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Bored With The Spread O

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Boom_70, Dec 31, 2007.

  1. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    More high school teams in our area than not, either run the spread or incorporate elements of it.

    The three that went the farthest in the playoffs this year either ran the I or a multiple ground-based offense.

    There's a misconception about the spread being pass-pass-pass, when in fact, with the right personnel in place, it sets up the running game by opening lanes.
     
  2. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Exactly - most do not understand that it's more of a running offense than a passing O. It's not the run and shoot.

    The problem for many HS teams is that they either do not have a QB who can throw or a QB who can toss the ball all over the field. Instead of backs gaining positive yardage running north to south they lose yardage running east to west.

    It takes a huge commitment for teams to run it well. A HS in my area won the states and ran it well but they also had the whole team spend a week learning the O past two summers at one of big time colleges that run spread. They also could still run other sets and play smashmouth when needed.

    The spread will be around for a while. Look at Auburn and FSU -- both hired coaches in past month to teach the spread.
     
  3. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Observations from Yesterday on the spread:

    So far the most dynamic offenses I've seen this bowl season - USC running out of mostly the offset I . 2nd - Georgia - out of the good old I

    Watching SC yesterday on D shows that well prepared teams can shut down the spread cold .

    As evidence by Florida if you have a dynamic spread offense you better have a defense that will shut the other team down. I've watched all of Florida losses this year and each time I was struck with feeling that offense needed to exhibit a little bit more ball control and clock management.
    Its great to score quickly but you are also giving the other team back the football.
     
  4. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    Um, funny how all of the spread haters are conveniently overlooking the Gator Bowl, which was the one ultimate matchup between a traditional pro-style offense against one of these funky spread teams -- and the spread team won.

    And I agree, you need the right players to run the spread correctly -- but I ask again for at least the third time -- HOW IS THAT ANY DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER OFFENSE?

    I mean, OK a few high school teams didn't have success with it -- guess what, there are a lot of high school and college teams trying to run an I-form, pro-set type of offense based on a power running game and (a) don't have the offensive line capable of dominating defenses and (b) don't have the stud running back capable of carrying 25 times a game and remaining effective or (c) don't have a capable fullback.

    In other words -- you have to have a scheme that you have the players to run and if you have the right players, you can make any scheme work.

    And anyone who has watched West Virginia even a little should know that spread doesn't necessarily mean pass, pass, pass
     
  5. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Let me be clear that I don't hate the spead. In fact I love watching it when it is run well with the right personal .

    What I do hate is watching the teams without the personal to run it properly.

    Agree that the spread is not pass pass pass. It can be a very run oriented offense. If you have a QB who can run it gives you an extra blocker.
     
  6. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    Boom -- But don't you hate watching I-form being run by teams who don't have the offensive line to run it, too?

    That's my only point. EVERY system sucks and is boring to watch if the team running it is not capable of running it.
     
  7. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Yes but what I like less are lemming coaches who are jumping to the spread just because everyone else is. Some of them should spend more time trying to find ways to stop it on D.
     
  8. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    USC showed how to stop it -- you have great athletes and high school All-Americans who are faster than those on offense at just about every position on your defense.
     
  9. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Speed on the corners was the key.
     
  10. Bamadog

    Bamadog Well-Known Member

    I used to have a big problem with the spread because I was an old school, SEC, three-yards and cloud of dust football guy. Now, I like it, especially with Rich Rod's version of it that is more of a wishbone out of the gun than anything else.

    The key to stopping it is simple: Have lots of folks on defense who can run. It's good news for the tweener types at end (like Dwight Freeney) who are not really linebackers, but are not really conventional ends either and of course, defensive backs. Against a spread, you really need to run nickel and dime as a base defense.

    The run and shoot is similar to a passing-oriented spread in that you use the short and intermediate-range passing game as most of your running game. But when you have a defense like Georgia's, which can tackle with the best of them, you eliminate their ability to run after the catch and burn you.

    I do admit I felt sorry for Colt Brennan. He's tough, but cripes, he got knocked around like few QB's I've ever seen. And that's an indictment of those offenses in a way. The spacing of the linemen allows people to blitz through them and WHAMMY! When he got clobbered and the ball was recovered in the end zone for a TD, I could hear Champ Kind now:

    WHAMMY!
     
  11. Hammer Pants

    Hammer Pants Active Member

    I still think the toughest offenses to stop do these four things.

    1. Use as much of the field as possible. Every possible square inch. Get guys in space.
    2. Use a no-huddle ... not even necessarily to hurry-up, but to get to the line and force D's to line up in a hurry and not substitute.
    3. Use versatile players. Guys who can play FB/TE or WR/RB, so you can use multiple formations with the same players.
    4. Have quarterbacks who can make a play when a play isn't there. Doesn't have to be a fast guy, but at least a guy who buy some time with his legs and/or instincts and doesn't run in cement.

    Teams that do these things score a lot of points.
     
  12. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    I'm tired of the word "spread" being used to define every offense in the shotgun.

    Texas Tech runs the spread. So does West Virginia. But they do completely different things out of it.

    The key to beating the spread is to do the opposite of your gut instinct. You gut instinct is to run a cover 3 with eight guys in coverage. What you should do is blitz the hell out of it, and find out just how good that quarterback is.
     
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