Defending the Spread

At Mendocino College our defense was able to finish #1 in the state of California Junior College football for sacks last season. We feel that sacks happen because your coverage is sound. If you can’t cover, the ball will be gone long before a sack can happen. This article is going to address the topic of “Defending the Spread Offense: Finding Holes in the Protection.” ‘The spread offense spreads the defense, while creating match-ups that the offense can take advantage of.’ I have heard this saying often. I feel that while true that a spread scheme stretches your defense, I also feel those match-ups can often be favorable for the defense. This article will address Big on Big protection (B.O.B) or man protection. As you will see in our base alignment (See Diagram 1) against a spread set is a 3-4 with a 2 shell over the top. In your basic B.O.B. protection, the guards are