A Notre Dame Football Blog
With Notre Dame clinging to a three-point lead late in the third quarter against the Boilermakers, Everett Golson connected with Corey Robinson for a 15-yard touchdown. The touchdown was Robinson's first of the season and is a good example of how Notre Dame uses the "Slash" concept in the red zone. What is the Slash concept? Slash is a two-man route combination. The outside receiver runs a seven-yard hitch approximately one yard from the sideline while the inside receiver runs a "Bow" ...
Notre Dame ran a number of plays from the Pistol formation* last season, but the Irish lacked a quarterback capable of executing any of the read-option concepts that truly give defenses fits. With Everett Golson and Malik Zaire at quarterback, Irish fans finally caught a glimpse of how effective the Irish offense can be using read-option concepts like the "Pistol Zeer." What is the Pistol Zeer? The Pistol Zeer is a read-option concept that combines the Veer's read and blocking scheme with ...
In September 1990, Chicago Tribune columnist Joseph Tybor wrote a featured article about Notre Dame flanker Adrian Jarrell titled "Big Plays Becoming Jarrell's Trademark." The article recounts Jarrell's game-winning touchdown reception in the season opener against Michigan and his improbable reception on the "Immaculate Deflection" the following week in East Lansing. According to Tybor, both of these clutch receptions came on a play known as "Comeback" out of the "Rip" formation in the Irish ...
Notre Dame spent most of last week's practices working on third-down situations on both sides of the ball. While it's hard to glean much from two or three-minute video clips, it was interesting to see the offense running the "two-man" concept out of a tight formation—something we haven't seen too often the last couple of seasons. What is the "two-man" concept? The "two-man" concept consists of one receiver running a five or six-yard stick and looking for a crease between defenders while a ...
Enjoy this picture because it's probably the closest we will get to Zaire running the offense.
With Everett Golson back at quarterback for the Fighting Irish, it appears Notre Dame's offense will shift from the "check it and chuck it" philosophy of the Tommy Rees era to the "call it and haul it" up-tempo philosophy Brian Kelly prefers. By shifting to an up-tempo philosophy, the offense will have to rely less on pre-snap audibles to get out of "bad plays" and rely more on packaged plays to keep defenses honest. Why use packaged plays? Packaged plays are two-in-one plays that give the ...
Bronx, New York, 12/28/13 Notre Dame #2 Chris Brown completes a catch in the third quarter during the annual Pinstripe Bowl football game at Yankee Stadium on December 28, 2013. (Paul J. Bereswill)
Tommy Rees threw for over 300 yards en route to Notre Dame's 29-16 win over Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl. Although Rees was not particularly sharp, he took advantage of soft coverage by the maligned Rutgers' secondary. The game was far from memorable, but it provided several examples of how to beat Cover 4 defenses. What is Cover 4? Cover 4 refers to a defensive scheme where the safeties and cornerbacks are each responsible for defending a deep quarter of the field while the linebackers ...
Notre Dame's offense had its most efficient outing of the year against Navy last week. The Irish amassed 506 total yards and averaged over nine yards per play. With the run game firing on all cylinders, Notre Dame kept Navy's defense off-balance with some timely bootleg passes to tight ends Ben Koyack and Troy Niklas. If the offense continues using multiple-tight end formations, look for more bootleg passes in the coming weeks. What are bootleg passes? Bootleg passes are misdirection ...
With two touchdowns in the last three games, Ben Koyack is quietly emerging as a legitimate offensive threat for Notre Dame. While his season stats will not turn many heads, Koyack's emergence does something more important for the Irish than filling up the stat sheet—it allows the offense to use more multiple tight end formations. As I have previously written, multiple tight end formations create mismatches that defenses cannot easily counter with changes in personnel or formation. ...
Mike Denbrock was one of the Irish coaches who spoke at the 2013 Notre Dame Coaches Clinic last spring. During his presentation, he discussed some of Notre Dame's staple route concepts, including the "Knife" and the "Switch." Because the Irish had some success with both the Knife and Switch against USC last Saturday, I decided to breakdown a few plays that illustrate these concepts. What is the Knife? The Knife is a two-man route concept. The outside receiver runs a 14-yard dig route, ...
After rushing for nearly 190 yards per game in 2012, Notre Dame is averaging a meager 137 yards per game this season. While there are a number of reasons why the run game has struggled (graduation of key personnel, playing from behind, etc.), it is clear that the Irish miss Everett Golson's mobility. Defenses are attacking the line of scrimmage with little fear that Tommy Rees will make them pay for over-pursuing the Irish running backs. Although Rees will never be a running threat, Brian Kelly ...