I love to read other bloggers as we all get ready for the BCS Title Game.  I have to give kudos to The Wiz for his post which lists the predictions of different writers in the sports world.  Check out his prediction post.

The Wiz also has an article written by Wendell Barnhouse who used to be a writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and now writes for Big12sports.com.  Barnhouse addresses all of the numbers and motivations and other interesting tidbits for the big game.

You can also check out the Fanblogs post.  Also, Adam at Inthebleachers.net posted his thoughts following the ITB Podcast.  I think we all want to see a good game not another SEC blowout.  Of course, some Oklahoma fans have already claimed a national championship.  I think “Superman” will have something to say about that.

With the FedEx BcS National Title Game being played Thursday night in Miami between Oklahoma and Florida, I thought that I would offer the obligatory word or two about the upcoming game.  Since I am a college football blogger, I am supposed to talk about these things.  So, I thought I would title the post, “Passing the Crystal Ball.”  You know that piece of “hardware” they give to the winner of the so-called national championship game.  Of course, the crystal trophy may be in short supply.

Oklahoma and Florida passed whatever test that voters use these days to choose numbers 1 and 2 in the BCS and get the rip to Miami to see who should be ranked number 1.  I seems that voters don’t really know who they are voting for or have any real standards.  Consider this from Dan Wetzel

“The BCS has no set rationale for how or why a school should be ranked – is it record, strength of schedule, whom it beat, whom it lost to, how it won, how it lost? The decision is up to each voter.”

Huh?  No real standards.  Surely that is how they do it in Division I basketball.  Well, the committee who selects the 64 team tournament has a lot of work to do, and they don’t rely on the voters.  Here is more from Wetzel.

“In contrast, the 10-member NCAA men’s basketball selection committee meets throughout the season to compare notes and stay on top of hot teams. It demands comprehensive scouting, sets common criteria and even asks committee members to get out and see teams in person. Then they all meet and hash it out.”

There you have it, it is simply a beauty pageant (check out my comments).  Sure, the computers have something to do with it, but when voters don’t have standards and a full time job, they simply don’t watch teams such as Utah play games until the bowl season.  They are relying on Sportscenter, Sports Illustrated, ABC or CBS for all of their input.  These great media outlets are going to “hype” the teams they cover.

Now that I have gotten beyond my rant, let’s move on to the game.  This game will feature two of the most explosive in modern history.  Florida runs a spread offense, but it is an Urban Meyer specific.  Now, Chris at Smart Football says it is not innovative because he employs concepts and elements that existed before Meyer started using them.  That is true, but the

meshing together of the concepts and the extreme flexibility of Meyer’s offense makes it explosive.  He has merged a myriad of spread concepts making his offense difficult to defend, particularly when you consider the speed and talent on the field.

Oklahoma has set a record for points scored this year.  Much of that can be attributed to the move to a hurry-up, no-huddle offense.  The Sooners seem to score 21 points on every opponent in the first quarter.  They get teams in a hole, and they “pin their ears back” defensively the rest of the game.  The Sooner offense really took off later in the season when running back DeMarco Murray began to feel more comfortable with his knee after an injury last year.

In general, teams win when they can run the football and stop the run with only a rare exception (see Sugar Bowl, Utah).  That should play in Florida’s favor.  They have all of their rushing weapons available, but Oklahoma will

have to without DeMarco Murray.   On the flip side, Florida will have speedy receiver Percy Harvin for the national title game.   What’s more, OU will have to stop Tebow and Company without 315 pound DT  DeMarcus Granger who had back surgery.

Oklahoma still has the passing game, and that should keep the game interesting.  Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford has had few problems staying upright this year as he had a fanatastic year.  But, as in the Texas and TCU games, a pass rush can give him enough problems to be almost average.  You can bet that Florida Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong has studied those games closely.  My pick is Florida.  Let’s see how it turns out.

