gschwendt's Guide to the 3-3-5 Defense in NCAA Football 13

[gschwendt]

Not to take anything away from nykia, but I've recently been putting together a guide with information about the 3-3-5 and giving a bit of insight as to how I use it.

gschwendt's Guide to the 3-3-5 Defense in NCAA Football 13

Table of Contents
1. History
2. Personnel and Recruiting
3. Formations
4. Coverage Styles and Plays
5. Alignment and Assignment (very important!)
6. Future Content

History
Joe Lee Dunn is considered the "father of the 3-3-5". As a Defensive Coordinator for the Memphis State Tigers in 1991, Dunn had to prepare for the USC Trojans and knew his team was no match if they used a traditional defense. That's when Dunn decided to replace a defensive lineman with an extra defensive back, allowing more speed on the field. As a result, the 3-3-5 made it's big splash when the Tigers defeated the USC Trojans 21-10. Dunn later spread his defense around the SEC including stops at Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Mississippi State. Since then, others have put their own flair on the defense including Charlie Strong (adopting it in 2000 as South Carolina's DC), Rocky Long (adopting it in 1998 to get Brian Urlacher on the field at UNM), Jeff Casteel (Arizona DC), and Keith Patterson (former Pitt DC, now WVU co-DC), though now is rare to see as time has exposed it's weaknesses. While there are different varieties, the 3-3-5 implemented in NCAA Football is mostly that of attacking defense; that is, it uses blitzes and disguised coverages to get pressure on the quarterback and not allow him to have any traditional/easy reads. With 8 guys who have coverage skills, there will often be one dropping that you do not expect to drop, and a blitzer that the OL has not accounted for.

The 3-3-5 is one of the lesser used defenses primarily because it's more difficult to recruit the right personnel. Both it and the 4-2-5 defenses are primarily designed to compensate for smaller schools’ inability to recruit stud linebackers that can stay on the field against just about any offensive matchup. Instead, with the 3-3-5 or 4-2-5, those schools can recruit an undersized Linebacker or oversized Defensive Back to not only play the pass (which is helpful against today’s spread-happy offenses) but to also offer run support allowing you to stay in the 3-3-5 for practically the entire game. In the 3-4 & 4-3 base defenses, you’ll see generally 7 in the box; however the 3-3-5 and 4-2-5 can easily bring the safeties in tight to put 8 in the box when facing run-heavy formations but also spread wider to contend against formations with four Wide Receivers. Added, for the 3-3-5 specifically, there are a wide variety of blitzes that can send pressure from anywhere on the field and do so while not tipping the defense’s hand. While this guide is primarily targeting those that never use this defense, those that already use this defense will likely find something useful as well.

For more background, check out these links:
The Birth of the 3-3-5 Defense - An excerpt from The Essential Smart Football
Unique Defense will challenge Missouri - A 2010 article talking about Missouri preparing to play San Diego State.
A Look at West Virginia's 3-3 Odd Stack Defense - An article from this past December as a Clemson blogger scouts the West Virginia defense