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Texas A&M Football: Aggies have pieces to install flexbone and triple option

By Grant Britton

ANNAPOLIS, MD - SEPTEMBER 09: The Navy Midshipmen offense lines up against the Tulane Green Wave defense at Navy-Marine Corp Memorial Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Annapolis, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
ANNAPOLIS, MD - SEPTEMBER 09: The Navy Midshipmen offense lines up against the Tulane Green Wave defense at Navy-Marine Corp Memorial Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Annapolis, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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The Inside Veer, or the Triple Option

Here, we are going to look at a few plays that are staples of the flexbone offense. Like the spread, the flexbone is both a formation and an offense. The inside veer, or triple option,  is a staple of this offense, and is often erroneously used to describe the whole offense. Let me be clear, the offense ran by Georgia Tech, Navy, Army, and Air Force is the flexbone, not the triple option. That would be like calling the offense Texas A&M runs the “zone read.”

If Texas A&M were to introduce the flexbone, they would undoubtedly put in the triple option.

The A back (running the squiggly line) runs in motion before the snap. The ball is snapped when he is about to reach the fullback. Every lineman block is a cut block, which is very different from a chop block. A chop block is an illegal block where a defender is being blocked normally and another blocker tries to take out his legs. This dangerous play is a 15 yard penalty. A cut block is where a lineman tries to cut down the defender, and is integral to the offense. Service academies use cut blocks because their offensive linemen can’t be as big as some of the defenders they face, and must do what they can. Cut blocks also make it easier for the quarterback to read

The reads

The quarterback takes the snap and reads the play side defensive end. If the end stays where he is, to protect against an outside run, the quarterback gives the ball to the fullback on a dive. This happens probably 60 percent of the time on triple options. If the end “crashes,” or runs towards the quarterback, the ball is pulled, and the option begins.

The quarterback runs at the inside hip of the outside linebacker and forces him (with the 6-pointed star) to make a choice. He can pitch it or keep it. The quarterback must be confident and hard-nosed, able to take a hit. Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds was excellent at this, and I would recommend watching him.