3–3–5 defense

Veteran college football defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn is widely credited with being the main innovator of the 3–3–5 scheme.

Boise State, West Virginia, BYU, SDSU and Arizona have used this formation with success in college football.

In 2017 Iowa State adopted this defense as a counter to the air raid offenses commonly encountered in the Big 12 Conference.

The three down lineman must be able to control the running lanes, execute an effective pass rush, and be able to keep the opposing offensive line occupied so that the linebackers can make plays.

This is best exemplified by the 2008 West Virginia Mountaineers football defensive statistics; on average the team gave up 328 yards per game, but lead the nation in red zone efficiency, allowing their opponents to only score 68% of the time.

This version of the 3–3–5 removes a lineman to get the nickelback.
This version, usually called the 33 stack or 3–3–5 stack , uses an extra strong safety, and "stacks" linebackers and safeties directly behind the defensive linemen.