Tale of the tape: Citadel’s triple option even a departure from similar offenses

The aesthetics of the Citadel’s offense fit almost the perfect profile of that odd FCS team you invite to town.

The scheme looks weird, closer to some high school team than even its cousin at Georgia Tech. Few of the players are particularly fast, but you can see they make up for it by playing hard.

The only full game available online for viewing was a loss to recent FBS call-up Georgia Southern, and in that the Bulldogs showed off a sort of rhythmic, just-keep-grinding approach, even after the Eagles pulled away. Some editions of this option offense, such as Paul Johnson’s Yellow Jackets, use option plays as a base and diversify considerably. The Bulldogs will run option plays (standard triple, trap/counter option, mid-line) over and over and over.

One notable quirk is that the Bulldogs’ three running backs seem to have fluidity in where they’re aligned. Teams that run the flexbone usually line up A-backs (smaller, faster speed backs usually used for sweeps and option pitches) off the hip of the offensive tackle, but The Citadel often has them lined up closer in the backfield. It means a set forward and back can leave the team in a de facto wishbone formation or let a wing step back for an offset look.

The option remains the bread and butter.

Against the Eagles, the Bulldogs ran fewer wide toss sweeps (sometimes called the rocket toss) in favor of quarterback Dominique Allen running the show. He leads the team in carries by a wide margin, but the overall effort is balanced.

Cam Jackson (7.9 yards a carry) is the top speed back on the edge, and the team has used multiple fullbacks, with Tyler Renew (480 yards) and Isiaha Smith (515 yards, 6 per carry) carrying the heaviest load.

In reality, the Gamecocks will have a large physical advantage in terms of speed and size, but that doesn’t mean the Bulldogs can’t be a pain for a stretch.

Offense notes

▪  For as much as the Bulldogs use a three-back base formation, they often like splitting one of the wings out wide, giving a three-receiver look. They couldn’t throw the ball against GSU, but 17.6 yards per completion on the season isn’t bad.

▪  The Bulldogs’ starting line has no one heavier than 277 pounds or taller than 6-foot-3. Optioning defenders and cut blocking help there, but usually option teams have some straight zone plays, and those will be easier for South Carolina to defend.

Defensive notes

▪  The Citadel defense is heavy on hybrid, non-traditional positions. The depth chart includes a rover (strong safety/linebacker), bandit (nickel corner/linebacker) plus a pair of linebackers referred to as RLB and KLB.

▪  Those Bulldogs will expand and contract based on circumstance. Much of the time against Georgia Southern, they packed the box in hopes of slowing the Eagles ground game. But on third and long, everything got real wide and spread out with the occasional blitz.

▪  The Bulldogs opened the game with solid tackling, making Georgia Southern work downfield. But it seemed as if they tired, and eventually the tackling grew sloppy and the big plays came. The lack of quickness was also apparent, as offensive players shook free with jump cuts with regularity.