The Pistol

[CalallenWildcat]

Has anyone seen the Pistol offense run? I know Nevada runs it in college; but I have not yet seen anyone else try it. What are the advantages/disadvantages?

[KT2000]

I found this article from 2005 that gives a good overview of the Pistol:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Sep-15-Thu-2005/sports/3372043.html

[CalallenWildcat]

I wish I could find some videos.

KT, that's a good article...here's the basics of the offense:

UNR quarterback Jeff Rowe lines up about 3 or 4 yards behind the center rather than about 7 as in the traditional shotgun, and there often is a running back behind him.

[jtk1519]

I think Nevada is the first team I have ever seen running that offense. I've also heard it referred to as a "sawed-off shotgun".

[CalallenWildcat]

What are the advantages? Nevada obviously did well with it this year.

[KT2000]

The primary advantage, based on the reading I've done since you brought it up, is that you can go vertical in the running game as far as QB-RB action is concerned.

In a regular 7 yd. Gun, the QB and the RB are side by side and the QB simply turns East or West to hand to the RB. So, that limits the versatility in the ground game right off the bat because you can only hand off so many ways back in the Gun.

Basically, it sounds like people go to the Pistol to get more versatility from the ground game (going vertical and not horizontal) while still being able to get the QB out from behind center (to eliminate drop time in passing game, get the ball out quicker).

Evangel does the opposite, or used to anyway. Their QB lined up 10 yards back, so it looked almost like a punt formation. The center rockets the ball back to him every time in a machine-like manner. That basically eliminates much of the opponent's ability to pressure the QB when he's back that deep. It was really something to watch back when Evangel was dominating.

[kickslide]

The only down fall in the running game is not being able to read the backside end on read plays such as zone read. It can also be difficult for LB's to read the running backs first steps. The pistol is excellent for the run game because the running back is basically lined up in the I formation, which lets him get downfield faster than if he were in the gun.

[Humblefied]

Yeah, but doesnt he still have to wait for the qb to catch the ball because he isnt going to be able to take off right of the back is he?

[Reaganrattler07]

I was wondering what that formation was....its a mix of the shotgun and singleback formation it seemed.

[Humblefied]

Has anyone seen the Pistol offense run? I know Nevada runs it in college; but I have not yet seen anyone else try it. What are the advantages/disadvantages?

I just saw the pistol run last night. Katy Taylor ran it. they ran some spread and then some of the pistol. In my mind I don't believe it matters since so many of our teams runs in the spread are all about what defense is doing and how they are lined up. So we run counters and such things as that in the spread. Katy Taylor ran it very well though and I will give them credit for that. i did see its advantages last night.

[CalallenWildcat]

I've seen the formation run in person now...SMU runs it some and Rockport-Fulton, a 4A school down here, runs it. SMU has a little success because they have some speedy backs and a decent O-line, but I daresay they use it more for the playaction than to actually run out of it. R-F...well, they don't run anything very effectively.

[BeauxGeezy]

Didn't Marcus Vick run the "pistol" offense at Va. Tech last year?
Or was that the "give me yo' fries or I'll beat 'yo *** with my pistol" offense?

[tigerdback083]

Ellison ran it. It didnt seem to effective, but that was probably just personel rather than it not being run right.

[youtellatale]

According to the Nevada head coach's interview on ESPN in 2005, he said one main advantage of using the pistol is that it can hide the RB. If a team has a large (6'3 or larger) QB and a small, quick RB, then the fact that the shorter player lines up directly behind the QB is a large advantage as the Defense cannot read the RB. Counters and traps are the frequent in Nevada's offense, very tricky. Almost Reminds me of a Wing T from the Shotgun.