Kudos. . . .  . Congratulations to the Texas Tech Red Raiders for their thrilling victory over the Texas Longhorns.  Most are saying that this win is the biggest win in Tech’s history.  Texas, of course, was ranked number one and Tech number five, six or seven depending on your poll of choice.  The Double T Nation was euphoric with the Raider win and stormed the field.  I even got a “guns up” symbol from a friend at church.  Ironically, this week, I was reading about another upset of Texas in Lubbock (2002) in the new book Rose Bowl Dreams by Adam Jones.  I hope Adam doesn’t think that I caused his Longhorns to lose.  Great win for Mike Leach and Texas Tech.  They did by stopping the run and running the ball, among other things.

BCS Busted. . . . . Another potential BCS Buster went down on Saturday.  I like to point this out because it was my Arkansas Razorbacks that knocked off the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in Fayetteville, AR.  That was probably another win that fans didn’t expect to get, but I know it was a tough blow to the Tulsa fans.  Maybe next year, huh?

Thursday night thunder. . . . . . . All year, upsets have happened on Thursday night.  TCU has been a part one of them.  This Thursday night, TCU fans hopes it will happen again as the Horned Frogs travel to Salt Lake City, UT to take on the Utah Utes.  As it stands, Utah has the best chance of being a BCS buster.  The Utes are undefeated, and if they win out, will have beaten three top 25 ranked teams.  But, TCU and its fans are doing some dreaming of their own.  The Frogs have only played one bad quarter in a loss at Oklahoma while upsetting BYU a couple of weeks ago and routing Wyoming and UNLV in consecutive games.  Beat Utah on the road, and beat Air Force a couple of weeks later, TCU will be 11-1 with its only loss at Oklahoma and wins over two ranked teams.

Gator High. . . . . . The Florida Gators may be the hottest team in Football.  The Gators have made LSU, Kentucky and Georgia look silly in consecutive weeks.  The Gator offense has averaged 55 points against those three teams.  The defense has only given up 15 total points in the past two weeks.  When I did my most recent top ten update, I ranked Florida ahead of the other one-loss teams.  Now you know why.

Rankings

AP Top 10

1. Alabama (46)
2. Texas Tech (12)
3. Penn State (6)
4. Florida (1)
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma
7. USC
8. Oklahoma State
9. Boise State
10. Utah

Coaches Top 25

1. Alabama (40)
2. Penn State (14)
3. Texas Tech (6)
4. Oklahoma (1)
5. Florida
6. USC
7. Texas
8. Oklahoma State
9. Utah
10. Boise State

I would like to thank LSU and Wisconsin for failing to show up for their games this weekend which allowed me to focus my time Saturday night on the Oklahoma State vs. Missouri game and a real exciting game from Conway, AR featuring the Bears of the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) vs. the Sam Houston State Bearkats and Rhett Bomar.  I don’t usually talk about teams from the Football Championship Subdivision, but it was fun to watch UCA and Sam Houston go at it until the end.  Most people know about Rhett Bomar, but UCA’s QB is Nathan Brown and he is setting records in Arkansas.

Whoo Pig Sooie. . . . I don’t really get to talk about Arkansas unless their relevant, and this year, they’re not.  However, they put an exclamation mark on the end of the Auburn week.  The Hogs upset the Tigers, and fired offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was probably sitting at home laughing.  The Hogs out-did everything statistically and survived their turnovers to pull out the win for the second time in a row on “The Plains.”  Coach Bobby Petrino’s team looks like they might be improving.

BCS Busted. . . . . Just a few weeks ago, we were talking about East Carolina as a possible BCS Buster team.  They had won two in a row over ranked teams including Virginia Tech.  After a 3-0 start, the Pirates have now lost 3 in a row including Saturday’s loss to Virginia.  Yes, the same Virginia who loss at home to USC 52-7, but now has won back-to-back games.

