To refresh, here’s how ND started to assign players to defend the option after the 2010 disaster in the Meadowlands:

1. FB Dive (Blue) – The DE and NG function as true interior DTs and attack the A-gaps that they line up over to stuff the dive.
2. QB Keeper (Red) – The Cat and DE get to the outside of the tackle and either make a play on the QB, force him back inside to the waiting safeties in second level support, or force a pitch.
3. Pitch to RB (Yellow) – The outside Will and Dog LBs contain the RB (or “pitch-man”), ensuring they are never beaten to the outside. As soon as they see the pitch, they attack the RB. The CBs serve as additional outside containment.
4. Manti Te’o (Orange) – Read the play and attempt to disrupt in the backfield if possible

While options #1-3 take care of the usual possibilities of the triple option, #4 was where Notre Dame’s defense was truly dangerous. Diaco used Te’o’s natural instincts and superb closing speed to force Navy into mistakes or quicker decisions on what to do with the football.

In 2011, Te’o had 23 tackles combined against Navy and Air Force, with 5 of those being tackles for loss (TFL). In 2012, Navy managed to avoid any Te’o TFL, but Te’o still managed 8 total tackles and 1 INT. As much as Navy tried to avoid Manti, they couldn’t do so completely.

To put it lightly, Diaco leaned on Manti and depended on him for defensive success against the option. So now that Manti’s gone, who fills his role? Or does Diaco go back to the drawing board and use a more traditional scheme without any unique wrinkles?

Personally, I would love to see Jaylon Smith slide inside and get a shot at filling Manti’s role in this kind of defense. He definitely has the raw talent and he demonstrated some impressive instincts against Southern Cal. If you are going to pick one guy from this LB corps to pretend to be Te’o flying to the ball, give me the one with the best instincts and closing speed.

This would give us a front seven that looks like this:

• DT (FB Dive): Rotation of Nix/Day/Schwenke
• DE (QB): Rotation of Shembo/Tuitt/Ishaq/Jones
• OLB (RB): Fox/Calabrese
• MLB (Rover): Smith

All that being said, and as awesome as I think it would be, I seriously doubt Kelly and Diaco would go for that idea. It would be a lot for a freshman to absorb and, if Kelly’s history is any indication, he does seem to favor experience in considering such large moves (remember, Jaylon likely isn’t playing as much as he is if Councell is healthy). So most likely the front seven will look like this:

• DT (FB Dive): Rotation of Nix/Day/Schwenke
• DE (QB): Rotation of Shembo/Tuitt/Ishaq/Jones
• OLB (RB): Fox/Smith
• MLB (Rover): Calabrese

Now, Carlo doesn’t have the same physical tools that Jaylon does, much less Manti. While I think he can do an adequate job in this role, I don’t see him completely filling the void. Because of this, I expect to see a lot more safety help than we are used to seeing. Specifically, look for the Strong Safety (SS), Elijah Shumate, to fill this role, giving almost a 4-4 look to the defense and, in a sense, having two people fill in the Manti void.

This then leaves the Free Safety (FS), Austin Collinsworth, to play “center field” and serve as the last line of defense on any run and ensure no receiver beats the secondary deep should Air Force sneak in a deep pass.

The Irish will most certainly miss Manti in defending the option, but Diaco has more than enough talent on this current squad to compensate.

The post Defending the Option: Who Takes Over for Te’o? appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

We’re really going to drive this angels & demons things in the ground, huh? (Via @CoachGrahamASU)

Let’s face it, when Notre Dame faces off against the Arizona State Sun Devils in their full hellfire attire, the Irish will be facing off against one of the best offenses that they will see in all of 2013.

As Bayou discussed yesterday, they have put on quite a show throughout most of their season. And I’m going to give the Sun Devils a load of credit here, they’ve looked pretty damn good doing it too for the most part.

And with Arizona State favored by 6 at the time of this writing, it’s safe to say that most people believe they are doing this with all the flair and skill of Van Halen.

