Disguising The Run

More thoughts on running

Disguising The Run

Okay — so you want to figure out how to open up the running game in Action PC Football.

The easiest way to do this is to pass — especially if the computer isn’t expecting it.

Let’s go back to that Alabama - Vanderbilt example we had yesterday:

Though it can be difficult to see, this looks to me like a 3-4 defense, and not a nickle. You can see three guys on the line, four in the backfield, one man on each of the three receivers, and a free safety at the back.

Our quarterback, Kurt Page, is good, though not necessarily spectacular:

83.6 isn’t much of a passing rating, but it will do in the context of 1984 college football. We can work with that.

Now, instead of doing the obvious thing and simply running on first down, we could call a play action fake and pass instead. The idea is to get the passing game established early in hope of keeping those linebackers holding back and looking for the pass.

And, once we’ve established a legitimate passing game, we could then start to open up the running game.

This actually is not an unrealistic concept. If you spend time watching 1984 college football games and paying attention to play calling patterns, you’ll see it pop up time and time again. Miami and BYU were particularly well known for using the run as a sort of offensive surprise after clearly establishing a strong passing game.

Of course, if you want you can do the opposite. You can run on first and second down in a conventional fashion, use a few fakes to try to keep the defenders off balance, and then throw from time to time.

However, if you attempt that strategy you need to remember to pass. I think the biggest problem we have is figuring we can safely run on 3rd and 3 without putting more thought into it.

Let me know what you think.