Lions and Gators and Horns, Oh MY! . . . . . . By far the most impressive teams this weekend were the Texas Longhorns, who are now ranked number 1, the Florida Gators, and the Penn State Nittany Lions.  Texas beat Oklahoma, who looked unbeatable thus far, 45-35 in Dallas.  The Gators found their offense and ripped LSU in “the Swamp” 51-21, and Penn State made it look easy at Camp Randall beating Wisconsin 48-7.

Sic’em Bears. . . . . . . Congrats to Baylor for winning their first conference game in two years.  Coach Art Briles has his team playing well, and they may win more than one game this year.  If you haven’t had a chance, take a chance to watch Freshman QB Robert Griffin play.  Griffin has 9 TD passes on the year with 0 INT’s.   Next up for Baylor, the best team in Oklahoma (?).

Continued

5.  Georgia–The Bulldogs are number 1 in the AP poll finishing the 2007 season as the nation’s hottest team.  The Dawgs routed Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl to finish the year.  Georgia struggled early before realizing that Knowshon Moreno was the answer at RB, and the defense rose to dominate once again.  Georgia returns QB Matt Stafford of Dallas’ Highland Park and Moreno at RB along with the core of their defense.  While the Bulldogs return some high profile players such as Stafford and Moreno, they have some holes to fill particularly on the offensive line.  To make matters worse, LT Trinton Sturdivant went down in a preseason scrimmage, and he is out for the season.  The Dawgs also need to find players at WR.  Nevertheless, Coach Mark Richt is one of the best, and the Revival of the Dawgs has been hard to ignore.

4.  Florida–The Gators return All World WR Percy Harvin and All-Around-Great-Guy Tim Tebow, and with an improved running game by an actual RB, their offense may be even more explosive.  The defense was very young in 2007, but if they gained valuable experience they might become much improved by the end of the year.

3.  Oklahoma–The Sooners return all of the players needed to make a run at the National Title.  Sam Bradford has proven himself a good QB, and the defense is usually stout.  Oklahoma will have to overcome the disappointment of their Fiesta Bowl loss to West Virginia, but should be rolling by the Red River Rivalry in Dallas.

2.  USC–Same song, second verse.  That’s how you could describe USC’s preview every year.  The Trojans will have a new QB, but the objectives will be the same.  Win the Pac 10, and have a shot at the National Title.  Mark Sanchez suffered an injury in preseason practice, but he plans on being back.  Few have a better group at Linebacker that USC.  And, Joe McKnight is just beginning his big-play era.

1.  Ohio State–Last year the Buckeyes snuck up on everyone, this year the Ohio State University will be watched closely.  They return their starting QB and RB, and their offensive line is experienced.  The linebacker unit is one of the best in the country led by James Laurinaitis.  They have one of the top 2 or 3 secondaries, and everything has come together for the Buckeyes to make their way back to a third BCS National Title Game.  Even though they lost the first two, the third time might be a charm.  Look for Ohio State to give QB Todd Boeckman more responsibilities in the passing game, and he should reward the coaches by cutting down on the mistakes.  And then, there is the Terrelle Pryor factor.  The coaches may use him like Florida did Tim Tebow his freshman year.  Pryor may become the ultimate change up for the Buckeye offense.

Summary: CFTT Preseason Top Ten

1. Ohio State
2. USC
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida
5. Georgia
6. Clemson
7. LSU
8. Oregon
9. Missouri
10. South Florida

So what teams run the Spread Offense?  Before answering that question, it’s important to know where the Spread came from.  The Spread Offense, by all indications, seems to be a family of football offenses.  Many people credit Rich Rodriguez with inventing or developing the Spread, but he really just invented the version that he runs, an option oriented.  There are many different ways to run the Spread, and for most coaches, it is an attempt to level the playing field against teams with bigger and stronger players.

