“I Was Runniiiiing.”

At ND, we've gone from a pass-freaking-happy Coach to a pass-freaking-happy Coach. So much for change, right? Well, not so much. It seemed like Charlie's teams 1) Couldn't run and 2) That Charlie didn't WANT to run. (the two are most certainly related, but both issues still seemed to exist).

Charlie's pro-style running game depended a lot on the zone read blocking scheme, sound decision-making by the OL and also by the RB - identify the gap, wait for it, wait for it, GO!

BK's misdirection and counter runs seem, at least on the surface, to be a bit more straightforward for everyone. For the RBs it's now - run here, run fast! Yes, way oversimplified. But compared to Weis' game, it IS simplified.

But how did each coach fare over the past 4 years? What can we expect from the Irish in 2010 in terms of a ground game?

The Weis results weren't pretty. Let's look at CFBStats again*.

In 2009 the Irish rushed for 1,539 yards, for 88th in the country. Pretty bad. But, that was one of Weis' GOOD years. In 08, the Irish only hit 1,426 yards (98th), in 2007 the Irish running game set records for futility with 903 yards (117th - oh good lord it hurts to remember), and in '06 Weis had his best year of the 4 with Darius Walker at RB (1,634 yards, good for 70th in the country). So Weis' best running year out of the past 4 seasons was 70th in the country? Freaking Sad.

From an efficiency standpoint (Yards per Rush), Weis' RBs went for 3.84, 3.27, 2.07 (UUUUUGH 2007 again), and 3.86 yards per carry, for ranks of 75th, 101st, 117th, and 67th from 09 to 06 respectively.

GOOD LORD WE WERE HORRIBLE RUNNING THE BALL! 101st and 117th back-to-back? It hurt back then, and it hurts now. Someone please give me a pill that makes me forget those 2 numbers.

While everyone knows that Weis loved to throw the ball, the issues with the OL and the running game were well-documented. There were big time issues there with coaching, lack of depth on the OL, and poor game planning.

In those same years, with lesser talent, but still with a focus on the passing game, Coach Kelly went as follows: 2009 - 1803 yards (68th), 2008 - 1647 (80th), 1921 (58th), 1811 (53rd). So Kelly's teams aren't even cracking the Top 50. But, still, much better than Charlie's ND teams in terms of total yards.

And, Kelly's teams are much more efficient. They went for 4.99 YPC, 3.62, 4.03, and 4.3 for ranks of 13, 86, 58, and 41. So, Kelly seemed to have a better idea of when/how to use the running game - as his RBs pulled out a heck of a lot more yards on a per-attempt basis, and he was more judicious with his use of his guys out of the backfield.

So what should we expect from Notre Dame this Fall? Expect a huge emphasis on the passing game (no shit), still, but expect better results from the running game when Kelly goes to it. Gone (still) are the days of pound-it football at Notre Dame. Now the pass sets up the run. But the difference, as I see it, is that Weis never quite got there. He always WANTED to run 50% of the time and be balanced. Kelly embraces his philosophy fully - meaning he actually USES the pass to set up the run. Meaning that the play-calling and the formations and player decisions will be designed specifically to set up the running game for success.

Much like the 4th Down stats we examined yesterday, Kelly's team last year really turned it on. While yards were still middling with a rank of 68, they were some freaking efficient yards with almost 5 yards per carry (good for 13th best in the country). I'm hoping that something clicked with Kelly and his offense last year - not the Cincy players, but the construct and philosophy - that led to that kind of production.

Otherwise we will not be runniiiiiiing....very much.

*Note that these numbers are traditional rushing stats that include sacks against the totals and averages - which severely hurt ND's numbers in 2007.