The lost art of scoring from a yard out - not just a Duke problem

[84crazy]

Is it just me or do football coaches no longer no how to score or get first downs when you only need a yard? It's been killing the Canes for years and is a pet peeve of mine. I hate the deep slow to develop handoff in this situation. Notice how The Patriots don't mess around and notoriously slow of foot Tom Brady consistently runs the sneak successfully. Sirk is a big guy he could almost just reach the ball over rhe goal line just standing there. Guess remembering Marcus Allen leaping over the line or coaches surprising with the naked bootleg in days gone by. Nowadays the scoring rate has become atrocious. Like i said this is not a Duke problem we actually have had a greater success rate than all but a few teams in the Cut era, just hated seeing us given that chance yesterday to put it away go astray.

[tteettimes]

Was sad to see.......four downs....only a yard.....?? The defense can't stop you for four downs from the one !!
Anyway....we won...lets go Devils.....love Coach Cut

[Richard Berg]

What happened to the Connette Package? Nico Pierre is supposed to be a great runner.

[Duke95]

To be honest, even I have trouble scoring from a yard out.

I'm always about 18 inches short.

[Atldukie79]

I kinda liked the jump pass to the tight end...I do not recall seeing that this year.

[sagegrouse]

I kinda liked the jump pass to the tight end...I do not recall seeing that this year.

Well... Well.... My solution yesterday was simple. Johnell Barnes made an incredible recovery of the fumble by Sherman, falling on the loose ball while running full speed. Call his darned number and throw the ball to him in the end zone.

[nocilla]

I thought the same thing. Put Sirk under center and let him push it in.

[PDDuke85]

I thought the same thing. Put Sirk under center and let him push it in.
last year, in situations like this, they simply inserted Sirk and mission complete. Agree with placing him directly under center and give it a push. If that fails, some kind of play action to one side with a wide open tight end on the opposite side. I'm concerned with what seems to be a very vanilla and predictable playbook.

[HK Dukie]

EZ...

Insert 2014 Sirk package, first down or TD every time.

Why not have Sirk run the Sirk package? :)

[Bob Green]

I kinda liked the jump pass to the tight end...I do not recall seeing that this year.

We unsuccessfully attempted a jump pass to the tight end in the Tulane game. Parker Boehme was in at quarterback.

[budwom]

BC simply beat up our OL for much of the game. We don't see it that often, but you have to give BC abundant credit. That's not to say
there weren't other ways to score from the one yard line...I don't often put much faith in early season statistics, but I am completely convinced
that the NW and BC defenses are both very very good. Unusually good.

p.s. we obviously still have a long way to go on offense as well...

[84crazy]

Just want to be clear I started this thread because of my frustration in watching game after game where a team desperately needs a touchdown or a first down to close out a game and they run into the middle of the line and get stuffed or hand off deep in the backfield and lose yards. Seems to be an epidemic. Like I said Duke under Cut has been fantastic at getting the TD's or first downs like the VT game a few yeas ago.

[Highlander]

My thoughts on the "best" way to call plays 1st and goal from the 1:

1st down - Try the QB sneak up the middle.
2nd down - get the fullback running full speed and hand off to him up the middle
3rd down - fake up the middle and try to get either an end run or a quick hitter to a WR or TE.
4th down - If all 3 of the above fail, kick the FG. If you go for it on 4th, it has to be a pass to guarantee the ball will cross the plane.

You can certainly mix up the calls on the first 3 downs, but you should always have at least one pass play in your first 3 downs. Just don't overthink it like Pete Carroll and cost your team the super bowl :)

Things to never do when you are going for it on 4th and a yard or less:
1) pitch the ball backwards to a RB. You only need 1 yard, why throw it backwards so now you need 5?
2) operate out of the shotgun. You have to make the line respect the sneak and in this model they know you aren't.
3) hold the ball more than 3 seconds. If it takes that long for your play to develop, it's too risky a throw on a must have down.

That's not to say that you can't convert a 4th down out of the shotgun or on a pitch; all I'm saying is that I think your odds of completing go down significantly if you opt for those formations.

But I'm not a football coach, so what do I know :)