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Notre Dame-Florida State: How Irish can end FSU's shot at title repeat
There are only six teams in the nation that remain undefeated and two of them battle it out this weekend in primetime as No. 2 Florida State hosts No. 5 Notre Dame in Tallahassee. The team that handles the high-pressure situation best will be the victor.
Creating high-pressure situations for the Seminoles’ offense will be the plan of attack for Notre Dame’s defense. While some defensive coordinators play it safe, taking minimal and calculated risks, Notre Dame DC Brian VanGorder holds nothing back. One of my favorite sayings I heard during my time playing for him in the NFL was, “You can live 80 years like a kitten, or you can live 50 like a lion.”
Notre Dame’s defense can be fun to watch -- it’s an aggressive, high-intensity, blitz-heavy scheme where coaches preach getting to the ball with bad intentions. Notre Dame ranks in the top 20 among all FBS teams in blitzing on pass plays and has blitzed on more than 40 percent of third-down pass plays. Opponents are completing only 55 percent of their pass attempts against Notre Dame’s blitzes, and the Irish are tied for eighth in the nation with 10 interceptions.
It can also be nerve-racking, as it’s a high-risk, high-reward scheme. As a player in that system, you learn that if you execute you’ll enjoy pressures, sacks and turnovers, but just one mental error could result in an explosive play for the offense. Notre Dame’s defense has allowed 10 explosive pass plays of 20-plus yards while blitzing; only Washington State (15), North Carolina (13), Illinois and Oklahoma (both with 11) have allowed more.
Irish fans got a huge scare last week as ND edged out North Carolina 50-43 in a game where the defense allowed 510 yards while defending a whopping 84 plays due to UNC’s up-tempo scheme and Notre Dame’s offensive turnovers. Now, with a bevy of talented receivers, Florida State and Jameis Winston will give Notre Dame’s defense their most formidable challenge of the season.
Winston has been stellar against the blitz in 2014, completing over 67 percent of his pass attempts on those downs (eighth among Power 5 QBs). The game within the game will be FSU’s receivers versus Notre Dame’s cover men on passing downs when the Irish blitz. Seminole receivers -- especially WR Rashad Greene and TE Nick O’Leary -- will have to win one-on-one matchups against Irish defenders in zone pressures and fire zone schemes so that Winston has an outlet to get rid of the ball quickly.
If they do, FSU can have a lot of success and restate its case for being the No. 1 team in the country next week. If they don’t, Notre Dame will have a shot to all but put an end to FSU’s title defense and start making a strong playoff push of their own.
Let’s break down some game tape of Notre Dame’s pressure schemes to show how this will unfold.
Notre Dame's tricky zone pressue
One of Notre Dame’s most successful types of zone pressures consists of two vertical hook players underneath with four defensive backs playing a version of quarters coverage behind them.
The two vertical hook players -- one right and one left -- are immediately responsible for the “No. 2” receivers (the second eligible receiver from the sideline) on each side of the formation. They carry that receiver on any underneath route up to 10 yards -- after that they are passed off to the deeper quarter players. The two vertical hook players could be linebackers, defensive backs or defensive linemen in any combination.
Where the defense can be exposed is when it has a defensive lineman dropping into coverage against No. 2 receivers, and it could be something FSU tries to take advantage of on Saturday night, with Nick O’Leary and Rashad Greene being the benefactors.
Here’s a look at one of those pressures that resulted in one of the two Irish interceptions against Stanford.
Now, let’s look at this play a little closer so you get an idea of the high-risk nature of this system. While the play resulted in an interception for the Irish, it could have just as easily resulted in an explosive pass completion for Stanford.
In the photo below, you’ll see this blitz is designed to put the center and running back in a bind. It sends two linebackers (blue solid arrows) through the A-gaps to occupy the center and the back in the backfield, and then a safety (blue dotted arrow) follows – adding a third blitzer in the A-gaps. The safety either gets a free run at the QB, or he forces the center or running back to come off their original block, setting one of the linebackers free. Timing the blitz is vital -- because if done correctly the ball has to come out quickly or the QB gets sacked.
