Purdue Football: Penn State on Film - RPO Glance Route

It’s late afternoon on Tuesday, in 2 more days, I’ll be stressed out drinking a few adult beverages in anticipation of the start to my college football season (followed by K-State on Saturday night and Clemson on Monday night). To kill time, I’ve been looking over Penn State film from last year. I’ve got some ideas I’ll save for a later article, but today I want to talk about Penn State’s RPO driven passing game.

The Nittany Lions offense, from what I can tell, is centered around quarterback Sean Clifford. Last season they played high tempo to the point of occasionally being reckless, and Clifford frequently changed plays at the line of scrimmage. James Franklin and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich also give Clifford a bunch of RPOs to work through.

For me, RPOs are a double edged sword. They can be used to exploit a defense, but they also allow a defense to dictate how an offense plays. I remember a few years back as a Clemson fan screaming at the television because the Tigers seemingly refused to hand the ball to Travis Etienne, even when he was clearly the best player on the field. The problem was Clemson moving almost exclusively to RPO calls. If the other team didn’t want to deal with Etienne, they would give Trevor Lawrence pass looks all game, and Trevor would make the correct read and pass the ball. He would make the right read, in theory, but it is also the read the defense wanted him to make.

I see some of this with Penn State. When they get their running game going, it’s tough to stop, but the defense can get them out of the run game simply by dictating that Clifford throw the ball. When Penn State abandons the run, their offense is easier to defend, in my humble opinion, but they do have a few plays they routinely exploit for big yards in the RPO passing game. One play in particular caught my attention.

The RPO glance route went for long touchdowns against Auburn, Illinois, and Michigan State. It’s a simple play that incorporates a skinny post route into the RPO system, but when run effectively, it’s tough to contain, much less stop.

This is what it looks like on film.

1st Read

Key

Green Box - Safety

This is after a big play by Penn State’s star 2021 receiver (and now Washington Commander) Jahan Dotson. Clifford threw up a lob that should have been intercepted, but instead, Dotson pulled it down for a 30 yard game. Penn State likes to get aggressive after a big play.

They hurry to the line, and Clifford has to make his first read. The read on the RPO glance route is determined by the defense. If the defense has 1 high safety, then Clifford is reading the play side outside linebacker. If the defense is playing 2 safeties, then he is reading the play side safety.

Illinois is lined up with 1 high safety (green box). Clifford knows he is reading the outside linebacker.

2nd Read

Key

Defense

Yellow Box - Outside Linebacker

Offense

Blue Circle - Quarterback

Red Circle - Boundary Receiver

Clifford has the read. I don’t know how they run their offense, but my guess is this is their go to play chunk play if the defense is in a 1 high look. You can see Clifford (blue circle) communicating with his boundary receiver (red circle). I’m not sure if he’s changing the play to the glance route, of if he’s communicating something else, but he’s about to throw a touchdown to the boundary receiver.

Now that he knows Illinois is in a 1 high look, his read is the outside linebacker. If the outside linebacker (yellow box) drops into a zone, this is a hand-off. If the outside linebacker commits to the run, the boundary receiver (red circle) replaces the linebacker with his route. That means the receiver must get across the face of the corner in order to run the skinny post into the vacated space.

Pass Option Selected

Defense

Yellow Box - Outside Linebacker

Orange Box - Boundary Corner

Offense

Blue Circle - Quarterback

Red Circle - Boundary Receiver

At the snap, the outside linebacker (yellow box) moves forward to attack the hand-off. This activates the pass option of the RPO for Clifford (blue circle). The ball is going to the boundary receiver (red circle).

The boundary receiver (red circle) has to get inside the boundary corner (orange box) on the skinny post. He’s going to set the corner up to the outside, and then cut hard across his face to the open field vacated by the linebacker. The corner is in off coverage. He’s giving up the short throw to protect against anything deep. That’s unfortunate, because he’s about to get beat deep.

