Quick Two-Route Combos

Below is a list of common quick two-route combos that I have used over the years in NCAA Football 06.

They all work in their own special way, but I like some combos more than others.

To make things fun, I have decided to rank them in order, starting with my least favorite.

This post will cover the eight most common combos I can think of.

There are more in the game, but you will see combos below the most throughout the formations.

Again, this just covers the quick stuff. Later on I may write a post on deeper combos. Until then, enjoy and use this info to your delight!

#8 – Smash (Short Side)

The Smash combo is my least favorite for several reasons.

The first reason is the lack of a good Man beater.

The Flag route can beat all Man coverages (Cover 0, 1 & 2), but the throw is so hard to make on a consistent basis.

You have to throw a medium button press and even then, you never know if your QB will under throw it or throw it to far out of bounds.

Either way, the defender covering this route does a good job in this situation.

You would also think that the Hitch route would work the same as a Curl route against Man but this isn’t so as the defender will cover him well, too well to throw it against Man.

This combo does a littler better job against Zone.

The Hitch route will be open most of the time (unless the defense calls a DE spy to that side) as the Flag route distracts the CB enough to get the Hitch open.

Unfortunately, this is a stop route. This means there is a possibility of the Hitch getting stuck in the mud so quickly getting up-field can be a challenge.

Sometimes he’ll cut right up-field though. The Flag does his job by distracting the CB enough for the Hitch to get open.

Another downside is that the Flag route can’t get open against Zone unless you give him enough time to cut up the field against a soft Cover 2 and by then, you’ll probably get sacked.

Even though basic Smash is my least favorite short two-route Combo, it is not a complete dud as having a simple Man beater somewhere else in the play gives you something to work with.

A good example of this is Gun Normal – HB Angle. You have both a Go route from the TE as a great Cover 0 along with the Out route on the right to beat Man.

#7 – Smash Dig (Both)

If you want to use Smash, I think you are better off running the Smash Dig.

The only difference between Smash and Smash Dig is the Hitch will run a Dig after finishes his Hitch route.

He will settle on the Hitch for barely a second before finishing off his route with a basic Dig route.

The slight adjustment makes all the difference in the world. This now gives you a good enough Man beater and a Zone beater, all from the same route.

The only real downside is the time it takes for the route to develop as it is slow.

Do you have enough time for the Dig to open up against Man before feeling too much pressure?

Also, don’t expect your WR to get great separation from his defender when running the Dig.

The same Zone rules apply that is mentioned for basic Smash.

Yes you can run this to the short side of the field, but the combo works just as well to the grass-side of the field although with slightly different rules.

A good example of this is Gun Spread- HB Go.

You have your basic  Smash combo on the left with the Smash Dig combo on the right.

Played on the left hash, the Flag route can work against Man but with more field to play with.

The Flag route works against Cover 2 because the Go route by the HB will distract the safeties.

The Hitch/Dig works more as a Dig in the situation.

Against Zone, he can get open over the middle if there is a hole above your Center (Center beater) and works against Man as we mentioned earlier.

#6 – Skinny Post/Flat (Short Side)

This is the first of few combos that feature the Flat route. As we all know, the Flat route works well against Zone.

The biggest downside to this route is the potential bog-down of the route itself. Sometimes the player will take forever to get up-field, sometimes he will release quickly up the field.

You just never know what will happen.

At least the route is pretty safe to throw to.

Another neat feature to this combo is the Skinny Post can get open over the hash marks against Zone.

Depending on the coverage, you might see a hole between the CB and the LB beside him.

Also, this route can pull the CB to his direction for a split second which leaves the Flat route even more open than usual, but only for a second.

All of this makes this Combo as good of a Zone Combo as any in the NCAA 06!

However, this also means that it doesn’t work well against Man at all.

You would think the Skinny Post can get open against Man but I have repped it many times.

The CB covering this route does a great job here and can sometimes get in front of the ball for interceptions.

Throw it to the Skinny Post against Man at your own risk.