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But you know what, if you decided to strip away ASU’s offense, their Eddie Van Halen, and…well…you are left with much different results:

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For Arizona State, their David Lee Roth is their defense. Against teams not named Sacramento State, they have done the following:

So that big ‘ol table is a fancy way of saying Arizona State’s defense is not very good, but then again, they face an Irish offense that has plenty of problems of their own.

Further, the Irish have to deal with the entire band and not just one piece of it. David Lee Roth was surrounded by crazy talent and the Sun Devils have loads of it in offense. The Irish defense will have to continue the progress that they made against Oklahoma for the Irish are to have any chance at running with these devils.

Or perhaps the new Hendrix experience that debuted at OU will be just the curveball the Irish need to create a dynamic running attack of their own, putting Turnover Tommy back to rest and allowing Reesus to rise again.

Either way, the Irish will need to put together their best complete game of the season or the next two weeks will definitely be a living hell.

The Roundup

If you will be in Dallas this weekend, allow me to give you your official guide of all the local ND events. Spoiler alert: you won’t be in Dallas at all.

So long, Kiffykins! We are sad to see you go, but at least MSPaint Like a Champion Today was able to give you a fantastic send off.

I feel like I’ve read this before. Transport yourself back to the Davie/Ty/Weis eras if you could be so bold, and substitute Notre Dame for USC in this article.

THANKS, OBAMA! Not that the government shutdown has screwed with college football, the proper outrage may now begin. Wait…what’s that? The games are back on now? THANKS, OBAMA!

Let the athletic director carousel begin! DeLoss Dodds has officially stepped down from Texas, making one of the most attractive AD jobs in the nation readily available. And that’s just the start of Texas’ three ring circus.

Of course this is announced after the entire thing is canned. EA Sports, who has been notorious for often making fans of the NCAA series of video games feel neglected in comparison to Madden, decided to unleash news of this crazy feature on the world now that NCAA ’15 will never happen.

The eye of Texas are upon you. But the refs eyes are apparently looking elsewhere.

The ‘Ol Ball Coach censors himself. He claims he was “too negative” on his own show and asked for it to be pulled, but that’s probably code for “too drunk”.

To be a jerk, or not to be a jerk. That is the question. Ole Miss football players were all to happy to answer enthusiastically.

Time for all the HaHa Clinton-Dix jokes. No reason for his suspension? Oh, wait, there is a reason.

And now, your moment of zen:

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Put These Games on Your Radar

#25 Maryland @ #8 Florida State, 12:00pm ET, ESPN/WatchESPN – Yes, somehow Maryland is ranked. I’m not sure how, but hey, here’s a top 25 matchup that no one really expected in the early games.

Kansas State @ #21 Oklahoma State, 3:30pm ET, ABC/ESPN3 – Another weak slate for the afternoon games as well. This isn’t so much of a matchup featuring a top-25 team, but a matchup featuring two Big XII teams that are both collectively sputtering enough that this game may just be interesting.

TCU @ #11 Oklahoma, 7:00pm ET, FOX – TCU may not have much in the win column, but there defense still manages to do enough to keep it close. As we saw last week, ND stayed in a game they had no business being in and if Oklahoma keeps that up and TCU finally figures it out on offense, we could have an upset.

#4 Ohio State @ #16 Northwestern, ABC – Ohio State doesn’t have many rough spots on their schedule until Michigan save for Northwestern this week and last week against Wisconsin. The Wildcats have yet to face off against a true tough opponent yet, so this will be their first real test of the season.

#15 Washington @ #5 Stanford, 10:30pm ET, ESPN/WatchESPN –It seems this season we’ve always had a solid night cap and this week is no different. I still put Stanford as a heavy favorite in this one, but I’m hoping the Huskies will make a solid run at it.

Rutgers @ #7 Louisville, Thursday, October 10, 7:30pm ET, ESPN/WatchESPN – Yep, I have a Thursday night game to keep an eye on before the next Roundup. Rutgers only loss game to a very solid Fresno State team and that game went to OT. This is likely one of Louisville’s only true tests in their weak schedule and I’m sure Rutgers will be looking for a little Thursday night upset special in this one.

