Notre Dame Film Study vs. Rice: Why the Irish Run Game Lacked Explosive Plays

Landon Tengwall’s Rice film study lands on a simple point: Notre Dame’s lack of explosive runs was not one person’s fault. As he put it, “there’s not one answer,” and the tape showed a mix of missed IDs, combo blocks that never got to linebackers, heavy boxes, and a few runs where the back left yards on the field. Aneyas Williams took some blame on a couple of outside zone and pin-and-pull reps, while the line had clear breakdowns on others. The more interesting takeaway for Notre Dame fans is that Tengwall also showed examples where the run was blocked...