Building a System Off Zone: NDSU’s Zone Shoot RPO

If you watched North Dakota State this season, one thing was obvious: the Bison were fully committed to zone schemes up front. Inside zone, split zone, zone read, and bluff which were staples. But what really stood out was how NDSU built complementary answers off that commitment rather than constantly chasing new concepts.

One of those answers was the Zone Shoot RPO, a simple add-on that punished aggressive backside defenders and forced alley players to make impossible decisions. Let’s take a look at the framework and a few variations the Bison used throughout the year.

Zone Shoot RPO

Rather than breaking down the zone blocking itself, the focus here is the structure that allows the RPO to work on the backside.

NDSU starts in a 2x2 set with the tight end to the boundary. The off-ball receiver motions down into a wing alignment. At the snap, he comes across the formation at full speed, selling split-zone before snapping his head around and running a shoot/flat route just behind the line of scrimmage.

The defensive end squeezes down on the running back, so the quarterback pulls and gets on his read track. That movement creates an easy, on-the-move throw to a receiver already at full speed. The two receivers to the field block the corner and the first inside threat, turning it into an efficient first-down play for seven yards.

Simple picture. Simple read. Efficient offense.