Predictions

Twibby gave OU the largest margin of victory, so he gets the point. Your standings:

NDtex

Despite the jokes above, I don’t think Notre Dame will be able to keep up with ASU’s offense. I fear that we will be playing from behind most of the game and ASU’s weak rushing defense won’t even be a factor. My prediction is ASU 41 – ND 31.

HOWEVER, I don’t want to be a complete downer. My prediction will be wrong if the defense continues to improve and stymie the Sun Devil’s offense. If they can manage that and Tommy can limit his mistakes, this could be a completely different ball game.

Here’s hoping I’m wrong.

Biscuit

Via:

Despite a relatively tough schedule compared to those teams scheduling High School squads, I have ND running 5-0 into the home-game-that’s-not-at-home barnstormer at neutral site. Finally, ND has won the uniform battle. But unfortunately, I have to find a hiccup, unexpected loss in the season and I think this is it. ND will be coming off a high with a big, emotional win over OK at home. That game will be a battle, and we could come out a bit dinged up. And every team, at some point, gets caught flat. While ASU doesn’t have the most talent we’ll see, they have a pretty darn good coach and a legit QB in Taylor, and it’ll be a unique opponent for Notre Dame.

ND Drops one to go to 5-1, 24-21.

 Just the 1. Obviously calling this out of nowhere.

Bayou Irish

ND 38, ASU 27

I just have no idea. If I could make a “less than a leprechaun” .gif, I would. ASU’s hot right now and I question our ability to cool them off. That said, if our D gets off like they’ve been supposed to, the Sun Devils will have a tough time of it. They gave up 40+ to Stanford, and Stanford’s O is not electric. If we put in a run performance like we did last week and, say, maybe don’t give up a pick six on the second passing play, I think we have a great shot at a good win. My prediction is based on that, but like I said, I don’t know who’s getting off the plane. If it’s our passing O from last week and our run game from MSU and our D from Michigan, we could easily give up sixty. Regardless, you should have plenty of liquor on hand to watch on Saturday evening.

Twibby

The Irish will bounce back in Jerry World.

ND 34, ASU 20

Irish Elvis

1st Quarter: Start Fast
Offense has been sluggish, while defense has yielded points early. Unfortunately, this trend continues as ASU jumps out to a 14-3 lead early.

2nd Quarter: Attention to Detail
The uniform manufacturers play up the “Angels & Demons” dichotomy this week.

3rd Quarter: Effort & Enthusiasm
The run game will continue to improve, and we’ll see some more 2-QB rotation with Hendrix getting meaningful snaps.

4th Quarter: Finish Strong
34-24 ASU victory. The Irish start 0-for-October and sink to .500 which makes for a loooong bye week.

The Beer

The game is in Texas, that’s means all the Texas beer suggestions. My picks for your various moods:

Dirt cheap, Texas Style: Lone Star

Because you’re in Texas and you should at least have one: Shiner Bock

A local craft not yet featured in previous Roundups: Revolver Blood & Honey

The post Friday Roundup: The “Running with the Devils” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Outside of Tuitt’s touchdown (we’ll get to that in a second) none of the linemen – including Prince Shembo and Ishaq Williams, who lined up as ends – put up gaudy statistics. But, against an option attack where the main assignment is to crash and prevent the fullback dive from even being a possibility, this is exactly the result you’d be hoping for.

The highlight of the game was big Stephon Tuitt not rumbling, not stumbling, but straight-up hauling-ass 77 yards for a touchdown to put the Irish up 27-0 in the second quarter. Ishaq Williams set the stage for his fellow sophomore by kinda/sorta forcing a Trey Miller fumble that bounced directly in Tuitt’s path. I really can’t explain the joy I was overcome with while I watched Tuitt glide down that Aviva Stadium pitch like a 300-pound gazelle. This type of athlete is one we have not seen in a loooong time on the defensive side of the ball for the Irish (the last one wears a similar facemask and plays for the New York Giants)…and he’s only a sophomore. That, folks, is a beautiful thing.

