SBNation.com User Blog: The Coach OFD

Navy Scouting Report

The Coach OFD — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:11:14 -0000

Last year, Whiskey asked me to do a post on the Navy Spread Option attack, how it works and how I thought it should be defended. The post was very detailed and quite long. Whiskey has asked me for another report on this year's Navy attack and how I think Notre Dame should defend against it this coming Saturday. I did not want to edit last year's post to make it appropriate for this 2011 ND-Navy contest because that would actually be more work than one would think, and it would also be cheating to a degree. So, I will try to do a post that is similar to last year's and a little more brief. We'll see if I am able to succeed in that effort.

My report is based on my breakdown of last Saturday's Navy loss to East Carolina which I recorded on my DVR for scouting and analysis on Monday. As I do this, I must remind you readers that I am breaking down this game using a DVR and TV remote, which is not the best equipment for this job, so I may not always be entirely accurate in my account of what I saw. As I write, I will use the terminology that I am familiar with, which I am sure has few similarities to the terminology that Navy actually uses. Terminology varies from coach to coach, team to team and certainly from generation to generation. So, as you ask questions and make comments, I would rather avoid discussions about terminology.

Versus East Carolina, Navy ran 65 plays from scrimmage. Here is the breakdown of what I saw in those 65 plays:

Formations:

Spread Formation: This is Navy's base formation. In this set, they have two split ends, split very wide (15 to 17 yards from the tackles). They have two slotbacks aligned close to the line of scrimmage one yard behind and one yard outside the tackles. The fullback is only 3 1/2 to 4 yards from the line of scrimmage. From this formation, they can run all of their running plays, including their base Triple Option Play and still have four quick receivers near the line of scrimmage which keeps opposing secondaries honest. Navy ran this formation 51 times against ECU.

Flex Formation: This formation is just like their Spread Formation except the split ends are aligned much tighter (about 3 yards outside the tackles). Navy ran this formation only 2 times vs. ECU.

Trips: Navy ran a trips set vs. ECU as their second favorite formation. In this set, Navy simply takes a slotback from one side of the formation and lines him up as a split receiver, just inside the split end, on the opposite side of the formation. With the other slotback already aligned on that side of the formation, this gives Navy three quick receivers on that side of the formation. This was Navy's favorite passing formation vs. ECU. Navy ran 10 plays from this formation vs. ECU and 7 of them were passes. Navy only threw 14 passes in the entire game.

Unbalanced Formations: Navy ran three different unbalanced formations. All three sets feature two down linemen on one side of the center and three on the other side with a split end outside of that third guy. I did not take notice of numbers, so I did not see if the "Tight End" on the unbalanced side is actually a tight end or an additional tackle on that side. On the weak side, I did not notice if the "tackle" is actually a tackle or a tight end that they put in the game there as an eligible receiver. In these unbalanced sets, the fullback is always aligned in his regular spot behind the QB. The difference in these sets is where the slotbacks are lined up.

In one unbalanced set, the slotbacks are aligned in their usual slots, as they are in their "Spread" formation. In another unbalanced set, the slotbacks are aligned outside the third down lineman on the "heavy" side of the formation to create a "trips" look with the split end who is also on the "heavy" side. And, in their third unbalanced set, the split end on the "heavy" side of the formation is much tighter, as he is in their "Flex" formation about 3 yards outside the third down lineman on that side of the ball (either a TE or Tackle), and the slotbacks are lined up about a yard behind the split end and about two yards apart. This formation is somewhat of a "bunch" formation.

Navy ran these formations a grand total of 1 time each vs. ECU. I have to note here that although Navy ran these unbalanced formations sparingly against ECU, Notre Dame must still spend time working against them in practice this week. In last year's game, Navy gave ND a heavy dose of unbalanced sets as a way of neutralizing T'eo.

Offensive Plays: 65 Total

Running Plays:

Triple Option: Most of you know how this play is run, so I won't give such a detailed description of how it works as I did last year. I will call it the Triple option for simplicity sake, although I am sure Navy, and other teams, call it something else. This is Navy's bread and butter play and they probably spend at least half of their practice time working on it.

