Triple option
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The Triple option is an American football term for a running or possibly passing play, which involves three different ways to progress the football up the field of play. There are three basic forms of triple option known as the wishbone triple option, the veer triple option, and the I formation triple option.
The triple option forces defenses to worry about multiple running options on a single play. For the offense, the decision of who to carry the ball (which option to make) is made during the play by the QB. Once the play is perfected, the offense decisions become simple. The triple option can be complemented by fixed running plays which start like the triple option but use traditional blocking, as well as play-action passing.
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[edit] Wishbone
The wishbone triple option can utilize several formations including the flexbone or Maryland I. The wishbone triple option is a running play where either fullback, quarterback, or one of the halfbacks will end up running the ball.
First, the quarterback (QB) receives the football from the center. The quarterback then begins the play in one direction by starting to handoff the football to the fullback (FB) on a standard fullback dive play. The offensive tackle on the side of the play's direction, does not block the defensive end, and instead moves to block the inside linebacker, similar to a trap play. The quarterback reads the defensive end's (DE) movement. If the defensive end moves inside to stop the fullback, the quarterback pulls the football away from the fullback and starts a "down the line" option by running parallel to the line of scrimmage. If the tight end (TE) is on the same side as the direction in which the play is run, he releases downfield to block a defensive back (DB). In the wishbone, the halfback on the side of the play is a lead blocker for the trailing halfback, who is part of the down the line option. The quarterback then reads the movement of the defense's outside linebacker. If the linebacker moves outside to prevent the pitch to the halfback, the quarterback keeps the ball and turns upfield. If the outside linebacker moves inside to tackle the quarterback, the quarterback pitches the ball to the halfback.
The play is called the triple option because the fullback dive is the first option, the quarterback keeping the ball is the second option, and the quarterback pitching to the halfback is the third option.
[edit] Veer
The veer triple option uses two halfbacks and a tight end. The "inside veer" play is similar to the wishbone triple option, but the dive option is performed by the halfback on the side of the play, and the other halfback becomes the pitch man. The veer is more challenging to run to the weak side (the side without the tight end) because there is no lead blocker for the pitch man. The "outside veer" moves the halfback dive option outside the offensive tackle, forcing the outside linebacker to stop the halfback dive, and forcing the defensive backs to play the pitch option.
[edit] I formation
The triple option can be run out of the I formation as well. With two running backs, it is sometimes called the "I-veer", as the play is similar to the two running back veer offense. Three running back I formations such as the Maryland I and the stack I are more similar to the wishbone play.
[edit] Recent variations
In recent years, as spread offenses have become popular, many teams have begun to run variations of the triple option with the quarterback in the shotgun. This has been greatly popularized by the succes of coaches such as Rich Rodriguez, John Morin, and Urban Meyer. The more traditional version of the triple option utilizes a quarterback under center and is advocated by the service academy coaches Fisher DeBerry of Air Force and Paul Johnson, formerly at Navy now the coach at Georgia Tech.
