Bubble Trouble or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Spread

The bubble screen. One of the simplest passing plays in all of football, has risen to prominence in recent years. Once it was exclusively run by pass happy MAC teams, the Hawaii Warriors and anybody who was smart enough to let Mike Leach run their offense. Nowadays teams from every level of play, across the country have incorporated the bubble screen into their offense. Turn on an NFL game, bubble screens. Turn on an SEC game and even Alabama and LSU will take a break from pounding the ball to sling a quick strike to their slot receiver. Like any play in football the bubble screen is not guaranteed to gain yards, but it seems to fail a lot less often than an off tackle run from a single back or I-formation (sound familiar BC fans?). After watching a few college football games last Saturday, my roommates and I began to joke about how often teams were running this quick passing play. It seemed that every 3 or 4 plays a team was calling and successfully running a bubble screen.

But what exactly is the “bubble screen”? In its simplest form the bubble screen is operated out of a formation where there are at least 2 wide receivers to one side of the field. The quarterback takes the snap and fires a swing pass to his slot receiver (hopefully hitting the receiver in stride). The slot receiver moves on a diagonal, moving towards the sideline and up field at the same time. During all this, the outside receiver either blocks the defender directly in front of him, or the defender covering the slot receiver (if the defense is in man). If the defense is in a zone, this receiver picks the closet defender and drops the hammer. The theory (and beauty) of this play is that it gives the receivers a 2 on 2 matchup on the edge of the defense. With a good block it becomes and open field 1 on 1 matchup, an area where playmakers thrive. One good move and it’s a first down, one good move with a speedy wide receiver and you can go for 6. In its simplest form, the bubble screen is a glorified handoff. In fact, Texas and Mack Brown have been running a similar swing play to their running back for years. When asked about it Coach Brown always replies that it is a glorified handoff. It seemed to serve Texas well in recent years, Vince Young led the Longhorns to a National Title in 2005 and Colt McCoy operated the Longhorns pass heavy offense on his way to becoming the winningest NCAA quarterback in history.

On a broader level, the bubble screen is a manifestation of the offensive revolution that has fallen upon the football world. The spread offense is in and it is here to say. At first its was called “gimmicky” and people only claimed it would work in conferences like the Sun Belt. Then Florida and Auburn (and a slew of other schools) ran the spread to perfection racking up National Titles and Heisman trophies along the way. But the critics continued to bash the spread, claiming it would never work in the pros as defenses were too smart, too fast, too talented. But once again, they were proved wrong. Last season qb’s put up huge numbers running these offenses and if the first 2 games of the NFL season are any indication, the numbers this year will be even bigger. The success of the spread comes from a combination of offensive personnel and their formation. It spreads the defense apart and creates natural seams that an offense can exploit. Whether this comes in the form of finding the holes in a defensive zone or having a wide receiver beat a defensive back in man coverage or a running back running against a front 7 that is more worried about defending the pass, the spread offense works.

But there is one thing about the spread that is often overlooked despite regularly occurring the world of college football. The spread offense is a talent equalizer. Was Appalachian State better than a Michigan team that was ranked #2 in the country and had a handful of future NFL draft picks? Absolutely not, but by running a spread offense they were able to exploit the open spaces in Michigan’s defense. If App St. had lined up and tried to run the ball every down they would have gained 4 yards the entire game, instead they pulled off the biggest upset in the history of college football (sorry Boise St. fans).

This is why the spread offense would be perfect for Boston College. The Eagle’s have struggled mightily since Coach Jeff Jagodzinski left after his two seasons on the Heights. Historically, BC has always had great offensive lines and very solid running backs who have put up impressive numbers; but it seems those days are slipping by. It isn’t because of a decline in talent or coaching, it is because run heavy, uncreative play calling is no longer what wins games. The number of college teams who are able to win games like that are very few and are storied programs who get THE BEST talent in America (and also happen to play unbelievable defense and usually are among the best in special teams). LSU, Alabama, Wisconsin, Virgina Tech and Ohio State are the only teams that come to mind. Even Michigan has seen that 3 yards and a cloud of dust is out, now they let Denard Robinson run wild and sling the ball all over the field. Watching Oklahoma-Florida State this weekend proved something that spread enthusiasts have known for years, a well executed, spread offense is extremely difficult to stop. There are too many weapons to account for, too many possibilities for what the offense can do. And to make matters worse, there is so much open space that if a defender misses one tackle it’s a touchdown. Why BC has yet to adopt this offense is beyond me. I know Spaz likes to think our identity is to play conservative offense, great defense and execute on special teams, but our team lacks the last two components. Besides Luke Kuechly and Kevin Pierre-Louis our defense is average and special teams are a nightmare. Coach Spaz isn’t our problem, his backwards-offensive philosophy is. The Eagles have the talent to successfully run a spread, but our coaching staff refuses to implement any sort of change, despite the fact we have not been an offensively intimidating team for the last 3 years.