Upset Saturday, parity in college football, and the rise of System offenses

Oct 08, 2014

Not long ago, balanced, professional style offensive systems ruled college
football. Just 10 years ago, the final 2004 AP Poll read like a randomly
assembled list of traditional college football powers: USC, Oklahoma, Georgia,
LSU, Florida State, Miami, Texas, Michigan, Ohio State, and West Virginia.
True, Texas ran a version of the spread offense, but to take advantage of one
of the great talents in college football history (Vince Young), not because the
coaching staff had a history rooted in a non-traditional offense. The only team
running a true system offense was not surprisingly the only nontraditional power of the bunch: Rich Rodriguezs spread option West Virginia
Mountaineers.

Fast forward to October 4th, 2014. For the first time in the history of the AP
Poll, five of the top eight teams lose in the same weekend. Oregon, which
became a power on the strength of Chip Kellys hurry up spread option
system, is cut down by the Arizona Wildcats, with you guessed it Rich
Rodriquez at the helm. Juggernaut Alabama and their pro style offense are
chopped down by traditional also-ran Mississippi and their version of the
packaged hurry up spread. Mississippi State another SEC second thought
dominates Texas A&M. UCLA is edged by former mid-major Utah. TCU who
from 1996-2011 bounced between the Western Athletic Conference,
Conference USA, and the Mountain West Conference takes out Oklahoma.

Come Sunday, half of the top 10 was made up of non-traditional powers:

Mississippi State, Mississippi, Baylor, TCU, and Arizona.

System offenses have a set ideology and method for attacking a defense. It
does not mean that they are unbalanced in terms of run/pass ratio (as many
people assume), but it does mean that they have a strong identity of plays
and formations and a consistent methodology for attacking a defense. The
wing t did it with multiple series and an order of playcalling designed to put
defenders in conflict. The split t, split back veer, wishbone, and flexbone did it
by building around the triple option and taking advantage of defenses
designed to stop that play. The run and shoot did it with after the snap option
routes designed to defeat any defensive look. The list goes on

The key to the hurry up spread the current system du jour is that any, and
almost every, previous system can be adapted to the spread. Many teams
couple the spread with the Air Raid, itself a simplified adaptation of the old
LaVell Edwards BYU passing offense. Rodriquez, Kelly, and many others base
their offense on zone running and option concepts. Auburns Gus Malzahn has
coupled it with the wing t. Cals offensive coordinator Tony Franklin has roots
in the Air Raid, but now seeks run/pass balance with a variety of creative runs
passes, and packaged concepts.

The beauty of the variety of spread offenses is that most of these offenses do
not require a roster loaded with 5 and 4 star recruits in order to succeed.
Instead, a good personnel fits for the offense are of the utmost importance.
An offense can be designed in order to take advantage of lower tier recruits
who are hand picked to fill the roles that will make that offense successful.
And because the offenses are adaptable they can highlight the strengths
and hide the weaknesses of a roster that is built with lower tier recruits.

When pro style offenses ruled the day, the traditional powers dominated the
recruitment of prototypical players to fit those offenses. With superior talent,
the pro style quarterback could hand off to the prototypical running back or
throw a play action pass to the future NFL tight end or wide receivers behind
an offensive line made up of prototypical maulers.

Rich Rodriguez, with future NFL return man Rasheed Marshall at quarterback,
helped changed the status quo. Now, if you couldnt recruit the towering
pocket passer with the rocket arm, you look to recruit the spindly speedster. If
you didnt have any luck finding the 63 wide receivers or the pro style tight
ends, you put an under recruited, undersized athlete in the slot (Wes Welker
at Texas Tech being perhaps the most famous example), and play without a
tight end. Cant find the future NFL road graders in the line? Thats okay
recruit speed and technique, and make it work in your system.

In short, the rise of the system offenses in college football has led to more
coaches being able to better utilize the talent of more athletes, which has
evened the playing field with the traditional elite programs. This evened
playing field will continue to lead to more parity, more upsets, and a more
exciting product. And it isnt just the spread offenses that are making waves.

Georgia Tech, with their flexbone triple option, which traces roots back to the
Don Faurot split t of the early 1940s, lurks undefeated at the bottom of the
top 25

Posted by Keegan Dresow