SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Nevada runs an offense Knute Rockne would surely appreciate.
The pistol offense was devised by coach Chris Ault when he took over the Wolf Pack program again in 2005. It has been called a version of the old single wing widely used in the days of leather helmets, when Rockne used the “Notre Dame Box” formation made famous in the early 1920s by Elmer Layden, Don Miller, Harry Stuhldreher and Jim Crowley, better known as the Four Horsemen.
Ault, though, says the offense has more modern origins. The pistol is a modified shotgun offense where the quarterback lines up about 4 yards behind center, several yards closer than the traditional shotgun, and the running back is behind the quarterback. Ault, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002, said the pistol has elements of the spread offense but focuses more on straight ahead running and play-action passing.
Still, it’s a hard offense to figure.
`It’s not like Navy; but there’s Navy elements. It’s not like Texas when Vince Young when they were really running the shotgun offense with offset backs, but it has elements of it,” Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said.
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta said the pistol has components of the option, the spread and the wing T. The Wolf Pack make it even more complicated by putting people in motion and giving different looks.
“You can say it’s window dressing, but it’s part of how they attack you,” he said.
Nevada has gone to four straight bowl games since switching to the pistol. With quarterback Colin Kaepernick at the trigger last season, the Wolf Pack were third in the country in rushing at 277 yards a game and fifth in total offense at 508 yards a game.
Kaepernick, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound junior who was once recruited to play baseball at Notre Dame, ran for 1,130 yards last season and passed for 2,849 yards.
“He can run the football, he can make guys miss in space,” Tenuta said. “He’s got touch on the ball, he’s got a strong arm. The guy’s a complete player.”
The Wolf Pack also have running backs Vai Taua and Luke Lippincott. Taua led the Western Athletic Conference in rushing last year with 1,521 yards and 15 touchdowns. Lippincott, granted a medical redshirt after injuring his left knee last season, led the WAC in rushing a year earlier with 1,420 yards. That gives Nevada three 1,000 yard rushers in one backfield.
That’s a concern because No. 23 Notre Dame hasn’t been good against the run since 2004. Last year the Irish were 45th in the country in rushing defense, giving up 134 yards a game. Tenuta said the Irish need to be better.
“In every game you play you have to stop the run first and foremost or they’ll run the clock on you,” he said. “That’s No. 1, stop the run, then attack the pass.”
Notre Dame players say they see Nevada’s offense as a mix of Navy and Michigan. The key for the Irish, they said, is to stay disciplined and to play assignment defense.
Playing such a prolific offense to start the season will give the Irish defense an early indication of where it is, linebacker Brian Smith said.
“This defense has come a long way,” he said. “I’ve said from the first day of camp we’re going to be a stingy defense. I think we’re well on our way to being a stingy defense.”
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