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"The running game in pro football has gotten so boring," former 49ers coach Bill Walsh remarked some years ago. "There's just four or five plays they can run. I think the whole thing is headed in the wrong direction, and it's really unfortunate." Eve...

Manti Te'o finished the 2010 season, his second in South Bend, as already one of the most decorated linebackers in Notre Dame history. A former five-star recruit, Te'o finished his sophomore year with 133 tackles (good for 21st nationally), was a fin...

It can't be overstated just how impressive Stanford's 17-15 overtime victory over Oregon was. Stanford almost entirely shut down Oregon and its record-setting offense, the same offense that shredded the Cardinal 53-30 last season. Last year, Oregon's...

The success of Chip Kelly's Oregon offense is more familiar than it seems.

I have an admission to make: Several times this season I've tried to watch Alabama play an entire game, and each time I've failed. Sure, I've watched quarters of football here and there — the bludgeoning of Michigan, the decimation of Arkansas,...

For much of the past five years, Dana Holgorsen has helmed some of the most prolific offenses in college football. From Texas Tech to Houston to Oklahoma State, the current West Virginia coach's wide-open attack has been the premier scheme in college...

How modern offenses are rethinking the most fundamental elements of football "plays."

Call them what you will — cornerbacks, safeties, linebackers — today's defensive players are a bit of everything.

An excerpt from The Essential Smart Football.

The stars are aligning for a generation of great NFL quarterbacks.

The Patriots' Vince Wilfork and the evolution of New England's hybrid defense.

Play calling, as a general matter, is overrated. After a loss, most sports radio call-in shows are primarily dedicated to the play calling of the offensive and defensive coordinators. For whatever reason — be it the uniquity of football video g...

It was ferocious, it was kind of ugly, it was ... kinda, sorta, what we expected? Well, we expected a hard-fought game dominated by the defenses, but I'm not sure anyone expected LSU's offense, which had helped the team score 53, 41, and 42 in its...

A strategic breakdown of the Tide's zone blocking sets.

Despite being outgained by Stanford by almost 180 yards in total offense, and outrushed 243 yards to 13, Oklahoma State won the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Monday by doing what it has done all year: Winning the turnover battle and getting big plays when ...

By almost any measure, the 2011 college football season continued the trend of increasingly dominant offenses and high-scoring and high-yardage games. Oklahoma State, Baylor, and Houston all averaged more than 550 yards of offense per game en rout...