As Tuitt bolted away from Trey Miller and Darius Staten, a run-first quarterback and a running back that both weigh more than 100 pounds less than him, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of the relative ease he scored with was due to simply being a freakishly fast 300 pound man and how much was due to playing against a slower team. So, I did the only thing I could do: I timed his run.

After a multitude of stopwatch trials, it appears that #7 ran 77 yards in about 9.45 seconds. If he kept that pace against Usain Bolt in the 100m dash, he would finish in 13.5 seconds. Not quite Bolt-type speed, and over 3 seconds slower than teammate George Atkinson (10.36 seconds) but still phenomenal speed for a defensive lineman [Also, this is clearly not comparing apples to apples as you don’t run track meets on grass wearing football pads].

Since nobody runs a 77-yard dash, how about a 40 yard dash? Breaking down his time, you are looking at a forty time of around 4.6 seconds for Tuitt at full speed and of just over 5.0 seconds for the first forty yards he had the ball in his hands. By comparison, George Atkinson ran the last 40 yards of his kick return against USC in between 4.0 and 4.1 seconds. For some context, Bruce Irvin of the Seahawks led defensive linemen at the 2012 NFL Combine with a time of 4.50 seconds, while the Bears’ Shane McClellin had the second best time with 4.63. The difference? Irvin weighs 58 pounds less than the 303-pound Tuitt, and McClellin weighs 43 pounds less than Tuitt. In fact, only one D-lineman with a top 10 forty time even weighed more than 270 pounds at the time of his run (the Jets’ Quinton Coples). For a multitude of reasons – grass, football pads, holding a ball, having a running start, not necessarily running in a straight line, ineptitude of guy trying to time another guy running on TV – this is a very rough comparison, but it is incredibly interesting nonetheless.

The post Tuitt ND’s Newest Road Runner appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Bob Diaco (and his flowing locks), has taken the schizophrenic Irish defense from the Weis era (seriously, three defensive coordinators in five years) and molded it into a true 3-4 anchored by a front seven that is a wrecking machine.

While it would be impossible to describe Diaco’s entire scheme or the intricacies of the 3-4 defense in a single post (if you’d like to do that, I suggest some serious reading), I decided to put together a primer instead. Think of it as your cheatsheet to the ND defense, allowing you to know the purpose of the “Cat”, why the “Dog” isn’t found in the nickel, and the benefits that a 3-4 defense brings to the table.

Positions

Below is a picture of the 3-4 defense at its most basic building blocks (aka its “base” formation) with the nomenclature that the Notre Dame staff uses. To better understand the role of each position, let’s take a brief look at each one.

Nose Guard (NG)

Also called the nose tackle (NT) or simply a defensive tackle (DT), the NG is the unsung hero and lifeblood of any good 3-4 defense. The ideal player for this position is a 300+ pound monster–no I’m not exaggerating. The NG is expected to draw a double team every snap to so the inside linebackers can make plays unblocked. They do this by clogging any interior holes that the opposing line tries to open. Good NGs are able to plug these holes at will, but the great NGs are a special breed all their own as they can also penetrate and wreak havoc behind the line.

Irish NGs You Should Know: Louis Nix III (#9, aka Irish Chocolate), Kona Schwenke (#96)

Defensive End (DE)

In a traditional 4-3, the DE is the pass rusher, the sack machine. In the 3-4, they must be more than that. Much like the NG, more often than not, the DE will have to act almost like a DT/DE hybrid that can both draw a double team to free up the linebackers (the outside linebackers in this case) and also have the skill set to rush the passer.