Perfect Set Up

Defense

Yellow Box - Outside Linebacker

Orange Box - Boundary Corner

Offense

Blue Circle - Quarterback

Red Circle - Boundary Receiver

This is the perfect call against this defense. I’ll talk about how a defense can blow this play up in a moment, but this certainly isn’t the way. The outside linebacker (yellow box) is fully committed to stopping the run option. That’s exactly what Clifford (blue circle) wants, because already knows he’s going with the pass option.

The play is now dependent on the boundary wide receiver (red circle) doing his job. If he gets to the skinny post (the basic route shown with the arrows) this is a money play.

Even Better!

Defense

Yellow Box - Outside Linebacker

Orange Box - Boundary Corner

Green Box - Deep Safety

Offense

Blue Circle - Quarterback

Red Circle - Boundary Receiver

This play gets even better for Penn State. Remember how Clifford (blue circle) made his first read on the safety (green box). Well, the safety is back, and he is coming down hard. I can’t tell if he’s interested in the Penn State tight end, who is blocking this up like a run play, or if he’s worried about the run, but either way, the deep middle is wide open. If this is what he’s supposed to do on this play, Illinois needs to take this defensive scheme, throw it in the trash, and burn it, because this is a corner’s nightmare scenario.

Clifford is set on throwing this to the skinny post. If the safety is still over the top, it’s a big gain, but probably not a touchdown. Now, with the safety out of the way, if the boundary receiver (red circle) gets across the face of the corner (orange box) and makes the catch, it’s a certain touchdown.

The defense still has 2 chances to stop this play, but one doesn’t look promising. The outside linebacker (yellow box) has a direct route to the quarterback, but he has to recognize that the running back no longer has the ball. Based on his body positioning (he’s starting to work down the line instead of to the quarterback, he’s probably toast unless Clifford holds the ball too long.

The other option is the corner (orange box). I’m going to assume that he believes he still has help deep. He can’t give the receiver the middle of the field, because there is no one left in the middle of the field. He has to pin the receiver to the sideline. With the deep safety gone, as soon as the receiver gets across his face, and into the middle of the field, he needs to tackle him, take the 15 yards, and live to fight another day. This is college football, if you’re beat, tackle the receiver before the ball even leaves the quarterbacks hands.

Anticipation

Defense

Yellow Box - Outside Linebacker

Orange Box - Boundary Corner

Green Box - Deep Safety

Offense

Blue Circle - Quarterback

Red Circle - Boundary Receiver

Sean Clifford (blue circle) has played in a ton of college football games. He trusts the play, and he trusts his receiver. It’s a little tough to see (once again, my kingdom for the actual game film) but the receiver (red circle) has just started his break to the inside (I’ll show you the footwork in the next slide), and Clifford is already in his throwing motion. The outside linebacker (yellow box) now realizes that the running back doesn’t have the ball but it’s too late. If Clifford waited for his receiver to get open, the linebacker could still get to him in time, because Clifford is throwing it before the receiver is open, the linebacker is too late. There is no going back now. The ball is getting delivered to the inside, it’s the receiver’s job to get to the inside at all costs.

Inside for the Touchdown

Key

Defense

Orange Box - Boundary Corner

Offense

Blue Circle - Quarterback

Red Circle - Boundary Receiver

The receiver (red circle) gets to the skinny post. If the pass on the way is accurate, this has touchdown written all over it. The corner (orange box) needs to grab, tackle him, trip him, pretty much anything that doesn’t meet the standard of a felony at this point because he has no help to the inside, the receiver is running to nothing but green grass.

Footwork

The corner is playing outside leverage. He is trying to cut off the middle of the field and give the receiver the sideline, but the receiver has excellent footwork and beats the leverage.

This is his set up step. It’s hard to the outside. Notice how the corners belly button is still pointed towards the sideline. He’s toast.

