Television closeups and replays may have enabled us to see much more clearly whether or not there is a hole. Sometimes there was supposed to be a hole but it closed or never happened.
I don’t know if this is exactly what you’re talking about, but there’s a type of play that used to be popular called a “quick hitter.” This was an inside run where the back took the handoff and immediately accelerated right into the line at a seam between two opposing linemen. His blockers would be trying to open that seam for him, but lightning speed was the rationale of the play – it would be hard for the defense to react quickly. Not designed for huge gains, but to get short gains with greater certainty – and not incidentally, to make it costlier for opposing defenders to take time to look around and size up running plays, hopefully making them hesitate at future snaps just long enough for sweeps and wide runs to have a little breathing room.
Obviously if a running back doesn’t get any room at all, his “quick hitter” turns into “running smack into a pile and stopping.” Occasionally a stellar back would simply pierce the line, bypass a dogging linebacker, and rocket straight downfield toward the safeties, but usually you’d get a few yards.
I don’t know if this sort of play is still popular, as I haven’t watched significantly in years.
Just for shits and giggles, here’s a slowed down version of a play which looked like a RB crashing into a pile when it happened at full speed. Slowed down, you can see that Bradie James makes the read and plugs his gap. Slaton wanted the cutback lane but it wasn’t there for him.
You also have to take into account that at the snap the linebackers are slowed down for a second reading run or dropping back into coverage. A running back who stutters at the line loses that split second advantage and is more likely to lose yards.
First, if you can reliably get 2-4 yards per run up the middle, you can keep the defense honest. They have to respect the run, which should slow down blitzes on non-passing downs, and allow the fraction of a second needed to develop outside running plays, screens, etc.
Second, the offensive line and the running back know where the play is supposed to develop. The defense should not. That’s where you get the 2-4 yards as the defense reacts.
Having played running back for a few years, I can tell you that running plays are designed to go to specific “holes” in the offensive line. For instance, in a two back set if a 24 was called in the play, it would designate the “two back” into the “4 hole” that is to say hit a hole where the right tackle is located. The line then blocks to open that specific hole. If all goes well, a hole would be there when I got there. If not, I tried to bounce outside to an open area if I could, but frequently you can’t see it when you are immersed in the action. There’s quite a crowd up there on the line. If I couldn’t find someplace to bounce out to, I tried to hit the line at the place where the play was designed to go, and break tackles if possible. Perhaps that doesn’t clarify much but the thing to remember is that football plays are not chaotic they are thoroughly orchestrated. Also, if a player doesn’t know where he is supposed to be at any given time for any called play, he won’t last long.
The simplest reason that an RB would run straight into the pile is that the pile isn’t supposed to be there; his linemen have failed to open up the hole where they need to. It’s a mistake, but by the time the RB is there and the mistake is recognized, it’s too late to correct.
Speaking of memories and leaping, I seem to recall Emmitt Smith towards the end of his career in Dallas (pre Arizona) leaping over a pile near the endzone. Problem was, it was on a play-action, that the defense didn’t fall for and Smith wound up leaping over his O-lineman and meeting no resistance. This caused him to basically him to dive over the pile headfirst and smack into the ground. I believe he was injured pretty substantially on that play. Anyone else recall that incident? I believe it was a Monday night game.
as a fellow HS fb alum i’m always struck by the disparity between participation between football and baseball/basketball. Football is by far more popular, and yet more kids played little league baseball or rec league hoops than pop warner.
pileups are also caused by:
lineman splits - distance between linemen. usually tight splits for zone blocking, wider splits for option/draws
mistakes = missed blocking assignments, wrong blocking assignments, running through the wrong hole, etc.
bad playcalling luck = the defense just so happened to blitz the intended hole on that particular play, the defense recognizes your formation and situation from film session (jumbo set, 3rd and short in their territory results in a 22 power 84% of the time) and is ready for it, etc.
bad play - your team stinks on ice, was slow to get off the blocks and got manhandled at the line of scrimmage.
To put a name to this generalized answer, running up the gut helps set up play action later in the game. Ideally a rainbow touchdown strike.
Another reason may be that you want to give your offensive linemen a chance to effectively punch the defensive line in the mouth. Pass blocking means your OL has to backpedal at the snap. This is one reason why not everyone buys into the idea that short passes can be used in lieu of a running game. When you want to set the tone, letting your OL tee off on the DL is a tried and true method, and this is best accomplished by running straight up the gut.
Does time kind of slow down for a running back? Regardless of the camera ange, even if I were down there on the field, I think I’d just have an impression of a couple of very large guys crashing into one another and into me, and it’d flash by in a split second. For a RB to spot holes and run through them, I’m wondering if it’s like one of those things where a cop under fire and surging with adrenaline can take time to notice the individual shell casings being spit out of his automatic pistol at a leisurely pace.
I came in to mention this game specifically. It was in the early '90’s against the Bears. He came over expecting to have defenders to break his fall and they stopped and just watched him come over and he ended up breaking his collarbone instead.
Every once in a blue moon, they still find a seam and make something out of it. There were many times I can recall seeing Barry Sanders get swarmed at the line of scrimmage, appearing to disappear under the pile, then suddenly popping out the other side of it somewhere and being off like a shot into the secondary.