Because this combo is so weak against Man, it helps to have at least one Man beater somewhere else in the play.

Thankfully there are quite a few plays that feature this. One example is Weak Twins – TE Corner.

The HB on the Flare route along with the TE’s Flag route give you two decent Man beaters.

What is neat about this play is that all of your Zone beaters are on one side of the field with all the Man beaters on the other side, a nice visual and easy to remember if you ask me.

#5 – Curl/Flat (Short Side)

Ah, the classic Curl/Flat combo, a staple concept for many offenses, both past, present, and future. And guess what? It is  #5 on my list.

This combo is probably the most popular of all the quick combos because of how simple it to remember what to do.

The Curl beats Man, the Flat beats Zone, simple!

The reason why I only have it as my #5 favorite quick combo is due to the high risk/high reward that comes with it, especially the Curl route.

You better hope your timing of the throw and the accuracy of your QB kicks in or the defense will pick this pass off.

Throw it too early: interception. Throw it too late: interception. Throw it with bad accuracy: interception.

I think you get the point, but if you throw it correctly, you’re guaranteed 10 yards and potentially more depending if the CB bites on the throw.

We’ve already discussed how good the Flat route is against Zone, but the Curl can get open against Zone but only if you have a Post route on the same side.

Sometimes the Post will distract the CB on that side to where the Curl can get wide open.

However, this doesn’t happen all the time. The timing is crucial as well so seek caution when trying to throwing to Curl in this situation.

I may be cheating a bit with the Post addition as this makes the combo a three-route concept, but I didn’t want to leave it out.

Lastly, it also helps to have another Man beater somewhere else as since the Curl is always an outside WR, he might get double-teamed so having that extra Man beater always helps.

Having said all of this, there are more Curl/Flat plays in NCAA 06 than any other quick combo so you have plenty to choose from.

A good example of all of the advantages to the Curl Flat is Ace Big TE WR- Curl Flat.

This features the Post route I mentioned that can sometimes distract the CB to get the Curl open if you want another Zone beater.

With the Out route on the left against Man and the Angle route from the HB against everything, you have quite a potent play.

Below is a video I made regarding this concept.

#4 – Corner/Flat (Short Side)

 

The Corner/Flat combo has all the advantages of the Curl/Flat combo with with less weaknesses.

The Corner route is simply a safer Man beater than the Curl as it can technically attack all three Man coverages.

The only problem with this route is that it can be hard to make a good throw on a consistent basis.

It is similar to the Flag route from Smash but at least the WR tends to shield himself from his defender and the ball better with the Corner.

Plus, if the throw is good, you can gain more yards with it than the Curl due to how deep the route is.

The biggest downside to this combo is that for whatever reason, this combo only works on the left hash.

For some reason, hitting the Corner route on the right hash can’t get open as well.

I need to practice this more, but I have had far more success with the combo on the left hash than on the right.

This is another combo that is scattered all over the formations in 06, but one of my favorites is No Back – SE Corners.

Like with most of these combos, it helps to have another Man beater somewhere in case your Corner is double-teamed or you don’t feel comfortable hitting that route.

This play features a nice Crossing route that is great against Man. Otherwise,

Just use your Corner/Flat combo on the left to get the job done.

#3 – Deep/Swing (Short Side)

Now we are getting into my favorite quick combos in the game.

If you have been keeping up with my Washington State dynasty, you know I am running a classic West Coast Offense.

You also know that I use the HB Swing pass a lot and for good reasons. I simply love the Swing route.

I think it is one of the best low risk/high reward routes in the game.

The Swing itself works best against Zone (especially Cover 3!), but can be lethal.

Having a somewhat deep route above it that can beat Man makes this combo deadly.

Going back to the Swing route, you have to wait until the HB starts running up-field, but what makes this route better than our typical Zone beaters (Hitch & Flat) is due to better yards-after-catch (YAC) potential.

The Hitch and Flat are stop routes and may get bogged down.

The Swing route does not have this problem as throwing to the HB up the sideline can yield big rewards.

