Is the Pop Pass Only for Spread Teams?

Home >

Is the Pop Pass Only for Spread Teams?

Brice Ramsey
(Photo by John Kelley)
[su_spacer size=”10″] The type of play that has become known as a pop pass is a play that gives the quarterback the option to run or pass. When the spread option first evolved it was about giving the quarterback a choice to keep the ball or handoff to one of his running backs based on his read of a defensive player. Pop passes have introduced a new option and new headaches for defensive coordinators.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Here is the play that made the pop pas famous:
[su_spacer size=”20″]
[su_spacer size=”20″] Here is an excellant article explaining the concept far better than I can:
[su_spacer size=”40″] [su_quote style=”modern-light” cite=”EVOLVING THE OPTION –
THE POP PASS AND THE FUTURE OF FOOTBALL” url=”http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/8/20/6044003/read-option-pass-play-football-xs-os-diagrams”] Have you ever noticed the glitch in football video games in which you can run your QB at the line of scrimmage and then throw it over the heads of defenders if they rushed up to stop you from scrambling for easy yardage? With pop plays, that nightmare has become a reality.
[su_spacer size=”10″] One successful Texas high school head coach indicated he’s rebuilding his offense around this tweak on the option.
[su_spacer size=”10″] “On any given run play or down, the QB has a pass read as well,” he said. “Your QB better be a sharp kid, or all this is for naught. If you’re the QB, it’s like playing ‘NCAA Football’ on the Xbox. You can always alter the read, route, or play.”

And Auburn’s hardly the only college team to use it. Other coaches like Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez, Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, and Kansas State’s Bill Snyder have already made pop plays a featured part of the offense. Tim Tebow used it at Florida and even as a gadget in the NFL. Meyer expects the number of teams running it in 2014 to double.
[/su_quote] [su_spacer size=”40″] Look over the article – it is excellent – then ask yourself if Schottenheimer may have noticed this trend as well. He has three mobile quarterbacks to work with the spring. It seems to me that this type of option fits the basic Mark Richt offense.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Is it an unstoppable play?
[su_spacer size=”20″]

[su_spacer size=”60″]
[su_spacer size=”40″]
Photo by Ted Mayer
[su_spacer size=”20″]

share content

Author /

Greg is closing in on 15 years writing about and photographing UGA sports. While often wrong and/or out of focus, it has been a long, strange trip full of fun and new friends.