Breaking Down BYU

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Greyson Lambert will see some more 3-4 defensive alignments this week. ~ Mike Ingalls

Virginia’s first road trip of the year sends the team to Provo, Utah to take on No. 21 BYU in a rematch of last season’s opener. The Cavaliers won that game 19-16. Let’s break down the Cougars.

Diamond Cutter

The BYU offense features the popular spread elements seen around college football. Most formations feature multiple receivers wide from the offensive line. The quarterback is in the shotgun or Pistol several steps behind the line on almost every snap. The Cougars use the read option – QB puts the ball in the belly of the running back and reads an unblocked defender to determine whether to keep the ball or hand it off – out of various formations, but also mix in more traditional play-action and running plays as well.

In the center of this offensive dance, you’ll find quarterback Taysom Hill. And dance is a good word to use here because the BYU signal caller always has his feet moving, whether it’s a designed running call or he’s moving around the pocket on his own. He’s a threat in both the passing game and running game with 356 rushing yards (six TDs) and 689 passing yards (four TDs).

A large portion of the offense’s plays put more than one player in the backfield with Hill. There are traditional shotgun looks with a player on each side of the quarterback. There are Pistol looks with an H-Back located alongside the quarterback and running back.

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