Irish DEs You Should Know: Stephon Tuitt (#7), Kapron Lewis-Moore (#98), Sheldon Day (#91), Jarron Jones (#94)

“Cat” Linebacker

The Cat (also known as the “Jack” on some teams), is the true pass rushing specialist of the 3-4. This is actually a role the Irish have yet to truly fill in previous iterations of their defense as the defensive ends have been the primary sack machines. For an example of an ideal Cat linebacker, think DeMarcus Ware of the Dallas Cowboys. Often times, you will see the Cat line up as if he were a defensive lineman as seen below:

Much like other positions in the 3-4, the Cat linebacker must also have the ability to preform more than one function as they are expected to drop into coverage from time to time.

Irish Cats You Should Know: Prince Shembo (#55), Ishaq Williams (#11)

“Will” Linebacker

The Will, or weak side linebacker, gets its name from the side of the offensive line that they line up against. This “weak side” of the line is most often the side of the line (bisecting at the center position) that does not have the tight end. The job here is simple: make plays on your side.

Irish Wills You Should Know: Dan Fox (#48), Carlo Calabrese (#44)

“Mike” Linebacker

The “Mike” (traditionally the middle linebacker in a 4-3 front) functions much like the Will. Their job is to make plays on the “strong side” (the side with the TE) of the line. Additionally, the Mike is often the quarterback of the defense, calling audibles and making pre-snap adjustments. The player filling this position is most often the best linebacker on the team and will often lead their squad in tackles.

Irish Mikes You Should Know: Manti Te’o (#5), Manti Te’o (#5), Manti Te’o (#5)

“Dog” Linebacker

The “Dog” (sometimes called the “Sam” or strong-side linebacker) is the coverage specialist of the linebacker corps. Most often matched against an opposing tight end, back, and, at times, a wide receiver, they are somewhat of a LB/CB hybrid in this style of defense.

Irish Dogs You Should Know: Danny Spond (#13), Ben Councell (#30), Romeo Okwara (#45)

Cornerback (CB)

Fairly simple here–these are the guys that try to break up passes and cause all of ND fandom to have heart attacks like we did last year against Michigan (nope, still not over it).

Irish CBs You Should Know: Bennett Jackson (#2), Lo Wood (#23), KeiVarae Russell (#6), Elijah Shumate (#22), Josh Atkinson (#33), Jalen Brown (#21)–yep, all of ’em

Strong Safety (SS)

Part of the last line of defense, the SS plays a bit closer to the line than his counterpart and often lines up on the strong side. They can do a bit of everything: stop the run, cover receivers, and on rare occasions come in like a bat out of hell on a blitz.

Irish SSs You Should Know: Jamoris Slaughter (#26), Chris Salvi (#24)

Free Safety (FS)

The “center fielder” that is almost always dropped back in a zone, serving as the de facto last line of defense.

Irish FSs You Should Know: Zeke Motta (#17), Austin Collinsworth (#28), Dan McCarthy (#15)

Gap Assignments and Wreaking Havoc

So now that we’ve covered the “who” of the defense it is time to examine what exactly they do. In order to properly understand how the 3-4 (or really any defense) works, knowledge of gaps and gap assignment is a must.

As diagrammed above, there are three gaps that are mirrored across the offensive line for a total of six. The “A” gap is the interior gap between the center and guards. The NG is primarily responsible for these gaps, often attacking the center directly and then moving to the gap in which the play is going towards. The “B” gap is the exterior gap of the line in between the tackles and guards, typically falling into DE territory. Finally, the “C” gaps define the area outside the tackle box. While this is usually an assignment handled by the outside linebackers (Cat and Dog), this is also a gap that a DE chooses to attack on a straight pass rush.

Ideally, on a run, the three defensive lineman will attract the attention of all five offensive linemen, which should also plug three gaps as well. This then frees up all 4 linebackers to make a play on the ball carrier with only the TE and possible a FB to worry about.

Let’s put this theory into action with the play diagrammed below:

Moving from left to right, we see the weak-side DE attack the B gap in front of him. As we are going to assume everything is perfect here, this action draws a double team from the weak-side tackle and guard. The NG attacks the strong-side A gap and the strong-side DE attacks the B gap right next to it. This puts the highlighted guard in a very interesting spot as he now has to pick which defender to double team.

