After the rain delay of the NC State game, Notre Dame and Gerad Parker needed a spark. Only one quarter had elapsed but the Irish offense had been stymied so far. Gerad dialed up a very fitting play for Notre Dame that, according to my data, hadn’t been run yet this season. Gerad called a play that many coaches call God’s play because of how perfect it is: the Irish offense dialed up Power.
Power is very similar to Counter in that they are both gap style running plays but while Counter is a misdirection and weakside run, Power seeks to dominate the opposition with a double team at the point of attack and a pulling guard.
The way to recognize Power is a pulling guard from the weakside and (generally) the H-back directly blocking the playside edge. Power is one of the most well known running plays, so I will defer to the following links for a detailed explanation.
https://weeklyspiral.com/2021/05/24/power/
http://smartfootball.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/MountjoySkinsPowerCounter.pdf
Compilation of Notre Dame power plays
The return of Pin & Pull
Another development in the Irish running game is the utilization of an outside run. In the first game vs Navy, very little running plays were designed to threaten the edges of the defense. One obvious explanation is that there wasn’t a need to do that: Notre Dame ran over Navy with ease. Starting in the Tennessee State game, the Irish utilized a blocking scheme I have described previously.
The 2023 version of this play has a little bit of a twist: Gerad has dialed up this play with either a toss to the running back or just a hand off. This blocking scheme is pin and pull because depending on a front all linemen, including the center, can be the puller. For offensive linemen this is the most equitable blocking scheme.
Compilation of 2023 Sweeps
Regarding RPOs
One observation I have for the Irish offense so far, is that very few Run-Pass-Option (RPO) throws are being generated. Gone are the days of the slow mesh RPO offense that Sam Hartman majored in at Wake Forest. One cause of this is, obviously, Notre Dame running over their opponents with Estime. Another is a fair number of running plays have come from under center where most RPOs are difficult or impossible. A third cause could be that the Irish want their receivers blocking which opens the door for the very long runs the Notre Dame running backs have achieved. I wonder whether Ohio State will force the ball away from Audric’s hands and toward the receivers’ hands by cheating into the box this Saturday.
Condensed Offense Playlist
I have every game (so far) condensed offense in this playlist for your enjoyment.
I actually had a dream over the off-season in which we lined up Blake Fisher on the left side next to Alt. The scheme forced the defense to overload to stop the obviously telegraphed power run to the left, only to have the play be a wide open play action bootleg which hit a receiver on a deep post.
I immediately dismissed it as a “too cute” play that a previous OC would dial up and not be successful, but now I’ve gotten my hopes up to see it implemented after essentially that same formation was shown in NC St.
Unbalanced lines can be really tricky for the defense, especially because the college rules can allow for easy tackle eligible formations.
Especially on the estime long TD vs NCST, they didnt adjust to it at all, there was a MASSIVE numbers advantage over Fisher and alt, which is a great place to have a numbers and play quality advantage
The variation that worked extremely well was to line up in power and release Staes instead of having him block. Couple of easy TDs. I do wonder what the second option would have been. Weakside receiver on a slant or cross, probably.
I could your play though, where the TE stays in too block to really sell the play action and Hartman bootlegs, while the two outside receivers run go or post routes after selling a block. Especially the play side guy…
Run the hot dog play
Or the Annexation of Puerto Rico, wait wrong sport.
Actually I forgot that was a football play. For some reason I had it in my head that it was a soccer play