Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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CHALK TALK BRYAN DRISKELL ficult for defenses to play with seven defenders in the box. When using a fullback, defenses can tighten their alignment and better defend the between‑the‑tackles run game. A fullback is also not a vertical pass threat, and teams have chosen to go with the more dangerous weapon and not a hard‑nosed, blocking‑type player. The spread also brought about the running quarterback. Having a signal‑caller that can run is nothing new at Notre Dame, but the spread changed the way it is used in the run game. Players like Tim Tebow (Flor‑ ida, 2005‑08), Cam Newton (Auburn, 2010) and Collin Klein (Kansas State, 2009‑12) became between the tackles and short‑yardage runners, replacing the fullback. Notre Dame has that in the form of 6‑5 sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer, who is now more than 240 pounds. Kizer rushed for 371 yards and led the Irish with eight rushing touchdowns through 11 games. He rushed for 143 yards in a win over Temple, and six of his eight scores have come inside the 10‑yard line. Kizer serves as the short‑yardage and goal‑line back, which used to be the role of the fullback. CHANGE IN SCHEMES, FOCUSING ON THE TIGHT END Kelly still likes to get a bigger body at the point of attack in the run game to lead block. That can be hard with the desire to also maintain four legiti‑ mate down‑field passing threats. What Kelly has done is go with either a two‑ tight‑end alignment or to move the tight end around much like a fullback was in the past. By using a tight end instead of a full‑ back, the offense keeps a big‑bodied blocker in the game, but it now has a more dangerous receiving threat and more alignment flexibility. By spreading the field and getting the seventh box defender out wide, the need for a lead blocker in the zone is all but gone. Fullbacks were also used to seal the backside edge in the zone, something that can now be ac‑ complished by the tight end or the quarterback in the read‑zone con‑ cepts. RECRUITING SHIFT College defenses have had to adjust to the spread offense and the faster style of play. If a player has the body type to be a fullback and the athleti‑ cism to be a difference maker at the position, he is likely going to end up as a linebacker. Teams that want to maintain a power player other than the quarter‑ back are now using those players as the feature running back. If Jerome Bettis were coming out of Detroit now instead of 1990, he would still be a major recruit for Kelly and his staff. The only difference is Notre Dame would now be recruiting Bettis to be the primary ball carrier and not a fullback. ✦ Bryan Driskell has been a football analyst for Blue & Gold Illustrated since April 2015. He can be reached at bdriskell@blueandgold.com.