Editor’s Note: This is the third installment in our summer series breaking down UVa’s schemes, concepts, and personnel as the Hoos head toward the fall and presumably the 2020 football season. You can check out our first piece here, which focuses on the tight end position, and our second right here, which focuses on the QB battle to come.

When they’re out on the recruiting trail, Virginia’s coaches make it no secret that they’re interested in quarterbacks than can both run and pass. The moniker “Thorterback” has caught on and potential quarterback recruits now have plenty of film they can watch to see how OC Robert Anae uses the quarterback’s legs to move the ball.

When Virginia brought Bryce Perkins from the junior college ranks, the staff showed him how they used Taysom Hill as a runner at BYU and what that did for the offense. In 2013—Hill and Anae’s first season together—Hill rushed 246 times for 1,344 yards and 10 touchdowns. That year the Cougars finished 10th nationally in rushing yards per game and 28th in total yards per game. Perkins never had a season quite that big but in his two years as UVa’s starter he rushed for 1,795 yards and 20 touchdowns, leading the Cavaliers to a 17-10 record.

Scrambling was a big part of his rushing success: 51 of his 183 rushing attempts and 349 of his 1,015 yards (not counting negative sack yards) were on designed passes where Perkins took off and ran. But designed quarterback runs were still the majority of his carries, and UVa’s offense went out of its way to get Perkins on the move with the football.

According to Pro Football Focus, he had 132 designed quarterback runs in 2019, rushing for 666 yards (more than 5 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns. Those plays were critical to UVa’s success, as traditional handoffs to a running back were not nearly as effective.

As Virginia tries to replace Perkins with either Brennan Armstrong or Keytaon Thompson this year, determining which quarterback can make big plays with his legs could prove just as important to the offense as which quarterback is the more consistently-excellent passer.

In today’s film session, we’re going to take a look at the designed quarterback concepts Anae used in 2019 for Perkins and how Armstrong and Thompson could potentially pick up where he left off this fall.

In 2019, Virginia used a lot of pre-snap motion to set up quarterback run plays. This is a fairly common concept across the sport and having receivers capable of creating that diversion is a big part of pulling it off.

UVa has “inside” and “outside” receivers, and many of the inside guys are quick, shifty players who can do damage in space. The ability to make the defense pause or shift the wrong way can be just enough to take a play from a short gain to a medium or long gain. If the pre-snap motion tricks the defense, a quarterback can be off to the races with good blocking. And if the defense chooses time and again not to respect the motion, eventually a smart coordinator will call a jet sweep or pop pass, which could turn into a big gain if the ball carrier has the speed to make a defense pay for not respecting them. With Perkins drawing so much attention already, anything an offense could do to get eyes off of him, even for a second, was crucial.

In this first example, Joe Reed is sent in motion from right to left, and the quarterback run is designed to go back to the left. Reed was a major part of the offense, certainly a threat to take a handoff on this play. The second-level defenders (linebackers) have no choice but to slide to the right, anticipating a potential sweep play to Reed, and when the ball is snapped have to recover to chase the actual play, with Perkins running left. Chris Glaser (playing at right guard) pulls from right to left to seal off the end of the line, and Wayne Taulapapa heads out into space to take the first defender he can. He sets a good block but this play would have potentially been an even bigger gain if he gets to the spot a second earlier and can seal off the linebacker, allowing Perkins a clear path to the sideline. Still, the misdirection and lead blocks from Taulapapa and Glaser are effective and create a decent gain on the first drive of the game.

The next example is a similar play, this time the quarterback run goes right. Tavares Kelly is in motion from right to left, and again, defenders are forced to respect a potential jet sweep. Both linemen on the left side, Bobby Haskins and Ryan Nelson, pull and Taulapapa again surges forward to join them in lead blocking for Perkins.

Louisville’s defense does a decent job staying home and not falling for the sweep to Kelly but the extra few beats created by the misdirection allows for a bigger gain.

Here’s another example, with Kelly in motion from left to right and a power run left setup. On this one, the blocking on the right side (Tanner Cowley) really sells the jet sweep play, and Jamari Peacock is the key to making the play work. Lined up next to Perkins, Peacock is responsible for creating a seam for Perkins and he does that ere by sealing off the defensive end.

The pre-snap motion is once again effective: I count at least four defenders who slide right with Kelly and then have to recover to stop Perkins short of the goal line. Getting those defenders a few steps to the wrong side makes the offensive line’s job a lot easier, putting a hat on a hat and creating the rush lane on the opposite side of the field.

Selling the fake is a big part of making these fake motion plays work. The quarterback needs to hold the ball out long enough to give the defenders pause, which means the ball carrier won’t be able to get up to full speed until after the fake handoff has been established.

On this example, Thompson does a nice job selling the fake. He takes the snap and holds the ball out for the man in motion and takes a slight step to his right, which sets him up to hit his running lane.

