I can't argue one bit with that but I coach high school ball and we need to be down hill. Some college teams need that as well. I will post more but my wife is bitching about some shit so I will see you guys later.
Agree. But as a coach you know you have to have a good mix of "things you do" but that they have to compliment each other. You can run a hodgepodge of plays. Anyway...Malzahn was purely a gap run coach in HS, and learned the zone stuff when he got to college ball. Herb Hand at Tulsa is a Rich Rod guy. The zone scheme isn't Malzahn's base scheme, but if you're going to run the ball in college out of the shotgun, you pretty much need the zone plays because of the option scheme off of it. It works well with PA passing too. Malzahns bread and butter down hill plays are trap and power.
You can see the first play here, and at 1:33 the same play...they're run right at the 1 hole downhill. It's essentially a trap play, but it's run with a Counter GB blocking scheme. Pulling guard and lead H-back. That's as downhill a play as their is, and doesn't require the Guards of Center to block mano y mano on NTs or 3 Techniques which are usually difficult for centers and guards to handle one on one at this level.
Then there's the good ole power play, whic hits off tackle. It can be run like this first play:
Then there's the Wildcat or QB power...shown at 1:17