The Spread Against Elite Defenses--Sec Slant

[LongJim]

Interesting comments from a Big 12 insider:

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"Part of the reason for so many spread offenses is that the talent bases at the majority of schools in (college football) can't match up with the true powerhouses...and the general philosophy in college football suggests that the spread can be the great equalizer, especially if the right quarterback is available.

The secret to stopping the spread is having a defense that has enough size, speed and raw talent to swallow the damn thing up. Seriously, there's a reason why the college spread offense doesn't translate to the next level and it has everything to do with the ridiculous amount of speed on the field that disables the basics of the offense.

The same principles exist at the college level, but most...teams can't recruit the type of athletes that we're talking about. However, that's not the case in the SEC and it's one of the reasons why high-powered (spread) offenses have struggled in match-ups against elite SEC defenses."

[aztecskin]

Right. I better tell Manning and Brees they can't use none of those spread concepts anymore.

[LongJim]

"Spread concepts" work fine against teams having equal or similar talent--just as traditional offenses do. The Tech/Missouri/Mouse Davis/John Jenkins stuff eventually gets stopped against teams with superior/equal speed. At least that's the point I think he's trying to make.

[greenminer]

Right. I better tell Manning and Brees they can't use none of those spread concepts anymore.

what?

[sports1]

Spread offenses actually were designed for lesser talented schools to complete against more talented schools. See Utah vs Alabama.

[Ole Green Guts]

I think that is crazy. The spread is the equalizer.... you can have less talented linemen (hardest position to find).

[GreenBat]

Matt,

Where are you coaching now?

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

There's alot of truth to this. You think of defensive coordinators who cut their teeth against the spread, like Stoops at Florida before going to OU and Chizik/Muschamp at Auburn before moving on to Texas. Those guys normally crush a true spread.

Yes, occasionally Texas Tech will get up on OU or Texas, but not very often. Plus, the Red Raiders have been shut down by others annually as well. You look at the Big 12 South hardware over the past decade Tech has been running the spread and every year it was OU or Texas in the Big 12 Championship game, not the Red Raiders. Even in their Golden Year of 2008, OU beat the everloving snot out of them, and they just barely squeaked by Texas.

The problem with the spread is that if the defense is killing it, you've got nothing else to turn to. You've spent all of this time implementing it; but, if it's not working, you can't just default down to the run. It's not there for you.

When you've got a defense smothering a spread, it's like Jackie Sherrill cutting the nuts of a Longhorn Steer...it ain't gonna produce nothin' else in it's life ever again except meat for someone else's dinner table. And, for Tech's spread, they were more often than they care to remember putting meat on OU and Texas' plate. And, the Sooner and Longhorn fans will tell you, it was delicious - seasoned so well that they didn't even have to use the steak sauce, ya hear what I'm sezin'?

That's what's great about Texas and OU and others who use the spread as part of a multiple offense attack. They can still hammer your butt running the ball (okay, Texas in 2009 was an exception, but generally they can run it as well). They haven't sold their soul to the spread offense devil. They've got fullbacks and tight ends that will knock your jock in dirt all day long then ask if your mother wants a second helping of it!

For us, it should be different. We don't see the size and speed on defense like OU and Texas throw down week after week; and, especially not in conference play. Maybe Troy comes the closest. But, they'd be hammered dogmeat if they had to go through the Big 12 every year.

In conferences like ours, coaching makes a huge difference. OU and Texas' defenses can cover alot of sins with sheer speed. If your two-deep at cornerback all go the 4.4 speed, you can make a mistake here and there and get away with it. The offensive coaches in the Sun Belt should be able to find weak spots in every defense week after week - yes, even against Troy - because that type of talent and speed just isn't there at every defensive back position.

The difference over the past five seasons for us is that we've had ding dongs running our offenses on both the Dickey and Dodge coaching staffs. I believe those days are gone long gone with the hiring of Mike Canales and Todd Dodge's willingness to turn the whole enchilada over to him.

The days of our offense coordinators having the deer in the headlights gamecalling against Sun Belt defenses are over. It will also help immensely to have coaches paying attention to the game and not worrying about whether or not a defensive back drops an F-bomb on the sideline.

Here's a take home for you as well - I think with Canales calling the shots and shepherding the the QBs you can go ahead and chalk up two wins this season against Rice and Army as well. Go ahead. Chalk them up. I'll take Canales any day of the week to be able to figure out those two defenses as well as the whatever the Sun Belt throw at them, yo. Book it, Dan-O!

Who's going with me?

Edited March 11, 2010 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[greenminer]

welcome back, sir