Versus a base 3-4 front like ND runs, the first option for the QB is whether to give the ball to the FB or keep it and continue down the line. On this play, the Center blocks the Nose Tackle and gets a little help from the play side guard who "combos" the Nose on his way to block the back side ILB. The play side Tackle blocks the play side ILB. The slotback and the split end block the play side corner and safety.

This play can be blocked in other ways as well, but I am avoiding those discussions for the sake of brevity. The bottom line is that the play side DE and OLB are unblocked. In the first option the QB gives to the diving fullback or keeps depending on what the unblocked DE decides to do. If the DE takes the FB, the QB keeps. If the DE doesn't come to the FB right away, the QB will give to the FB. Navy wants to give the ball to the FB. Navy's fullback, Alexander Teich had more than 200 yards rushing vs. ND last year. That was the story of the game.

If the QB decides to keep the ball on the first option, he continues down the line, attacking the edge, and options off the unblocked OLB. This is The Second Option of the Triple Option play. If the OLB comes to take the QB, then the QB pitches to the trailing slotback, who is the "pitchman". If the OLB slowplays, or goes to the pitchman, then the QB turns the ball up and runs with it.

The Third Option in the Triple Option play does not really exist. It is the pass option. But...it is not an option, but a play that is called on the sideline and in the huddle. The pass is predetermined. It is not an option. So, the term "Triple Option" is really a misnomer.

Navy ran the Triple option 21 times vs. ECU. That is a little surprising. I thought they would have run it much more. When they ran it, the breakdown of ball carriers went like this: Fullback - 7 times. Quarterback - 6 times. Pitchman - 4 times. Navy threw the option pass 3 times and ran a reverse to the split end 1 time.

Counter Option: This play differs from the Triple Option play in that the Quarterback fakes the dive to the Fullback in one direction and then reverses and runs the option in the opposite direction from the Fullback dive. Navy ran this play 7 times vs. ECU. The QB actually gave the ball to the Fullback 2 times on this play, the Quarterback kept it and ran 3 times, and the Quarterback pitched the ball 2 times.

Speed Option (or lead option): On this play, the QB takes the ball and attacks the edge with the option to pitch. There is no dive fake to the FB on this play, as the FB is a lead blocker for the QB. Navy ran this play 6 times vs. ECU with pretty good success and the QB kept the ball on this play 5 times.

Pitch Sweep: On this play, the QB reverses out and just pitches the ball to the motion slotback on a sweep. No fakes or options here, just reverse out and pitch the ball with the FB and play side slotback as lead blockers. They also run a variation of this play that is somewhat of a counter sweep where the fullback dives one way and the toss sweep is run back in the opposite direction of the fullback dive. Navy ran these two forms of the toss sweep 11 times vs. ECU with good success.

Counter Sweep Option: On this play, the QB fakes the counter sweep one direction and then runs the option play in the opposite direction. This is the same awkward play that Air Force ran with great success against Navy in their game a few weeks ago. Navy makes the play look a lot less awkward than Air Force does. Navy ran this play 3 times vs. ECU

Fullback G: On this play, the QB simply hands the ball to the fullback off tackle. This play hits wider than the fullback dive in the Triple option. Navy likes to run this play out of their "heavy" unbalanced sets and they run it to the "heavy" side of the formation. On this play, the play side tackle and tight end block down and the play side guard pulls to kick out the OLB. This is called a "G" block. Navy ran this play only 2 times vs. ECU, but once for a touchdown.

Fullback Lead: I have never seen this play before and certainly do not remember Navy running it last year. On the play, the motion slot back goes in motion as if to become the pitchman on the option. However, his path is a little closer to the line of scrimmage, and on the snap of the ball, he turns up in the hole to become a lead blocker for the Fullback, who is the ball carrier. The fullback hits in about the same place that he would on the Triple Option, but with a lead blocker. I'm sure that Navy developed this play as another way to get the ball to their fullback, Teich. Navy ran this play 4 times vs. ECU.