This leaves all the line backers unblocked by the offensive line. For the Dog and Cat, they will contain the C gap. The Will has a wide open shot at the weak-side A gap, allowing for easy penetration past the line, which would likely take the FB out of the equation early. The Mike is free to pick either the strong-side A or B gap, depending on how the offense handles the play. Of course should the play move away from either of these two options, he will be free to pursue it as well. The end result here is that all four linebackers have a legitimate shot at disrupting the play before it even crosses the line of scrimmage.

Again, this proposed sequence is an ideal situation, but it shows how proper gap assignments and containment can result in a scarily effective run defense; however, the true joy in my opinion, is how the 3-4 handles a pass rush.

Much like a 4-3, the 3-4 will usually rush four defenders on every play. An example of a basic pass rush with the Cat is shown below:

Unlike the 4-3, in which the defensive line almost exclusively rushes (save for some of the more exotic blitz packages), the setup of the 3-4 shines allows fourth rusher can really come from anywhere. While the Cat may be the pass rushing specialist, that doesn’t mean he will always do so.

To see what I mean, let’s look at another play:

In this scenario, all three defensive linemen are crashing down towards the strong side of the line. This leaves the weak-side tackle with a seemingly one-on-one match up with the “expected” pass rusher, the Cat. However, in this play, the Cat drops back and the Will blitzes through the B gap. Should the tackle’s focus be on the Cat, he will likely be beaten by the much quicker linebacker. As an additional bonus, the Will is shooting through a gap that has a shorter distance to the QB as well, leaving very little reaction time for the backs to pick up the blitz.

This is just one example of the myriad of combinations that Diaco can throw at an offense as the fourth rusher can come from anywhere, including the safeties and corners. This ability to create confusion on just a basic four man rush makes any additional blitzers even more effective. An opposing line that struggles with just the four man rush in a 3-4 will find themselves eaten alive by blitzes.

The final wrinkle is, of course, only rushing three and dropping eight men back into coverage. While this has been seen in 4-3 defense as well, the difference here is that the eighth pass defender is a more mobile linebacker instead of a much slower DE (or God forbid, a lumbering DT).

The Nickel

So all of the above is great, but what happens when the offense tries to spread the Irish out and comes out with three or four wide? The answer: the nickel package. The nickel derives its name from the five defensive backs in the formation (get it, a nickel!), one of which replaces a linebacker. For a 3-4 team like the Irish, this means that the Dog is sent off as shown below:

One of the first things that you will notice is that the Cat is once again lined up in as a defensive lineman, creating a four man pass rush. While the alignment is technically a 3-3-5, in practice, it is practically the same nickel package you’d see from a 4-3 team.

The “$” position replacing the Dog denotes the nickelback (no, not the crappy “rock” band). While traditionally the nickelback is the third CB on the depth chart, the Irish, and many other teams have employed yet another hybrid position in order to make up for a lack of depth. Last season, Jamoris Slaugther filled this role, which Diaco dubbed the “Star” linebacker. This position was a super-hybrid of sorts combining elements of safety, linebacker, and cornerback.

This season, expect the Irish to take a much different route. In his most recent presser, Kelly stated that he was very comfortable with all of his cornerbacks and plans to leave Slaughter at safety unless more catastrophic injures happen (please, God, no). While I do not share in Kelly’s optimism on the CB unit thus far (too many unproven guys), what this tells us is that Notre Dame will likely have a corner fill the nickelback role in 2012.

On the flipside, if you see Slaugther or another safety slide down into this position, start panicking because this means Kelly doesn’t trust CB #3 to cover a wide receiver.

Looking to Navy

So that sums up the basics on how the Irish run their 3-4 scheme against most offenses. How do they apply this to a triple option team like Navy though? Tune in next week to find out.

The post Notre Dame 3-4 Defense Primer appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.