Much of the immediate discussion after the Hokies upset win over eventual national champion Ohio State Buckeyes last season focused on how Bud Foster’s Bear defense completely shut down the Ohio State running game. Virginia Tech held a running game that averaged 264.5 yards per game in 2014 to 108 yards. Pundits discussed how the Bear look was supported by the Hokies playing press man coverage on the outside, but very little energy was devoted by analysts during or after the game to identify why Ohio State was not able to capitalize on down field opportunities. Some of post-game narrative from the Ohio State perspective focused on wide receivers not making plays, and Tom Herman’s failure to incorporate wide receiver route concepts like double slants that break down man coverage. National sports coverage and analysts like myself focused on the Bear front and how the pressure generated from the look threw off timing with the Buckeye receivers. Neither conclusion tells the full story. Talking heads love highlighting how the Virginia Tech corners play “zero” or “man coverage”. Often the Hokie corners play on an island, but rarely are they responsible for tracking a wide receiver no matter where they go. Instead, the Virginia Tech defensive backs are taught to play either inside or outside leverage. Playing leverage is a coverage technique in which a defender overplays half of a wide receiver’s pass route options. By taking away routes through alignment and technique, the quarterback is forced to throw lower percentage passes and the defensive support (often a safety) can easily identify where a pass is likely to be thrown. Against Ohio State, the Hokie corners used inside leverage to squash many of the route options discussed by Ohio State analysts before they even happened. When playing inside leverage, the defender aligns inside his man, angling towards the sidelines, and while it looks like man-to-man, his real assignment is to prevent any receiver from running an inside breaking pass route (cross, slant or post). A route like a slant is almost impossible because the corner is interposed in between the receiver and the delivery point for the football. Instead, the alignment invites the receiver to release to the outside on out routes, out and go’s and outside release go routes. Outside leverage is essentially the opposite. The defender aligns outside the receiver and angles back into the quarterback. This alignment takes away any outside breaking routes (corner, out, curl, post-corner, and outside release go route)…
Continue Reading: Beating the Buckeyes: Virginia Tech Corner Brandon Facyson and Inside Leverage on "The Island"
