With the Oregon Ducks taking on the Bulldogs of Georgia in just a mere nine days, fans wait with bated breath to witness the unveiling of Coach Kenny Dillingham’s offense. For as excited as people are to see an expanded passing game, the rushing attack looks to take the explosive nature of past Ducks schemes and doubles-down. This new offense features a run game that is just as pro-style as the air attack; they call just about everything.
Down-G
As far as run concepts that get the running back out on the edge go, Coach Dillingham’s offense does not run a ton of outside zone. Instead, they use a variety of other runs to get the RB to the perimeter; one of them being the Down-G concept. Down-G is a scheme that mixes a little zone blocking with a bit of pin and pull. This mixture of components has made for fantastic results.
The blocking on the backside of the offensive line is where we see the zone blocking occurs. The backside tackle will seal the backside defensive lineman off while the guard reaches the interior lineman. The guard will have to work to reach the IDL as he’ll have no help from the center, who has an automatic release to the second level to cut off the backside linebacker. Both the play-side tackle and tight end are responsible for sealing their assignments to the inside while the guard pulls around them to lead the RB.
The back will take a jab step inside before taking the handoff and then breaking to the outside, much as he would on a counter. From here, he’ll follow his guard out on the perimeter and run to daylight.
As with a good number of runs in the Dillingham offense, there is a RPO attached to the backside. If the quarterback has favorable numbers, he can nix the run and throw the bubble screen to the other side of the field.
In the clip above, Sean Dollars gets behind his pulling guard, (who gets a great block for the RB) as Dollars goes for a smooth 20-yard gain. The Down-G concept is a great way to get the back out on the edge without having to search for the holes that are usually the case with the outside zone. And the real exciting part is this is just the tip of the iceberg for the rushing attack.
Coach Eric Boles
Newark, Ohio
Top Photo Credit: Gary Breedlove
Phil Anderson, the FishDuck.com Volunteer editor for this article, is a trial lawyer in Bend Oregon.
Eric resides in Central Ohio, just outside the capital city of Columbus. He is a former offensive assistant and return game coordinator for the Ohio State – Newark/Central Ohio Technical College Titans football program.
He is an OSU-N graduate, having completed a Bachelor of Arts program in psychology.
