Another week, another read option team. The Virginia football team welcomes Wake Forest to Charlottesville this weekend and the Demon Deacons will bring variations of the popular spread offense and read option schemes to town. What are some other wrinkles this week with Wake? The Watch List takes a peek at some items to keep an eye on this week as UVa tries to snap a five-game losing streak.

The Pistol and The Wildcat

Wake Forest’s version of the spread offense includes the Pistol formation. In this look, the quarterback aligns in a shotgun snap position but the running back is directly behind him vs. to one side or the other. For the Demon Deacons, that puts QB Tanner Price (No. 10) in front of running backs like Josh Harris (No. 25) and Deandre Martin (No. 21).

In the Pistol look, Wake Forest shows a variety of plays as you would expect. One play to watch for is a toss sweep. The Deacs will send the play-side receiver in motion and then have him run a clearing route up field at the snap. The offensive line and running back all start to block and run toward the space vacated by that receiver while the quarterback pivots to make the quick-pitch/toss to the running back coming out from behind him in the Pistol.

...