“Coach Hahnstadt!” My defensive coordinator yelled at me.

As I turned to see what he needed, I already knew what was coming. 

We had just gotten the ball back with a slim lead and about 5 minutes left to play in the game. 

Sure enough, he said, “whatever you do, keep that clock running!” 

I knew that we could run the ball three straight times into their all out blitz and punt or we could throw the ball and actually gain positive yardage most likely a first down. 

Thank goodness I had plays dialed up I knew would work. 

I knew he wasn’t going to be happy with my decision, but I was in the position to know what would work – so I did what I needed to. 

After we got a first down through the air and put the game away, he gave me his usual look and said, “nice calls tonight coach.”

Of course I was glad I stuck to my guns and called what I needed to call in that situation of the game plan. 

And I will keep on doing that regardless of what others say. The second I don’t, I know I’ll regret it and end up resenting myself for caving to the opinions of others who don’t know the situation like I do. 

But if you can’t throw the ball at all…you are stuck with only one option – run it. And when they know you will do that, they are going to bring the heat. 

So I’ve come up with five ways you can finish a game by throwing the ball instead of always giving in to the pressure to run it when the defense is loading the box against you. 

Screens, Screens, Screens

By sticking with your screen game, you will always get the numbers you need and be able to stretch defenders horizontally. And by this time in the game, they should be too tired to get out there and one will break. I’m referring to Quick WR screens and Bubble Screens. If you don’t have numbers you can push motion your half-back out and throw the fast screen to him and make sure you have enough blockers.

Invest in Quick Concepts

Using quick concepts allows you to have answers to man and zone defenses. One example of this is what Mike Leach is doing with his Stick and Corner plays. If defenses play zone, you have a simple 1, 2, 3, progression on the concept side. If they are in man, you have a double slant backside with an inside-out read. 

Sprint out

Using the sprint out is the original RPO and is perfect for calling as a pass against pressure. Just make sure you adequately protect the edge he’s sprinting out to. I love sprinting to trips with a wing but using the wing to seal the edge. Now we can run a two-man combination and also have the ability to run if everybody drops.

Play Action

What I love about play-action is that it works regardless of being able to run the ball well at all. In fact, play-action may be what you need to soften up the defense so you can run the ball. Here’s where you boot passes or your pop passes come in to play.

Shots 

Lastly, this strategy is one I haven’t used as much as I wanted to but it does work. Make sure you have your max protection on and then call a killer double move with your best athlete. If you have QB with enough of an arm to get it to him, this can be the death blow that defenses pull their hair out when it happens. 

Conclusion

Just because the game is almost over and you need to run the clock, doesn’t mean you have to turn into a robot and run the ball every single play. In fact, I would argue this is the time in the game where it may actually be easiest to throw the ball for a big gain.