Virginia also ran quite a number of delayed draw plays with Perkins, many of which were designed to look like pass attempts.

While fans often watch the quarterback or whoever has the ball on a given play, defenders often take their cues from what blockers are doing. If the offensive line has players pulling or blocking down field, the play is going to be a run. If all offensive linemen take steps backwards at the snap, they’re likely in pass protection. If an offense is lined up in a trips formation and two of the receivers start blocking for a third, the play could be a quick wide receiver screen.

Creating diversions through route running and blocking can be enough to get defenders away from the line of scrimmage, allowing a quarterback to simply take those open yards.

This first example uses both pre-snap motion and a fake pass look to set up the run. This play also shows how important it is on fake passes to make the play look like the real thing to the defense.

Reed again goes in motion from right to left, a play that looks like a screen to the then senior wide receiver. It’s a play UVa has run a lot and is effective in setting up this quarterback run. The personnel on this play also tips the defense off that it could be a screen: Taulapapa and Cowley, two of UVa’s primary blockers on plays like a screen to Reed, are lined up in the slot on the right side. At the snap, both do a great job creating the illusion of a screen, setting up to block downfield for the receiver. And after Perkins tucks the ball, they can simply find defenders and hold blocks. Perkins also does a nice job selling the fake before taking off, calling for the snap at the right time and taking a step back to show a throw look. Watch Duke’s two safeties (No. 33 and No. 16) both slide from left to right anticipating the screen then having to recover to get back to Perkins on the draw.

On this next example, Duke is in a zone coverage scheme and Lamont Atkins is the player going in motion out of the backfield. The route running from Virginia’s receivers pulls Duke defenders away from the line of scrimmage and the middle of the field, allowing plenty of running room. UVa center Olu Oluwatimi chips a defensive tackle, waits a beat, and then serves as a lead blocker for Perkins after the quick pass fake from the quarterback.

This delayed draw against Georgia Tech was a perfect play call for the situation. With 38 seconds left before halftime and UVa near midfield and trailing, odds are the offense is going to try to push the ball down the field and quickly get into position to add points before the break. GT’s defense is focused on not allowing big pass plays to give up points before the half, which means UVa can expect a pretty soft coverage look with most defenders drifting back off of the line of scrimmage.

The Jackets also aren’t as worried about containing the run, as this is a clear passing situation. Perkins waits the perfect amount of time to draw the defensive linemen in, and creates a big hole up the middle of the field with that space vacated by defenders dropping deep into coverage. Lead blocks from Oluwatimi and Taulapapa are effective, and the result is a big gain that set UVa up for a touchdown just before halftime.

These final two examples, coming on the first drive of the Virginia Tech win, show how designed quarterback draws can be more effective than simply scrambling in 3rd and long scenarios.

The first play is very similar to the previous example against Georgia Tech. UVa is in a 3rd and 14 and VT’s defenders are primarily focused on getting UVa off the field and not allowing a long conversion. So the concept is the same: Either the Hokies are going to drop into soft coverage and defend the line to gain or they’re going to be over-aggressive, a much-less likely outcome. Regardless, this play is set up for success.

Virginia doesn’t run any routes across the middle of the field, which leads to a complete vacation of that area by Tech’s linebackers. Cowley does a great job as a lead blocker on this play, demonstrating a “max protect” pass blocking concept in the backfield for a beat and then taking off up the middle and finding the first defender he can in order to give Perkins space.

If Perkins didn’t have these lead blockers in place, it’s more difficult to imagine him picking up 14 yards on his own in space with Tech’s defenders already lined up to defend the first down spot.

This next play is similar, but LB Dax Hollifield stays home in the middle of the defense. Taulapapa simply does a great job finding him and sealing him off to allow Perkins loads of open room to run.

UVa used quarterback runs often in short-yardage and goal-line situations during the Perkins era. The red-zone offense struggled at times in the first half of the season, and Anae went into his bag of tricks to come up with some new strategies to get Perkins into the end zone.

The first couple plays show Perkins running behind a lead blocker, an effective short-yardage concept. This was basically the entire point of having a fullback when they were en vogue, having a tailback run behind them into a hole from the I-Formation.

This first play looks like a read-option but I believe, based on other tendencies shown, that this is a designed quarterback sweep play with Taulapapa as a lead blocker.

Perkins takes the play wide but having Taulapapa in front of him in space allows for more flexibility with blocking, and gives Perkins more time to determine his path towards the goal line as he can anticipate where the block is going to be made and what he needs to do to avoid any unblocked defenders in the area.

This second example isn’t a short-yardage or goal-line situation but the play design is similar to something UVa would run in those scenarios.

On this play, Peacock runs through a fake handoff into a lead block and Perkins follows him into the hole. This is more effective than it would likely be around the goal line, as the defenders are playing further off the line of scrimmage on a 1st and 10 than they would be on 1st and goal from the 2-yard line. Still, if Peacock can land an effective block it allows Perkins to hit the hole at full speed, which would make him a lot tougher to bring down in a goal-to-go scenario.