The beginning of the Spread, or at least a precursor of it, started with coach Rusty Russell of the Masonic Lodge High School football team in Fort Worth, TX according to Jim Dent in his book Twelve Mighty Orphans.  When Russell arrived at the school in the late 1920′s to a begin a football program, he realized his team was undersized and all he had was about a dozen players.  He needed an equalizer.  The offenses he had used previously were not going to work.  Ever the innovator, Russell devised an offense that would help “level the playing field.”  In essence, it was what we call the Spread today.  He utilized space and speed along with an uncommon amount of guts by the small boys to play an offense that did actually depend on power at times.  The Mighty Mites did pass the ball, but not with the kind of frequency you see in many of today’s Spread Offenses.

It is unclear whether anything like the Spread was used between Russell and the Ohio coach that developed what is now referred to as the Run and Shoot.  It is important to note that many years between the 1950′s and 1960′s saw teams use the passing game.  But as the 1960′s began to close, several coaches, especially in the college ranks began to depend on strength and athleticism and settled on strong running games.  They would put their best athletes on defense to stop the other team, and they would control the clock with a strong, methodical running game.  This could seen in such dominant programs as Texas, Alabama, Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State.  The preferred the “three yards and a cloud of dust” mentality.  In fact, the legendary Woody Hayes was credited with the quote, “There are three things that can happen when you pass, and two of them ain’t good.” That is not to say that teams didn’t throw the ball during that time.  Such “finesse” teams as USC used the pass to be very successful.  It just wasn’t the dominant philosophy.  The 1980′s began to change that.  The option became a popular offense out of either the Wishbone or a I Formation.  While Oklahoma and Nebraska were dominant using an run option game in the 1980′s and 1990′s, it questionable as to whether the option might be considered a Spread Offense.  Even more, the passing game began to re-emerge with the advent of Howard Schnellenberger’s Miami Hurricanes.

Modern day versions of the Spread are very different.  Offensive innovators took key elements from the early Spread Offenses and made them unique.  Coaches such as Hal Mumme (New Mexico State), Mike Leach, Rich Rodriguez and Todd Dodge created various hybrid versions of the original.  The idea of the Spread Offense, no matter what version is used, is to spread the defense across the field using wide splits on the offensive line and spread the wideouts all the way to the sidelines creating big running lanes or space for the players to make plays.  At the popular site theSpreadOffense.com, the site claims as its motto, ” Make ‘em defend 53 yards and 6 athletes every play!”

Mumme was the creator of the “Air Raid” and the father of that tree which includes Texas Tech Mike Leach and Tony Franklin (Auburn).  He developed his offense studying the playbooks of former BYU legendary coach LaVelle Edwards.  While I believe that Leach’s Air Raid looks more like a Run and Shoot, it does try to spread the defense across the field.  It is a more pass happy offense, using little or no Tight Ends or Fullbacks.  This offense depends on backs and receivers.

The Run and Shoot was revolutionized by “Mouse” Davis after modifying Ohio high school coach Glenn Ellison’s offense which was created beginning in 1958.  Mouse had a young QB he could polish his offense with by the name of June Jones (SMU Head Coach).  Jones later took the offense with him when he became a head coach after spending some time coaching with Davis for the USFL’s Denver Gold.

Who is the innovator of the Spread Option Offense?  Most people point to Rich Rodriguez, Head Coach at Michigan.  The Spread Option is a hybrid combination of the traditional Spread Offense in terms of formation (three or four receivers and QB in the shotgun) and the Option Offense.  The QB runs the option from the shotgun.  The key is to have a “dual threat” QB, one who can run as well as he can pass.  Rodriguez helped to guide Tommy Bowden’s Tulane Green Wave to a undefeated season in 1998.  The main option is usually called the Zone Read, and Texas’s Vince Young executed it perfectly as a Longhorn leading the Horns to a national championship in 2005.  At West Virginia, Rodriguez led the Mountaineers to three BCS bowls in four years with Heisman Trophy candidate Pat White leading his offense.  Rodriguez’s offenses use a no huddle approach, keeping the defense off balance like in a 2 minute offense.  The other guru of the Spread Option Offense is Urban Meyer who led the Florida Gators to a national title in 2006.  Meyer also led the Utah Utes to a BCS bowl and undefeated season in 2004.  Meyer’s present QB, Tim Tebow is the returning Heisman Trophy winner for the Florida Gators.

