CSN Log
August 20th, 2011, 11:00 AM
08-19-2011 11:56 AM
http://harvardmagazine.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale_600x450/img/article/0811/jhj_so11_028_web.jpg
In football, there’s a radical asymmetry between offense and defense. For an offensive play to succeed, all 11 players have to execute nearly perfectly. Thus a pass play may require a wide receiver to run his route flawlessly, secondary receivers to tie up cornerbacks, and the quarterback and running back to deftly fake a handoff and leave the former rolling out—ready to heave a long pass. But perhaps the left guard misses his block, letting a defensive end roar into the backfield for a sack—and the entire play collapses due to one goof-up.
On defense, it’s a mirror image. Maybe a safety was three steps behind that wide receiver and two linebackers bought that fake—but the defensive end’s big play erases those errors and scores a big win for the D. Consider, for example, the moment in last fall’s Harvard-Yale game when defensive tackle Josue Ortiz ’11 burst into the Yale backfield and blocked a punt, then recovered the ball on Yale’s 23-yard line, setting up the Crimson’s go-ahead touchdown in a 28-21 victory.
Full story » (http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/log/index.php/2011/08/19/how-to-wreak-havoc-at?blog=2#more7464)
More... (http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/log/index.php/2011/08/19/how-to-wreak-havoc-at?blog=2)
http://harvardmagazine.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale_600x450/img/article/0811/jhj_so11_028_web.jpg
In football, there’s a radical asymmetry between offense and defense. For an offensive play to succeed, all 11 players have to execute nearly perfectly. Thus a pass play may require a wide receiver to run his route flawlessly, secondary receivers to tie up cornerbacks, and the quarterback and running back to deftly fake a handoff and leave the former rolling out—ready to heave a long pass. But perhaps the left guard misses his block, letting a defensive end roar into the backfield for a sack—and the entire play collapses due to one goof-up.
On defense, it’s a mirror image. Maybe a safety was three steps behind that wide receiver and two linebackers bought that fake—but the defensive end’s big play erases those errors and scores a big win for the D. Consider, for example, the moment in last fall’s Harvard-Yale game when defensive tackle Josue Ortiz ’11 burst into the Yale backfield and blocked a punt, then recovered the ball on Yale’s 23-yard line, setting up the Crimson’s go-ahead touchdown in a 28-21 victory.
Full story » (http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/log/index.php/2011/08/19/how-to-wreak-havoc-at?blog=2#more7464)
More... (http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/log/index.php/2011/08/19/how-to-wreak-havoc-at?blog=2)