The counter play is a general term for a misdirection running play where everything appears geared to having the ball carrier go in one direction, but he ends up running the other direction. In other words, the runner goes counter to the expected direction.
It is a play that Percy Harvin is absolutely lethal on. Both his first quarter and third quarter touchdown runs against South Carolina came on the brand of counter play that Urban Meyer likes to use.
I will diagram the latter since it was longer, but the other would have been a touchdown from any distance away from the end zone as well.
The Third Quarter Run
Here is the formation:
Florida begins in a three-wide set with Kestahn Moore as a running back next to Tim Tebow and Aaron Hernandez lined up as an H-back behind RT Jason Watkins. Louis Murphy is wide to the right, Riley Cooper is wide to the left, and Harvin is in the slot.
Here you can see Tebow signaling to Harvin to go in motion. Harvin will come in close on the other side of Tebow to create a symmetrical two-back set.
The South Carolina defense begins in a nickel set, named as such because there are five defensive backs. The defense recognizes that this will probably be a running play with Harvin moving to the backfield, so the corner that was on Harvin slides behind the linebackers to add another layer of run protection. One of the safeties moves up by the linebackers to create a de facto 3-4 set.
Here is what will happen once the ball is snapped:
This is a bit busy, so let’s take it one piece at a time.
Four of the five offensive linemen will block to the right. Moore will come out of the backfield to the right as well. When Harvin takes the hand off, his first couple steps will be to the right. This is the setup, preparing the misdirection of the counter.
RG Mike Pouncey is a pulling guard on this play, called that because instead of going straight ahead, he will pull away from the rest of the line and run around back of it. He will pick up the blitzing outside linebacker on that side.
Hernandez will also come around in that direction and shoot between Pouncey and LT Phil Trautwein like a blocking fullback. Harvin, after faking to the right, will cut back to the left and follow Hernandez through the hole.
Something that I didn’t diagram above because it would have made everything too messy is that after the handoff, Tebow rolls right and fakes a throw to Murphy to give the defense one more thing to think about. Murphy will run down field to block, and Cooper at the top will battle his covering cornerback.
The actual outside linebacker on the left went in after Tebow’s fake. The middle linebacker No. 40 you see there initially went forward to pick up Moore coming out of the backfield, but when he recognized that Moore did not have it, he turned around to go after Harvin.
The safety, who had come up to become the fourth linebacker, also got frozen by Moore’s fake run, and he also reversed course to go for Harvin. Both were too late though; Harvin is too fast for either to catch him.
Harvin’s original covering cornerback was Hernandez’s blocking target, but the corner began running back up the field before Hernandez could get a clean block. It didn’t matter though; Hernandez got enough of him to slow him up, and that’s all Harvin needed.
Cooper has the next important block, and it’s no surprise he’s up there, as he has become Florida’s best blocker among the receivers. The corner will eventually release from the block, but once again, he was slowed up enough for Harvin to speed past him.
The other safety (not pictured) will come in to try to make a play shortly after this frame, but he underestimates Harvin’s speed and takes the wrong angle.
Harvin splits that corner and the safety, and his raw speed helps him pull away. Here’s the video of both the first quarter run and the third quarter run diagrammed above, and you will see the same thing in both: a fake to the right and run to the left.
That Looks Awfully Familiar…
If you’re thinking to yourself that those runs looked familiar, then you are right. Let me paint the scene.
It’s the 2006 SEC Championship Game. Florida led 17-7 at halftime, but a mostly disastrous third quarter allowed Arkansas back in the game. The Razorbacks took a 21-17 lead, but a muffed punt by Reggie Fish that the Gators recovered gave them a 24-21 lead.
It was still close, and Arkansas still had a slight edge of momentum. That is, until Percy Harvin ran a counter play.
Here we see more of a spread formation. Jemalle Cornelius is at the top, with Bubba Caldwell next to him. Dallas Baker is the tall receiver at the bottom, with Harvin inside of him. FB Billy Latsko is lined up in the H-back position that Hernandez was in above.
