Mastering The Inverted Veer - Corliss X's Blog

Corliss X's Blog

Mastering The Inverted Veer

Posted on July 14, 2013 at 08:30 PM.

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The Inverted Veer

NCAA Football 14 has marketed itself with the truckload of new Spread formations and plays. The hardest and maybe the most confusing of them all is the Inverted Veer. The Inverted Veer has been around for a while now in the College Football World, but it has just been reintroduced to the NCAA Football gaming world. It's confusing for several reasons but I am here to break down the play, give some of its history, give tips on how and when to use it, and further ideas on the Veer.

The History of The Veer

The Veer has been used in college dating back to the legendary coach Bill Yeoman at Houston. Now this is the Veer. I will be discussing the Inverted Veer; however, the Veer has been around a long time but the concept has not changed. Of course, in those days the Veer was ran under center which gives it a different look.

Now you can see the square representing the dive read and the diamond representing the pitch read. This is similar to how the Triple Option is ran on NCAA Football 14 in an I-Formation and how Nebraska ran it in the 90's. The Veer was used with precision, accuracy, and pure reading elegance. Check out this video to see the Veer ran properly out of what looks to be a Flexbone formation. In essence the Veer is basically Triple Option play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=92nazr2LJ-4

The New Veer

Although the Veer was being used in College Football before this, I noticed the Inverted Veer in the 2010 seasons. Gus Malzahn used many old concepts to run all over ELITE SEC Defenses. How could a simple read play do this? There are a few factors 1) Cam Newton, 2) Superior O-Line blocking, 3) Michael Dyer at RB, 4) Refer back to 1. These should all be accounted for when you are trying to run an Inverted Veer Offense or simply the Inverted Veer. I'm going to use Gus Malzahn's 2010 Offensive Coordinating season to show how powerful the Inverted Veer can be, and a few cuts from Baylor's use of it.

Okay so what is the Inverted Veer?

The Inverted Veer simply put as a Read Option. But the read isn't on the back side it's on the playside. The playside is where the play, O-Line and run is flowing to.
Notice in this diagram how both the QB and RB are running to the same side, unlike a regular read option where the QB will run the opposite direction?

See how the RB and QB are both running the same direction? The Inverted Veer calls for a read on the DE. The DE goes and attacks the QB then the RB is given the ball. If the DE goes for the RB, then the QB takes the ball and churns uphill. The second image is what Gus Malzhan ran more so at Auburn and will run this upcoming 2013 College Football Season. These are diagrams. Now I'll break down maybe the best executed Inverted Veer EVER.

This is the famous play, Heisman Moment, Cam Newton Moment etc. against a powerful LSU Defense. BREAKDOWN

First, look at the formation used by the offense. It's your basic Normal Wing WK look given by the offense. This formation is nothing special and has a personnel of (1RB|1FB|3WR). Simple. Now the defense is in a basic 4-3 look with Man on Man. They know a scrape exchange, dash read or Inverted Veer is coming.
This is the formation on NCAA Football 14:

Now even though the defense is prepared for an option, PA or screen and they know it's coming why is it still executed? It's from practice, the intangibles and tangibles of Cam Newton and the wear&tear from Auburn. All things you should account for when using the Inverted Veer Offense or Inverted Veer play!!

Mind my poor diagramming but see how the guard is pulling up field? Cam Newton's eyes are still down field as he rides the RB in the exchange. Riding is simply shuffling with the RB until the read is fully executed (something you can't really do in NCAA Football 14). The defender is crashing down going immediately after the RB. Thus you'll see Cam Newton pulls the ball--the correct read and churns up field.

The RB then blocks the defender who is out of the play because of Cam Newton's elite speed. Now some of the tangibles of the play come in after this. Cam Newton is able to execute the play correctly and pick up yards; however, he goes beyond this and is able to score. How can a QB that tall accelerate pass an ELITE SEC defense? Watch yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=iOi2hj_sjyY

That is only one example of the Inverted Veer perfectly executed.
Here's the play from a different angle:

The Look -- Normal Wing WK (Flipped)

The Read

The Execution, Blocking & Run

My Favorite Formation for the Inverted Veer

I normally don't run or recommend the Inverted Veer in a Wing formation. Why? 1) The wing man makes it a bit more confusing for you than the opponent, 2) it makes it obvious to which side you are going. I recommend running the Inverted Veer out of a pretty naked Spread Formation. Naked meaning there are no wings or men backfield except the QB and RB.

I run it out of the Spread Formation. It was one of the most basic Spread formations. One of the reasons is because the formation has an equal formation which is the Spread Offset. I also like the appearance of it. The opponent doesn't know what option you are running out of this. I also like the speed on the outside from the WR's.

I've ran this on practice and on dynasty several times and against several looks. I can honestly say this exchange is pretty clean. The problem with the Inverted Veer on NCAA Football 14 is the CPU doesn't really crash right or reads the play how a DE would in reality IMO. It's almost a blitz and the target is the ball not a carrier. Nevertheless this formation provides symmetry and easy exchange. You can easily motion a WR over for more run support also. I would recommend using the Inverted Veer sparingly unless you are running the Inverted Veer Offense. The play can cause damage and throw off the defense BUT a QB Wrap can easily do this and is easier to execute. I run this against 3-man, 4-man and a few 5-man fronts. I recommend this play on manageable downs i.e. 2nd & 5 or less ... 1 & 10 or less.

*A Few Cut-Ups of NCAA Football 14 Inverted Veer in a good angle to practice in*

The Look

The Look Again

The Read

The Execution, Blocking and Run

Here's the whole video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=d44J_JTa_rE

The Deadly Addition

Like most Read Options or run plays there is an equivalent Play Action or PA added. The PA Inverted Veer is more powerful than the actual run play for a few the schematics of the play:

The Pulling Guard
The Routes
The ability to roll out
The potential to screw the opponents Defense

The play has a few cool routes on it noticeably the Orange or target route. I don't recommend throwing to the route. But the potential of the play is powerful IMO. You can roll the QB out and just turn up field or probably throw a dart on the out route. There's also a simple comeback route going down the sideline. I recommend sticking to the playside of this play, for the backside lacks really optimal routes. You can easily audible the WR's to 4 Verts and really confuse the opponent with the pulling guard.

Hope you found this post interesting and enlightening. Stay reading!

NOTE: OREGON DOES NOT RUN THE INVERTED VEER OR VEER NECESSARILY. THE INVERTED VEER WASN'T RAN BY OREGON ALL OF THE 2012 SEASON; however, it may be in their playbook!!!!