Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1047749
18 NOV. 12, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY BRYAN DRISKELL O utside of a 97-yard touch- down run by senior Dexter Williams, the Notre Dame offense had a hard time run- ning the football in wins over Vir- ginia Tech and Pittsburgh. The Fighting Irish offense combined for 247 rushing yards in those two games while averaging only 3.5 yards per attempt. Take out the 97-yard score against the Hokies and Notre Dame averaged 2.2 yards per rush. Against Pittsburgh, the Irish had merely 80 yards on 38 attempts. Notre Dame's running backs ac- counted for 43 yards on 17 carries (2.5 yards per carry), while the Irish threw the ball 32 times. Following the game, head coach Brian Kelly made a comment that likely upset some Irish faithful who believe running the ball is an ab- solute must to offensive success in South Bend. "This should have been maybe been 40 to 50 times throwing the football," Kelly said of the Pitt game. "It was that stark in terms of pressure that they were putting on the run- ning game today. "We want to try to stay balanced, and we want to try to stay true to who we are. Today … Pitt wasn't go- ing to allow that to happen." The system that offensive coordi- nator Chip Long brought to South Bend has proven more than capable of ripping teams on the ground. In the first 21 games under Long, the Notre Dame offense rushed for at least 200 yards 11 times and topped at least 150 yards 16 times. Notre Dame averaged 238.5 yards per game and 5.5 yards per carry during that stretch. Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh fo- cused extensively on trying to stop the Irish ground attack. The Hokies kept their safeties close to the line, and Pittsburgh was aggressive with its linebackers and defensive line. A well-coached defense with just decent talent can often slow down a strong ground attack if it is willing to commit enough resources. Offenses must be able to counter that type of game plan, and when Kelly talked about needing to throw the ball more he wasn't talking about throwing 40 to 50 "drop-back passes." The main way to attack a defense over-emphasizing stopping the run is to take greater advantage of the run-pass option (RPO) aspects of the playbook. Its objective is to get the offense out of a bad run look and into a favorable passing situation without having to make an audible at the line of scrim- mage. One advantage of an RPO is it allows an offense to continue running up-tempo by eliminating the need to read the defense before the play and having to change out of a bad play. The mechanics of an RPO go like this: Long will call a run play with a pass game tag. This means the of- fensive line and running backs will execute the called run play, no matter what happens. The wide receivers and the tight end (unless he's attached to the line of scrimmage) will run whatever the designated pass routes are, no matter what. The only person with multiple re- sponsibilities on an RPO is the quar- terback. Before the snap, he will iden- tify the defender that will cause him to either hand the ball off to the running back or to pull the ball and throw it out- side. This defender is the "read key." In Diagram 1, you can see the pre- snap alignment for the offense and de- fense. Long's play call was a run called an inside zone. The tagged routes are a straight-ahead go for senior receiver Changing Times Notre Dame is using run-pass option aspects of its playbook to combat teams focusing on stopping the run Junior quarterback Ian Book was very effective with run-pass option (RPO) throws against Pitt Oct. 13 and Navy Oct. 27, completing a combined 21 of 22 passes for 205 yards while correctly reading the defense. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA