COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 Something interesting happens when a Missouri defensive lineman runs onto the field with his extended hand, thumb-first, perpendicularly tapping the crown of his helmet.
The gesture, rarely picked up by TV cameras as broadcasts show replays and tight shots during substitutions, looks a bit like a player miming a horn. And that would make sense: The signal means Mizzou is rolling out its 鈥渞hino鈥 package.
It鈥檚 another twist on the Tigers鈥 defense that modifies their 4-2-5 base system into something that looks very different because of a change in personnel. MU鈥檚 rhino look involves five defensive linemen, with the extra down lineman playing as a nose tackle.
That changes Missouri鈥檚 system into more of a 5-2-4, with the defense鈥檚 STAR hybrid safety generally leaving the field to make way for the nose tackle.
People are also reading…
The look has appeared in both of Mizzou鈥檚 last two games, wins over Boston College and Vanderbilt. While using five defensive linemen or a nose tackle isn鈥檛 groundbreaking football, it is a twist that the Tigers and defensive coordinator Corey Batoon are trying out for games against run-happy quarterbacks.
鈥淭hat was a game plan decision,鈥 coach Eli Drinkwitz said, 鈥渂ased off 12 personnel.鈥
He鈥檚 referring to offensive formations that use one running back and two tight ends, known in football parlance as 鈥12 personnel.鈥 With the opposing offense sacrificing a wide receiver for another blocker, the MU defense responds by ditching a defensive back for another lineman with defending the run as the priority.
鈥淚t was a heavy run personnel for them,鈥 Drinkwitz said, 鈥渁nd we felt like the most important thing for us was to control the A and B gaps, not really allow their center to be free to climb up to the second level (and) put the center and guard more in one-on-one blocks. So we went to a rhino package.鈥
Mizzou鈥檚 alignment in its rhino package reflects that. The nose tackle lines up head-on with the center, while the defensive tackles spread out a little bit more to be able to attack any of the gaps between the offensive tackles. By adding an extra rusher to the interior of the play, math dictates it鈥檚 more likely that the defense gets a one-on-one matchup around that part of the line, too.
Offenses lining up with 12 personnel isn鈥檛 unique either, but the blend of that formation with a mobile quarterback made the BC and Vanderbilt matchups the time to use the rhino package. Both Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos and, especially, Vandy quarterback Diego Pavia run a fair number of read and option plays.
Because the Tigers鈥 defensive priority was to keep both of those quarterbacks contained and away from the perimeter, the rhino package allowed the defensive line to remain more spread out toward the edge without opening too many gaps inside.
鈥淚t allows your ends to be more contain players so the ball doesn鈥檛 get out on the edge,鈥 Drinkwitz said.
Marquis Gracial, a high school standout at St. Charles, has emerged as the primary nose tackle option, slotting in between tackles Kristian Williams and Chris McClellan.
鈥淚 thought Marquis really did a nice job coming in and playing the nose, which is what he primarily did in the game,鈥 Drinkwitz said.
The rhino package was a new variation timed to be used for the first time against Boston College, and it was used notably on first downs early in the game.
鈥淲e hadn鈥檛 shown that,鈥 Drinkwitz said. 鈥淲e had hoped that it would create some confusion or an adjustment to their game plan.鈥
Vanderbilt was likely more ready for the rhino package to appear, or at least aware of the fact that it could. It seemed to pop up in more third-and-short situations on Saturday, including one in overtime.
But it still seemed to throw off the Commodores at times. Mizzou deployed the rhino package on the second play of the game 鈥 a second-and-5 鈥 and Vanderbilt stumbled into a false start penalty while staring down five defensive linemen plus a likely linebacker blitz.
When the Commodores were backed up even more on the second-down play, the Tigers trotted out their prowler package 鈥 which has just three defensive linemen but seven defensive backs 鈥 on third down. Routinely changing up the number of linemen and mixing in blitzes from safeties and linebackers is a key part of what Batoon has shown in defensive play calls over the past two games.
There aren鈥檛 many changes for the linemen involved in the varied looks, but they recognize how personnel counts affect the team on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
鈥淚t鈥檚 still more attack, react on different things, get vertical, harass the quarterback and create takeaways 鈥 the message is still the message,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淏ut as far as that (rhino) formation, it鈥檚 just bringing a bigger package on. It鈥檚 harder to run the ball on a three-man or five-man front, so it鈥檚 just changing the look for the offense so they can be confused.鈥