Often the Spread takes on a more balanced approach.  While some teams (Texas Tech) pass much more and some teams (West Virginia) run the ball more, some teams are more balanced.  Florida under Meyer is more balanced as underscored by Tebow’s famous 20 TD passes and 20 TD rushes in 2007.  Bobby Petrino, the new Arkansas Razorback coach, claims to have a balanced version of the Spread.  Todd Graham’s Tulsa team was fairly balanced, while leaning slightly toward the pass, in 2008 when they rushed 562 times and passed 564 times.  Compare that with Texas Tech who rushed 246 times, but passed a whopping 763 times.  These teams’ coaches are looking for some balance to the offense, and they usually have a QB is capable of running.  Some of these teams such as Tulsa and Todd Dodge’s University of North Texas Mean Green run a no huddle, and in Tulsa’s case, a hurry up no huddle which was crafted by Offensive Co-Coordinator Gus Malzahn while a high school coach in Arkansas.

Another very different version of the Spread Offense is Chris Ault’s Pistol Offense ran at Nevada.  The QB operates out of a Shot gun formation, but the QB is only 2-3 yards behind the line.

Therefore, the Spread Offense has different family trees.  First, there is the “Mouse” Davis tree which has led to the Run and Shoot version of the Spread Offense.  Then, there is the Hal Mumme tree which has led to the “Air Raid” version of the Spread Offense.  Tony Franklin, who is member of this tree is the new Offensive Coordinator at Auburn and will use more run than the other members of Hal Mumme’s family tree.  The Hal Mumme family tree is preceeded by LaVelle Edwards, former legendary coach for Brigham Young University.  Then, there is the Spread Option family tree.  It really is unclear who the real pioneer is of this offenese.  More than one coach has been given credit for using the “Read Option” or “Zone Read” to develop the Spread Option Offense.  Rich Rod, of course, has gotten credit for the Spread Option, but so has Bill Snyder and Urban Meyer.  What follows is a tree of coaches with eclectic Spread Offense Origins.  Coaches took offenses or particular trends and modified and refined their systems.  Coaches such as Bobby Petrino, Chris Peterson, Dan Hawkins, Steve Spurrier (Fun and Gun),  Gary Pinkel, Todd Dodge, and Gus Malzahn all have influences which come from different places like Bill Walsh’s West Coast Offense, Dennis Erickson, and, frankly, each other.

Given the different types of Spread Offenses that prevail and the various family trees from which they come, which teams will employ the use of the Spread Offense in 2008?

We will list the teams in the next post.

I wrote in a previous post that I would reveal my top ten coaches list. Here is my list. Of course, I know it is a subjective exercise. Most will not agree with me. That’s fine. But I’ll give you my list, and I will also try to explain why. As before, this list is not in ascending or descending order.

1. Jim Tressel, Ohio State University–It’s hard to argue with Tressel’s success at Ohio State. However, he won four national titles in Division I-AA before jumping to Division I-A (now the Bowl Championship Division) to coach Ohio State. In 21 years as a head coach Tressel has 11 Ten Win seasons. Four titles in Division I-AA and one in Division I-A while at Ohio State. His accomplishments should not be diminished by the Buckeye losses in two straight national title games. The Buckeyes will be an early favorite to make a third straight appearance in 2009, and this time they might win the game. Tressel’s ability to lure prize recruit Terrelle Pryor may have been the advantage he needed to win the title.

