What do you mean by feel?

007

Each week in practice we have an overtime session. Best 2 out of 3 starting O vs Starting D. This gets us to have a script for the first OT. After that it's about "feel", what has worked or what advantage we have.

Joe

I'm not one to script plays.  Yet I do run series.  That being said, I'm running what was successful during the game.  After scoring on the the first series. I am more apt to dial up the "Appendix" Counters, Reverse,  Draws, Screens.  See if I can catch them anticipating plays.   

I usually have a script for OT, and the few times that we have actually hit 2OT, I've had my guys tally the most successful plays throughout the game, and then I'll formulate a quick script off of feel out of those plays, and like dusty said, I'll throw in a play that counters the play ive ran most in the game.

It's the second overtime of a tense game. Both teams scored on their first possessions. Do you run the same script you just scored on, or go by feel as it is deep into the game?

Joe

Great question Joe. I've never coached in an OT game, but I should probably figure this out for when it happens. If I had the ball 1st in the 2nd OT, i'd probably be a little more conservative & stick to the same script.

I was on the sideline when one of the teams in our ORG went to OT. I suggested they go FREEZE on the 1st play, and that worked. Freeze is a great play in OT cuz using a timeout doesn't hurt you.

Jake

We ran a lot of freeze the last few years. Since we are a tempo team, it's a great way to get us a look at the defense & steal some yards. In OT we always huddle so I have never thought of freeze.

We have played 5 OT games in the last 4 years. 2 have gone to the second OT.

Joe

Jake

We ran a lot of freeze the last few years. Since we are a tempo team, it's a great way to get us a look at the defense & steal some yards. In OT we always huddle so I have never thought of freeze.

We have played 5 OT games in the last 4 years. 2 have gone to the second OT.

Joe

That's crazy. That's the bummer in the youth game, you might have 1 close game all season, so not a lot of opportunites for OT. At least not for me.

But ya, in that game when I suggested freeze, my thought was: either they jump, or you call a timeout you don't need, & have a little additonal time to organize your thoughts. Was also thinking that the opponent might be a little jumpy, consdering the stakes of OT, & their coach likely wasn't talking to them about watching the ball in 1st down.

I think I have coached in 3ot games. None in the regular season so it was win or turn in your pads. I think in youth it is different because you get the ball on the 10. We ran freeze as the first play every time. No need to waste your timeout either because you should have an audible system or some built in play off of freeze anyway. If we get the 5 on freeze that really changes things. We are going to run power (because it is the best play in football and also our bread and butter) 4 times and score to win the game. If we don't get the five, probably spread them out and run power or trap. I like trap because the d line is foaming at the mouth in ot (that is why freeze works so well). For hs guys I think whether you have the ball first or not really plays into the situation.

Have been in several OT games in the last 5-6 years.  First 5 years, we won every one of them (4-0).  Last year, we lost both.

With that said, I go by the feel of the game.  For our OT, each "inning" is one series from the 10 (not the 25).  So, we want to use our best plays from the 10 in, but it is heavily dictated by what has happened in the game.  If there are plays that they have not been able to stop later in the game, then it doesn't really matter what we practiced situationally, we are going to keep working on those.  I always find that I am trying to take what the defense is going to give me and, at that point in the game, I am no longer setting up any other plays. 

The end of the game also affects whether we decide to go on offense first or 2nd (if we win the toss).  If I have come back from a deficit to tie and have the other team on the ropes, then I may decide to go first on offense instead of deferring.  I want to play the momentum.

In youth I don't know how much sense worrying about who has the ball last matters. How many guys are realistically going to try and kick? We had maybe one or two years where it might of been an option. Meaning the kid made at least 70% of his ep kicks. I do agree with the momentum thing though. Score the td and the other teams is under huge pressure and maybe somewhat deflated.

Joe - interesting topic.  As you know, I do like to script my openers, but it never occurred to me to script out the OT scenario, despite having been in a number of OT games over the years (although none in my 7 years here in San Diego, where there is no OT, except for playoffs, in any level below HS Varsity).  I think I will add this to my pre-game preparation going forward.  Although, I imagine that I'll just script out one OT period, then play it by feel if we go to a second OT.  In HS Varsity, we use the NCAA procedure, starting from the 25, so I'll probably script 8-10 plays, so that could be enough for two periods if we score quickly enough.  Thanks for bringing this up.

Doug

Our OT is from the 10, so it's a little different. We always have a competition period, so once a week it's OT for us.

Joe

In youth I don't know how much sense worrying about who has the ball last matters. How many guys are realistically going to try and kick? We had maybe one or two years where it might of been an option. Meaning the kid made at least 70% of his ep kicks. I do agree with the momentum thing though. Score the td and the other teams is under huge pressure and maybe somewhat deflated.

We were kicking for 3 seasons and we won by kicking in OT twice because it counted for 2. That is where it can be a factor, not with FG's 😉

Kicking is often the difference. This is especially true at the youth game where often the PAT is worth 2. The only game we lost at MH was at the Nationals in double OT. Our opponent went first in the second OT they scored & kicked the 2. On first down we got called for holding, making it first & goal from the 25. We ran trap & scored; however on the play our kicker broke his toe. We had a very good back up kicker, but he was also the LG on the PAT team. Snap was good, hold was good, kick looked good, except a defender caught a fingertip on the ball. Came over the LG. Ball hit the cross bar & bounced down.

Our last team our kicker was 48 out 51.

Joe