The Miami Hurricanes took a 14-3 halftime lead and ground the Florida State Seminoles down with 32 carries on 3-yards per rush. Mark Fletcher Jr, Marty Brown and Jordan Lyle rushed for 3.3, 2.4, and 2.6 yards per carry against the ‘Noles defense.

Behind that thumping run game that mainly featured Duo and Wide Zone run concepts, Carson Beck threw four TD’s with no turnovers on 8.9 yards per pass attempt. Malachi Toney and CJ Daniels caught two TD’s a piece, and both averaged double-digit yards per catch numbers.

The Miami offensive line allowed only one sack and five tackles for loss against the FSU defensive front. We’ve already covered Duo on the Storm Cellar, and now we’re covering Wide Zone, Miami’s other favorite run concept, today.

Above you’re seeing the RB paths for Wide Zone. The Bang is in the play side B-Gap. The Bend is in the playside A-Gap and the Bounce is to the playside C-Gap. In Duo the gaps were shifted one to the right.

Above you can see the lateral or horizontal movement from the OL. The blocking assignments are outside shoulder of the DL to the play, and the 2nd OL coming for the ‘combo’ is going to try to pick the DL up in the middle of the man. This allows the 2nd OL to take over the block while the 1st OL there will work up to the “2nd level” or LB.

Above- As the OL moves horizontally and starts to ‘take over’ blocks one OL will work to the LB’s (2nd level). 63 should take over the block to the left while 52 should work to the LB based on the live look here.

And yes, they are having to work and communicate that fast. That’s why having a veteran center next to guards they’re comfortable with and who are comfortable in the role is KEY.

Above 52 takes over and 63 works to the 3rd level actually. See I think that is what let that LB come free. Fletcher beats him but it slows his path down.

Above- on a different snap Marty Brown hits the bang and needs to beat just one DL in order to rip off a huge run.

Above- Here Brown ‘bends’ back and look at the over-run from FSU’s players. The bend has a MASSIVE hole if Brown can beat that one DL.

Wide zone takes a ton of feel, vision and patience in order to ‘hit’ on a weekly basis. Miami likes to really rep two run concepts and roll in one or two more based on the opponent. Sometimes they add in counter, sometimes power/guard wrap, and at others more of an outside zone/stretch play.

Take a look at the video below: