Creating mismatches with a stack-I.

An offense that can always outnumber the defense at the point of attack

It's third down and three. What do you call? A quarterback sneak? A fullback dive? Try to go outside? A play-action press? Quick now, you only have 20 seconds left to decide!

One thing is for sure: A lot of coaches are going to have no confidence in whatever they call.

You might consider the Stack-I set. It has a built-in confidence component. Designed to overcome any defensive scheme via a host of blockers, it is very vertical in thrust. That is, it is built to get upfield very quickly and efficiently. It is never going to be caught for losses because it didn't develop fast enough.

Our Stack-I augments our primary set, the Double Wing. It sets up in a balanced formation toe to toe, with two tight ends and three backs aligned behind the QB [ILLUSTRATION FOR DIAGRAM 1 OMITTED]).

The QB is #1, the Fullback (#3) sets up with his head just inches from the QB's tail, the Stack Back (#2) sets up about two yards behind the FB, and the Tailback (#4) can set as tight as six yards from the ball or as deep as 10, depending upon his speed.

The advantage of this balanced formation is obvious. Since most defenses are set up to the strong side, they become uncomfortable when they have to set up evenly on both sides.

Once the play begins, the defense is automatically outnumbered, thanks to the number of backs who can lead-block and the number of backside linemen who can pull. (Check Diags.)

Our primary play is the Toss, shown in Diag. 1. Designed to break off tackle, the play begins with the center either double-teaming the nose guard or blocking backside pursuit.

The onside guard finishes the double team or down-blocks.

The onside TE finishes the double on the DE or down-blocks.

The backside TE cut-blocks the offside DT to keep him from catching us from behind.

The QB reverses out, keeping the ball on his outer hip. He then lobs a floating underhand pitch that the tailback can easily run under.

The FB attacks the DE on an inside-out route, kicking him out.

The Stack Back goes up the tunnel and looks inside for the first threat. (These two assignments can be reversed to add a deceptive element.)

The QB, after pitching the ball, goes up the lane and looks to block the corner, sealing him outside.

The offside guard pulls and looks for daylight. He turns back inside to cut off the onside LB.

The offside tackle pulls, turns up and in, looking for the offside LB.

Finally, the Tailback takes two steps "downhill" toward the TE, receives the pitch and plants his outside foot to get vertical. He must read the FB and SB to calculate when to cut up.

If you count the number of defenders vs the number of blockers on this Toss play, you will always find yourself in the plus range in the mismatch factor.

The reason you can feel confident when you send in this play is simple mathematics - the overload factor. You have more people at the POA than they have. Combine this with an uncomfortable defense and "three yards to go" becomes far less intimidating, especially in crucial situations.

Several other plays complete the series. To get outside, we run the sweep [ILLUSTRATION FOR DIAGRAM 2 OMITTED]. Again we send everything but the kitchen sink around the corner. The key block has the OT sealing the DE. An alternate scheme is to cut-block the DE with the TE and leave the OT to block his man.

Another play we like is the lead with the Stack Back [ILLUSTRATION FOR DIAGRAM 3 OMITTED]. This almost becomes a counter once the defense begins to over-pursue to the outside. The key is the guard-tackle crossblock that creates good leverage angles to root out the front guys.

A final consideration would be the Fullback Trap [ILLUSTRATION FOR DIAGRAM 4 OMITTED], which can be very deceptive if you can pound the defense enough off-tackle to get them flowing fast. The key block is the pulling guard's trap on the DT, unless the latter has penetrated too deeply-taking himself out of the play. The guard will then go after the cornerback.

The series is easy to install without major disruption to whatever else you do. It will enable you to have a constant ace in the hole. So...you will no longer be second-guessing yourself when that dreaded third-and-short comes up and you only have 20 seconds to decide.

(If you'd like to know more about the Stack and the Double Wing Offense, please call 530-246-1700.)