Breakdown Sports

  Previously Part I  - The Power Series Origins Off-Tackle Power O becomes “Power” While the I-Formation had a scattering of purveyors dating as far back as the turn of the century, it wasn’t really until the early 1960s when a man known as Don Coryell would begin to popularize it within the Air Coryell offense. While at the upper levels of football it remained mostly unknown, by the late 1960s and into the 70s, coaches such as John Madden and Hank Stram started incorporating it within their offenses. By this time, most teams had now gone to 21 personnel, though split backs and near/far formations still held dominance. But, for instance, in the 1968 Chiefs Playbook, we immediately see what we know of today as traditional Power O (though, it should be noted, Power Sweep remained a vital part of the offense). 1968 Chiefs Playbook

“God’s play.” Talk to the majority of football guys and they’ll tell you that one of, if not the best play in football is Power. It’s dynamic, dominating, explosive, yet flexible; its name alone congers up an attitude embedded within the game. But, unlike most schemes that are loved due to nostalgia of a game that no longer exists, Power remains a staple of modern football despite its history dating back to the invention of the forward pass. Like anything, it has morphed and adapted, but at its heart the play retains its core characteristics: Down blocks on the front side A lead block to handle the edge defender Backside pullers wrapping around playside. It looks like this:   And here's a primer Going back to the origins of the game, including in the various iterations that make up football around the globe, numbers and leverage have ruled the day. In American football, that is exactly what Power is. In this post, we are going to look at the origins of “God’s play” and ...

In this post, we'll continue to look at how Wisconsin utilizes the Wing to run Power O. Wisconsin will utilize 12 personnel most often, but will also sprinkle in 11 personnel or even 13 personnel to run this play. And while they can still run a traditional, I-Form Power O, I want to focus specifically on what they do with a TE off the LOS, and how they utilize that as well as anyone in college football to add a blocker from the backside, and insert him at the point of attack. Part 1 can be found here

In this post, we are going to look at how Wisconsin utilizes the Wing to run Power O. Wisconsin will utilize 12 personnel most often, but will also sprinkle in 11 personnel or even 13 personnel to run this play. And while they can still run a traditional, I-Form Power O, I want to focus specifically on what they do with a TE off the LOS, and how they utilize that as well as anyone in college football to add a blocker from the backside, and insert him at the point of attack.

Originally posted at Maize n Brew on 8/30/13  We've went over a brief primer to discuss some of the possible blocking calls that will be made during a Power O run. This time we are going to focus I specific examples of how an offensive line will adjust and make various block calls to face any defense. Power O Basics

LINK to full article. In 2013, Ohio State had one of the best run offenses in the nation. Part of their success came from two-back sets, or more accurately, by motioning a slot receiver - their Percy Harvin role - into the backfield. Losing, in my opinion, the best college RB in football last year, but returning the dynamic Braxton Miller and all their Harvinites, two back sets will likely become more prominent in this year's offensive iteration. In this piece, we will look at why these sets are so difficult for defenses to defend, both from a pre-snap standpoint, and after the snap. Pre-snap Dilemma The Buckeyes base set will present four vertical threats. Often times, this will be with 11 personnel, with two split ends, a slot, an H-back, and a RB. At times Meyer will deploy more of a true TE look, and involve a flanker and slot or show a trips type set. Motioning 11 personnel or 10 personnel to 21 or 20 personnel presents a very different look for defenses. Let me explai...

I realized the other day that I now have a fairly healthy dose of Power Run breakdowns and how they can be utilized from different looks. At some point I'll get to the open side looks, but for now, he's a collection of the resources I've written about Power blocking. Primer Closed Power O Power from the Spread Unbalanced Double Lead Inverted Veer, Power Blocking Schemes, 2nd Lead Adjustement

Introduction In the picture pages post today , I feel I noted something of some significance. This isn’t supposed to be a post to puff out my own chest, rather, I merely want to give the other side of the argument my side of the argument for what it really is. As an aside, there have been numerous people that have constantly misconstrued my argument lately. I understand that by taking a particular unpopular stance so strongly, that I have opened myself up to criticism. But within this article I also want to make clear up some of my stance, so towards the end I will get into some of that. Much of these will be related to the comments I made earlier (if not copy and pasted), the major difference is that I now have the opportunity to add accompanying pictures and diagrams to go with it. This is of importance because football isn’t really a sport that is best described with words. You can try to be as descriptive as possible, but there will always be a certain amount of failure to accu...

Regardless of how much Michigan decides to spread the field, at the end of the day this is going to be a power running team. By that, I mean they are predominately going to use a power O blocking scheme to pick up yards in the run game. In this article we are going to look briefly at the traditional power O run play, and then look at how Michigan runs it to both sides of the formation out of the gun, as well as how this makes life difficult for defenses. Power O Here is a look at your typical Power O blocking scheme from an I-formation. The two keys are the kick out block by the first back (a U-back or a FB, here, a FB) and the pulling opposite ("O") guard to the playside hole. Inverted Veer Believe it or not, the inverted veer is really a Power O blocking play. Many know that you can run the same blocking scheme with the inverted veer up front, down to the pulling guard, but it works because the "kick out" block is accomplished by kicking out the DE by op...