Rushing Roulette

I think the real problem with our fullback situation is that none of our fullbacks take an active role in naming our defense or establishing new and creative stadium yells.For God's sake, I'm not even sure if some of these guys know how much the ags suck.We need to look at the real issues here.
 
PhxHorn- I thank you for the answer to my question- I agree that Carl Reese is a genius of defense- Case in point as I mentioned in the Scipio post (please read it) what he did to the Gators in his last year as LSU's DC was an absolute masterpiece- 7 sacks, 3INTS against the Gators- everybody in the SEC took notes on the game & you can see the potential now with this bunch & when we get the people into the pipeline on a regular basis- Watch Out!!
ttt
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"UNCOMMON VALOR WAS A COMMON VIRTUE"- Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, speaking after the battle of Iwo Jima about the Marine Corps.
[This message has been edited by navblue (edited 07-17-2000).]
 
Finally got away from the office and a chance to post without arousing suspicion. With such a thoughtful discussion it makes wording an appropriate response much more difficult than a typical one-line response to an Aggie joke. That and the boss is back from vacation.
Anyways on to the GD offense(Greg Davis that is ). I think his offense can work with our potential 2000 line-up. The breakdowns at the end of the season can be attributed to various reasons which might be improved upon:
Speed at the wide-receiver position to burn the blitz and to force the safeties to respect the pass.Better lead blocking. Ricky Brown may have been a great all-around FB but he is still about 20 pounds lighter than Stevens.Experience among the lineman to cope with the blitzes and improve the push in the run blocking. Short passes to Bo Scaife in the base offense to burn an over-aggresive defense.
These are the main areas which gives reason for hope that the upcoming season may not be a repeat of the last 3 games. Remember that just because the offense was shut down at the end of last year does not mean it will continue for next season. Though of course many notes were scribbled by opposing defensive coordinators and we will continue to see similiar tactics until we prove we can beat the blitz and the stacked line.Noticeably absent from the above list is any discussion of the tailback. While Hodges may be lacking in size, IMO, he is still our best back. While running inside may be the least of his talents he can still be effective but only if he has some type of daylight. Being a small guy, he does not require a paved highway with streetlights to show him the way, instead he only needs a crack to slip through to pick up yards. The problem was that no such cracks existed. Too often he had to run into the back of an offensive lineman or into the arms of an linebacker shooting the gap. While someone like Williams or Hayter may have been able to bull for a yard or two it still would not have made a large difference. Instead of 3rd and 10 it would be 3rd and 8. When Hodges did receive good blocking he took advantage, even against stacked lines, take a peek at the OSU game when he ripped that early one for 80 yards and a TD.This is where I have to agree with PhxHorn and also express a fondness for trap blocking. Though if you have the beasts to plow acres I see no problem with emphasizing your strength just that a mixture of both power and angles can be much more beneficial to scoring touchdowns. Anyways Davis' offense is predicated that superior skill coupled with a scheme that emphasizes simple execution cannot be beat.
Much like Lombardi, he keeps a small repertoire of plays that you practice until the outline is engraved in everyone's grey matter.I believe that this offense can be successful in the upcoming season, but may be a little shy of national championship caliber. Not quite enough talent and experience to reach that level...yet. At this point I still feel at times it is round pegs in square holes. If at some extended time we do struggle against the stacked defensive formations that feature constant blitzing I still propose that we utilize some plays featuring split backs and double tight-end formations. Anything to spread the defense and attack the edges without resorting to a 3 or 4 wide-receiver set would be great. I still have one important question: Does anyone know of any team(pro or college) that features a split back set that also uses a zone blocking scheme?
 
Phx - Just wanted to let you know that the modem went out on our home computer yesterday (I probably blew it up writing about Fullbacks), and I didn't get a chance to respond to your recent posts on this issue.When I get a chance, there may be (god forbid) more to add -- but for the moment, I just wanted to say thanks for the responses and let you know that I'm in basic agreement with the points that you, Rimbo, Horndfl and DIMYH (don't know the answer to his question re split backfields and the blocking assignments) have made.We all want the same thing -- to have an effective running game in the clutch when we really need it, and -- as previously indicated -- I believe the coaches will make the adjustments, if any, that they believe are necessary to resolve this concern.Less than two months, and we're off and running.
 
Last week I watched the Rutgers game. And while the pulling guard may not be a staple in Davis' offense. It was done a few times. So it does exist in the playbook!!
RR pulled around and lead Ike between AKH and Quye(i think). It went for a big gain but I think there was a penalty.Another interesting tidbit in that game, was the use of the FB. Ricky Brown had a few runs and passes. A couple for a good yardage.
 
celis, I don't remember the specific play you reference, but have no reason to doubt you. In the tapes I watched, we pulled the off-guard (usually Roessler), on toss sweeps to the right side, to serve as lead blocker. I simply don't recall if we ever pulled AKH on a toss left. I don't recall any plays that I would deem as traps, but that doesn't mean I didn't miss some - certainly, they weren't a high volume component of the offense.
 
My post was not meant to call anyone out. Just wanted to point out that the pulling guard (at least the LG) was in the book. The play was called in the Rutgers game 3 times that I remember. I watched that play to see how the play formed because it "looked" like it was executed perfectly. I was shocked to see Rosler trucking through the hole looking for someone to hit. It might have been the toss sweep play you referred to and RR turned it up field inside the tackle/guard because the tackle blocked the DE out of the picture.I appreciate your thoroughness in your posts, but I do not expect you to remember every play!!How would you define a trap? Pull to block between the tackles?
 
celis, the classic trap, which was generally an off-guard pulling to the playside to block a penetrating DE or DT, is what I usually have in mind. Variations would include the cross block, where one interior lineman pulls behind his companion, allowing that guy to block down on the defender, while he takes on the defender manner up on his neighbor. Fairly simple stuff.The counter trey is certainly a form of trap, but considerably more complex, considering you've got two huge backside sumos pulling and leading into the hole, usually against a DE and OLB. I'm sure the big guys love that **** - get up a head of steam, blocking on guys you likely outweigh by 50-75 pounds and out in the open where the girlfriend can see you play Peterbilt to the defender's armadillo.
 

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