Wisconsin Football: Creating Options for Offensive Success

Coaching football at its most basic level is the search for conflicts of assignment. A conflict of assignment is when a player’s instinctual reaction to stimuli is put into a state of turmoil. No matter what the player does, they are wrong. In Chapter Six of the Introduction to the Wisconsin football team’s Dairy Raid offense, we will delve into a play type that has been wrecking defenses for decades.

Package plays are the ultimate conflict of assignment inducers because a well-crafted play will have simple answers built into it to counteract any reaction. By definition, package plays are all schemes that combine multiple concepts into one on-the-field play.

From a true package play that gives the offense a series in one play to your traditional speed option, these are plays that have built the foundation and the future of modern football. There are so many different scheme variations within package plays.

So many that we could do a daily series and not run out of topics for weeks…but nobody’s got time for that. Today, I’ll break down the most common package play types used in the Wisconsin football offense. After learning how they are installed, you’ll know what you’re seeing on Saturdays, even if the commentators get it wrong. Which they do… a lot.

Access Throws

Let’s start with a basic pre-snap scheme. An access throw is a pass route tagged onto a run play. If we get leverage on a receiver that gives us a high-percentage pass, we can take it. 

Access throws do not fall until the popular catch-all RPO because there is no read. We are not looking for a reaction. We are looking for the right leverage. Leveraging favorable matchups, such as a cornerback playing off coverage, allows for quick, high-percentage throws. 

Playing the best odds is how any good playcaller makes his living. By giving his quarterback a high percentage outlet, he’s increasing the odds of a successful play. And by getting the ball out in space, the chance of a game-breaking play increases, even if we just look at numbers. 

An underappreciated aspect of an access throw is the ability to manipulate defensive alignment on “running downs”. 

If an offense finds consistent success on access throws in obvious running situations a defensive coordinator has a choice. Continue to give up free yards or to make adjustments. And it’s these adjustments that can take away a defense’s ability to play top down and can make them vulnerable to the play action pass. 

Package Plays

True package plays offer multiple options pre-snap, similar to access throws, but with expanded choices. 

These plays provide multiple answers to the question of defensive alignments. Designed properly, they can even sustain an entire offensive series if executed effectively against the right defensive setup. For example, we can give the QB three pre-snap options: a run play, a backside slant, or a bubble screen. The decision depends on the defensive alignment and leverage. If the box count favors the run, run the ball. Alternatively, if the situation favors passing, the quarterback can choose between the backside slant or the bubble screen based on leverage and game plan to exploit matchups or alignment.

By packaging plays together that attack the defense in different ways, you really put defenders in conflicts of assignment because you end up isolating them. For example, an overhang defender is not allowed to take a better alignment to get into the run fit because if he does, he can’t defend the screen. Isolating defenders is a great way to game plan a defense’s best player away from the football and force them to play as a whole much more vanilla. 

Run/Pass Options

The RPO has been a buzzword for years, and often it is used incorrectly. Play-action passes are often called RPOs due to their similar backfield actions. That is where the similarities end. A Run/Pass option is exactly that: a play with a post-snap read off of an off-the-ball defender. 

The reaction of this defender will trigger the option. And like all true conflict plays, whatever these defenders do tends to be wrong. By giving defenders lose/lose situations, you take away their ability to read on the move, and a lot of times, they just end up standing still, stuck between a rock and a hard place.

A common defense against RPOs is for defensive coordinators to complain that they go against the rules. The great Al Bundy once said, “It’s not cheating unless you get caught.” The questionable aspect of an RPO is the action of the offensive line. They are in true run block mode with their blocks working up field. 

This triggers cries for an illegal man downfield penalty. By (NCAA) rule, these linemen may be up to 3 yards upfield when a ball is thrown upfield. 

Linemen moving that far upfield can definitely trigger “hat reading” linebackers who will go back to their DCs crying they did their job as a pass went over their head. However, within the varied strategies of defensive football, there are simple answers to RPOs, but instead of helping my defensive counterparts, I’ll just enjoy drinking their tears and throwing the ball over their heads!

In Phil Longo’s Air Raid system that he brought to the Wisconsin football team, access throws, package plays, and RPOs are key components.

In today’s film session, we will install these three play types, and we’ll break down examples of the Badgers running them in the 2023 season. And that will bring us to the conclusion of the Introduction series. My goal is to arm you as Badgers fan with new knowledge that will enhance your viewing experience. What I hope you will then see is that the Dairy Raid offense has been with us the whole time.

Wisconsin Football Base Passing Concepts in the Dairy Raid Offense

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