After struggling mightily in the red zone at Miami, Anae rolled out some tweaks for short-yardage situations. Beginning the next week against Duke, UVa showed a few alignments with Perkins under center in each game. Every play that I saw from that formation was either a traditional run or a quarterback run, with one jet sweep and one pass into the flat.

The play below from the win at UNC was run several times in the second half of the season. Perkins takes the snap and drops to his left and then quickly spins for a sweep play to the right. Taulapapa and Peacock serve as lead blockers, and as long as the offensive linemen hold their blocks it gives Perkins a shot to break through the goal line. The quick misdirection left coupled with Perkins' speed can be effective and gives him enough time to bounce the run outside the tackle.

It may not seem it just based on formation but that play is very similar to the quarterback counter runs a triple-option team uses, which can often be very effective.

Here’s an example of a similar look, run by Georgia Tech against UVa in 2017. The result was a 78-yard touchdown run.

This final example is the most straightforward play that a quarterback can have as a runner: Just take the snap and go forward. This play is a defacto quarterback sneak on the goal line for Perkins, only from shotgun.

Taking the snap from shotgun allows UVa to use two lead blockers (Peacock and Taulapapa again) and gives Perkins a running start. The downside is that he’s taking the snap three yards from paydirt and Duke knows what is coming. But sometimes quarterback runs don’t need a lot of bells and whistles.

On this one, UVa simply made a calculation to get the ball to its strongest ball carrier and allow him to use his strength to make something happen. While this play isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing, Perkins does get the ball across the goal line for a score.

It’s a different play but here Mississippi State uses the “give the ball to your strongest runner” strategy with Thompson. While there isn’t much of a hole there, he bullies his way forward and across the line to gain for a first down, despite being stopped several yards short.

Our final concept is one that UVa did not use very often with Perkins but may start to implement more in 2020. The read-option is a very popular quarterback run look in college football and now, in some cases, the NFL as well.

The concept is simple: The quarterback can keep the ball or hand it off, based on what he sees after the snap. The blocking is designed to allow the defensive end on the run side to come free while the tackle creates a lane by crashing down to block the next-available defender. The end coming free creates a read opportunity for the quarterback. If the end holds his ground and plays “contain,” handing the ball off to the running back, who would run away from the end, is the correct read. If the end crashes down into the backfield, assuming the running back will get a handoff, the quarterback simply pulls the ball out and runs around him into what should be open space.

Many teams use read-options over and over again because the defense can know what is coming but if the quarterback makes the appropriate read, like with the triple-option, it’s a difficult play to stop. And if a defense starts to crash down to take away all the running lanes, a good quarterback can make them pay with his arm.

For one reason or another, Virginia didn’t seem to give Perkins many reads. The plays that looked like read-options usually seemed to be predetermined reads, similar to how a play-action pass has a fake handoff but the quarterback was never actually going to give the ball to the running back. Reading the end and making the right play isn’t something that every quarterback excels at and perhaps giving Perkins more designed plays allowed him to play faster.

Here is the closest play I could find to a typical read-option look, coming in the win over Duke. The left end crashes down hard on the running back, and Perkins keeps the ball, takes a step back and around the end for a gain off the left side.

Anae used read-option looks a lot at BYU and to great success. Hill excelled at reading the end and making defenses look silly with read-option plays, as seen below.

Both of Virginia’s 2020 quarterbacks had read-option plays in our review of their work, and the Virginia coaching staff has compared Armstrong’s running style to Hill’s numerous times. One way to interpret that is that Armstrong excels at reading and reacting, and perhaps the offense could see an increased number of these plays in the fall.

Below is an example of the handoff look fooling William & Mary’s linebacker, with Armstrong pulling the ball and running right by him for a gain.

Like everything else in Anae’s offense, quarterback runs rely on different personnel groupings, pre-snap motion, and misdirection in order to be effective. Those things, coupled with Perkins' running ability, allowed quarterback runs to be some of Virginia’s most successful plays in 2019.

The team's two longest plays from scrimmage on the season were Perkins touchdown runs, one on a scramble and another by design. He was an excellent pure runner, and his creativity and vision will be tough to replace. But both Thompson and Armstrong have showed flashes of real ability as a runner during their collegiate careers, and both have the tools to be successful in what Virginia wants to do with the quarterback position.

Armstrong knows the offense and seems to be a natural read-option quarterback with good running instincts. Thompson, meanwhile, is a big, strong quarterback who could be a real asset on the goal line and hits the hole quickly with a good first step.

All told, Virginia’s offense will probably look a bit different in 2020 than it did in 2018 and 2019 with Perkins. But no matter who is behind center, expect quarterback runs to be a big part of the game plan.

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