HIGH SPEED SPREAD FOOTBALL: The Bash Concept

Friday, January 4, 2019

The Bash Concept

I have been reading and received a number of comments about the bash concept that is currently being employed by offenses across the football landscape. I thought I would take the time to put my thoughts about the play to paper. But before I begin on my explanation of the bash play I think it is important to speak about the zone read.

ZONE READ RIGHT

(Figure One)

ZONE READ LEFT

(Figure Two)

In both of these examples, you can see diagrams for the outside zone play to the right (Figure One) and the outside zone play to the left (Figure Two) both of these examples call for the uncovered offensive linemen to pull into the first vertical seam they can find along the line of scrimmage (LOS). Please note the red triangle is the presnap read key for the quarterback on the outside zone play. The number two wide receiver on the backside of the run is running a bubble route. (Coaching Point-Make sure you have your backside wide receiver chop their feet in place prior to extending on the bubble)

ZONE READ QB PULL LEFT

(Figure Three)

ZONE READ QB PULL RIGHT

(Figure Four)

In both of these examples, you will see the quarterback reading the backside defender. In the two examples (Figure Three and Figure Four) the quarterback reads the backside defender. In both of these examples, the backside defender comes upfield and is on a path to disrupt the outside zone play to the running back. Upon observing the defensive end and his post-snap movement the quarterback pulls the football. Immediately after the quarterback pulls the ball he needs to get his eyes on the defender over the number two wide receiver (blue triangle). If the man over number two attacks the quarterback he throws the ball to the wide receiver who is running the backside bubble. If the man over number expands with the bubble the quarterback puts his foot in the ground and get vertical in the void that has been created by the vacating defender.

As defenses have evolved they have become pretty good at defending the aforementioned zone read play. Obviously the longer you run the zone read play the more iterations of defensive alignment and backside exchanges you will see defenses employ. The four examples above were a brief explanation of how to run the zone read play out of the 2x2 formation. Throughout the rest of this article, we will examine the bash play which is an excellent complement to the zone read play.

There are a number of reasons to run this play but one of the main reasons I employ it into my offense is it does not change the assignments for the offensive line. As you will see in all of the figures in this articles the offensive line is blocking the play the same exact way based upon our outside zone rules. Below you will see an everyday drill we use in our system to teach our offensive linemen to pull on our wide zone play.

BASH PLAY QB KEEP RIGHT

(Figure Five)

BASH PLAY QB KEEP LEFT

(Figure Six)

The primary difference on this play is the quarterback and the running back have switched roles on the outside zone play. The quarterback now will run the outside zone play exactly as the running back runs the play. The quarterback will read the blocks the same way the running back reads the blocks of the offensive linemen. The quarterback’s read key is still the defensive end (red triangle). After the ball has been snapped the quarterback will place the ball out in front of their body to mesh with the running back. It is important to note, that the quarterback’s eyes need to be on the backside defender. It is the running backs responsibility to mesh with the quarterback. In both figures five and six, the quarterback would keep the ball and run the outside zone based upon the post-snap movement of the defensive end.

BASH PLAY QB GIVE (RUNNING BACK LEFT)

(Figure Seven)

(Figure Eight)

As you can see if both figures seven and eight the defensive end (red triangle) crashes down and will disrupt the quarterback outside zone. Therefore, the quarterback will give the ball to the running back as he is crossing his face. Again, it is important to note, that the quarterback will have his eyes on the backside defender (red triangle). After the ball has been given to the running back we generally ask them to get outside the tackle box before they start to work up the field.

In the video clips you will see my team running the bash concept with both the outside zone and counter run game.

Bash 2x2 Outside Zone