Fullback Toss: This is simply a toss sweep with the Fullback as the ball carrier. Navy only ran this play 1 time vs. ECU but it went for a touchdown. I believe that Navy scored their final touchdown in regulation play vs. Air force with this same play. Against ECU, Navy ran this play out of their unbalanced "bunch" formation and ran it to the "heavy" side.

Passing Plays:

Navy threw only 14 passes vs. ECU in 65 offensive plays. The breakdown is as follows:

Play Action Passes: Navy threw 3 passes after faking the Triple option. They also threw 3 passes after faking the pitch sweep.

Dropback passes: Navy threw eight drop back passes. Of the drop back passes they threw, 4 of them were screen passes.

Navy runs simple passing routes and they don't like to throw the ball much, but they always seem to be very effective when they do throw. Versus ECU, Navy seemed to have receivers wide open on several of the plays that they threw the ball. On their last possession of the game, Navy missed two chances to take the lead in the final seconds with touchdown passes. On one play, Navy had a receiver wide open in the middle of the field and the QB overthrew him. On another play, Navy scored an apparent go-ahead touchdown on a pass that was ruled incomplete after review (I thought that was a terrible call by the replay officials). Anyway, as usual, Navy can hurt people when they do throw the ball.

Navy vs. ECU Breakdown Summary:

Total Plays - 65

Total Running Plays - 51

Option Plays - 34

Triple Option - 18 Times

Counter Option - 7 times

Speed Option - 6 times

Counter Sweep option - 3 times

Other Running Plays - 17

Pitch Sweep - 8 times

Assorted other Fullback plays - 7

QB sacks and draws - 2

Distribution of Carries

Fullback - 16 carries

Quarterback - 17 carries (including 1 sack and 1 QB draw)

Slotbacks - 17 carries

Split end - 1 carry

Total Passing Plays - 14

Play Action Passes - 6

Drop Back Passes - 8 (four of these were screen passes)

What Do All These Numbers Mean?

Last year, I scouted the Navy - SMU game and based my post on what I saw in that game. Last year, vs. SMU, Navy ran a total of 57 plays. 47 of those plays were running plays and 32 of those were the Triple Option. Navy gave the ball to their fullback on that play 19 times. Alexander Teich had a total of 22 carries on the day for 95 yards. This year, vs. ECU, Navy ran the Triple Option 18 times and gave the ball to Teich only 7 times on that play. The point here is one that the CSN commentators emphasized several times: in 2011, Navy's opponents have learned that they have to take away the Fullback threat in the Triple Option.

People are finally starting to figure that out. I preached that last year and I am preaching it again this year. When defending the Triple option, you must neutralize the fullback before you do anything else or Triple option teams will have a field day with you. You cannot allow the FB to tear off big chunks of yardage through the heart of your defense. This is exactly what Alexander Teich did vs. ND last year. I forget Teich's numbers, but it was a lot of carries for about 200 yards rushing. Against ECU, Teich scored two touchdowns from short yardage, but wasn't much of a factor otherwise.

So, in 2011, Navy opponents are shutting down the FB dive threat in the Triple Option play. As a result, we are seeing a more even distribution of carries among all potential ball carriers. Look at the numbers from the ECU game - FB - 16, QB - 17, Slot backs - 17. Navy also seems to be running the Triple Option play less times per game than they did last year. This is for a reason: If the Full Back isn't a threat in the Triple Option, the effectiveness of the Triple Option is seriously diminished. This year, Navy seems to be running a bigger variety of running plays including other types of options. They have also invented a couple of creative ways to get the ball to their best ball carrier, Teich, such as with the Fullback sweep and Fullback lead play.

Notre Dame Game Plan vs. Navy:

1. Take away the fullback in the Triple Option. This cannot be done by Inside Linebackers playing 5 yards off the ball. It has to be done with the Noseman and Defensive Ends. If it was me, I would pinch my Defensive Ends into B gap and take away that threat. I have seen teams, vs. Navy and Air Force this year, squeezing down B gaps by going through the offensive tackles outside ear hole and pushing the OT into B gap. Another option is to slant the Nose into one A gap and stunt an inside linebacker into the other A gap. Another option is to slide the down linemen over to create a 4-3 look up front. There are a number of things that can be done, but heavy responsibility for the Fullback dive must fall to the Defensive Ends and the Noseman.

