Up Tempo Power -- New Innovation?

Submitted by Sten Carlson on
Pats v. Broncos Pats line up in double TE, single back set and run power. Nothing new here. But then, Pats go UP TEMPO -- 3 yards and a cloud of dust that doesn't have time to settle because they are up and going again -- over and over and over! I've been watching football for many years, and I have NEVER seen a team run up tempo power -- usually it's done from the gun/spread. Hey Borges, did you happen to catch SNF? I loved it, and would love to see it come to Ann Arbor. Thoughts?

bluesalt

October 9th, 2012 at 5:11 PM ^

A couple times it didn't work perfectly, but I really liked it (even though I'm a Broncos fan.)  People hated McDaniels (wrongly) in Denver -- he comes up with some great schemes.

turtleboy

October 9th, 2012 at 5:21 PM ^

Thought it was a great idea against the Broncos, their former head coach calling plays against them. With Ty Warren out the Broncos just aren't strong up the middle on defense. They're world class on the outside with guys like Dumerville, Brooking, and Miller, but they're a patchwork at Tackle and Mike. 

go16blue

October 9th, 2012 at 5:21 PM ^

Generally speaking the kind of players who run power offenses don't have the conditioning to do that consistently (think Michigan's early 2000s OL vs Oregon's current OL), but from a purely tactical perspective it would work similarly well as the hurry up spread would, assuming you practiced it as much. I'm not sure it fills a need in most power offenses, because they already have 2 minute offense packages, but it might be a good idea as a change of pace, or if you just want to shift up the offense without switching youe playcalling balance.

ChiBlueBoy

October 9th, 2012 at 5:40 PM ^

On the other hand, larger bulldozers would wear down the defensive line even faster than they would wear down, particularly if the OL is accustomed to up-tempo. In addition, DL is more accustomed to regular replacements, so if they can't swap out players, it makes it even harder on the interior DL. I think Up Tempo power might be an interesting thing to try.

energyblue1

October 9th, 2012 at 5:28 PM ^

But not that uptempo unless 2 minute drill........

Lots of teams did this with the option, they would wear teams out by just going and going and going...not as much as today where it was no huddle, line up and go...but I still remember some teams would just line up and run the same triple option and qb would make the call which option it would be and left or right.....power/weak, triple, speed, veer..........

newtopos

October 9th, 2012 at 10:41 PM ^

Everyone should read this article.

Putting aside the desirability of the WCO, one of my biggest concerns coming from the Notre Dame game was our inability to speed up in the fourth quarter when we were down two scores.  From Saban's comments about the speed of play, to New England's no-huddle and Belichick's meeting with Chip Kelly, to the success of Oregon, to teams like West Virginia, Baylor, etc. (Mike Leach coaching tree), to even RR at Arizona now (48 points on Stanford with record pass attempts and pass completions in a Pac12 game), it seems clear that the ability to move quickly on offense and to limit defenses from substituting and getting into complex schemes is a significant advantage.  I don't get the sense that Borges recognizes this or can coach it well.

 

the unsilent m…

October 9th, 2012 at 10:08 PM ^

we'll be able to take this philosophy to the next level by rotating in fresh o-linemen from our two-deep bench. 

 

Thorin

October 9th, 2012 at 11:53 PM ^

Didn't Moeller do this in the early 90s? I swear I remember Grbac running no-huddle if not for the whole game then definitely for whole non-two minute drives.

Seth

October 11th, 2012 at 10:33 PM ^

That was more of a run-and-shoot offense though. But yeah, Moeller went no-huddle and M-Wolverine remembered the Big Ten inserting a rule to stop him. I didn't remember the rule but I was very 11 at the time. I know the NFL put a rule in to try to stop Jim Kelly and the Bills, but that was a WCO.

 

Mr. Yost

October 10th, 2012 at 8:59 AM ^

One of my pet peeves with Borges and I don't have many - think he's a great OC. We don't go hurry-up enough. Especially because it puts Denard in a rhythm (see Rich Rod years). It's less thinking and more playing.

MOAR HURRY UP PLEASE!!!

Just a times, just to change things up and give the D another look, catch them off balance, get Denard in rhythm, etc.

(Note: It doesn't have to be MANBALL hurry up...just ANY hurry up!)

Mr. Yost

October 10th, 2012 at 2:32 PM ^

You wouldn't do this EVERY possession. I'm not suggest go back to the RR years at ALL. I love that we control the ball. But just as a change of pace...1-2 times per game MAX.

We often get caught for 1 drive in a game when a team goes hurry up on us. Even in the Nebraska game that we dominated last year, when they went hurry up, they scored...the next time they did it, they moved the ball until Kovacs went down with an injury and stopped the game.

Again, just a change of pace for a drive or two...nothing more.

Mr. Yost

October 10th, 2012 at 2:36 PM ^

I clearly stated that it can get a QB...especially one like Denard in a rhythm. A lot of times it takes some of the thinking out of the game because you can just read and react. Also, at times the defense is too busy trying to get set and get the right personnel on the field to disguise and confuse you...

I wouldn't do this a lot, but as a change of pace for sure...Denard looked VERY comfortable in Rich Rod's offense when we went to the "JET" speed. The problem was we scored too quickly or we punted too quickly...either way, the defense was on the field too much. But why not do this once per half if it presents itself?

I also think it would help us hit a big play, we're struggling with that this year. We did last year too if you take out the jump balls.