Landon Tengwall’s Rice film study lands on a simple point: Notre Dame’s lack of explosive runs was not one person’s fault. As he put it, “there’s not one answer,” and the tape showed a mix of missed IDs, combo blocks that never got to linebackers, heavy boxes, and a few runs where the back left yards on the field. Aneyas Williams took some blame on a couple of outside zone and pin-and-pull reps, while the line had clear breakdowns on others.
The more interesting takeaway for Notre Dame fans is that Tengwall also showed examples where the run was blocked well enough and the finish just was not explosive, along with others where the back had no real chance. He also pointed to Jonaz Walton flashing on limited work and said Williams is “going to continue to be the guy” for now. The overall read was measured: this run game can still be solid, but against Rice the film showed communication issues up front, inconsistent linebacker pickups, and differing styles between the backs.
- Tengwall repeatedly pointed to combo-block and ID issues, especially on plays where unblocked linebackers or down linemen showed up in the hole.
- He put specific blame on Williams for not bouncing at least one outside zone and for hesitating on a red-zone pin-and-pull.
- He also defended Williams on other runs, noting there were “very few inside zones” where he got the kind of clean look Walton later did.
- Walton stood out for contact balance and decisiveness, including a fourth-and-1 conversion and another outside zone where he created extra yards.
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