Quote:
Originally posted by GAVol@Feb 17, 2005 9:12 AM
[b] Is the single wing all that different from what SC ran under Lou Holtz?
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Yes. A whole lot different. All-American Hank Lauricella led the Vols in passing in 1951. He had 352 yards on the season, 5 TDs and 5 int. To be fair, he also had 881 yards rushing (a single season UT record at the time) with 8 rushing TDs while averaging 7.9 yards-per-carry. His single-season rushing total would not be surpassed until Haskel Stanback rushed for 890 yds in 1972 and then not again until Johnnie Jones had 1116 yds in 1983.
The Vols were very successful with the single wing in the early to mid 1950's. However, the single wing was not as successful in the early '60s. Bowden Wyatt led the Vols to 10-1 (SEC Champs) and 8-3 records in '56 and '57, but the Vols tailed off into mediocrity starting in '58....
'58 4-6
'59 5-4-1
'60 6-2-2
'61 6-4
'62 4-6
'63 5-5
Then Doug Dickey came along, changed the offense and...
'64 4-5-1
'65 8-1-2
'66 8-3
'67 9-2 (SEC Champs)
'68 8-2-1
'69 9-2 (SEC Champs)
The single wing does not use a quarterback. The backfield consists of a tailback, a fullback, a blocking back, and a wingback. The blocking back lines up behind the guard and tackle and calls the cadence. The ball is either snapped to the tailback or the fullback. The tailback has the option to run, handoff, or pass. Neyland's approach was to have more blockers than defenders at the point of attack and of course out physical the other team. However, the single wing was exposed when playing against a fast defense.... if the linebackers rush from the opposite end of the play and make the tackle from behind. You see, a single wing play takes a long time to develop and all the blockers are in front of the runner. The LB trails from behind, there is no one to block him and the runner is tackled. This is actually how Maryland beat Tennessee 28-13 in the 1952 Sugar Bowl after the Vols had dominated the whole season on the way to the 1951 National Championship.