2. Don't let the QB beat you on the edge. The quarterback must be eliminated, as a triple option threat, as quickly as possible. If it was me, I would have OLBs coming hard off the edge looking to blow somebody up at a point right behind the OT, if not further in. If the play is a speed option, a toss sweep or a fullback G play, and the OLB can't get to the ball carrier, then blow up the lead blocker and force the ball carrier deeper into the backfield until support troops arrive. On the Triple option, the QB threat must be eliminated quickly or bad things will happen if he is not. As long as the QB has the ball on the edge, the issue is in doubt because he can still run it, pitch it, or even pass it. If the QB is made to pitch the ball quickly, then all doubt is erased. There is only one thing left to do and that is to run to the pitch man. If ND OLBs "slow play" the QB option and stand around on the edge not doing much, they will be extending the doubt and questions in the minds of safeties, corners and ILBs. I hope we don't see much of that on Saturday.

Last year, after crushing Notre Dame, Navy went and played Duke. Duke beat Navy that day and shut down their Triple Option offense. Duke did it by pinching their Defensive Ends into B gap and shutting down the Fullback dive threat. Duke's OLBs were attacking from the edge hard and fast and often times they tackled the QB before he could pitch the ball. A couple of times, Duke's OLB got the QB before the QB finished his fake to the FB. Duke's OLBs really jammed things up in the backfield and shut Navy down that day.

With the FB and QB quickly eliminated from the Triple option play, then the only thing left to do is run to the pitch. Inside linebackers and safeties have to do this. They will have to fend off blockers as they pursue at an intelligent angle inside-out. They cannot over pursue.

If Notre Dame takes away the Triple option, and especially the Fullback threat, as other teams have done vs. Navy this year, then they will have gone a long way toward successfully defending Navy's ground game. If ND can take away Navy's triple option, then ND will see a large variety of other running plays, like the toss sweep, the fullback G play and other options. If ND will just play sound, fundamental, gap control defense, they should be successful against this variety of other running plays.

Navy's passing game is somewhat of a football paradox. They don't throw the ball very much. Their pass routes are very simple, their quarterbacks really don't throw the ball very well and their play action fakes are not very convincing. On top of that, they are somewhat predictable about when they are going to throw and what formations they are going to throw from. However, when they do throw the ball they usually seem to have receivers wide open and hit a lot of big plays and key 3^rd downs in clutch situations. This should not happen.

If the safeties will just be sure there is no pass threat before running to the football, then ND should be fine here. Navy just kind of puts safeties to sleep and gets them so concerned about the pitch and other threats that safeties seem to forget that Navy will occasionally throw the ball. Safeties should not have a problem if they will just play sound, read their keys, keep their head on a swivel and run to the ball (whether it is in the air or on the ground). Note: Navy's starting Quarterback, Proctor, left the ECU game in the 2^nd quarter with an injury to his throwing arm. He did not return. This is the third injury to his throwing arm.

That's my report on Navy for 2011. Navy is not as good a team as they were last year and ND is better. ND should not have a problem handling Navy. ND has much better athletes and a little experience now at defending option teams. Despite last week's disappointing loss to USC, I think ND will rebound successfully this week.

I hope you enjoyed the post. As it turned out, this one is longer than the 2010 version.

Air Force Scouting Report

The Coach OFD — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:03:06 -0000

Last Saturday, at Whiskey's request, I set my DVR for 10:00 A.M. Mountain time and proceeded to record the Navy-Air Force game so that I could scout it later and write this post for OFD. My original plan was to watch some other games while the DVR recorded the Navy-Air Force contest for future analysis. I ended up sitting mesmerized, for almost four hours, fascinated by the events that unfolded before me in the Navy-Air Force game. It was easily the best game of the day. What else could a fan ask for?

