Bored With The Spread O

[Boom_70]

Watching a lot of football this past week I've decided that there is a lot of teams that should not be running the spread O. Either they don't have the overall team speed or a QB that can can throw the ball all over the field. For the teams that run it well its fun to watch ( see Florida, WVU)

All these offenses look like clones of each other - QB takes the snap , reads DE and either hands to back or runs it . No imagination.

 

[GB-Hack]

I can definitely see where you're coming from here. There's a match-up of two teams that run it with South Florida and Oregon playing in the Sun Bowl this afternoon.

I think part of it is that teams like WVU and Florida/Urban Meyer's former teams have had success with the system, so it's become the trendy offense to run, especially for teams with athletes.

In the end, you'd think that teams will figure out how to defend it, and offenses will move in another direction.

 

[ondeadline]

For a second, I thought this was a dirty thread.

 

[Boom_70]

I can definitely see where you're coming from here. There's a match-up of two teams that run it with South Florida and Oregon playing in the Sun Bowl this afternoon.

I think part of it is that teams like WVU and Florida/Urban Meyer's former teams have had success with the system, so it's become the trendy offense to run, especially for teams with athletes.

In the end, you'd think that teams will figure out how to defend it, and offenses will move in another direction.

Oregon O was built around Dennis Dixon. His backups can't run it.

This is year that it has hit critical mass. Defenses have not caught up yet.

 

[Boom_70]

For a second, I thought this was a dirty thread.

No - 21 always keeps things interesting. I'll never get bored in that area.

 

[Chef]

Dump the Spread.

Go with the Run-N-Shoot.

5 and 6 wide out sets. Give me something that is fun to watch.

3 yards in a cloud of dust= Chef asleep by the 8:00 mark in the first quarter.

 

[statrat]

Bring back the Double Wing!

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Watching Air Force right now is a lot of fun. The option attacks they and Navy run will never get old to me. And when coaches throw me a wishbone once in a while, well, I get all tingly inside.

 

[zagoshe]

Watching a lot of football this past week I've decided that there is a lot of teams that should not be running the spread O. Either they don't have the overall team speed or a QB that can can throw the ball all over the field. For the teams that run it well its fun to watch ( see Florida, WVU)

All these offenses look like clones of each other - QB takes the snap , reads DE and either hands to back or runs it . No imagination.

How is that any different than any other offense? Good players and exciting players will make every offense exciting to watch, even so-called traditional "pro-set, I-form" offenses we are told are becoming out dated

Hawaii runs a run-and-shoot and it is fun to watch because they have a great quarterback. If they had a crappy QB, it would be awful to watch and the games would take six hours because of all the incomplete passes.

WVU runs a spread with a fast QB and set of tailbacks and it is fun because every play could go the distance.

Navy hardly throws but it is fun to watch because it is so effective and that is mostly because they have a very smart QB who is excellent at running it.

So in other words, it isn't about the schemes -- schemes come and go -- it is about the players.

I'm quite sure Pat White would be fun to watch in just about every offense and the same can be said for a guy like Tim Tebow or a Darren McFadden.

 

[Oz]

Watching a lot of football this past week I've decided that there is a lot of teams that should not be running the spread O. Either they don't have the overall team speed or a QB that can can throw the ball all over the field.

KU switched to the spread offense, and I'm OK with that, because the Jayhawks have gone from 6-6 and sitting at home during bowl season to 11-1 and playing the Orange Bowl. The spread offense had a lot to do with that.

The Jayhawks might never get premiere skill position players -- this year they started a 5-10 QB and a RB who was a former walk-on who didn't have much of a career before this senior redshirt season. But they can get good enough players to run it, which helps control the ball, control the clock and dictate game plans. I'm not sure KU is playing a BCS bowl without the spread offense.

Mizzou can probably make the same argument. The success they've had with Chase Daniel has elevated that program to a place it hasn't been since 1960.

Re: spread offenses being clones of each other, I'm not so sure about that. Does anyone run the spread quite like Pat White? The Mountaineers run the ball like crazy. Florida goes for balance with a quarterback who doubles as a fullback. KU goes for gimmicks with formations that I never could have imagined. Mizzou's spread featured two tight ends, not so much receivers. There are differences in how the spread offense is run, no matter where you look.

 

[Kaylee]

Boom, I could not agree more. If I had to pick one thing to explain my interest in football being on life support, I'd offer up the spread.

It's all a matter of taste I suppose, but I enjoy contact and power over finesse and speed. Plus, one of the things I used to like about the college game was that so many teams had their own signature styles of offensive football. Growing up, I would watch Nebraska's triple option, Florida's fun-and-gun and Kansas' unique Throw An Interception scheme.

