Football Articles
UTEP and the 3-3-5
Posted by HenryJames on September 4th, 2008 under Football
The only thing that should concern Texas about UTEP’s defense is that the Miners run a defense I can’t recall a Mack Brown Texas team having ever faced before: the 3-3-5. There’s only a handful of teams that run this defense at the D1 level, the most prominent being West Virginia. It’s more popular at the high school level than the collegiate level.
It was born partly out of necessity. It’s easier to find little guys who can run than big guys who can run. Not every team has a Gerald McCoy or Roy Miller on their roster. If your defensive tackle is 6′2″ 250, you need to find a defense that will allow him to play. It wasn’t invented to combat the spread, but a lot of high schools use it for just that purpose.
The alignment of this defense consists of three down lineman lined head up over the center and tackles. If it’s the Stack, the linebackers will then be ’stacked’ behind the down linemen. The secondary consists of two strong safeties, two corners and one free safety.
The defensive linemen can be assigned two gaps, or they can be slanted to either side. Because UTEP is an attacking defense, the linemen will mostly likely be slanted. If the lineman is slanted, then the linebacker stacked behind him has the other gap. The strong safeties have outside contain responsibility, and the free safety is the safety valve. The corners most important job is pass defense, particularly man.
The standard pass defense is three deep zone with the corners and free safety having deep thirds, and the five other defenders having underneath zones. UTEP will play a lot of man though with all their blitzing.
Advantages
1. More speed on the field. You have eight guys who can run to the ball. It helps prevent big plays in the running game, and gives the defense an extra man who can get into an advantageous pursuit angle if an opponent does bust through.
2. Don’t need to substitute personnel against certain formations. Versatility is the name of the game. You can get eight players in the box or drop eight without making any substitutions. Change your front or your coverage with the same eleven guys on the field.
3. The confusion it causes for QBs and offensive linemen. Because hardly anyone runs it, it can be difficult for offenses to prepare. Pre-snap reads become more difficult for the QB because the defense is either balanced and not shaded to one particular side of the formation, or they are constantly shifting around with pre-snap motion. Because there are more second level players, it can be hard for the offensive linemen to reach them. And because any linebacker can rush the QB through any gap, it can lead to mistakes in pass protection.
Disadvantages
1. The defensive linemen are usually undersized and thus might have a hard time covering both gaps or holding off a double team. The defense is certainly more effective at stopping outside running plays than it is inside plays because both guards are uncovered.
2. The two tight end sets are tough for safeties in the run game. Most safeties will have a hard time matching up against a larger tight end.
3. If you don’t have good corners who can play man, you’re going to give up big plays in the passing game. Mack Brown said UTEP blitzed about 75% of the time against Buffalo, and they gave up a lot of big plays in the passing game. So I’m not sure they have the cover guys to pull this defense off yet.
So what does Texas need to do?
1. Chris Hall needs to have a great game preventing the UTEP nose from getting penetration. If he can handle the nose one on one, we have a greater chance of success in the running game.
2. Colt McCoy needs to make the correct reads. UTEP will do a lot of shifting so McCoy needs to understand which defenders are actual keys and which ones are false keys.
3. Greg Davis needs to give them different looks. Don’t let them get comfortable against one formation.
4. Be patient in the running game.
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kriess said:
September 4th, 2008 at 8:46 am
GREAT post my friend. Very insightful.
13evO said:
September 4th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Rice ran a 3-3-5 in the past.
Mack Brown said:
September 4th, 2008 at 8:48 am
isn’t this what wash st ran against us a few years ago in the holiday bowl? That was one of my better games when it comes to adjustments…Wash St just came out and could have beaten anyone that night.
Chooky said:
September 4th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Solid.
ChrisApplewhite said:
September 4th, 2008 at 8:59 am
They are going to do an A&M and outnumber the run and defend the deep ball. We need to be crisp, and we need to run a lot of misdirection. 8 midgets could tackle me, but leave me one on one and that midget is getting his ass trucked.
I don’t really worry about Colt finding the open guy if he’s calm, but I do worry about forcing it deep like he did against Baylor a few years ago.
Ag_in_TX said:
September 4th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Nice write up.
Indeed, the 3-3-5 is very popular in the Texas HS ranks as a formidable defense against the Spread. At my son’s school, the LB who blitzes (and there is one at least run blitzing a gap on every play) is called the Dog LB (UTEP calls their the Miner). He may blitz on the run, timing his approach on the snap, but often will simply stand up at the line of scrimmage between the NT and DE.
In HS, the offenses will often check out into a play to the other side of the Dog, which works to varying degrees depending on who the Dog is.
My son’s team also will play a second Dog, one of the 5 DB’s, to blitz on passing plays. In fact, you almost always go with a 5 man rush in this defense on passing downs – one LB and one DB. That is why Coach Brown said UTEP blitzed 75% of the time – that is a fundamental element of the 3-3-5.
The confusion is that you never know which LB or which DB will be crashing which gap. They will sometimes shoot B Gap one side and C Gap the other. Or they’ll flood one side if they want to force the QB to cut the field in half a certain way.
Of course, your CB’s have to REALLY play man to man well for this to work. UTEPs are not all that good, so if McCoy can get enough time, he ought to be able to find guys.
Look for the OL to have to communicate quite a bit to keep the defense out of the backfield due to the confusion the 3-3-5 brings. Also, look for UTEP to flood the defensive left on passing downs to try and force McCoy to roll to his left (which he clearly hates to do).
Beergut said:
September 4th, 2008 at 9:30 am
They have some excellent articles on the 33 Stack on AFM, don’t they?
There might be minor issues for the OL early while they get used to facing a 3 Down front all game. It is must easier to face a 4-man line, b/c that is what they play most of the time.
This is one of the reasons texas had issues with K-State the last two seasons.
The success of your running game will depend on how well your linemen identify the Mike and Duck backer so they can get their combos right.
Rice ran a 33 Stack against texas in ‘06.
In pass coverage, CBs have #1, Dogs have #2, Backers have #3.
HenryJames said:
September 4th, 2008 at 9:39 am
They have some excellent articles on the 33 Stack on AFM, don’t they?
If you subscribe, which I don’t.
BringBackHuskerThugs said:
September 4th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Didn’t Turner Gill’s Buffalo team beat these dudes last week like 42-17? You could probably run the second string out there and cover the spread.
Savage said:
September 4th, 2008 at 11:03 am
UCLA ran a 3-3-5 back when we played them in 97/98. That didn’t go too well for UT, but it was 10 yrs ago.
ChrisApplewhite said:
September 4th, 2008 at 11:34 am
The 335 requires speed and the ability to penetrate. I will eat my hat if UTEP has either.
dedfischer said:
September 4th, 2008 at 11:42 am
So does your mother.
Black Scholes said:
September 4th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
That’s what she said.
Spider said:
September 5th, 2008 at 7:04 am
UCLA ran a 3-3-5 back when we played them in 97/98. That didn’t go too well for UT, but it was 10 yrs ago.
That was run by Rocky Long, who took the system to NM, where UTEP’s DC picked it up.
As in, “this is the son of the system that gave us 66 – 3″. But that wasn’t a Brown team.
Beergut said:
September 7th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Actually, I think Rocky Long was at Oregon State still at that time.
Rocky Long and Bronko Medenhall invented the 33 Stack while at OSU.
Barking Carnival — Blog — Getting Ready for UTEP said:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:17 am
[...] the Miners run a 3-3-5. And from it, they get absolutely no pressure. Henry James dissected it well a year ago when Texas was preparing to play them – strongly suggest you take a look. Based on his [...]