You had a tremendous second half come back by Navy (which I thought almost impossible given their ground oriented attack), two fourth quarter scoring drives by Navy punctuated by a perfectly executed onside kick and regulation play capped off with a Navy do-or-die two point conversion. If that wasn't enough, how about overtime! I think I will refrain from commenting on the overtime events because I think that kid from Navy has probably had a miserable enough week already. We all saw what happened.

Before I launch into my scouting report, I feel a compulsion to comment on one startling statistic from the game. In regulation play, Air Force ran only 47 plays from scrimmage (including the final knee taken when the clock ran out). Navy ran 98 plays! Yet the teams were tied at the end of regulation play! Not only that, but I had to extend the recording on my DVR because the three and a half hours that the network allotted for the game was not enough! I figured this game would be over in about two hours, given the ground oriented attacks of each team.

Also, before I begin, let me say for the sake of coming comments and discussion, that I really don't want to get hung up on terminology. Terminology varies from coach to coach, program to program and certainly from the younger generation to us older guys. Whiskey trusts me to do this because I was once a head football coach and my teams ran the wishbone and we also had the misfortune of having to defend it a few times.

That said, what about Air Force? Everyone seems to want to call them a "Triple Option" team, especially TV commentators, but I saw something very different on Saturday. As I try to relate to everyone what I saw, please understand that I am doing this with a DVR and TV remote, not the most efficient tools for breaking down game film. So, I am not always 100% sure that I saw what I think I saw. Let me list below some things that I saw:

The FB Dive Option - Again, different people call this play different things. This play is Navy's bread and butter. Fullback blows into B gap off of the guard's outside cheek. Next down d-lineman is left unblocked and quarterback reads him and decides whether to give to FB or keep. If he keeps, then the QB has to decide whether to run or pitch. You know the drill. I did not watch Navy's offense on Saturday, because my assignment was to watch Air Force.

But...if Navy ran 98 plays in regulation play on Saturday and another 5 or 6 in overtime, then I guess they probably ran this Dive Option (triple Option) play about 40 or 50 times at least. In 47 plays, I saw Air Force run this play exactly 2 times. That's right, I said 2 times. One time the QB kept the ball and turned up for an 11 yard gain. Another time, the play side OLB ran in and blew up the play in the backfield for a loss. I have only seen Air Force run 47 offensive plays this year (plus 3 more in overtime). Maybe this play is an integral part of their offensive attack, but I saw no evidence of it on Saturday.

The Fullback Dive - Air Force ran the Fullback Dive, in A gap, 12 times on Saturday. I did not try to keep statistics, but they got pretty good mileage out of it...3,4,5 yards a pop. They employ two fullbacks, #s 25 and 35, and they are both good, hard nosed fullbacks. They run this play with a couple of subtle variances. Sometimes, the quarterback opens up and hands the ball on a quick hitting play like the old Fullback trap play. Sometimes the QB takes the ball to the Fullback and gives it to him deeper in the backfield. The play always seems to be run in A gap and always behind plain old base blocking. It appears that the fullback might be reading the center's block and running to the A gap opposite of where the Center pushes the noseman. There is no veer blocking here, so the QB is not reading anything...he is just giving the ball to the Fullback.

The Quarterback Sweep - I call this play a Quarterback Sweep. I am sure there are many folks out there who want to call this play a speed option or down-the-line option. In my humble opinion, Air Force Quarterback Tim Jefferson has no intention of pitching the ball. He has every intention of carrying it himself and I believe this is what the Air Force coaching staff wants him to do. Jefferson is their best athlete and the AF staff wants him to tote the pigskin. Makes sense. Quarterback comes down the line with the Fullback as a lead blocker on the perimeter and a pitch man trailing. For the sake of giving defenses a slightly different look, Jefferson will sometimes make a half hearted attempt at faking to the fullback as he goes by, but this is strictly a QB run to the perimeter all the way. Air Force had little success with this play on Saturday, but they ran it 9 times anyway. They continued to run it because Jefferson is their best athlete and this play is one of the staples of their offense.