Harvin goes in motion towards Chris Leak, and the linebacker who had been on him also slides back behind the other linebackers. It’s the same move we saw the South Carolina cornerback make. This time though, Harvin does not come to a stop, but instead he slows down and his shoulders are still parallel to the sideline when the ball is snapped.
As with last time, it’s a bit busy, but again let’s take it a piece at a time.
The play is going the opposite direction as before, so four of the five offensive linemen block to the left. Latsko will come around and take on the right defensive end. LG Jim Tartt pulls this time, and Tartt will pick up the middle linebacker as he follows the DE.
Harvin takes the handoff facing the left sideline, so his original covering linebacker will continue in that direction. The third linebacker on the left will crash the left side of the line as you would expect him to.
After taking the hand off though, Harvin catches the defense off guard by immediately turning around and running between Tartt and Latsko. Upon seeing this, Harvin’s linebacker will turn on a dime and head the other way.
Let’s go to the wide shot for the final part.
Harvin is now in the open field, and that’s always a bad thing for opponents. Only two players have a chance to get him now: Harvin’s linebacker and the sole safety on the play.
The linebacker is trying to make up for being fooled, so he is slightly off balance and running as hard as he can towards Harvin. The safety who is playing center field apparently doesn’t think his teammate can make the tackle, so he also runs as hard as he can towards Harvin’s projected running path instead of hanging back to be the last line of defense.
In other words, both guys overpursue on the play. Harvin sees this happening, so he cuts it back to the left and sails down the field for an easy score. Here is the play in real time:
On the first play after a punt, Harvin takes it to the house to give Florida a 31-21 lead and the momentum back. Each team would tack on another score for the final margin of 38-28.
In Final
Urban Meyer will tell anyone willing to listen that Percy Harvin has the best first step in college football. These plays make it easy to see why.
The 2006 edition of the play also illustrates one of the reasons why Meyer, a guy who loves running it up the middle as much as anyone, will spread the field often.
By having two receivers at the top, Arkansas was forced to cover them both with corners. That meant there was only one safety instead of two for Harvin to have to deal with. Removing defenders from the middle was the goal, and it worked.
Chris Fowler’s column last week went over how Florida has become a lot more of a power team instead of a spread team this year. That was reflected in 2008’s play above where there were three guys in the backfield instead of two.
However, Kestahn Moore coming out wide to the right from the backfield drew both a linebacker and a safety, effectively accomplishing the same goal.
Harvin has had many highlight reel plays in his time at Florida. No play appears more frequently on it than the counter.
20 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment
Nick The Only 7 months ago
Good job. David.
Check out some video from his freshman year. He absolutely burned FSU with the counter (from the direct snap when he lined as QB) in 2006 (when he was just a freshman).
He has the advantage of an extra blocker when he lines up as QB.
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Chris Marks 7 months ago
Great write-up. I love this X's and O's stuff, you should do more of it.
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David Wunderlich 7 months ago
These things are fun to do, although pretty time consuming. I plan on doing more.
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Carson Howell 7 months ago
your write-ups are consistently entertaining. Thanks for this thorough breakdown!
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Edmon 7 months ago
When I saw the first counter, all I could think of was the 06 SEC Championship game.
A friend that I watched the game with was amazed at how well the TE/WRs block. I told him Riley Cooper might just be the best blocking WR in all of college football.
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David Wunderlich 7 months ago
It has floored me how much Aaron Hernandez has grown as a blocker this year. He couldn't block a tackling dummy against Miami, but now he rarely missed one. He has good things ahead of him. I'm also right there with you on Cooper, though I can't say I've studied others from around the country to definitively say he's the best.
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Trey Jones 7 months ago
One of the best tactical articles I have read on this site, David! Keep up the good work!
No spread offense can be successful without the wideout corps becoming better blockers than the linemen! I tivo'd the LSU, Georgia, and SC games just to see some of the work these guys do downfield... It's very impressive... I think this is what separates the Gator offense from any other in the nation. Often the opposing BD's look as if they are in shock when they are completely blocked out of a play... it's funny to see them get upset over it!
