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Wisconsin Passing Game

+10 HS
Buckeye_Wizard's picture
October 11, 2016 at 5:24pm
29 Comments

There is an old Chevy Chase movie titled "Fletch" where Chevy's character says, "It's all ball bearings nowadays." In today's passing game...it's all triangles nowadays. No really....it is all about triangles nowadays.

Norm Chow presented BYU's passing offense at an American Football Coaching Association (AFCA) convention where he said, "All we have done is try to create a triangle depending on how the defense covers."  Coach Chow was the offensive coordinator at BYU and Southern Cal, to name a few and he coached the likes of Steve Young, Jim McMahon, Carson Palmer, Ty Detmer and Matt Leinart. 

These same triangle concepts were used by Bill Walsh and the San Francisco 49ers to win a few Super Bowls too.  

Wisconsin tends to use triangle passing concepts with their freshman QB Alex Hornibrook in the middle of the field more often than towards the sideline. Here is an example from the recent Michigan State game.

The idea is to use vertical (down the field) and horizontal (across the field) stretch to make it difficult for the defense to cover and create space for the receivers. It is supposed to be an easy read for the QB. Here is the video of the play.

This next play was by far the favorite pass play of the day against Michigan.  I counted at least six different times the same play was called during the game.  It is what you might call a "rub" route or "pick" play. Here is the high-low triangle.

And here is the video. Not exactly sure why Hornibrook doesn't throw it to the crossing receiver who is wide open.

Here is one where he does hit the crossing route for a big gain later in the same quarter. I would think he was told by the coaches in the booth to look for the crossing route. It was open all game.

I look for Wisconsin to use these same concepts against Ohio State. These concepts are a staple for just about every offense. And you can impress your friends by saying, "It's all triangles nowadays."

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