OT: Anybody becoming a "spread offense elitist"?

Submitted by NateVolk on

I was pretty fried after the super Michigan game yesterday and chilled watching the other games. I basically focused in on the offenses except for Penn State where I tried to figure out both. The line up was as follows? Like 6 hours of really fast thumb wrestling that lasted until 1:30.

UVA v. USC

Stanford v. UCLA

Oregon v. Tennessee

PSU v. Bama

Like 6 hours of really fast and tiring thumb wrestling that lasted until 1:30.

UVA, USC, Tennessee, Bama were pure pro set every down that I watched, with some extra receivers peppered in on passing downs. Here and there, Stanford and  Penn State looked like it ran a little of the spread in the Texas Tech mold but with less receivers.  But not every down. Hard for me to tell but looked more pro style.  UCLA ran the Indiana Pistol we saw last year, but last night it shot blanks.  Ugly. Oregon was a lot like us.  

I have watched a million games, but in reality you can take what I know about attacking a defense, roll it into a ball, and shove it up a fly's ass.  

To me the only offense that looked like it could have competed against any of the defenses on those fields was Oregons and Michigans. Stanford and Alabama had excellent defense,s with USC right behind.  

From a visual standpoint and the demands it placed on the defenses, the pro set attacks appeared to be way easier to defend.  These reasons that stood out: the quarterback was rarely a regular factor running eliminating a huge worry for the defense and taking one player off the chess board, the formations were the same play to play making it less guess work, there was no legitimate threat to run on an obvious passing down and distance, and the amount of field that was being used didn't tax the defense.

Oregon on the other hand was wearing down their opponent and forcing all sorts of oddball packages and rotations.

The recurring feeling was Tennessee has to play perfect or it was 6. Like handling a plutonium rod with an egg shell coating.  You got the same feeling during our game when we had the ball.

We are dealing with a continuing development period but it is looking very worth it.  In light of Armani's comments this week about the offense, I have to say that I disagree with him.  This style is very exciting to watch and explosive.  Underdog teams like UVA and Penn State would have been better off being more unconventional. 

Plus, not every team has a defense like Bamas and Ohio States, or guys like Ronald Johnson on USC where it pays to be more vanilla. 

Maybe being 2-0 and watching a guy like Denard is making me a spread snob or something. But I thought the same thing last year during Tate's run as starter. 

Do you other Michigan fans look at our offensive style more positively the more you watch it?

 

Hoken's Heroes

September 12th, 2010 at 9:39 AM ^

Dienhart doesn't seem to realize that the spread works because it exploits weaknesses in D's. It doesn't have to be complex plays just as long as you EXECUTE it well and UM has been executed RichRod's style of football the best it has ever done and it will get better!!!

 

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1125056

 

This is where Dienhart doesn't get it:

Honestly, Michigan really doesn't seem to have much of an offense. The plays called were ordinary: read options, quarterback keepers, draws. But the guy running the plays was extraordinary.

It was a brand of football usually reserved for the backyard, recess and the front lawns of fraternities: Just give the ball to the fastest and most athletic person -- and stand back and watch him run.

Not a Blue Fan

September 12th, 2010 at 9:49 AM ^

Yeah, I agree. Dienhart doesn't seem to understand how football is played. The Zone Read is simple? Well no shit, it's the offense's base play. It should be simple and, if run properly, work every time. Once ND starts to cheat and rotate the defense to stop it, the wrinkles come out (e.g. that great fake-read quick slant for TD). An offense doesn't need to be complicated in order to work well.

phjhu89

September 12th, 2010 at 9:58 AM ^

Deinhart (and others) not getting it - at the same time they are praising Denard for his "electric play" they are subtly slamming him by completely downplaying the role execution and decision-making play in both his and the offense's success.  Deinhart's argument smells like the ones that have made it so hard for African-American QB's to get a shot as QBs in the NFL.