Inside veer out of shotgun??

Coach what are the QB's steps on this play??

Coach Campbell,

What is meant by "riding the mesh"?

Will you guys cheat the QB and RB up in shotgun if running option? I'm thinking if you are too deep, the DE could force a give read and then still fall back in on the tackle. How far off the line of scrimmage do you have them?

We have the QB step up & out with the playside foot (closest to the RB) to meet the snap, then continue downhill with the opposite foot to the mesh. A shuffle with the mesh for the read.

The runningback performs a split jump in place with a drop step with the outside foot and pop step with the inside foot.

The split jump is hard to explain, easier to see, but I'll give it a whirl. From a 2 point stance the RB jumps in the air and repositions his feet so that one is in front of the other in a staggered position. The jump in the air isn't what it sounds like - just trying to get the visualization - it's a quick and immediate pop from a 2 point squared stance to a staggered stance with one foot in front of the other. The RB doesn't move forward or back when he split jumps, he does it in place. The front foot does essentially gain ground on the pop, but his body core stays in place. Technically, we have the RB "squeeze" the inside on his split jump to reduce the width between him and the QB - it may be at most a six inch movement to the inside to align the path of the RB. This allows the QB to step ahead of the back to prepare for the mesh.

The veer for us is a situation play that we don't use a great deal. It is a downhill play. We don't work it to get it going or to set up a series, so we don't spend a great deal of time on it in practice. But when we need it it works well. The mesh goes just about to the LOS with the QB shuffling once. We use it more to handoff when we have DE's getting upfield - run speed option when they sit or squeeze - the QB does read it though.

Was it Oklahoma (or Oregon??) that I just saw that seemed to be running the veer but the QB took the ball directly to the back - the QB's path was flat outside (like a QB sweep) and the mesh worked more to the outside. The back looked like he was doing more of a sprint draw type of action. Anyone see this or know what I'm talking about - any comments? It looked interesting.