Found a new favorite formation. ;)

[Pogo27]

If you like to run the ball...you may want to check this formation out...

It's called I-FORM Y-TRIPS.

It is in the following playbooks: Clemson, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas State, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Purdue, Stanford, Tulane, UCLA, Wake Forest, Western Kentucky

Now, I'm not really sure why it's called "Y-Trips," because there's nothing really trips about it.

It is an I-Form. You've got your standard 5 offensive linemen, quarterback, fullback, and tailback. The formation calls for a tight end and two wide receivers.

Well, they all line up on the right side of the ball.

Which is perfectly legal...it's just... you have to have 7 guys on the line of scrimmage, and of the guys on the line of scrimmage, only the guys closest to the sideline are eligible receivers. The five dudes in the middle are "covered up" as they say, and are ineligible receivers.

Generally speaking, there is a non-offensive linemen on the L.O.S. on both sides of the ball, but in this formation, the two non-offensive linemen on the L.O.S. are both on the right side of the ball. The tight end is on the L.O.S. to the right of the right tackle. The second receiver is off the line of scrimmage in the slot, and the primary receiver is farther out, and on the line of scrimmage, covering the tight end up, making him an ineligible receiver.

First time I noticed that the TE has no routes to run on any of the plays, I figured out what was going on. At first, I was kind of bummed. But then I realized, in game, using the right stick formation subs, I can select "BIG" and an offensive linemen comes in that slot, giving me 6 O-Linemen.

Awesome.


But you know what, that formation still isn't big enough for me.

So, I went to the full formation subs out of game.

I put my 6th best O-Lineman at left guard, I put the left guard at right guard, moved the right guard to right tackle, and the right tackle to tight end.

I then moved my tight end to full back, as he's an all around better player as both a blocker and receiver. Then I thought...you know what, this formation still isn't big enough for me. I put my second tight end (who is also quite good as both a blocker and a receiver) in as the slot receiver.

So the formation looks like this...

LT--LG--C--RG--RG--RT            WR
        QB                  TE2
        TE1
        HB

I can still pass out of it, so it's not a pure run formation. But mostly, it's a really, really great run formation.


Now sure, I could use goal line, and just sub O-Linemen into TE spots, but it's not quite the same. If I want to pass out of the Goal Line form, now I've got an O-Linemen going out for a pass...and he can't catch. In this formation, the O-Lineman subbed into the TE spot will NEVER go downfield for a pass play, so I won't see him wide open and try passing to him.

Also, this spread the field slightly more, giving my running back more room to work with.

I use this formation on the goal line almost more than Goal Line form because of the spread the slot TE and WR give me. If the CPU is in man, there's a decent sized gap between the end of the line and the TE in the slot...and between the TE playing FB as a lead blocker and the TE in the slot, they can hold the CBs that come crashing in.

If the CPU is in a blitz or zone and are clogged in the middle, I can either run a pitch and rely on the good blocking of the two TEs on the CBs or safeties that get out there, or I can find a pass play, as the TE and WR on the right are close enough that there's usually one guy trying to guard both.



Also...perhaps my favorite part about this formation... the RT in the TE spot? I can put him in motion to the left side of the line if I want to run left.

[kingoftroy59]

Are there any tackle eligible pass plays in this formation? That would really put it over the top!

[Pogo27]

Quote: Originally Posted by kingoftroy59

Are there any tackle eligible pass plays in this formation? That would really put it over the top!

No. I was wishing there were, and there certainly should be, because you're absolutely right. The left tackle is an eligible receiver.

I looked, and I may have missed it, but I don't remember seeing any plays in which the LT went out for a pass. If there were, I'd simply move LT to LG, LG to RG, RG to RT, RT to TE, TE to LT.

There are some "Tackle Over" formations that line up like that though...move the LT to the right side so you've got 1 linemen to the left of center (with a TE who will go for passes) and 3 to the right... but it's kind of a different principle...

[Pogo27]

I've turned the XBox off for the night, otherwise I'd pull up the actually plays that are run out of this formation.

Now...if you have a good FB, you don't really need to put TE1 in the FB spot, you can leave the FB there and move your TE to the slot. As far as who you put where for the FB, slot, and split end positions, it really just depends on your personnel. Maybe you leave your FB there and change both WRs to TEs because you're going to run the ball like 95% of the time out of this formation (in which case, maybe you put a 7th O-Lineman at the FB spot?)...

The run plays are pretty much your standard I-Form run plays though. Power-O, HB Dive, HB Smash, HB Toss, FB Dive with the fake toss to the HB, fake hand-off to FB with toss to HB, etc. And if I'm not mistaken 3 or 4 of the 5-7 passing plays out of the formation are play action.

