FanPost

Basic Football Terminology For Kentucky Wildcats Fans

Image from page 97 of "Spalding's how to play foot ball;" (1902)

Kentucky Sports Radio writer Nick Roush has a pretty good article for the low information fan, entitled Football for Dummies. There are a lot of fans who love the game, but don't have a lot of knowledge about football in general. I say "pretty good" because he has a couple of errors that were quickly spotted by some in the comments section.

I'll let our real football expert, Will (aka wamarsh), inform us if he spots other errors, particularly on the defensive definitions.

Error #1: Definition of Mesh

Mesh: The read option play has become a staple of college football over the last ten years. In the shotgun, the quarterback has a delayed handoff motion with the running back. The QB decides whether to keep it or hand it off, based on what the actions of the weakside defensive lineman. This delayed exchange in the backfield is referred to as a mesh.

I'm not sure, but I think he (Roush) has the mesh confused with the zone read which is a running play. If you are an enthusiast of The Air Raid or any of the spread formations, you recognize his definition is erroneous.

From Smart Football (THE definitive article on The Air Raid):

...the core of the offense was made up of a few five and seven step drop passing plays, specifically the mesh, all-curl, 93 wheel, Y Sail and Y Cross.

Error #2: Definition of the Wheel Route

Wheel: A wheel route is a dangerous, deep passing play. With two receivers on one side, the slot WR runs an outside deep route, behind the outside WR who is running a post. Where the two receivers meet can create a basketball-like pick, leaving one person wide open.

You often hear the TV and radio announcers talk about the Wheel Route and wish Kentucky ran it. They do and have, although not very successfully due to poor blocking and poor QB play. Roush's definition describes a mesh which is a short, not deep, play. Again, this is described very well in the Smart Football article.

This somewhat off-beat play developed out of a few BYU routes. One was the desire to run the curl/wheel combination, especially given that the H-back in the Air Raid ran to the flat so often the wheel was a nice change-up. But BYU also had a play called "Y-Option" or "Y-Choice," and the pivot route by the Y receiver on this play - essentially as an outlet - was a way to incorporate the concept. This is just one of the examples of a play that began with BYU but changed forms a few times before it started showing up on Air Raid whiteboards. And in 1997 at Kentucky, Mumme's preferred way of calling the play was actually from trips (three receivers on a side), with the Z receiver on the left in-between the X and H.

Both plays are diagrammed in the smart football article.

Overall, though, the KSR article is well worth a read. Let me end by saying that when it comes to football, Roush is the best in the KSR stable. The good Lord knows I make my share of mistakes, so I'm not trying to diss him, just trying to set the record straight.