The Quarterback Trail - I'm not sure what the actual name of this play is so I'll call it the Quarterback Trail. On this play, the QB fakes the ball to the FB and then follows him through the hole. Air Force ran this play 4 times on Saturday with moderate success and one touchdown. They will run it in A, B or C gap. Again, another way for #7 to carry the mail.

The Tailback Lead - Air Force ran the Tail Back Lead play 4 times on Saturday with very good success and a 23 yard touchdown run by their tail back, #17, Asher Clark. Clark is a good back. He is dangerous. But, Air Force elected to run this play only 4 times on Saturday. They run this play out of, what I call, their Capital I formation where they have three backs stacked behind the QB. #17 is the deep back and ball carrier, the fullback is the lead blocker and the middle guy, #15 does some weird thing where he steps one way and then runs the other way like he is going to do I don't know what. I'm surprised they can run this play without #15 getting in the way of the ball carrier.

Air Force also runs a play to #17 out of a formation where he is the lone setback. They give him the ball in C gap with the play side guard pulling and kicking out the OLB (this is called a G-block). They had good success with this play as well. Again, #17 is a good back.

Reverse Option Pitch - This is a play that I just made up a name for. I have no idea what it is called and no idea what the play is designed to do. It is awkward and somewhat bizarre looking and there is all kinds of motion going on in the backfield. It is difficult to describe, but I will give it my best shot. Maybe Whiskey can use some of his techno-skills and draw it for you. They run the play out of their inverted wishbone formation with fullback and two slotbacks. One slotback starts in motion to the opposite side of the formation, like he is going to become the pitch man on the option play. When the play begins, the fullback dives into B gap on the side where the motion man came from. The opposite slotback, on the snap, comes back around all of this action and becomes the actual pitchman and ball carrier heading in the direction that the original motion back came from. The quarterback opens up toward the fullback and then makes a poor fake at a pitch to the motion man like a toss sweep. Then the QB heads back in the direction that the motion back came from and pitches the ball to the opposite slotback. Did you keep up with all that? As I said, it is bizarre and looks very awkward, but I'll bet that safeties and inside LB's go cross-eyed trying to keep up with all the backfield motion. Bottom line is that Air Force ran this play 4 times for about 80 yards and a touchdown. #16 was the pitch man once and carried for about 21 yards. #17 carried the ball on this play once for 47 yards. And, I think #17 also carried the ball on this play once for a 6 yard touchdown run. I don't know what else to say about this play. It is interesting, to say the least, and Air Force had great success with it.

Passes - I counted ten passes that Air Force threw in this game. They ran the Dive Option pass twice and the straight drop back pass 8 times. Overall they went 9 for 10 in their passing game. Pretty effective. They like to throw the ball to their big split end, #85, behind the corner in Cover 2. They also like to throw the ball to their slot guy, #15 under the safeties in Cover 2. One such pass to #27 went for 53 yards and a TD. Interestingly, when it came down to fish or cut bait time in overtime, Air Force came out throwing the ball.

Formations - Formations are what make Air Force's offense interesting. It would be an understatement to say that they use a lot of them and some of them are quite unusual. I presume that the inverted wishbone formation with two slots is their base formation. They are also the only team I know of that runs the Capital I or Stacked I formation. They ran an unbalanced line several times against Navy. They run a number of variations of their inverted wishbone set, with wide split ends, tighter split ends, slots and twins. Tight ends are virtually nonexistent in the Air Force scheme.

Interestingly, when they got in some of their unbalanced formations, I had a hard time seeing who was on the line of scrimmage and who was off the line of scrimmage. I am pretty sure I saw 9 guys on the line of scrimmage a couple of times and had to rub my old eyes and look again. I doubted what I was seeing until the TV guys laid the blue scrimmage line on the screen and, sure enough, I am seeing 9 guys on it. Certainly, this must have been some sort of warped TV perception, or the referees didn't seem to care. I know for sure that on at least two occasions, I saw Air Force line up with what appeared to be twin split receivers, but they were both on the line of scrimmage. They did this twice, and the inside guy cracked back on an outside linebacker. Anyway, determining who is on the line of scrimmage is important information for defensive backs who need to know which players are eligible receivers and which are not.

