• NCAA Football 11 - Offensive Styles: One Back

    The latest NCAA Football 11 developer blog comes from Anthony White and discusses the One Back offensive series:

    Anthony White here and I'm back with another blog in our offensive styles series. In our previous offensive styles blog we focused on the new additions we've made to the shotgun spread offense, namely the read option play. We also touched on the fact that the term 'spread offense' is an umbrella term that encompasses a number of offensive systems. One of those offensive systems is the one back offense. The one back offense is an offense that's primarily run from under center with only one back in the backfield. This offensive approach can be used in a variety of ways. The offense can use multiple receiver sets to spread the defense to throw the football (Memphis, UTEP) or use two tight ends to establish a physical power running game (Alabama, Idaho). The one back offense, in many circles, is often thought of as the original spread offense and rightfully so.

    The modern day one back offense was originally started in California at the high school level. At that time it was used primarily as a pass first offense. After years of success at that level it wasn't long before the offense caught the eyes of college coaches and made its way to the collegiate level at schools like San Jose State, Idaho, Wyoming, and Washington State. However, the one back offense gained national notoriety in the late 80's and early 90's at the University of Miami. The Hurricanes during this time period won two National Championships (1989 and 1991) while using the one back offense which featured three wide receivers, one tight end, and one back (Figure 1). With the success Miami was having with the offense other schools around the country began adopting the system and of course began putting their own unique spin on the offense.

    Figure 1.


    One Back Offense Philosophy
    Like the spread offense, a big point of emphasis for the one back offense is to control the number of defenders a defense can deploy to the box. As mentioned earlier, the one back offense is considered by many as the original spread offense. Many of the core principles of both systems are similar. As we pointed out with the spread offense, one back teams also want to use multiple receiver sets to spread the defense out. If the defense doesn't cover/align across from each receiver, the offense must be willing to throw the ball at any given point. This idea is known as "Throwing Uncovered". An offense that's willing to throw to an uncovered receiver at any given point on the field will force the defense to cover/align across from the offensive receivers.

    The offense with multiple receivers on the field can effectively pass against a defense who decides to load up against the running game as well as run against a defense whose primary focus is stopping the pass. Having an extra receiver on the field instead of a fullback often times puts the defense in the mindset of pass. However, the extra receiver being spread outside of the box forces the defense to align a defender across from him. This removal of a defensive player from the box essentially achieves the same thing as having a fullback block that same player from a two back alignment (Figures 2 and 3). Therefore an offensive team can execute any running play from a one back set as it can from a two back set.

    Figure 2.


    Figure 3.



    New One Back Formations
    The following one back sets are new to NCAA Football 11. These sets can be found in a variety of playbooks which was done based on our research of each team's offense.

    Ace Jumbo Z


    Ace Wing Trio TE


    Ace F Wing Trips


    Ace Slot Wing


    Ace Tackle Over



    Stay tuned for next week's offensive style...
    Comments 16 Comments
    1. Jayrah's Avatar
      Jayrah -
      WOW......:rolleyes: Hope that's not it for the week. No vids, no new plays, such as a one step and fire to the wr (uncovered), or anything really. Just the origin and the philosophy. Hmmm. The new sets are pretty cool, but I really wish they would've gone into more detail like they did the spread. I also really wish they would show ALL the new formations, and not just some of them, there are more in the sets that are new I think. Maybe we're about to get a playbook blog, or 3rd recruiting tomorrow. If not, pretty dissappointing this week.
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      Maybe they're not giving you as much so you can just see for yourself when the demo is out in less than two weeks.
    1. Flav's Avatar
      Flav -
      Quote Originally Posted by JBHuskers View Post
      Maybe they're not giving you as much so you can just see for yourself when the demo is out in less than two weeks.
      I can't wait that long! Not everyone got a chance to play the game already :p
    1. Jayrah's Avatar
      Jayrah -
      Quote Originally Posted by JBHuskers View Post
      Maybe they're not giving you as much so you can just see for yourself when the demo is out in less than two weeks.
      Maybe, but why not release this one the day before the demo then, just as an intro, and then today have given us a style in depth like last week that we won't see till release? A run and shoot, or true option.

      I'm just saying I'm still expecting something bigger than this tomorrow. E3's in 2 weeks and we still have some serious info on the table. Let's get some of it!!!!!

      Also, this is the very first blog this season that I've been left with a look on my face. I liked the info, but could've found it searching for one back offense on google. Except the formations.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Jayrah View Post
      Maybe, but why not release this one the day before the demo then, just as an intro, and then today have given us a style in depth like last week that we won't see till release? A run and shoot, or true option.

      I'm just saying I'm still expecting something bigger than this tomorrow. E3's in 2 weeks and we still have some serious info on the table. Let's get some of it!!!!!

