also: trips formation · 3x1 · trey (program-specific)
Three receivers to one side and one to the other. The imbalance forces a defense to declare how it will handle the three-receiver side.
Three receivers to one side, one to the other. Written 3x1, and the number that matters is the imbalance rather than the total.
What it does is force a decision. A defense has a limited number of bodies to put on the three-receiver side, and every one it sends there is one fewer against the run to the single-receiver side. Trips does not create an advantage by itself; it makes the defense choose which advantage to give up, which is why it is nearly always paired with plays that punish each answer.
3x1bunch and stack, doubles