Ohio State's Y Cross Play

The Y Cross has been a staple of the air raid offense developed by Hal Mumme and Mike Leach. Today, many spread teams have used this concept as a staple of their offense. The great thing about this play is it has options for every possible defense and can be run from mostly any formation or personnel group. Ohio State has been very successful with the Y cross play since Urban Meyer has been the head coach. Here are a few examples of Y Cross that Ohio State used again Hawaii:

This first clip is from a Flex Formation. The QB's first read is to take a peak at the skinny post run by the #1 WR. If Safety plays low, the QB can take a shot over his head or if it's a single safety he can peak at the post. Once he is off the post, the QB then looks for the slot coming across the field. His aiming point is 22 yards on the opposite sideline but he can settle in a window between LB's. QB does a great job of delivering the ball right into the open window. If the Slot was covered because of LB's getting depth and closing the window, the QB would then come back to the RB in the flat here. The option fake does a great job of pulling the LB into the run game to allow the slot behind him.

This next clip is from a tight End doubles set. This time the defense brings the corner who is unaccounted for. QB recognizes this and throws it to the flat quickly. Qb misses the throw because he did a poor job of setting his feet to the target. If LB's would of flew to flat then he would of looked for the slot Crossing behind them. Even if they didn't blitz, some teams will let the QB read it low to high, or make the flat throw it they notice that the Tight End has leverage pre-snap. This is another reason why this play is so versatile.

The next one is out of a 3x1 formation. This time QB looks to read it high to low. The safety is playing low this time which allows for a big shot opportunity over the safety. If the safety would of stayed high he would of looked for the slot on the deep cross and lastly to the RB in the flat. Here is the video below:

The last look is out of a 2x2 formation and it actually looks like they combine the Y Cross with the snag Concept. It's hard to say if that is definitely what they are trying to do, but after watching it, I think it would be a great combination play. The same rules would apply. QB could work the snag concept, looking flat, corner, to snag, and if those throws are covered, the Y Cross would come open behind them. Here is that play:

In just one game, Ohio State used 4 different variations of this concept. As a defense that makes it hard to defend and prepare for. As an offense, the QB's reads are the same regardless of the look or variation which makes it simple for them. That's a reason why this play is becoming used more and more on tempo teams because the play works against all coverages and you can use multiple ways. The old philosophy of look complex but simple certainly applies to a play like Y Cross. Like I said, QB's can be told to read it low to high, or high to low, or be coached based off look, formation, or situation.