How to Stop the Air Raid Offense
Tips from Washington on Stopping Mississippi State
Welcome to Pig Tales! It’s football season! I’m so glad to be able to say that again. With that comes some housekeeping to address before the bulk of this piece. First, our giveaway is still active. We’re just short of 150 subscribers, so please be sure to subscribe if you haven’t done so already, and you’ll be entered to win a $150 gift card to Hog Heaven.
Next, I’ve got a really exciting announcement. Pig Tales has partnered with Buzzsprout to bring together a new podcast from the former SB Nation based creators of Wooo Pod Sooie: Hoggin’ the Mic! Hoggin’ the Mic will be posted twice a week, and feature Tucker Partridge and Saul Malone discussing all of the latest events in Arkansas sports. You can find it on any podcasting service, from Apple Podcasts, to Spotify, or you can simply find it in a feed on its website. You can also follow the podcast on Twitter to keep up with the latest news.
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That should do it for news, so let’s dive into it and talk some Hogs!
A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
If you made the mistake like I did of assuming the Air Raid wouldn’t work in the SEC, you would have been pretty embarrassed on Saturday, as Mike Leach’s Mississippi State took down the defending national champions, LSU. Now, you can come up with lots of excuses for why that happened. I came into this season thinking LSU was a bit overrated because they lost SEVENTEEN(!) starters from last year to this year, as well as some folks on their two deep. Nevertheless, it’s LSU, and nobody expected KJ Costello to throw 60 passes for 623 yards.
Another takeaway from Saturday was that the Arkansas defense actually looked pretty good! They took a 7-5 lead into the locker room at halftime, and did an excellent job of playing smart, fundamental football. Offensive turnovers and depth issues resulted in a lopsided final score, but I thought the 37-10 final didn’t do justice for a defense that was outstanding for most of the game. On offense the Hogs really struggled, as not even Rakeem Boyd could get going. Now, some might see that and be in a panic for the Mississippi State game, but to me, it seems more indicative of Georgia’s stellar defense than a lackluster offense.
So if we assume things can get back on track with offense against a Mississippi State defense that at least looks moveable, there’s one fundamental question:
How do you stop the Air Raid?
“They do the same thing year in and year out.”
Before joining the folks down in scenic Starkville, Mike Leach plyed his trade in the Pacific Northwest at Washington State University. The Air Raid was pretty effective in the PAC 12, and Wazzou won a lot of games. However, their neighbors in Seattle were much more effective, especially under the leadership of Chris Petersen and defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake. Washington won 6 out of 6 Apple Cups against Washington State in Petersen’s tenure, and it was never particularly close— whether WSU was ranked or unranked. Clearly, Jimmy Lake knew how to stop the Air Raid.
So what can we learn from him. In 2018 after winning his fifth straight Apple Cup, Jimmy Lake was asked about how he could stop Leach’s high flying offense. “We know what kind of offense we’re playing. They do the same thing year in and year out. This is five years in a row now. So it makes it really easy to game-plan when an offense does the same thing every year.”
Aside from the amazing banter from a rival coach, it’s clear that Lake was on to something when it came to stopping Leach’s Air Raid. What was it though? Obviously, Washington could outrecruit Washington State, so talent comes into play, but Wazzou was able to upset better teams, so it couldn’t all be talent. Get ready to drop everybody back!
Drop Everybody Back
When you know a pass is coming, the best way to combat it is to have lots of guys in coverage. That’s what Washington did when they stomped the Air Raid for six years. They rushed three men at the line (two defensive ends and a nose tackle), while dropping eight(!) men back in coverage.
Let’s look at an example play. Washington State frequently lined up in a “Doubles” set of the Shotgun formation, so we’ll use that as an example:
The ends and linemen rush, as their sole focus will be disrupting the quarterback. Everyone in coverage will have dual responsibilities as corners and linebackers run with the receivers. The point of the defense is to keep the ball in front, as all defenders prepare for the Air Raid trademark inside crossing routes.
The free safety and strong safety both play backup, with strong safety covering the Z receiver if he gets past that covering linebacker or corner, and the free safety monitoring the deep middle of the field.
Now let’s put the actual offense in motion. Leach loves running what’s called a “mesh” concept, so here’s the same chart with a mesh concept being run:
Leach runs this play all the time. The two inside receivers cross over the middle, and the two outside receivers run some kind of deep fly or corner route. Because those outside routes take so long to develop, the ball is probably going inside. That’s why you greet it with such a crowd of linebackers and safeties. The outside corners will likely be worked hard by the outside receivers, but if the line gets any kind of pressure, the inside receivers will have to stop short and wait for the ball. That slows down big play ability, as the receivers are stopped and waiting for the ball, killing momentum. It also might force the quarterback out of the pocket, which is problematic anyway.
The key again, is to keep the ball in front of you as a defender. The safeties will assist on a lot of tackles in this game. One thing the Hogs in particular will have to look out for in this game especially is that wheel route from the running back. Kylin Hill feasted on Arkansas last year, and showed no signs of slowing down against LSU this year. He’s going to be a receiving threat the whole game, and could bail out KJ Costello if he faces pressure.
Let’s look at another possible formation. This one is trips, another Leach favorite:
It’s the same deal with defense here. Rush three, and drop eight, with everyone playing backup for each other. Safeties will patrol for deep plays, but the emphasis again here will be stopping those inside crossing routes. Washington State quarterbacks struggled immensely against this defense. Perhaps Mississippi State will too.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Barry Odom deploy this kind of coverage against Mississippi State for the whole game. These are Leach favorites, and we’ll see plenty of doubles and trips out of the shotgun. Oddly enough, the lack of depth at linebacker may end up helping Arkansas, as more corners will be needed anyway. It’ll be a bend, but don’t break performance, as Arkansas focuses on stopping those inside crossers without getting beat deep.
The Hogs did a great job of keeping the ball in front of them against Georgia, but offense will have to do its job by giving defense a chance to rest— a rest they didn’t get for the entire Georgia game. If defense defends like Washington (which is understandably a big ask), and offense can score some points, I don’t see a reason why Arkansas can’t win this game. I don’t think it’ll be the easiest game on the schedule, but Mike Leach makes no secret of what he’s about. It’s up to Barry Odom to formulate a defense to counter what’s coming, but he’ll take solace in the fact that there will be no surprises.
Hopefully these steps are capable of being implemented, and the Hogs can get the first win of the Sam Pittman era.
Thank you so much for reading this edition of Pig Tales! It was interesting to learn how Jimmy Lake was able to create a defense that stifled the Air Raid, so I hope I did his excellence justice.
What’s your score prediction? Will we see the first win of the Pittman era, or be run off the field by a high flying offense? Leave a comment below! Like our Facebook page, follow us on instagram, subscribe to the podcast, and follow me on twitter for announcements about content to come! Thanks, and Go Hogs!!!
Congrats on the podcast! Nice breakdown and my thoughts exactly, got to drop ‘me back and hope this new fired up D can set the tone. Love what you are doing. Thanks