cdj
06-24-2010, 06:50 PM
You can view the page at http://www.thegamingtailgate.com/forums/content.php?221-NCAA-Football-11-Pistol-Offense
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NCAA Football designer Anthony White has posted another offensive styles blog, this time focusing on the Pistol offense (http://ncaafootball.easports.com/blog.action?blogId=PistolBlog) run by schools such as Nevada.
Pistol -- The Pistol combines elements of the one back offense with those of the shotgun based spread offense. The quarterback aligns 3 yards behind the center as opposed to the 5 to 6 yards he would align in a normal shotgun formation. The halfback aligns directly behind the quarterback at a depth of 7 yards (See Figure 1). With this setup the offense can run traditional downhill running plays and play action passes that are synonymous with the I formation and it gives the quarterback the benefit of being in the shotgun for regular passing plays. This offense was originated by the current head coach at Nevada and has been a staple of their program for several years now.
Figure 1
http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/NCAA_Football_11/PistolBlog/1.jpg
Over the past few years several teams have used the Pistol as part of their offensive package as it is becoming more and more prevalent in the college game today. Some of these teams include Ohio State, Louisiana State, Florida State, UCLA, Illinois, Baylor and the last two National Champions Florida and Alabama. However there are only three teams that use it extensively which includes Indiana, Ohio University and of course the Nevada Wolfpack.
Team|Offensive Style|No Huddle
Indiana|Pistol|No
Nevada|Pistol|No
Ohio|Pistol|No
Because of the reasons listed above and if you have the right personnel, the Pistol is the ultimate dual threat offense when utilized correctly. Over the past few seasons the Nevada Wolfpack has done just that. With quarterbacks that are able to both run and pass effectively and a stable of excellent running backs, the Wolfpack have put up some astounding numbers on offense (see chart below). Over the past two seasons the Wolfpack has averaged over 500 yards per game of total offense while leading the nation during the 2009 season with an absurd average of 344.9 rushing yards per game. This average was almost 50 yards more than the second highest rushing team. They also became the first team in NCAA history to have three 1000-yd rushers.
Season|Total Yds Per Game|Rush Yds Per Game|Pass Yds Per Game|Avg. Points Per Game
2009|505.6|344.9|168.9|38.2
2008|508.5|277.8|242.1|37.6
2007|480.0|214.1|265.9|33.5
2006|364.0|175.8|188.3|32.6
2005|465.6|199.5|266.1|34.2
2004|435.7|154.1|281.6|29.7
Signature Play: Read Option - A big part of Nevada's success with the running game in 2009 came via the Read Option play which we discussed previously in the Spread Offense blog. The read option play itself is most synonymous with the spread offense but it can also be run just as effectively from the Pistol formation. The read option play from the Pistol in theory works the same as it does from the shotgun. The difference between the two is obviously the alignment of the quarterback and halfback. With the halfback being aligned directly behind the quarterback this meant that we needed to add read option handoff animations specifically for the Pistol formation.
Video of mocap file of read option
<script src="http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?width=550&deepLinkEmbedCode=g1cTNpMToA3jL0WCbP0S3PcrQ7KsKT8R&height=366&embedCode=g1cTNpMToA3jL0WCbP0S3PcrQ7KsKT8R"></script>
Signature Play: PA Rollout - PA Rollout is a play that can be run from the Pistol to take advantage of overly aggressive run defenders. The quarterback will perform a play action fake to the halfback going in one direction before rolling out in the opposite direction to throw a pass. The quarterback will generally have three receivers (short, medium, and deep) working towards the side of the field of his rollout.
New Pistol Sets
The following Pistol sets are new to NCAA Football 11. These sets can be found in a variety of playbooks which was done based on our research of each team's offense.
