I was thinking about it and I really think a running quarterback could be the key to fixing our running game.
Right now, defenses are stacking the box and they're crashing hard on the front side to stymie the outside zone. Back in the day, we would punish that with cutback runs.
We'd neutralize the backside defender by cutting him to open the cutback or punish his over pursuit by having the quarterback fake the handoff and roll to the backside on a naked bootleg, where we could have a tight end open in the flat.
But you can't cut the backside defender anymore and our quarterbacks haven't been quick enough to run that naked boot properly. And we almost never had a real burner at quarterback, but we did use to have guys who could move and scramble - from Banks, to Tate, to Stanzi, to Rudock, to Beathard (when healthy).
If we had a legitimate running threat at quarterback, the whole situation changes. The backside defender can't commit to stopping the cutback, which means the front side defenders can't crash. They have to play honest. So, we get more success on the front side and eventually, they do over commit, opening up the cutback. The backside defender tries to stop that and the quarterback has an easy play for a big gain around the backside.
It also opens up hitch or hitch and go games with the backside corner off the naked boot, because if they cover the hitch and the QB is moving towards the line of scrimmage, the CB has to choose whether to stop the run or cover the WR of he goes deep. And if they give that corner safety help, a crosser to the tight end in the flat (which would be there pretty consistently) turns into a big gain.
I think being able to play rock-scissors-paper with defenses like this is what Iowa has to do to compete. As it stands, there's just nothing to keep defenses honest. And we really shouldn't expect to win matchups at a disadvantage consistently.
And that's really just playing with one look. Success in the outside zone also sets up inside zone, isolation runs, play action, etc. The ability to punish defenders for vacating rushing lanes (by scrambling for positive yards, especially big plays) slows down pass rushers, which helps the drop back passing game and play action. Having that threat opens up possibilities like RPO plays. I think it really changes everything for an offense with out limitations.
And the ability to sustain drives just a little bit better would make our defense that much more deadly, because opposing offenses would have fewer chances, would have to take more risks, etc.
Right now, defenses are stacking the box and they're crashing hard on the front side to stymie the outside zone. Back in the day, we would punish that with cutback runs.
We'd neutralize the backside defender by cutting him to open the cutback or punish his over pursuit by having the quarterback fake the handoff and roll to the backside on a naked bootleg, where we could have a tight end open in the flat.
But you can't cut the backside defender anymore and our quarterbacks haven't been quick enough to run that naked boot properly. And we almost never had a real burner at quarterback, but we did use to have guys who could move and scramble - from Banks, to Tate, to Stanzi, to Rudock, to Beathard (when healthy).
If we had a legitimate running threat at quarterback, the whole situation changes. The backside defender can't commit to stopping the cutback, which means the front side defenders can't crash. They have to play honest. So, we get more success on the front side and eventually, they do over commit, opening up the cutback. The backside defender tries to stop that and the quarterback has an easy play for a big gain around the backside.
It also opens up hitch or hitch and go games with the backside corner off the naked boot, because if they cover the hitch and the QB is moving towards the line of scrimmage, the CB has to choose whether to stop the run or cover the WR of he goes deep. And if they give that corner safety help, a crosser to the tight end in the flat (which would be there pretty consistently) turns into a big gain.
I think being able to play rock-scissors-paper with defenses like this is what Iowa has to do to compete. As it stands, there's just nothing to keep defenses honest. And we really shouldn't expect to win matchups at a disadvantage consistently.
And that's really just playing with one look. Success in the outside zone also sets up inside zone, isolation runs, play action, etc. The ability to punish defenders for vacating rushing lanes (by scrambling for positive yards, especially big plays) slows down pass rushers, which helps the drop back passing game and play action. Having that threat opens up possibilities like RPO plays. I think it really changes everything for an offense with out limitations.
And the ability to sustain drives just a little bit better would make our defense that much more deadly, because opposing offenses would have fewer chances, would have to take more risks, etc.
Last edited:
