M
Moostache
Guest
I have been thinking about this a lot since the MU-KU game on Saturday night. Both of those teams ran essentially the same spread offense - to varying degrees of success, and when forced to compare those team's offenses to this year's offensive Notre Dame "offense" I started thinking back on some of the great ND teams past...like 1988 - 1993 and to a lesser degree 2005-2006. I was torn based on the results (obviously it is hard to overlook a 64-9 record and multiple bowl wins and a MNC!!!), but ultimately I concluded that I personally like the Pro-style, Weis offense of 2005-2006 better than anything else.
Better than the Holtz-pseudo Wishbone look from 1988 through 1993 (although I OBVIOUSLY prefer to have THOSE on-field results!!!). Those teams NOW seem to have been a lot more exciting than they actually were because NOW we only look back and remember the highlight reel runs and the big returns and PA passes to Rocket...in general though, it was 3-yards and a cloud of dust offense and occasionally we threw a PA pass to a TE or to a WR on streak route, but mostly we pounded the ball over and over and over....even then, and even though I HATED them - then and now - I had to admit that Miami ran an offensive style that I liked more....
Better than the current WVU "spread option", which is essentially nothing more than the Wishbone with a direct snap to the FB (in this case White playing "QB")....I also find myself with a strong dislike of Rodrigez (sp), so the WVU offense is not something I enjoy at all...
And better than the spread option (really a slightly modified "run-and-shoot") being run in places like MU, KU, UF, UofI and others...although I really like elements of those offenses that USED to be part of the Weis offense until this year.
I miss the slants and hooks and short swings to WRs that worked like long handoffs and gained 7-12 yards at a pop....
I miss the seasm rotues to TEs for long gains....
I miss successful screens - and cannot figure out how or why Junior Jabbie was the best option for ND on screens all year!!!!
I miss goalline PA passes that go for easy TDs.
I miss successful draw plays to beat the blitz (instead of allowing free run to a QB or RB).
I saw ALL of those things in the MU-KU game....and I was used to seeing them under Weis' offense too! The "spread" may be all the rage right now because a lot of teams are finding success with it, but at its core, teh spread is not much more than any other offense - highly dependant upon the degree of expertise and ability of the QB running it!
Watching these other spread offenses hit receiver after open receiver, I also missed precision route running, creating separation from the defense and timing throws that get the ball into a playmaker's hands while moving! (ONE time I saw a swing pass to Golden Tate on Saturday....it went for a 5-yard gain - utterly destroying our yards-per-play average on first down runs for the year - and then it went away and was never called again....Weis at one time called 7 straight screen plays against Tennessee....yet this year we abandoned things too fast in a fruitless search for the one thing we could not have without time and repetitions - consistency!
In the end, I believe that we will see more of the 2005-2006 offense in the next 2 years and hopefully far, far less of the 2007 vintage. Like a great vineyard with a bad year's product, we will just order some vintage 2005 or 2006 for next year and I will return to being a happy camper, watching my favorite team win games while featuring my favorite style of offense!
**Side note - Reesing is KU's sophomore QB and Daniel is MU's junior QB. Both are still "young players", but both are also "system QB's" that ran this exact same offense in HS ball in Texas. Many times I have heard people take a swipe at Clausen by saying - well, look at these other QBs that put up much better numbers! Once Jimmy is fully-healed (as only an extended break from playing can allow) and starts on his first full off-season of preparations in college, I expect we will see a totally different QB emerge next year!
Better than the Holtz-pseudo Wishbone look from 1988 through 1993 (although I OBVIOUSLY prefer to have THOSE on-field results!!!). Those teams NOW seem to have been a lot more exciting than they actually were because NOW we only look back and remember the highlight reel runs and the big returns and PA passes to Rocket...in general though, it was 3-yards and a cloud of dust offense and occasionally we threw a PA pass to a TE or to a WR on streak route, but mostly we pounded the ball over and over and over....even then, and even though I HATED them - then and now - I had to admit that Miami ran an offensive style that I liked more....
Better than the current WVU "spread option", which is essentially nothing more than the Wishbone with a direct snap to the FB (in this case White playing "QB")....I also find myself with a strong dislike of Rodrigez (sp), so the WVU offense is not something I enjoy at all...
And better than the spread option (really a slightly modified "run-and-shoot") being run in places like MU, KU, UF, UofI and others...although I really like elements of those offenses that USED to be part of the Weis offense until this year.
I miss the slants and hooks and short swings to WRs that worked like long handoffs and gained 7-12 yards at a pop....
I miss the seasm rotues to TEs for long gains....
I miss successful screens - and cannot figure out how or why Junior Jabbie was the best option for ND on screens all year!!!!
I miss goalline PA passes that go for easy TDs.
I miss successful draw plays to beat the blitz (instead of allowing free run to a QB or RB).
I saw ALL of those things in the MU-KU game....and I was used to seeing them under Weis' offense too! The "spread" may be all the rage right now because a lot of teams are finding success with it, but at its core, teh spread is not much more than any other offense - highly dependant upon the degree of expertise and ability of the QB running it!
Watching these other spread offenses hit receiver after open receiver, I also missed precision route running, creating separation from the defense and timing throws that get the ball into a playmaker's hands while moving! (ONE time I saw a swing pass to Golden Tate on Saturday....it went for a 5-yard gain - utterly destroying our yards-per-play average on first down runs for the year - and then it went away and was never called again....Weis at one time called 7 straight screen plays against Tennessee....yet this year we abandoned things too fast in a fruitless search for the one thing we could not have without time and repetitions - consistency!
In the end, I believe that we will see more of the 2005-2006 offense in the next 2 years and hopefully far, far less of the 2007 vintage. Like a great vineyard with a bad year's product, we will just order some vintage 2005 or 2006 for next year and I will return to being a happy camper, watching my favorite team win games while featuring my favorite style of offense!
**Side note - Reesing is KU's sophomore QB and Daniel is MU's junior QB. Both are still "young players", but both are also "system QB's" that ran this exact same offense in HS ball in Texas. Many times I have heard people take a swipe at Clausen by saying - well, look at these other QBs that put up much better numbers! Once Jimmy is fully-healed (as only an extended break from playing can allow) and starts on his first full off-season of preparations in college, I expect we will see a totally different QB emerge next year!
