Kobra's Corner: NCAA Football 09 QB Run Plays

By Paul "Kobra" Gleason


There is not much in running plays that a Quarterback can take advantage of, but the ones that are often used can work well. QB Draws, Sneaks, Boots have always given the mobile Quarterback a chance to beat the defense with their feet. Let's take a look at a few that we found interesting gin the Mizzou playbook.

Shotgun: 5WR Bunch QB Draw

We will start things off with a pretty standard QB run play, the Shotgun: 5WR Bunch QB Draw versus the Nickel: Strong Cover 1.

At the snap we want to attack the line right at the center.





And as soon as we get close to the line and we see all the blocks set we cut hard outside. This is by preference, but for those that want to just take it straight up field look at how much more daylight is to the outside, now that the blocks are set.





You can see as the QB comes to the edge that we have solid blocking to take advantage.





Just like our previous section, looking at the Air force QB, Mizzou quarterback is not that fast but the success he gets from running the play this way lets you know it would be a problem with a faster QB.





The quarterback picks up a gain of 12-yards on the play. Make no mistake, we can't expect a 12-yard gain on QB Draw plays but we are sure to get good yards, as long as we run the play like we have shown.



Goal Line: Normal QB Sneak





The Goal Line QB Sneak is the standard QB running play. We're putting this play up against the Goal Line: Normal Flat Slide.





At the snap, you want to read where you think the daylight will be. We think to the left on this play.





We get the quarterback up in the hole and do so by using the juke to the left.





These are those gritty type plays that can keep a drive going, and our QB is doing his part to contribute to our success.





He falls forward for a gain of 5 yards on the play. This is great, because on Goal Line QB Sneaks we really only expect a gain of 1 or 2 yards, so 5-yards is a celebrated result.



Shotgun: Spread HB WK QB Choice





As we continue we get into a play type that Vince Young made more common in the college game, after his Rose Bowl performance vs USC a few years back. The play call is Shotgun: Spread HB WK QB Choice and we will be running it against the Nickel: 3-3-5 Double Z.





The first thing we do, even before the snap is to sub in our fastest QB. At the snap we can give the ball to the running back or keep it ourselves.





We take off to the left after picking up a good block by on that blitzing linebacker.





We don't go to far outside so we can take advantage of these two blockers that we have here.





We cut back behind those mammoth blockers and get the quarterback a clean path up field.





He winds up picking up a gain of 5 yards on the play and proves that this is a useful option in our running game.