Nobody in the country is more creative or crazy than Utah on offense.
Every clip in this piece comes from the BYU game. Utah lines up in pistol with their fullback, runs orbit motion, and shows the threat of option. Then they hand it off or pull the ball and run Counter or Power. Those are the same two runs your line probably reps every Tuesday.
What separates the Utes is what they hang off them. G/T read, Glance, Rail, Snag, and a swing screen all sit on top of the same two runs. Some of these layers get the ball and some never do. You can still see how each one is built.
Coach, we start with Counter and what Utah builds off it, then move to Power.
Building Off Counter
We’re not going to give you a bunch of Counter clips. Instead, let’s look at the wrinkles the Utes have built off Counter.
Here Utah runs G/T read, and while the Q makes the wrong read on the pull, he turns back and runs the original Counter path intended for the running back. And no, I don’t think this is super Counter because the running back doesn’t have an intention of blocking here. But this is a great example of running Counter, even though it was Counter read and the Q went off schedule in a super positive way.
Now we get Q Counter with an RPO. Some offensive coaches I used to work with called this “punch,” which was basically the Glance route by the slot instead of the outside receiver.
This one is more of a basic RPO paired this time with super Counter. They pair that with an unbalanced look, orbit motion, and what is essentially a swing screen. Another layer to the G/T family for the Utes.
Building Off Power
Utah loves to run Power, and we’ll probably write an article about that too, but let’s look at how they run Power, then build RPOs and layers off of that.
Here’s basic Power by the Utes from pistol with their unique fullback. It’s paired with orbit motion and the “threat” of option. Pretty standard stuff for the Utes, but what comes next is the genius in what they do.
Later in the game Utah runs Q Power with a Rail route as that run/pass option. And while they don’t throw the Rail, you can start to see how they build layers upon these basic concepts.
Down by the goal line the Utes got creative again, and while it didn’t pay off, I think it was there. Here we get Q Power again with Snag flat. The flat comes wide open and the ball doesn’t go there, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great call.
Final Thoughts
Utah keeps the base runs simple. Counter and Power are the foundation, and everything in this piece sits on top of them.
Not every layer gets thrown. The Rail and the Snag flat never got the ball. The flat at the goal line came open, and it was still a good call. The layers give the quarterback something to read and give the defense something to be wrong about.
If you want to build this into your own offense, start with the run game your line already blocks well. Add one tag at a time and rep each one on its own before you stack them.