I feel that the spread has made the game homogeneous, even all the way down to the prep level now. While I do think it's fun to watch the spread if you have a dual-threat QB like Juice Williams or the like, more often it's just a parade of sameness.

I know the game is cyclical, and defenses will ultimately catch up. Until then, it's unfortunate that so few coaches have the requisite frijoles to try something different. Someone please tell me how Arkansas, for example, would not have been formidable running the Wishbone this season.

 

[Boom_70]

Watching a lot of football this past week I've decided that there is a lot of teams that should not be running the spread O. Either they don't have the overall team speed or a QB that can can throw the ball all over the field. For the teams that run it well its fun to watch ( see Florida, WVU)

All these offenses look like clones of each other - QB takes the snap , reads DE and either hands to back or runs it . No imagination.

How is that any different than any other offense? Good players and exciting players will make every offense exciting to watch, even so-called traditional "pro-set, I-form" offenses we are told are becoming out dated

Hawaii runs a run-and-shoot and it is fun to watch because they have a great quarterback. If they had a crappy QB, it would be awful to watch and the games would take six hours because of all the incomplete passes.

WVU runs a spread with a fast QB and set of tailbacks and it is fun because every play could go the distance.

Navy hardly throws but it is fun to watch because it is so effective and that is mostly because they have a very smart QB who is excellent at running it.

So in other words, it isn't about the schemes -- schemes come and go -- it is about the players.

I'm quite sure Pat White would be fun to watch in just about every offense and the same can be said for a guy like Tim Tebow or a Darren McFadden.

It's different because there are teams running the spread that do not have the right personal to run it. It's also an offense that can be too dependant on one person that if hurt kills the team ( see Dennis Dixon) .

I love to watch teams like Florida run it because they run so many multi sets.

 

[Write-brained]

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but since no one else has brought it up yet: Coaches like the spread because it levels the playing field for teams who have speed but not the Size and speed of players at the big schools.

Teams went to the spread because they were tired of watching the Big Schools' d-lineman and linebackers run over their puny lines. Now the big schools have to put a bunch of dbs back there.

Size+speed is harder to come by than just speed.

 

[Boom_70]

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but since no one else has brought it up yet: Coaches like the spread because it levels the playing field for teams who have speed but not the Size and speed of players at the big schools.

Teams went to the spread because they were tired of watching the Big Schools' d-lineman and linebackers run over their puny lines. Now the big schools have to put a bunch of dbs back there.

Size+speed is harder to come by than just speed.

Coaches are also lemmings. Offense should come with warning - "not for everyone".

When a team runs it well its great to watch . But the teams who stick with the option read and toss a bubble screen every now and then - yuck .

The spread works well when you either have a QB who is very fast or a QB that can toss the ball all over the field.

 

[Rumpleforeskin]

Watching Air Force right now is a lot of fun. The option attacks they and Navy run will never get old to me. And when coaches throw me a wishbone once in a while, well, I get all tingly inside.

I have to agree with you here. Air Force brings out some different packages. Not to mention that punting formation. What is that?

 

[zagoshe]

Wait a second?

It is an offense that is too dependent on one player?

Did you watch the Colts game last night? That "traditional" offense sucked pretty bad with Peyton mannning out of the game didn't it?

Take Hershel Walker out of the Georgia Bulldogs offense way back and see how effective it is.

Again -- all of these arguments against the spread are silly because EVERY offense -- single wing, triple wing, run-n-shoot -- is dependent on its best players.

You take Tim Tebow out of Florida's offense, it wasn't nearly as effective.

You take that Kaipo guy out of Navy's offense, I bet it doesn't work out very well.

 

[hondo]

Not for nothing, but here are Steve Slaton's stats in West Virginia's last three losses, plus the Gator Bowl:

2007
Pitt 9-11
USF 13-54

2006
Gator Bowl (Ga. Tech) 3-11
USF 18-43

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Zag, Navy's offense ran like a well-oiled machine before Kaipo had even left the islands of Hawaii. They've had some real good QB's in the past, such as Ben Fay and Chris McCoy when Johnson was the OC there in the 90's. Then he came back as coach and QBs like Aaron Polanco and Lamar Owens also ran it well. Same for Craig Candeto. They've also helped by having some great fullbacks plow through there, like Tim Cannada and Adam Ballard. The past several years the parts have been interchangeable. In fact, when Kaipo took over last year, he struggled at first, in part because he started as a receiver and moved back.

 

[zagoshe]

What year was it when the starting quarterback broke his arm and the team's production dropped way off (Navy)? was it last year or the year before?

 

[zagoshe]

And just for the record -- it seems as if Oregon -- with a few extra weeks to prepare the back-up is doing just fine today. And the Ducks weren't bad on offense in their last game against Oregon State either.