      Also, this is the very first blog this season that I've been left with a look on my face. I liked the info, but could've found it searching for one back offense on google. Except the formations.
      Agreed! This blog really left me dissapointed. Let's get to announcement three of the dynasty blogs... it's the only blog anyone wants to hear about!
    1. Kwizzy's Avatar
      Kwizzy -
      I don't mind them pacing themselves and releasing info at a steady pace. That said, I do think that they have done an excellent job of making their releases detailed, informative, and thorough up to this point. This blog didn't really do much for me. It didn't really pertain to the game specifically, as in: How is this type of offense implemented in NCAA 11? I think the addition of a couple different videos would've went a LONG way here.
    1. xGRIDIRONxGURUx's Avatar
      xGRIDIRONxGURUx -
      Quote Originally Posted by Jayrah View Post
      Also, this is the very first blog this season that I've been left with a look on my face. I liked the info, but could've found it searching for one back offense on google. Except the formations.
      this is where we fail as "simulation" guys... there are a bunch of idiots out there that are clueless about these offenses, and just google "rocket catch" and "nano" until they can beat 60% of the online community... and are happy with that and actually brag about it... lol

      remember... the details cant always be like last week... as last week they still had to show some things that needed to "work" that havent before... this week they just confirmed that you can throw uncovered... and that just means, they have finally worked a route where the WR turns and looks at the QB... i would lay money on it... and if the pistol has ANY of this... i may stroke out in the middle of my first game... lol

      i see the one back setup becoming a more versatile threat than anything so far, unless the flex has really been tricked out to the max... and as much as i hate to say it, the one back may even be better than the spread option stuff if one of the main focuses is to throw hot uncovered a good bit... b/c thats HUGE...

      so i am left to deduce that it is a hot route change... and i am curious that if it is a hot route, then, it should be something to use across the board, as its already done anyways... mostly by run heavy spread teams such as oregon... (insert game film highlights on youtube from USC game last season here)





      they even commentate on it, when USC would bring the SS down to look run, was a simple check call... i abuse this in my high school system... =)

      i do agree though with jaymo... im ready to read some more about dynasty stuff...

      "E"
    1. Jayrah's Avatar
      Jayrah -
      Yeah I get that Grid on the simulation end. I just mean that there wasn't a whole lot of meat from an ncaa 11 standpoint to go with the potatoes. As Jaymo said, a video would've gone a long way.

      Thinking about it, they probably should've switched the release week for these past two offenses.
    1. Kwizzy's Avatar
      Kwizzy -
      Yeah, I understand it's not all meant for us sim players, all we're saying is we have come to expect videos & specific examples of how these things have been implemented in the game this year. Now maybe that was implied (that the things they talked about are in the game) but it'd be nice to see it, as they have done with every other blog up to this point.
    1. Sinister's Avatar
      Sinister -
      i hope we have smoke hot route that would be great. plus the info that left to come bundled with the fact that demo and E3 are all the same day. my brain will be on overload.
    1. Kwizzy's Avatar
      Kwizzy -
      Just noticed, the first formation shown in the one back blog is a screenshot of part of the Nebraska playbook!

      Looking at the numbers of the players… looks like they’ve still got Smith starting at LT but they got McNeill moved to WR otherwise he’d be in there as one of the 3 TEs.
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      Quote Originally Posted by jaymo76 View Post
      Let's get to announcement three of the dynasty blogs... it's the only blog anyone wants to hear about!
      Actually, I'm looking forward to the Styles blogs. I love seeing the new formations. Strangely, I'm less interested in the third dynasty blog ... I figure that's just because I've been thinking about formations so much lately.
    1. Solidice's Avatar
      Solidice -
      Quote Originally Posted by JeffHCross View Post
      Actually, I'm looking forward to the Styles blogs. I love seeing the new formations. Strangely, I'm less interested in the third dynasty blog ... I figure that's just because I've been thinking about formations so much lately.
      I want to see what they added to the Air Raid offense.

      I still would really like to see dynasty blog 3 though.
    1. Keontez's Avatar
      Keontez -
      I wonder if they added Army's Halfbone formations.
    1. Lava's Avatar
      Lava -
      JB, I see they have a formation for Nebraska in this blog. Can you confirm/deny if they added wildcat for us Husker fans this year, as we did run it in the Holiday bowl [which I'm sure you know but they may not]?

      If you can't answer, I understand, but if so, great!
    1. Kwizzy's Avatar
      Kwizzy -
      Quote Originally Posted by Lava View Post
      JB, I see they have a formation for Nebraska in this blog. Can you confirm/deny if they added wildcat for us Husker fans this year, as we did run it in the Holiday bowl [which I'm sure you know but they may not]?

      If you can't answer, I understand, but if so, great!
      I actually hope they did NOT add a Wildcat formation for us in the typical sense. We didn't actually run the typical wildcat that most teams do. If you go back and watch the Holiday bowl, they actually ran a fairly standard Shotgun formation with Rex and Robinson in the backfield (Twins left, Dual TEs right).

      With the limititation on the amount of different formations available in each team's playbooks in the game, I would prefer that the just include that formation with a bunch of QB power runs, zone reads, and options and a package sub that will allow us to sub Burkhead in. Just my opinion of course but I don't really want to waste one of our precious few formations on something like a typical wildcat formation which we don't really use.

      Either way, I have a fear that the offense Nebraska uses this year wont really be reflected well in the game. It will most likely be more representative of the traditional set power rushing offense we had to run last year. This offseason (starting in the Holiday bowl) they have moved to more of a spread-power run game (with a special emphasis on the QB run game), even running some pistol-like formations in the spring game.

      Hopefully their playbook at least somewhat represents that well.