[qwerty49]

Scarlett was wonderful last night.  And yes, I was reminded of our pre-Cmac running days.  This was much more like those times when you look at time of possession.  And with 43 rushes compared with 30 pass attempts I think we were approaching the ratios of those years, too.

But the running scheme did not look at all like those times.  We use such a different formation.  It seemed that a lot (most?) of our running plays come out of the shotgun.  There were some coming from under center but those almost seemed rare to me--I wonder if anyone really counted? 

What is the reason we almost never see the I formation or a fullback?  Is it that we simply have better tight ends than fullbacks, so we feature them more? 

Or is it that Shaw thinks it is better to spread the defense out more before running, given that we have more wide receivers than healthy linemen these days.  Is that why all the running from shotgun?  This would comport with a lot of the sentiment on this board from past years that criticized him for running into stacked boxes.

When we do run from shotgun, how do the blocking schemes change?  Does the O-line do conventional run blocking or is it more like pass blocking?

Finally, what happened on our first two trips inside the five, when we could not punch it into the endzone?  What kind of running plays were we attempting, why did they not work?  What are the running plays we have used in the past that work inside the five?

Your last question is the most intriguing one because it is also emblematic of our frequent failures in short yardage situations where a backside defender gets to the ball carrier behind the LOS.  From my mere fan's perspective, I suspect it has to do somewhat with the defense stacking the LOS and somehow we leave someone unaccounted for and the domino effect takes hold.  

In those two goal-line situations on the first two drives, UW put a lot of guys right on the LOS and I suspect the holes and assignments changed.  I did notice that later in the game, UW stayed in a four-man front on just about every down.  This gave our OL a shot at angles to open some holes and Scarlett was very patient and adept at reading them.  I think Scarlett's skill at waiting and reading might also be the main reason why we ran out of the shotgun a lot.

UW's DL seemed relatively strong at the start of the game and seemed to wear down in the second half.

As far as FBs vs TEs, I would guess you're right as far as blocking goes.  You know a great FB when you see one, e.g. Marecic and Marx.  Not that our current guys are chopped liver, but I think I would much rather have Tucker Fisk leading a play than either Heimuli or Symonds right now.

[qwerty49]

Scarlett was wonderful last night.  And yes, I was reminded of our pre-Cmac running days.  This was much more like those times when you look at time of possession.  And with 43 rushes compared with 30 pass attempts I think we were approaching the ratios of those years, too.

But the running scheme did not look at all like those times.  We use such a different formation.  It seemed that a lot (most?) of our running plays come out of the shotgun.  There were some coming from under center but those almost seemed rare to me--I wonder if anyone really counted? 

What is the reason we almost never see the I formation or a fullback?  Is it that we simply have better tight ends than fullbacks, so we feature them more? 

Or is it that Shaw thinks it is better to spread the defense out more before running, given that we have more wide receivers than healthy linemen these days.  Is that why all the running from shotgun?  This would comport with a lot of the sentiment on this board from past years that criticized him for running into stacked boxes.

When we do run from shotgun, how do the blocking schemes change?  Does the O-line do conventional run blocking or is it more like pass blocking?

Finally, what happened on our first two trips inside the five, when we could not punch it into the endzone?  What kind of running plays were we attempting, why did they not work?  What are the running plays we have used in the past that work inside the five?

Your last question is the most intriguing one because it is also emblematic of our frequent failures in short yardage situations where a backside defender gets to the ball carrier behind the LOS.  From my mere fan's perspective, I suspect it has to do somewhat with the defense stacking the LOS and somehow we leave someone unaccounted for and the domino effect takes hold.  

In those two goal-line situations on the first two drives, UW put a lot of guys right on the LOS and I suspect the holes and assignments changed.  I did notice that later in the game, UW stayed in a four-man front on just about every down.  This gave our OL a shot at angles to open some holes and Scarlett was very patient and adept at reading them.  I think Scarlett's skill at waiting and reading might also be the main reason why we ran out of the shotgun a lot.

UW's DL seemed relatively strong at the start of the game and seemed to wear down in the second half.

As far as FBs vs TEs, I would guess you're right as far as blocking goes.  You know a great FB when you see one, e.g. Marecic and Marx.  Not that our current guys are chopped liver, but I think I would much rather have Tucker Fisk leading a play than either Heimuli or Symonds right now.