Pistol Offense 101

By late Sunday night you will probably never want to hear the term "Pistol Offense" again. In the simplest terms the Pistol is more a formation than an offense. Instead of standing seven yards back in the shotgun, the QB stands three or four yards back. The goal is to get the benefit of the shotgun (better vision, more space) and not lose the opportunity to have a power running game. Nevada was the birthplace of the Pistol and now, like other innovations in football, it has spread and variants are popping up all over.

BC has yet to face a true Pistol Offense but our staff is certainly familiar with it. We even used some Pistol during the season with Rettig. Of the teams we faced, the closest in style and philosophy to Nevada is Florida State. Both run similar zone blocking schemes. Both have mobile QBs and have explosive runners. The team's passing stats were very similar but a most would concede that a healthy Christian Ponder is a better passer than Kaepernick.

For BC the key will be winning the battle upfront. Most of Nevada's runs are inside Zone reads. This will put pressure on our DTs and LBs to clog holes and then play assignment football. If we can get Nevada out of a rhythm running, I like the matchup of our pass defense against their passing game.

Here is more background on the Scheme:

This is Nevada's former OLine coach discussing his line drills for the zone.

Indiana runs the Pistol with a passing focus (and uses man) but here is how the formation helps the run game.

Here is how dangerous Kaepernick can be when he gets a seem.

Smart Football has some great posts on the Pistol too.
-- Pistol Breakdown
-- Deconstructing the Pistol
-- The Pistol's Horn