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 (?).

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.

According to Phil Steele, UNT’s 2008 schedule is ranked 92nd toughest out of 120 teams.  If you just take wins and losses of the teams on the 2008 schedule from the year before, UNT is ranked 82nd compared to 96th in 2007.  With their 92 ranking in Steele’s magazine, UNT’s schedule is considered tougher than Texas teams Rice, a UNT opponent, and Houston as well as nearby Tulsa, also a UNT opponent.  With that in mind, let’s take a look at the UNT schedule.

@ Kansas State, August 30, TBA
The Wildcats are known to Texas fans for knocking off the Longhorns the last two years.  In his first year as coach, Ron Prince took the ‘Cats to the Texas Bowl, but last year K State fell apart after a promising start.  The Wildcats return 7 offensive starters and 5 defensive starters and will be relying on some newcomers to get back to a bowl game.

Tulsa, September 6, 6 PM
This will be the home opener for the Mean Green, and it should be rough.  Tulsa had basically the best offense in the country last year with about 543 yards of total offense per game.  This is an interesting match up as UNT Coach Dodge was leading Southlake Carroll High School to the 2005 Texas 5A DII State Championship at the same time that Tulsa Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn was leading Springdale High School to the Arkansas 5A State Championship.  Both coaches employ a hurry-up, no huddle, spread offense.

@ LSU, September 13, 7 PM
Mark this down as a nice pay day.

@ Rice, September 27, TBA
Only once did Rice hold a team to less than 29 points, and that was FCS Nicholls State.  Rice will be looking to get better on defense, but the offense returns 9 starters.

Florida International, October 4, 6 PM
Simply speaking, FIU was the worst team in the nation last year winning just one game, but they beat UNT in the last game of the season.  I guess the Golden Panthers were due for a win.  They return 9 starters on both sides of the ball.  FIU was fairly competitive with most of its Sun Belt Conference foes, just don’t get them mad.

Louisiana-Lafayette, October 11, 6 PM
The Ragin’ Cajuns return 8 starters including the QB on an offense that rushed for 252 yards per game.  In fact, ULL rushed for 300 yards against UNT last year.  The Ragin’ Cajuns finished last year 3-9, and, of course, look to build on that toward a winning record.

@Louisiana-Monroe, October 18, 6 PM
The Warhawks return 7 starters on offense and 8 on defense.  The defense struggled last year, but the offense rushed for 209 yards per game.  ULM finished the season winning 5 of their last 6 after losing to North Texas including a stunning 21-14 upset at Alabama in front of 92,138 fans.  UNT is 3-2 against ULM in the last 5 years.

Troy, October 25, 6 PM
The Trojans, the Alabama version, returns 7 starters on both offense and defense.  Troy has a new Offensive Coordinator after OC Tony Franklin left to take the same position at Auburn.  Troy has been one of the most consistent teams in the Sun Belt the past couple of years winning 8 games in each year including a trip to the New Orleans Bowl as the representative of the Sun Belt Conference.  Trivia:  Ohio State plays back to back Trojans, first USC and then Troy (September 2008).

@Western Kentucky, November 1, TBA
UNT won a thriller last year in Denton, but the Hilltoppers who are still in transition from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Bowl Championship Subdivision, will return 7 starters on offense and 6 on defense.  WKU averaged 247 yards on the ground but a meager 162 through the air.  So, who wants to travel to Bowling Green?

@ Florida Atlantic, November 8, 3 PM
The Owls were the surprise champions of the Sun Belt Conference a year ago when they knocked off Troy at the end of the year to earn the trip to the New Orleans Bowl.  This season FAU returns 10 starters on offense and 8 on defense.  QB Rusty Smith may be the best QB in the state of Florida not named Tim Tebow.  Smith passed for 463 yards in their upset at Minnesota.  For the year, Smith threw for 3688 yards with 32 TD’s and only 9 INT’s.  In 2008, FAU begins the season in Austin against the Longhorns.

@ Middle Tennessee State, November 22, TBA
The Blue Raiders have flirted with the Sun Belt Conference Championship in each of the last 2 years with their best chance in 2006 when they were upset in the last game against Troy to lose the title.  MTSU returns their top QB’s Dwight Dasher and Joe Cradock.  The Blue Raiders return 6 starters on offense and defense.  Despite injuries at the QB position all year in 2007, the Blue Raiders averaged 336 yards per game including 202 yards passing per game.

Arkansas State, November 29, 1 PM
2008 marks the first year as ASU will be called the Red Wolves changing it from Indians per the NCAA.  The Red Wolves returns the dynamic duo of Corey Leonard and Reggie Arnold.  QB Leonard accounted for 3057 total yards of offense for ASU in 2008 for an average of 254 total yards per game.  Arnold was a 1000 yard rusher for the second year in a row, and when he and Leonard are healthy the Red Wolves are dangerous and never out of a game.  However, the Red Wolves lose a lot from a defense that included Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Tyrell Johnson who was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round with the 43rd pick.