During the game, one of the commentators said that an Air Force assistant coach commented that head coach, Troy Calhoun "does an excellent job of making you chase ghosts." I agree completely. During the course of Saturday's game, I'm sure I saw Air Force display a much larger variety of formations than they did plays. Air Force runs a few plays out of a lot of different formations, many of them somewhat bizarre. The result is that defenses spend an undue amount of time preparing for, and worrying about, formations and not enough time preparing to deal with the hand full of plays that Air Force runs. So, yes, defenses end up "chasing ghosts".

So, what's the summary of this scouting report? 1. As I just said, Air Force likes to run a very few plays out a lot of formations. They want to confuse you and keep you off balance with their sets and a lot of motion in the backfield. 2. Quarterback Tim Jefferson #7 is their best player and they want him to carry the ball. 3. They like to hand the ball up the middle in A gap to their fullbacks and just play smash mouth football. 4. They are not really an "option" team like Navy. Jefferson is not reading anything and ball carriers on each play are predetermined. 5. They don't throw the ball much, but they can lull you to sleep and be very effective throwing the ball. Their passing game is minimal and very simple. 6. Asher Clark #17 is a good running back and he can hurt you if you get too consumed trying to keep the Fullbacks and Quarterback in check.

What should Notre Dame do about the Air Force attack? Again, I spent several hours on this assignment and was growing a little weary toward the end, so my play count may be off by one or two plays here and there. But, by my count, Air Force ran 37 running plays against Navy and the Fullbacks or the Quarterback carried the ball 28 of those 37 plays. This is what Air Force wants to do.

Now, I am going to say the same things that I said last year before ND played Navy. There are those out there who disagree with me, but I know from experience that Notre Dame has to pinch their Defensive Ends hard into B gap and let them and Nix take away the Fullback dive. Notre Dame's outside linebackers should run hard into the backfield looking to to blow up #7 right now. They should not run up field, but straight at #7. This should be an easy assignment for those OLBs because Air Force never runs tight end sets. It should be open season on Jefferson for Notre Dame's OLBs. Notre Dame has superior athletes up front and should dominate the line of scrimmage if they play it this way. Notre Dame should press the issue with their front 5 guys and let their inside linebackers clean up inside, when necessary, but otherwise run to the pitchman and tailback.

I know some of you are asking yourself what help it will be for ND's Defensive Ends to pinch hard into B gap if Air Force like to run their fullback in A gap. Well, if the Offensive Guards are going to fire straight out on ND's Inside Linebackers, then ND's Ends will pinch unobstructed to the fullback. I guarantee you that if ND pinches their Defensive Ends this way, a guy like Aaron Lynch will feast on those fullbacks. That will force the Offensive Guards to start turning out on the Defensive Ends and thus turn the Inside Linebackers loose to deal with the fullback. If I was Notre Dame's DC, I think I would slant the Nose into one A gap occasionally and run blitz an ILB into the other A gap for disruption. I would bet that Notre Dame could do this all day long and let Manti Te'o and Harrison Smith clean up on the perimeter. As long as they are disciplined and don't over pursue, pursuing underneath from inside out, Smith and Te'o will combine for a bunch of tackles on Saturday.

If Notre Dame gets decent coverage out of their corners and their safeties run to the football, Notre Dame should have a successful day on defense. I think that if Notre Dame's Defensive Ends sit on the line of scrimmage and fight with offensive tackles, and their Inside linebackers are expected to shed a guard's base block and handle the fullback dive from five yards deep, then it will be a long day for Notre Dame. Anyway, regardless of how they do it, Notre Dame has got to take away the Fullback dive and the Quarterback. If they do that they will win. Air Force's tailback, #17, is a good back and Air Force does a decent job throwing the ball...but they aren't going to beat anyone relying on #17 and their passing game. They might have some big plays during the game, but they won't beat anyone this way. It's not what they want to do.

O.K., that's my scouting report on the Air Force offense. I enjoyed getting it together. I hope you enjoyed reading it, whether you agree with me or not. I look forward to your comments and questions.