Hard to completely ditch a scheme and technique that has been ingrained for 4 seasons. I think that would have the opposite of the desired effect and cause MORE confusion. I believe much of the answer was found yesterday in the commitment to running the ball and maybe a tweak in the technique the linemen are asked to execute.
In my opinion, Philbin prioritized gap assignment over all else. The linemen were asked to maintain their blocks until a natural hole on the play side developed or a cutback lane developed on the backside. If executed properly, the defense would often overrun their assignment and our linemen would simply use the defense's momentum against them. The problem was that defenses started figuring out how to disrupt the flow of the play by penetrating quickly, maintaining gap discipline, and stringing the plays out until they could overwhelm the designed play side with tacklers. That's why that stupid toss sweep that Lazor would call so often would get swallowed up.
I think Campbell changed the philosophy and probably asked Coach Benton to emphasize PUSH over perfect positioning. He's asking the linemen to fire out and get an immediate push up the field, and at the same time, he's telling the running backs to stop waiting for blocks to develop and instead hit the hole quickly. As long as the linemen on the play side get some push and the back hits the designed hole, 3 yard runs should be the MINIMUM gain. No more slow developing runs. Our quick linemen are asked to strike the man in front of them rather than just wall him off.
