I watched Missouri and Kansas run the same offense last night (granted its VERY different than Weis' pro-style attack) but they each ran the same basic 5 or 6 plays and neither defense could stop it.
I was amazed that Mizzou could ROUTINELY pick up 6 and 7 man blitzes WITH A 5 MAN LINE and NO RBS!!!! The pass routes were routinely 7-12 yards and the catches were almost always made with the WR having a chance to do something with the ball after the catch - whether in stride or in front of defenders giving the receiver a chance to juke and move after the catch. ND's passing attack mysteriously did not feature the slant to Kamara except for ONE HALF (against Purdue, where it was nearly unstoppable). Most ND completions happened to receivers un bad positions or simply unable to do anything after the catch anyway....mystifying....
When Missouri ran the ball, they opened enormous holes to allow their RB to look like an All-American and when he WAS hit, it was usually by ONE MAN and not half the opposing defense (as was the case all year for ND). It made me mad at first...thinking what the hell?!?!? Why can't ND do anything remotely like this? And then it hit me...Missouri, and Kansas for that matter, seemed to run about 10-15 different plays TOTAL - and it has worked all year - most explosive offense in the nation is Missouri - having never been held UNDER 31 a game....a mark ND only reached once, in 3 OTs no less...
Their players seemed so much faster than ND's (and so have out opponents all year) because while ND is thinking on the field and TRYING to remember their assignments and a complex play name, the players for KU and UM were simply running very simple assignments and attacking the defense wherever the mistake or mismatch was.
Now, I do not advocate ND junking the entire offense and installing a true spread offense, but they must be able to identify those core plays that they CAN run with some success. In 2005-2006, we saw the offense run several things very consistently - draws to Walker, screens to Walker, fades to Shark and Mo and Rhema, quick hitters to Mo and Shark, slants to just about anyone and seam routes to Carlson and Fasano. PA at the goal line was also inordinately successful given ND's lack of a credible power running threat in the red zone (save Powers-Neal briefly).
This year was a disaster from week 1 through week 13. They ran almost NOTHING consistently well all year, with the lone exception of the delayed handoff, misdirection off-tackle play that both Hughes (Stanford and Duke) and Aldridge (MSU, Navy) ran with some success. Why Armando Allen wasn't given a few more chances at running THAT play is beyond me - neither Aldridge nor Hughes had the necessary break away speed to take that play the distance, even though on their longest runs it sure seemed like a faster back like Allen would have scored on those runs.
The lists of needed improvements are not wrong...they just omit the fact that NCAA teams do not need NFL length playbooks - especially as freshmen and sophomores - in order to be dominant on offense. I believe that cutting the playbook by a third would help next year exponentially over this year...
