NIU's Empty Formation QB Power

Solid article for an avid football junkie or a HS coache. I was impressed and learn something about our offensive concepts and how many in the coaching industry are impressed with what our staff does.

BTW, tip of the hat to 7 in an earlier post months ago he touched on similar topics in this article especially in how we pounded Toledo with Lynch/option pass.

Stuff like this is why I'm not worried about the next QB, other than health. Our QB is an amazingly QB friendly system.

Quote:Overall, NIU modifies the power blocking scheme they run so well so they are always in a win / win scenario. Even if the end spilled the guard, the QB probably still throws the quick screen because the linebacker must step up and exchange gaps with the defensive end who spilled. If he doesn’t, the QB will run all over them.

For the defense, it’s getting tougher and tougher. If the linebacker gets his run pass keys right, he’s still probably going to be wrong on this play. He either can defend the run or defend the pass, that’s it.

The defense might be able to adjust by dropping the safety down just outside #2. The corner would stay over the top then. This can be done with a traditional cover 3 drop. However, the that probably means the offense has numbers in the running game to the playside (assuming they have a running QB) or in the passing game to that side. Cover 3 is also susceptible to 4 verticals and the quick passing game.

The Gruden QB camp with Lynch got into our offense a little bit. Showed a play from the MAC Championship where we lined up in the I-Formation but the I was over the guard.

Like I said in another thread, I honestly would just go with the best runner in this offense. You'll find production through the air just based on the threat of the QB run and the offense we have. Any mobile QB that can throw a halfway decent deep ball should be able to succeed.

I really hope they bring back the triangle formation we used in 2012 that lead to Akeem's TD against Ball State. We have 3 really good backs this year, so it opens up a ton of possibilties. You can run a straight handoff to Cam out of that, read option to either side, and you can hit Akeem deep on play action.

I would love to sit down for a couple hours with a coach/Gruden and watch them break down our offense.

Yeah, sitting down with Cole at the X's and O's for 20 minutes or so was fascinating enough. I would love to do that for a few hours, let alone an outsider. Cole basically just went through Lynch's reads on a couple passing plays. It was great. He had three different options and he chose the target simply based on what the safety on that side of the field did.

Very nice/informative article. No wonder Lynch did so well in this offense and it's no wonder the running QB has really come into vogue.

Yeah, I really like these plays that force the Defense to give up one thing or another.

Wow.
My head just exploded.

Great article - a little more scientific than I am used to. But a great article for the hardcore football junkie.

So given the analysis/breakdown of NIU's offense here, which of our 3 QBs do you believe will be the best choice to run this most effectively?

(07-12-2014 09:51 PM)3OrangeWhips Wrote:  Wow.
My head just exploded.

Great article - a little more scientific than I am used to. But a great article for the hardcore football junkie.

So given the analysis/breakdown of NIU's offense here, which of our 3 QBs do you believe will be the best choice to run this most effectively?

I guess whichever one runs and makes the best decisions. Even Lynch struggled to make the right decisions at times....to be fair, he seemed to play it safe and keep it, so his "mistakes" were at least the kind that didn't lead to turnovers.