2. Urban Meyer, University of Florida– Coach Meyer has been head coaching for 7 years, and 3 of those seasons were Ten Win seasons. Remarkably, Meyer has not finished a year as a head coach with less than 8 wins. Meyer is the hot new young coach for most. His Gators expect to be a major contender both in the SEC and nationally during the 2008-09 season behind returning QB and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.

3. Pete Carroll, University of Southern California– Few could argue with Carroll’s inclusion on a Top Ten Coaches list. USC had an astounding 10 players taken in the 2008 NFL draft. Carroll was 6-6 in his first season at USC, but then he won at least 11 games in each of his next six seasons. Carroll led USC to 2 BCS National title game appearances, 2 AP and 1 BCS National Championships, and six straight top 4 finishes. Carroll’s Trojans have either won or tied for the Pac 10 Championship for six straight seasons. In the last three years, USC has been an early season favorite to play in the BCS National Championship Game. Carroll’s resume is impressive.

4. Dennis Erickson, Arizona State University–In 21 seasons as head coach, Erickson has 7 10 win seasons and 2 National Championships. Erickson has coached six different college football teams and is prone to jumping around a bit. Nevertheless, when Erickson takes over a program, he usually makes it a winner. His first year at Arizona State, Erickson led the Devils to 10-3 record and a share of the Pac 10 Championship. Erickson is leading a Devil Storm in the Desert.

5. Bob Stoops, University of Oklahoma–Stoops had a fast start in Norman. In just his second year, the Sooners won the National Championship. Rarely does Stoops lose the annual Red River Rivalry against Texas. Stoops has seven 11 win seasons in 9 years as the head Sooner coach. Stoops’ teams have reached a BCS Bowl 6 different times, winning the first 2.

6. Mac Brown, University of Texas–Brown’s resume was punctuated by a National Championship in 2005 with a thrilling win over USC in one of the greatest 1 vs. 2 and National Championship Games ever. Led by QB Vince Young, Brown’s Longhorns answered every challenge during the year by several teams to make it to the Rose Bowl for the National Title. USC did not have answer for UT’s Young as he scrambled and passed his way to a second consecutive Rose Bowl title and the BCS National Championship. Brown has ten 10 win seasons in 20 years of coaching.

7. Phillip Fulmer, University of Tennessee–Fulmer has nine 10 win seasons in 16 years as head coach of the Volunteers. Fulmer has six SEC East Division Titles (1 shared) and 2 SEC Championships. Fulmer’s Vols have been to two BCS Bowl games and won one National title. Fulmer has a 76.6% winning percentage. All he has done at Tennessee is win. In Knoxville, there are 109,000 screaming fans singing Rocky Talk.

8. Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech University–Beamer has been a head coach for 27 years, yet he still produces good teams. Beamer has nine 10 win seasons including four straight. Bearmer’s teams are usually among the best in special teams, and players regularly compete for a lunch pail.

9. Mark Richt, University of Georgia–Richt has five 10 win seasons in 7 years as a head coach, all at Georgia. Richt’s teams have been to three BCS Bowls and has two SEC Championships. Richt’s ‘Dawgs are many people’s pre-season favorite to win the 2008-2009 BCS National Championship. Georgia rallied last year after two early season losses to finish number 2 in the final polls. The Bulldogs were widely considered the hottest team at the end of the 2007-2008 season.

10. Gary Patterson, Texas Christian University–Patterson’s Horned Frogs have four 10 win seasons in his 7 years as head Frog. Patterson’s teams have finished ranked four times. The Frogs have accomplished all of this during the Patterson era while competing in three different conferences and knocking off teams from BCS conferences. Twice in the Patterson era TCU knocked at the BCS Bowl party door. The Frogs under Patterson have upsets against Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Iowa State. The Frogs recently knocked off Stanford in 2007 the week after the Cardinals upset USC at the Coliseum. The Frogs return a lot of talent to make another run at the Mountain West Conference Title.