And if you slide protect toward the "TE" (who is really your tackle) and kind of roll that way in the pocket, it's almost the same as max protect pass (like on I-Form Slants that just send 3 eligible receivers, but keeps 7 blockers). You send 4 eligible receivers, and keep 6 blockers...but generally, the extra O-Linemen does a better job of pass blocking than your FB and HB combined would do.


Between this formation and I-Form Big (with TEs on both ends, and just 1 WR), I never use Goal Line any more except on "& Inches" for the QB Sneak.

[TXHusker25]

This formation, plus Heavy personnel, plus a TE in the slot using formation subs, plus Power O = Money. If my FB was not so good, I'd even put an OL in that spot for 6 down linemen plus a OL at FB and a TE at slot WR.

The plays are pretty basic though. I Formation Tackle Over does the same thing with the personnel already set.

[Pogo27]

Personally, I run a Power Run West Coast pass style offense, so I like to keep a decent receiver in the FB slot. And as I said above, if you have a good FB, you may be best to just play two TEs in the WR spots. Or again, just TE in the slot and leave the split end as WR.



And I-Form Tackle Over is pretty good, but doesn't this put a TE in the tackle spot (by default)? Also, I-Form Y-Trips is available in some playbooks that Tackle Over is not, such as Tulane, which I find to be a great all around I-Form/West Coast style playbook.


LSU, Northern Illinois, Stanford, and Western Kentucky are the only playbooks that offer both I-Form Tackle Over and I-Form Y-Trips. I-Form Tackle Over is also available in FAU, Miami, and Nebraska playbooks, but these do not have Y-Trips.

12 playbooks have just I-Form Y-Trips, 3 have just Tackle Over, and 4 have both.


Yeah, Tackle Over is a pretty great power run formation. I think Y-Trips with formation subs is an excellent alternative though if you prefer the OTHER formations that some of the Y-Trips only playbooks offer.

And for my offensive style, I really like running Split, which is only available in Akron, San Diego State, Tulane, Virginia, and Pro Style playbooks... leaving Tulane the only team that has Split and Y-Trips (and none have Split and Tackle Over).


So yeah, Y-Trips is an awesome formation...and I'm loving Tulane's playbook for having I-Form Y-Trips, Split, 3 other I-Forms, 2 Strong-I's, a Weak-I, plenty of Ace, including Ace Bunch, and a great set of Wildcat plays. (Oh by the way, the Wildcat is definitely a power run formation...)

[Pogo27]

Okay, in Tulane's playbook, I-Form: Y-Trips has 13 plays.

Run Plays (7)
HB Iso
Power O
Load Option
HB Toss
HB Blast
FB Dive Strong
FB Fake HB Flip

Play-Action Pass (3)
PA FB Flat
PA Power O
PA Boot Screen

Pass Plays (3)
Slants
Inside Cross
Rollout Smash


The other 15 playbooks with this formation may have slightly different plays, as I know for a fact that the plays available per formation are not identical from team to team. As far as Tulane's playbook, the left tackle (or right tackle if you flip it) does not run any passing routes.

It is unquestionable a goal line & short yardage formation. On the few pass plays available, obviously the maximum available eligible wide receivers is 4 (as the tackle on the end never runs for a pass).

With that said, on the pass plays...

Slants - The split end and slot run slants, the HB runs a swing pattern. The FB blocks.

PA FB Flat - Split end runs about a 10-yard curl, slot runs essentially a fly, but it angles in ever so slightly, FB runs a flat, HB blocks.

PA Power O - Split end runs a fly route, slot runs an out, FB runs a flat, HB blocks.

Inside Cross - Split end runs a deep post, slot runs a deep In route, HB runs I guess an out...he runs up between the C and RG and then toward the right sideline, FB runs the same thing except between C and LG then toward the left sideline--but his line is blue, so he'll block if necessary.

Rollout Smash - Slot runs a flag route, split end runs a dig. HB moves up to block right side of line while FB moves up to block left side of line, QB rolls out (much like many of the PA Rollouts, but there's no PA on the play). This is a great pass play on the goal line, particularly if your QB has any speed and can continue rolling out and run in if necessary. Basically, the corner/safety/linebacker out here covering your receivers has to decide. If he decides to cover, you can run it in, if he decides to come at you, you can pass it over their heads. HB usually comes out far enough for you to use as a lead blocker.

PA Boot Screen - Split end runs a fly route, slot runs a short out. HB after getting a fake hand off moves off to the left ready to take a screen behind the FB, RG, C, and LG (LT, RT, and "TE" stay home to protect QB). Personally...I like PA and I like screens...I don't like PA screens...

[TajDeni]

they only problem with the I-form offense in general is the 2 WRs you have on the field have to be beast....i will try this formation out later and give it a go tho

also how is it against users that like to stack everyone in the box...