14/15 Zone Read

Happy New Year!  I have spent the winter break enjoying a relaxing time with family and friends, and enjoying a TON of college football.  My plan is to break down the running and passing games of certain coaches and colleges for the next few months.  Each team and coach has a unique twist on the offense that they run, providing new wrinkles and adaptations. 

Starting off the new year, I am going to focus on Mississippi State’s drubbing of Michigan (and possible ending of the Rich Rodriguez era).  Mississippi State’s head coach, Dan Mullen, is an Urban Meyer disciple.  Mullen’s career included stops at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida following Meyer, as they both developed their brand of the Spread Offense, which I will entitle the Zone Read Spread. 

The Zone Read is not a brand new offense, but is one of the trendier offenses in college football.  The majority of the major programs have some type of Zone Read in their playbook, specifically if they run out of Shotgun.  The philosophy behind the Zone Read Spread is to attack the defense every play. Force all of the defenders to cover the entire field, protecting against the run and pass.

The base play for the Zone Read Spread is the 14/15 Zone Read.  This play is very tough to stop when the team has an athletic quarterback and running back tandem.  It is very easy to teach, and provides the quarterback with options running the ball and setting up the Zone Read Option. 

Below is the diagram for the base Zone Read Play vs. a 4-2 defense (or 6 man box) with a 1 High Free Safety. 

14/15 Read

With the inside zone read play being the base play, most of the run plays use the same blocking schemes. Therefore base zone rules are used.

Responsibilities for the Players

PST - Base block the 5-tech

PSG/C - Combo the 3-tech to the mike, the Center can make his reads and scoop directly to the Mike.

BSG - Base on Nose

BST - Has to block the B-Gap defender. He may make a "man" call which will block through the DE to Strong Outside LB.

RB - Aiming point is the outside leg of the PSG, reading the 1st DL passed the Center, always look for the cutback lane.

QB - Open and read backside C-gap defender. If End is blocked give, then carry out Fake.

Receivers: If on frontside of play, blocks as if the play were inside zone.  This means  the WR must block nose to inside number. If on the backside of the play, block as if the QB is keeping the ball. 

QB Read

QBs are taught to read the “5 Technique” which is the defensive end, or the end man on the line of scrimmage (EMOLS).  If the 5 technique squeezes the tackle’s release and chases the running back the quarterback is meshing with, the QB will pull the football and replace the 5 technique.  This is a way of reminding the QB to get downhill.  If the 5 tech does anything else, the QB gives the ball and carries out a downhill run fake to hold the pursuit.  

The QB’s technique is as follows:

1.  As the QB receives the snap, the QB will take a flat step toward the back.  This is called SHORT STEP, FLAT STEP.

2.  The QB  reaches the ball deep into the RB’s basket, snapping his eyes to his read.

3.  The QB rides the RB through while making his read.  If the 5 Technique follows the RB, the QB keeps it and runs with the football.  The rule behind this is “Squeeze and Chase, Pull and Replace”

The key to this place is securing the line of scrimmage with the offensive linemen and the quarterback making the proper read.

Teams that run the Zone Read practice the QB's reads over and over, using the Mesh Drill.  Below is an example of a Mesh Drill.

The Mesh Drill gives the QB an opportunity to receive the snap, read the DE, and work on ball handling with the RB.


I was not able to find cut ups of Florida/Mississippi State Zone Read but the following clip below is Zone Read cutups from the 2008 Oregon v. Oklahoma State Holiday Bowl, only of Zone Read Plays.  Enjoy!




Please do check out chiefpigskin.com for some of the best football coverage on the internet, and a chance to see my picture!  I plan to move into more of the base running plays out of Mullen/Meyer's Zone Read playbook in the upcoming weeks.