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For Grant Delpit's LSU security, the three scariest letters are R-P-O. The latest offensive craze in college football, the "run-pass" option, is a pain in the you-know-what "It's something you hate when you're a DB," says the starting safety of LSU. "It's difficult, bruh." In a plate with Sports Illustrated, Delpit takes us in the head as he plays against an RPO ploy, like that the Tigers, ranked third (7-1), will see Saturday night in their epic turn with Alabama in the lead (8). -0). Delpit sees the RPO as one of the most difficult concepts to defend for a defense, and if you do not know why, you're about to know it.
The game inside the match of the biggest match of the year so far will be the legion of LSU's talented defensive backs and the highest-paid defensive coordinator of the country, against quarterback Alabama Tua Tagovailoa and his versatile receivers. It's good, as the coaches say, and everyone seems to understand that it all boils down to that. "It's the game," said Rich Rodriguez, former head coach of former West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona. "The face to face [receiver-DB] Alabama battles will generally win are going to be fist fights, Says Miles, former LSU coach
LSU has allowed only seven touchdowns this season and has 14 interceptions among the best in the country, followed by five by Delpit; Tagovailoa has launched 25 touchdowns and no interception, which Delpit's wide-eyed note is "something you do not see very often. What? This is the 9th week? Only one of LSU's eight opponents threw for over 260 yards and one touchdown. Alabama has exceeded these two benchmarks in every game. LSU allowed only three passes of 40 yards or more in eight games, less than all but 11 FBS teams; Alabama is leading the country in this kind of match with a total of 18 players. "It's a big game for me, for our defense," says Delpit. "[Tagovailoa] did not play a defense like us yet. "
The Delpit unit did not play an offense that handles RPOs in the same way, he admits. This is not his novelty. It's the execution. The hiring of Lane Kiffin by Nick Saban in 2014 marked the beginning of a slow evolution of the offense committed by Tide, which went from a race-oriented professional attack to a strategy incorporating the principles of propagation. . With the most talented quarterback Saban has ever had in Tuscaloosa, the offensive is running at top speed. "They've mastered it," Delpit says. Alabama insiders will tell you that the offense is an agglomeration of projects from Saban's previous six coordinators. The coach does not allow his new coordinator to revise his attack, he is only expanded and perhaps modified. Delpit sees much of Kiffin's offensive when he watches a video of the tide, especially RPOs, to which every fearsome rearguard faces. Why? In a way, it works as a triple inverted option.
Let's get into Delpit's head during an RPO. He is responsible for half of the field to ensure safety during the pass, but he is also responsible for playing the race. As players learn to defend the race first, they normally have their eyes on the space for which they are responsible. As an example, he uses the C-gap, the space between the tackle and the tight end: "I play in the limit [on the short side of the field] and they run downhill to the border and you're high security, but you have to fit the race into C. If you bite too hard on the race, they'll throw the slope behind you and take 90 yards for a touchdown. "
In the example above, Missouri's outside linebacker makes his way to defend the race and Tagovailoa hits rookie Jaylen Waddle, slightly lean, for a big win. This whole process happens in one second or less. For a defender, it takes instinct and patience to stop it. "You are trying to read [the quarterback’s] eyes, read the routes of its receiver. But most importantly, "you want to win the race first," and Delpit is not the only defender responsible for that. This task also falls to a group of linebackers who will be without star Devin White for the first half of Saturday, following White's penalty in the final game against Mississippi State. Some young reserves will be on the ground. "Guys like Patrick [Queen] and Micah [Baskerville] and Jacob [Phillips] must come and fill in the gaps and stop that early in the game, "says Delpit.
Rodriguez says defenses can also slow RPOs by avoiding zone coverage and playing what is known as the "press man," a more physical defense that leaves defenders alone in individual defense. Miles and Rodriguez both expect LSU reporters to be talented enough to take on this challenge. The coverage of a good man can have a sufficient impact on the receiver's route to destroy the entire game. This is something Missouri did not do against Alabama in a 39-10 loss in October. . The cornerbacks played well on the tide receivers, as shown in the photos below, and that did not go well for these cornerbacks.
Delpit was enigmatic on the exact plane of LSU, but said that the Tigers would play both covers and conceal them so Tagovailoa would be uncomfortable in the pocket. "I would not want to handle them all the way," says Delpit. "Really mix up in a zone, a man and a blitz." It's imperative to mix things up before you throw a key in Tagovailoa readings before and after reading, Rodriguez adds. The decision to execute or pass is sometimes made before capture depending on how Tagovailoa identifies the covers. If a defense can hide the covers, it's positive. "The quarterback will have to keep the ball longer," says Rodriguez, "because they are screwed with his reading."
Post-snap readings can be complicated. Tagovailoa must determine if a defensive lineman (often the end) crushes to stop the race or stays out, and then moves on to a second-level reading of a security team, linebacker or cornerback. What makes Tagovailoa so good is its ability to read all these things – before and after shooting – with incredible speed. Rodriguez likens him to a baseball receiver who catches a man flying to second base: "They see the guy in the corner and they start moving their bodies when the ball hits their glove. The receiver is the QB. He sees that it is with his eyes and he positions himself. "
So what happens if LSU plays the strong man cover on the outside, and his linebackers and safeties remove the race to the inside? Then everything is on Tagovailoa's legs, Miles says. This could be the difference in the game. Alabama does not run often with Tagovailoa – excluding sacks, he has only worn the ball 26 times this season, and not all are designed to be designed. But he is mobile; In fact, Delpit says Tagovailoa works better than Hurts. "You must have a spy on this quarterback," Miles said. This usually means that a linebacker looks at the QB at all times. There is only one problem with that: "What if the quarterback was a better athlete than this spy?" Says Rodriguez.
Dave Aranda, the LSU's defensive coordinator, has an annual budget of $ 2.5 million, and Mike Locksley, Bama's first-year offensive coordinator, will certainly face him in a match. Chess consisting of X and Os (and they had two weeks to put their pieces in order.). But this game will be won or lost by the decisions and instincts of Tagovailoa, Delpit and their teammates. Delpit faces a three-letter ploy and Tagovailoa confronts a group of defensive back-guards who assail him with Interception No. 1. "I certainly hear a lot about that." he has no picks, "Delpit said. . "He's about to play us. He could make a small mistake. "
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