everyone straight blocking (no pullers). But like QB Choice, read the box, shifts, and impact players to decide whether to hand it off (hold X) or keep it with your QB. The play is too fast to read anything post-snap so reading what I just said pre-snap makes a difference.
PA QB Choice is another PA Read and compliments Zone Read perfectly. It is a left hash play as we want to have hi-lo reads to the short side of the field, and the backside Post is greast against many coverages when attacking the deep middle. Hand the ball off (hold X) if you see a light box and there are no hard shifts to the right. When passing against Man, throw to either the Go (Square) or Post (Circle) against Cover 0. Otherwise, throw to either the Crosser (Triangle) or the Whip (L1) underneath. Against Zone, throw to the Post against any coverage, especially Cover 2 if you have time. Otherwise, read the left CB and throw to either the Go or Whip.
Audibles
Audibles are important for any scheme but even more so if you are sticking to just a few formations. You have your standard 5 slots for audibles. You can go with whatever you want here. It can be your five favorite plays, all runs, it’s up to you.
One thing that will help with this decision is formation audibles. This game has a feature where each formation in a team playbook has built-in audibles. Select Square then any direction on the right joystick to go to a run, play action, quick, deep pass play. If you use these heavily then I suggest you reserve your five main aduibles for other plays. Formation audibles are only available in team/default playbooks. Created playbooks do not have them. Below are the formation audibles for Shotgun Normal:
- Up – Arrows
- Down – Slot Sweep
- Left – PA Slot Sweep
- Right – WR Stutter Slant
Play Calling
I try to keep it simple with play calling in that I pick plays based on my talent and current situation. For example, if my QB is slow, I do not need to call Zone Read, QB Choice, or Speed Option. If it is 3rd & long, I may call Scissors In, SE Drag, or Seam Attack. If my best player is a speedy WR, I may put him in the slot for jet sweeps. Just common sense stuff really.
One of the strengths of this formation is how plays work off eachother. Take advantage of the series we covered. Run one of the sweeps and a few plays later, run the play action version of those sweeps. If you pass a lot, add more HB Draw.
And don’t forget about your audibles mentioned earlier. Between formation audbiles and the standard 5 audibles of your choice, you can go into any play with 9 extra plays to pick from if needed.
Lastly, this is just one formation in a 250+ playbook. Use this formation as a base and once you’re ready, play around with the other formations and see what is there. You willl find many similar concepts that you are now comfortable with. Before you know it, you will have a full scheme to unleash on defenses.
Summary
I hope this mini scheme serves you well. It’s a fun way to run a spread offense in NCAA Football 11. There are tons of other spread playbooks in the game, but this one really does a great job of what Gus Malzahn and Cam Newton was trying to accomplish back then.
More importantly, have fun! Don’t forget to add a question or comment below if needed.