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David Wunderlich 7 months ago
I think the blocking skills they pick up could help them on the next level too, where being able to run the ball effectively is placed at a premium. That is probably especially true for the late round guys.
I mean, who would you want if you're an NFL team with your late round pick: a receiver who might be good, or a receiver who blocks like a madman and probably has already excelled on special teams?
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Colin Colverson 7 months ago
Great read. Go Gators.
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Lucas Jackson Casablancas 7 months ago
Didn't Urban Meyer get his start as a receiver coach?
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David Wunderlich 7 months ago
He spent most, but not all, of his pre-head coaching career as a receivers coach. I think technically his first job was as a tight ends coach for a year, but then jumped around from receivers to linebackers and then back to receivers.
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Lucas Jackson Casablancas 7 months ago
I hate to harp on this, but it bothers me that it isn't mentioned more. There is no question Harvin is a great player. But I believe what really makes the Gators so incredibly potent offensively is Tebow's versatility on offense.. his passing ability AND his running ability. And even his versatility running.
Take this play here. I think what really makes it work is Tebow drawing the defense to him at the handoff. I think South Carolina is focused on taking Tebow out of the game offensively and this opened everything for his runners.
If you look at the Gators earlier in the season the reason they lost that game to Ole Miss was because Tebow's runners hadn't stepped up. Teams were focused on stopping Tebow then too but his runners weren't punishing them for this. When Tebow's runners step up you see that these runners added to Tebow makes an unstoppable offense. This is how they could have been all season too. Last season as well. Tebow had to fill the role of runningback last season as well and teams realized that he was the only guy running and they focused on stopping him which stopped the Gators.
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David Wunderlich 7 months ago
Tebow's fake drew a single linebacker on this play. Just about everyone puts a linebacker on him as a spy anyway, and certainly no one took Chris Leak's running ability seriously in 2006 when this very same play worked. The four linemen and Harvin's initial steps do more to confuse the defense than anything Tebow does.
I'm not saying you're wrong overall; the threat of Tebow running is absolutely an integral part of making the offense go. On this particular play, however, he doesn't really make much of a difference.
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Lucas Jackson Casablancas 7 months ago
You would be amazed what the threat of Tebow does to a defense. Tebow may only have one guy completley focused on him but all the defenders are shading to him. And the difference between a step slow and a step fast is a huge difference to finesse runners like Harvin, Rainey and Demps. Tebow opens all the lanes for his finesse runners to operate. No other QB has the ability to run power and finesse like Tebow. He makes that finesse spread offense so deadly.
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Lucas Jackson Casablancas 7 months ago
Also, you say the play worked just as well with Leak too. Then why was the Gators offense nowhere remotely near as potent with Leak as it is with Tebow? Even compared to last season without Rainey and Demps.
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Iceman 7 months ago
Florida has the 3 fasted men alive on their roster, how is any team supposed to stop this Offense. I didnt think so last year, but Harvin is going to be much better than reggie bush.
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Nick The Only 7 months ago
He has the best first step in college football.
Is it Mark May who says that?
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David Wunderlich 7 months ago
It is Urban Meyer who says that. As I said, he will tell that to anyone who will listen. He says it every time someone asks him about Harvin.
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Zeptogator 7 months ago
I think what really makes this work is that it is a balanced attack and makes the defense respect every player. Cooper can flat out fly so his man has to respect that. Hernandez is a beast that can run, block, and catch as well as any TE. Kestahn Moore is considered slow on this team, but on most other teams he could be the featured tailback. Put in Demps or Rainey at it just gets worse. Tebow is the ultimate spread "system" QB. And then there's that Percy guy that gets the ball every so often. Plus, the O-line isn't too shabby. Each man on defense has his hands full with his particular assignment, and no one on defense can match up with Harvin. 11 players going hard. Not 8, not 9, not 10, but 11, whether they have the ball or not.
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David Arreola 7 months ago
POTD...just cause it is probably the most badass thing I have ever seen.
Nice work man.
btw Percy Harvin is raw at everything he does...
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