Tennessee to the triple option!

#52
#52
The lone comment at the bottom of the article made a whole lot more sense than the article itself.
 
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#53
#53
And it doean't work against a big athletic defense.

That's the real problem.

We could go to a bowl game every year, but we'd likely never beat teams like Alabama, Georgia, and Florida with an offense like that. Elite defenses can stop it. You'd need the perfect players to run it and there aren't a lot of elite "triple-option" prospects out there. And you also need the "perfect coach" to run it. Paul Johnson's ability to read defenses is superb and he still couldn't get over the hump at GA Tech. 11 seasons at GT and only two 10-win seasons. He went to bowl games most of the time, but never could be elite (albeit, he came close in 2014).
 
#54
#54
That's the real problem.

We could go to a bowl game every year, but we'd likely never beat teams like Alabama, Georgia, and Florida with an offense like that. Elite defenses can stop it. You'd need the perfect players to run it and there aren't a lot of elite "triple-option" prospects out there. And you also need the "perfect coach" to run it. Paul Johnson's ability to read defenses is superb and he still couldn't get over the hump at GA Tech. 11 seasons at GT and only two 10-win seasons. He went to bowl games most of the time, but never could be elite (albeit, he came close in 2014).

Doesn't even have to be an elite defense to stop it, just takes preparation. If GA, FL hell even KY were facing a triple option every year they would spend more time on it. It works every now and them because most coaches and players today rarely see it.
 
#55
#55
I dunno...last year they played Miami to a point and this year beat them and based on Richt's time at UGA, those are some big boys with elite speed in the back end. I know Miami had a lot of injuries this year.
 
#56
#56
A journo trying our coaches what is WISE for a hire. You can't make this stuff up.

Let's put it this way. I think that everyone around here recognizes Georgia Tech as a vastly-inferior football program to Tennessee even after our decade mired in mediocrity. The Yellow-Jackets are located in a fertile recruiting ground, sure, but pretty much everything else is working against them; GT is an afterthought in their own state, their athletic department isn’t rich, academic standards are quite lofty and they play a really quirky style of football.

But, yet, their classes typically come in ranked in the 50s… and, more importantly, they win games! Since Paul Johnson took over the Yellow Jackets, they’re .578 with a conference title, four divisional championships, a legitimate NY6 bowl victory and 8 bowl appearances. In that time span, Tennessee is .485 with none of those accolades and only 5 appearances in bowl games. Sure, GA Tech plays in the ACC as opposed to the SEC, but this is a team that consistently recruits in the bottom half of their conference that still winds up in the title game despite being in the same division as Clemson (who didn’t become modern Clemson until around six years ago, of course) and Florida State! Georgia Tech rarely wins big, but getting blown out is just as infrequent; GA Tech plays close games and wins more of them than they lose, which is a hell of a lot more than the Vols can say at this point.

The option definitely helps to mask talent/size deficiencies, two issues that are unquestionably plaguing the Volunteers right now. I still don’t think you could recruit anywhere close to the talent a school like Tennessee wants while running the option, but is it that unreasonable to assume that UT could easily pull top 20/top 30 classes with this offense if Georgia Tech can rank in the 50s? I don’t think that Tennessee will ever adopt that option, but any program of a similar stature that did would absolutely guarantee themselves as playoff contenders in the near future.
 
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#59
#59
Remember....

LSU Oregon


Arguably the best team the ducks had and LSU Defense stuffed them.

While it’s the not TO the result was the same
 
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#60
#60
Doesn't even have to be an elite defense to stop it, just takes preparation. If GA, FL hell even KY were facing a triple option every year they would spend more time on it. It works every now and them because most coaches and players today rarely see it.
Well we recently had an entire off-season to prepare for it...
And we came up with a defensive line playing 2 yards off the line and a trashcan.
 
#62
#62
I remember the 2 bowl games Nebraska killed us running it. More or less the read option is just another version of it or can be.
 
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#63
#63
The problem with the flexbone ( like ga tech runs ) is not the X's and O's, it's the jimmies and Joe's. The offense is sound, but enough talented kids on both sides of the ball don't want to come to a team that runs the ball 80% of the time. Notice I said on both sides of the ball. The NFL, and all money making forms of pro football, utilize the pass game. Offensively and defensively, as a recruit, you want to mature in the throw game. Exploiting it and defending it.

What we would see at UT if we went to this offense is a mass reduction of good talent on offense and defense over time. Once we ran into teams well versed in containing the flexbone ( which, eventually most of our sec opponents would become ), and with equal to superior talent, we would struggle to win.

IMO, this would be a mistake.

The Nebraska option is/was not the flexbone. They ran little triple option. Nebraska football under Osborne in the 90's was first and foremost a power rushing attack ( under center, I form, and two te sets ), and once they proved to you they could consistently gain 3.5 yards per Carry with the power run game, and got you run blitzing to stop them, they hit you with the spd and load option and out numbered the defense on the perimeter. I would rather go to the nebraska style power run game, with option sprinkled in off that power run game, than to go to the flexbone, but that is just my preference ( mainly because it is safer to run. The flexbone suffers from a need of excellent timing and the QB has to be seasoned to read where to go with the ball every single play, whereas with the Nebraska option the majority of the time the QB is turning around and handing the ball off. Spd and load option were only used around 20 to 30 percent of the time, and, obviously the QB had to make good post snap reads on those plays ). Now, we would have to be able to somehow find very talented offensive linemen to execute this offense ( for this offense suffers from the same problem as the flexbone in that you rarely pass the ball just as nebraska minimally passed the ball ) which I suspect we would have to find this talent in state. Really talented off linemen wouldn't want to come here to predominantly run block, but, you have a better chance of snagging really talented off linemen if they grew up on UT football. Also, on defense we would have to benefit primarily on in state talent because the majority of talented defenders would want to practice against an offense that utilizes more throw game principles.

Like I said, same recruiting/talent problems as the flexbone, but a much safer offense to run as far as turnovers. And penalties, now that I think about it
 
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#64
#64
You do realize that the QB who ran that version is now the head coach of Nebraska. He doesn't even run it. Does anyone in this thread wonder why?

I do realize that and I have a theory: Frost is a QB, whether he was an option QB or not, he is still a QB and every QB loves to throw the ball and is fascinated with developing passing concepts. So, perhaps, the spread is that much more appealing to him.

The spread/zone read is an awesome offense. I personally think the flexbone and that style of play (Ball control + great defense) will eventually come back in a big way, just as a counter measure to the spread. If everyone does the same thing (spread), won't the team with the best athletes always win?

The spread/zone read actuallly evolved as a way for smaller teams to compete with bigger, faster, stronger athletes - I know this because I played college ball in the early 2000's when this unique (at the time) brand started being utilized.
 
#65
#65
We've tried it. Battle ran it his last two seasons. He called it the "Tennessee T". He took one of the best WR ever to play (Stanley Morgan) and put him in the backfield where he proceeded to lead the league in sprained ankles running into DL and LB all the time.
 
#68
#68
The way I've come to look at, if you have the players, you can run anything. I remember when Nick Saban was griping about tempo offenses, now look at them...under center, shotgun, power, option...new coordinators every couple years...it doesn't matter...jimmys and joes.
 
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#70
#70
Another issue I have is that's it's not a offense known for it's quick strike ability and if you get behind a few scores it's close to impossible to catch back up.
 
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#71
#71
tenor.gif
 
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#74
#74
Undersized teams run it because they can’t physically block big teams. It would take Tennessee years and years to get it right if at all.
If the past two seasons have been any indication, our OL has had trouble blocking most teams, big or small.
 

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