Pistol 4WR Trio
http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/NCAA_Football_11/PistolBlog/2.jpg
Pistol Jumbo Z
http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/NCAA_Football_11/PistolBlog/3.jpg
Pistol Weak H Slot
http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/NCAA_Football_11/PistolBlog/4.jpg
***
NCAA Football designer Anthony White has posted another offensive styles blog, this time focusing on the Pistol offense (http://ncaafootball.easports.com/blog.action?blogId=PistolBlog) run by schools such as Nevada.
Pistol -- The Pistol combines elements of the one back offense with those of the shotgun based spread offense. The quarterback aligns 3 yards behind the center as opposed to the 5 to 6 yards he would align in a normal shotgun formation. The halfback aligns directly behind the quarterback at a depth of 7 yards (See Figure 1). With this setup the offense can run traditional downhill running plays and play action passes that are synonymous with the I formation and it gives the quarterback the benefit of being in the shotgun for regular passing plays. This offense was originated by the current head coach at Nevada and has been a staple of their program for several years now.
Figure 1
http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/NCAA_Football_11/PistolBlog/1.jpg
Over the past few years several teams have used the Pistol as part of their offensive package as it is becoming more and more prevalent in the college game today. Some of these teams include Ohio State, Louisiana State, Florida State, UCLA, Illinois, Baylor and the last two National Champions Florida and Alabama. However there are only three teams that use it extensively which includes Indiana, Ohio University and of course the Nevada Wolfpack.
Team|Offensive Style|No Huddle
Indiana|Pistol|No
Nevada|Pistol|No
Ohio|Pistol|No
Because of the reasons listed above and if you have the right personnel, the Pistol is the ultimate dual threat offense when utilized correctly. Over the past few seasons the Nevada Wolfpack has done just that. With quarterbacks that are able to both run and pass effectively and a stable of excellent running backs, the Wolfpack have put up some astounding numbers on offense (see chart below). Over the past two seasons the Wolfpack has averaged over 500 yards per game of total offense while leading the nation during the 2009 season with an absurd average of 344.9 rushing yards per game. This average was almost 50 yards more than the second highest rushing team. They also became the first team in NCAA history to have three 1000-yd rushers.
Season|Total Yds Per Game|Rush Yds Per Game|Pass Yds Per Game|Avg. Points Per Game
2009|505.6|344.9|168.9|38.2
2008|508.5|277.8|242.1|37.6
2007|480.0|214.1|265.9|33.5
2006|364.0|175.8|188.3|32.6
2005|465.6|199.5|266.1|34.2
2004|435.7|154.1|281.6|29.7
Signature Play: Read Option - A big part of Nevada's success with the running game in 2009 came via the Read Option play which we discussed previously in the Spread Offense blog. The read option play itself is most synonymous with the spread offense but it can also be run just as effectively from the Pistol formation. The read option play from the Pistol in theory works the same as it does from the shotgun. The difference between the two is obviously the alignment of the quarterback and halfback. With the halfback being aligned directly behind the quarterback this meant that we needed to add read option handoff animations specifically for the Pistol formation.
Video of mocap file of read option
<script src="http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?width=550&deepLinkEmbedCode=g1cTNpMToA3jL0WCbP0S3PcrQ7KsKT8R&height=366&embedCode=g1cTNpMToA3jL0WCbP0S3PcrQ7KsKT8R"></script>
Signature Play: PA Rollout - PA Rollout is a play that can be run from the Pistol to take advantage of overly aggressive run defenders. The quarterback will perform a play action fake to the halfback going in one direction before rolling out in the opposite direction to throw a pass. The quarterback will generally have three receivers (short, medium, and deep) working towards the side of the field of his rollout.
New Pistol Sets
The following Pistol sets are new to NCAA Football 11. These sets can be found in a variety of playbooks which was done based on our research of each team's offense.
Pistol 4WR Trio
http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/NCAA_Football_11/PistolBlog/2.jpg
Pistol Jumbo Z
http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/NCAA_Football_11/PistolBlog/3.jpg
Pistol Weak H Slot
http://ll-100.ea.com/cem/u/f/GPO/easports.com/NCAA_Football_11/PistolBlog/4.jpg