This is the next frame. After the hard outside step, the receiver breaks hard inside. His belly button is now pointing towards the post. The corner’s belly button is still pointing towards the sideline. The corner has to flip his hips (pivot on his left foot, swing his right foot around so his belly button is also pointing towards the post) now if he has any shot.

The corner tries to flip around, but can’t do it fast enough. the receiver is running straight to the post. The corner is still trying to get his hips around, but it’s too late. Again, this is where he needs to dive, slap at an ankle and take the 15 yards, because he’s burnt crispy.

Perfect Strike

Key

Defense

Offense

Red Circle - Boundary Receiver

This is a perfect strike from Clifford. If the safety isn’t wandering around in the middle of the field, and is still deep, the receiver can catch this and either get down if the safety is closing or catch, run and try and go by the flat footed safety if he stays deep.

I almost (almost) feel bad for Penn State fans, because this is an elite throw from Clifford. He’s capable of doing this, but after watching a several games from last year, he’s also capable of air mailing this throw. When he’s on, he’s a borderline great quarterback. The problem is, he’s not on consistently.

Hopefully that remains the case against Purdue because a hot Clifford is trouble for the Boilermakers.

Touchdown

The Penn State receiver catches the ball in stride and the throw directs him down the field. It’s all over for the corner. The only thing that can stop the touchdown is divine intervention or a pulled hamstring.

Needless to say, the receiver takes this to the house.

What can Purdue do against this route?

I spent 1,900 words talking about Penn State. If you’re a Purdue fan, and you’re still with me, let’s talk about the Boilermakers defense. This was a great play by Penn State (they somehow lost this game btw) but Illinois made it easy on Sean Clifford. Purdue has to make it hard.

First Read Confusion

Once again, I’ll talk a little about Clemson (or at least Clemson’s former defensive coordinator Brent Venables). Venables is known for calling his defense at the last possible second. He does this to mess up the quarterbacks initial read. Occasionally teams will quick snap the ball and catch the defense out of position (Ohio State loves doing this), but it’s worth the risk.

Illinois gets into their defense with 37 seconds left on the play clock. That’s too easy for a veteran quarterback like Sean Clifford. If you advertise that you’re in a 1 high safety look, and stay in that look, he’s going to get to the right play call. Purdue needs to take a page from Venables and mess with his initial look. Show 2 high initially and then bring the safety into the box late if you want to play 1 high. I don’t care if that means you’ve got a linebacker hanging out deep because you only have one safety on the field, make Clifford figure that out. Maybe he will maybe he won’t. If you can get him to make a mistake on his first read, he may not get to the perfect play to beat a 1 high look.

Second Read Confusion

Against the RPO, showing one look and then bailing to another look makes things much more difficult. Illinois gave him an easy first look, but they could still give him a more difficult second look. This play doesn’t work if the linebacker bails and takes away the throwing lane. Even if the linebacker hesitates a beat, it could induce Clifford into the hand-off instead of throwing the back breaking pass.

Clifford is going to spend a good bit of time reading linebackers and safeties. Purdue’s linebackers and safeties need to keep him guessing all game. That means giving him false reads.

I want to see Purdue’s linebackers and safeties give him the run look and then bail to the pass look. I want to see them give Clifford the pass look for a step, and then explode into the run look. They need to make him doubt what he sees on the field. If he gets a few of these RPOs wrong, and he throws into the run look or runs into the throw look, his comfort level drops precipitously.

You see what happens when Clifford is comfortable. I don’t want to see that very often on Thursday, or it’s going to be a long night for the Boilermakers. Ron English is making the defensive calls this year. It’s his job to keep the defense out of bad situations like Illinois found itself in on this play. There’s going to be a few busts. Penn State is going to put some points on the board, but English can’t let them get into a groove with their RPO game. It’s not an easy task, but it’s one they must achieve, or Brohm and company will have to figure out a way to put 40+ points on the board to win.