The power play is one of the most basic plays in football. It is probably best known for being run by the Washington Redskins during Joe Gibbs' first tenure as head coach, when he had John Riggins and the Hogs at his disposal, but it is still run today by pretty much every team in the NFL and college ball. Whether teams are philosophically spread or pro style, this play is in their play book (or tablet). Stanford seemingly runs this play exclusively, and spread offenses have found various ways to run this play, including with the QB as the runner (think Auburn with Cam Newton).
The goal of this play is to bring as much muscle to the point of attack as possible and over power the defense. The mechanics of the play are pretty simple; the center, play side guard, tackle, and tight end(s) all block down, meaning they will fire out with their outside foot and block the defender to the inside of them, rather than the defender directly over them. If there is a tough angle or a stud defensive lineman, a double team can be called for, and a teammate will help in the form of a double team or chip before going to block a next level defender. This should create a "wall" intended to seal the inside. The fullback, or sometimes an H-back, will then kick out the end man on the line of scrimmage, usually a defensive end or linebacker, towards the sideline, and the backside or offset (O) guard pulls around as the lead blocker through the hole. He will usually block a linebacker. The tail back then has to run quickly down hill through the hole between the tackle's outside hip and the fullback's kick out, behind the pulling guard. Here is the play diagrammed (please excuse the terrible MS paint job):
Rutgers is in a single back formation with three wide receivers here and Tulane responds by lining up in a 4-3 over front, bringing the strong side linebacker up on the line, over the tight end. Since there is no fullback, Tyler Kroft, lined up as the H-back, is responsible for making the kick out block, in this case on the strong side backer. (orange). Since the linebacker is head up on him, he does not the lateral leverage leverage to kick him out, so he blocks him down instead. Left tackle Kaleb Johnson, guard Antwan Lowery, and center Betim Bujari all block down and blow the two play side defensive lineman and nose tackle off the ball, sealing them to the inside and creating a hole (red). Andre Civil pulls around from his right guard spot, and with Kroft blocking down, leads Jamison to the outside, where he blocks the middle linebacker, and keeps his feet driving to clear the way (yellow). Jamison takes it from there, making the safety miss before using his speed to get to the end zone for 6 (light blue).
The play was ran earlier in the game with not a lot of success, but Jamison said something to Civil and that made a difference on the TD play “Andre kind of hesitated a bit (at the point of attack). I told him if he keeps going and keeps running through the defender we got it, we’re home free. He did it and we were home free,’’ He told Dave Hutchinson.
“I think it was a great job by Andre because when he turned the corner (on the play) there were two defenders. Anytime you turn the corner and there are two defenders, you always want to kick out the inside defender and that will ultimately block both guys and he did that. And he (Civil) did a great job of running his feet through the contact,’’ Kyle Flood said to Hutchinson, explaining the play.
Video is a great way to fully understand this play, but I'm not technically savvy enough to make a Youtube cut up of it, so here's the link to the entire game highlights. The play described is at the 1 minute mark, exactly.
Here's another example of the play, run to perfection by LaDainian Tomlinson and the Chargers:
Rutgers has traditionally been a zone blocking team under Kyle Flood, and offensive line coach Damian Wroblewski is a believer in that scheme as well, but the power play could be a big part of what this team does offensively this year. Civil is very athletic, so they would probably be best able to utilize him pulling on plays like this. They also have powerful tackles in Johnson and Dill and good blocking tight ends in Jefferson and Carrezola, so they should be capable of dominating on down blocks. Michael Burton is a better blocking fullback than they've had in the past, so he is capable of making those kick out blocks. Jamison looked great running on this play, and the down hill nature of the play would better suit Savon Huggins strengths. The ingredients are certainly there for this to be the featured play in Rutgers' offense.
Additional Reading: http://smartfootball.com/run-game/explanation-and-cut-ups-of-the-power-o-run-play
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