Here’s how the play is drawn up:
The two vertical hook defenders (circled) are immediately responsible for the “No. 2” receiver to their side. At the snap of the ball, they sprint to their responsibility and stay on the receivers anywhere up to 10 yards.
If another receiver becomes the new “No. 2” as the patterns develop, the vertical hook players pass off and push to their new matchup. The vertical hook player highlighted in red is a defensive end.
In the photo above, you’ll notice how badly the vertical hook player in red -- the defensive lineman being asked to cover a receiver -- is out of position. The pass with the highest chance of completion and third-down conversion would have been the No. 2 receiver at the bottom, but neither the receiver nor the QB recognized the breakdown.
You can see above that the quarterback and No. 2 receiver at the bottom missed this crucial third-down opportunity. With these types of pressures, neither the quarterback nor the receivers know who is blitzing and who is dropping into coverage -- so the defense’s success is dependent on the blitz getting to the QB before he’s able to find the best target.
Feeling the pressure, the quarterback made a poor decision and threw an interception into what ended up being double coverage on the No. 1 receiver at the top of the screen.
Notre Dame zone pressure, Take II
The other type of zone pressure with which Notre Dame has success consists of two seam players and one middle-hook player underneath with three defensive backs playing 1/3’s behind them.
The two seam players are responsible for the No. 2 receiver to their side on any vertical or outside route. If they are able to pass the receiver off on an inside-breaking route to the middle-hook player -- who is responsible for the No. 3 receiving threat -- they do. As was the case in the previous type of pressure, the defense can be exposed when a defensive lineman drops into coverage.
Let’s take a look:
You can see in the photo above that this blitz sends a safety and a linebacker blitzing through the A-gaps once again. This time, however, even with three underneath players there is a potential problem as a defensive lineman (circled in red) is once again responsible for coverage -- this time as the middle-hook player. What’s scary is that the No. 3 receiver he has to cover on this play is on the other side of the formation towards the top of the screen.
In the next photo, you’ll see the seam player at the top is locked in on his No. 2 receiver and the seam player at the bottom is “pressure-rushing” his No. 2 receiver (the running back who stayed in to block) at the bottom of the screen . The middle-hook player (DL circled in red), who is responsible for the No. 3 receiving threat, did not get back into coverage quickly enough. He has no clue where his coverage responsibility is or what he’s doing.
In the next photo you will see again how Notre Dame’s defense is high-risk and high-reward. With the safety running freely, bearing down on the quarterback, the offense misses another opportunity and the defense wins this down.
Even though the middle-hook defender for Notre Dame is nowhere near his responsibility – and his No. 3 receiver (circled in red) is begging for the ball – the quarterback doesn’t see the opportunity and tries to throw it to a receiver who is covered with no success.
Notre Dame’s defensive philosophy is to pressure the quarterback with a dizzying number of elaborate blitz patterns -- and pressure him often. While those blitzes can confuse the opposing quarterback, they can also confuse the defense that has to memorize and execute them. Often the players who are the liability in the coverage are the defensive linemen who aren’t trained to play coverage like the rest of the defenders.
Through film study of Notre Dame’s defense this season, it’s quite clear the best way to counter the Irish’s zone blitzes is to look to the number No. 2 and No. 3 receivers. I suspect that Florida State’s No. 2 and No. 3 receivers – specifically Greene and O’Leary – will have several explosive plays in this game if Winston has studied tape and listened to his coaches this week.
If they do, the ‘Noles could light up the scoreboard and have voters and experts second-guessing whether or not they should have dropped FSU out of the No. 1 spot in the rankings. If they don’t, the Irish defense could put an end to Florida State’s title defense and put Notre Dame in prime position for a playoff run.
Coy Wire played college football at Stanford before a nine-year NFL career in Buffalo and Atlanta. He's currently a college football analyst for FOX Sports 1 and writes for FOXsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @CoyWire.