Plus, I think this is the safest Zone beater in the game.

Hitches and Flat routes can (though rare) can, for example, get picked off by the play-side DE if he tips the throw and catches it.

The reason I said “Deep” and not a specific route is because the Swing route works well with any route above it.

The Swing can work well without a route directly above too!

A good example of this is Weak Twins – Slot Wheel.

You can see how there isn’t really a route on the short side to distract the CB for the Swing.

The TE route sort of does this, but this play shows you that you don’t really need another route to get him open.

Thankfully, the TE’s “deep” route is another good Man beater to compliment the Swing.

#2 – Fade/Out (Both)

The last two combos are very similar to each other but with one slight difference.

The Fade (or Go)/Out combo is near and dear to my heart for several reasons.

The biggest reason I love this combo is the simple fact that the Out route works well against Man and Zone.

This opens up several possibilities.

The main one I will mention here is that you can simply put your best playmaker in the Slot and you can pretty much guarantee that he will get the ball.

On the combo itself, the read is the simplest of the bunch: Throw it to the Fade against Cover 0, otherwise, throw it to the Out.

Ssimple, simple, simple!

You can also throw it to the Go route against Cover 2 Zone, but tread lightly on that throw as it can get picked off.

Also, this combo is the best stretch concept because the Go distracts the CB and Safety better than any other high route.

Another big plus is that the combo is the quickest in terms of getting the ball out. Some of the combos I have mentioned take a little time to get open.

The Fade Out does not have this problem.

Lastly, you can also use this combo on the grass-side of the field.

The only downside to this is that it is strictly a Man beater combo.

I can go on and on about this combo.

Thankfully there a quite a few plays that contain this combo.

One good example is Pro Twins – RB Clearout. It is possible that your Out route can get double-teamed, but this play has other Man beaters.

You can’t get any simpler than the Fade/Out.

#1 – Fade/Zig Out (Both)

The gold medal goes to the Fade/Zig Out combo.

As if the regular Fade/Out can’t get any better, the Zig Out (or Whip) route is a much better route than your basic 5-yard Out route.

The Zig Out does a better job of getting separation from his defender than any other route in the game!

Also, the timing of the route gives the Go route a chance to distract the defense longer.

Also, the Zig Out is a shorter route compared to the Out route so there is less chance of a CB causing problems.

Finally, just like the Fade/Out, this combo works on the grass-side as well, but only in a Man-beating situation.

I don’t need to say much else about this combo as the previous combo mentioned is so similar but needless to say, you can see how great this combo is and why I love it so much.

A great example of this is Gun 5-Wide – Zig Outs.

You have this combo on both sides of the play so the options can appear endless.

Having the Post route over the middle makes this play the ultimate “stretch” concept.

Opposite-Side Combos and Other Variations

I want to briefly talk about another version of the combos mentioned above.

You will notice how the routes are beside each other. We can call the combos Same-Side Combos.

However, you can also you these same combos via Opposite-Side Combos.

These are combos that have the low route coming from the other side of the field.

A good example of this is Ace Spread – Slot Crosses. In this play, you are simply replacing the Flat route with a Shallow route to create the Corner/Flat combo.

There are plenty of other variations you can play with but I wanted to make sure you didn’t forget all of the many Opposite-Side Combos in the game.

Also, you will notice that most of the combos feature two WRs, but there are plenty of other personnel combinations you can use to run these combos.

The WR/TE combo with Ace Big TE WR- Curl Flat shown in the Curl/Flat section is a good example of this.

Conclusion

Hopefully this post gets your offensive juices flowing. Quick Two-Route Combos have been a staple of passing attacks for generations.

Thankfully we have many to choose from in NCAA 06.

No matter what type of offense you currently run, having at least one of these combos in your scheme makes too much sense.

In the future I may write a Deep Two-Route Combo post, but for now, I hope this post helps you in some way.

Please post in the comment section some of your thoughts on your favorite quick combos and how you like to use them.