I am way late doing this.  Waaaaay late.  That is for several reasons for which I will not bother you.  I certainly haven’t been feeling well, but then again, who among us is?  I did see a doctor this morning.  Hopefully, I will be feeling better very soon.  Last night, I came home from work (about 5:15 PM or so CST) and went to sleep and did not wake up until midnight.  I think I finally got some rest.  And, today is a “holiday” for me as I am celebrating Labor Day.  Yeah, I know, that was Monday, but I worked on Monday so today is Labor Day.  Happy Labor Day everyone!

Therefore, I will try to be timely with my recap.  I will decide on a day of the week to do it.  I am thinking about Tuesday so I can use Monday for a Metroplex Monday (recap) where I recap the teams in the DFW Metroplex.  I did a summary of how the three DFW teams (TCU, SMU, and UNT) did at Pegasus News.  It was kind of short, but you can read it here.  One of the fun things I did on the first weekend of football was watch a high school game on Thursday night.  I did a write up on it as well (PegasusNews), but it was a good game that came down to the very end.

What happened to?

Pittsburgh–Pitt was a lot of people’s pick to be a dark-horse in the Big East.  You know, they beat West Virginia at the end of the year, they were turning the program around, etc.  Instead, Bowling Green might get a little love for the MAC.

Mississippi State–Another good win for the WAC as Louisiana Tech beat the Bulldogs.

Texas A&M–I actually thought Arkansas State would give A&M a good game.  Mke Sherman might have not paid attention to the Red Wolves’ (Indians previously) almost upset in Austin last year.  And, that loss might not be quite as bad as all the rivals’ fans think.  For sure, Corey Leonard is elusive and Reggie Arnold is one of the best backs in the Sun Belt, maybe the best.  If A State is close in a game, these two can help them win it, especially if they are healthy.  It’s another shot in the arm for the Red Wolves.

Looking Good

USC–Yeah, the Trojans looked so good, the pollsters put them at the top.  They mopped the floor (uh, field) with Virginia.  Mark Sanchez looks like he is going to be another great QB for USC.  Don’t forget this, USC is always well prepared for opening games.  Sometimes that focus fades as the season drags on.

West Virginia–I wasn’t sold on the new coach, but Pat White showed something else.  He showed he can throw the ball.

Rutgers–Maybe Fresno State is that good.  Wisconsin better be ready on September 13th.

Juice Williams–All we heard coming into the year was that Juice Williams of Illinois can run the ball.  However, Juice had a very prolific passing game against Missouri.  How prolific?  Well, try 26-42 for 451 yards, 5 TD’s.  If he passes every week like the first one, he will have over 5400 passing yards (thanks ESPN.com).

Continued from Part 1

5.  June Jones signs with SMU–After leading Hawaii to the greatest season in history, and launching the Warriors all the way to the BCS promised land, a rout at the hands of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, the Run and Shoot Guru himself was lured away by the SMU Alumni who were willing to Pony Up the cash.  Jones inherits a fairly talented, but downtrodden program which he will make a contender in the Conference USA.  Jones, after moving to SMU, moved Katy, TX QB commit Bo Levi Mitchell to Dallas as well (from a commit to Hawaii), and he, subsequently, went on to be named the starter for the opener against Rice.  June Cometh.

4.  Interesting Coaching Changes–Every year coaching changes happen.  Many happen before the bowl season, therefore, they are not technically offseason.  However, the consequences are felt throughout the offseason as the new staff comes in to their first Spring practices, first recruiting class, etc.  Some of the more interesting hires this year are Houston Nutt from Arkansas to Ole Miss, Rick Neuheisel to UCLA, Paul Johsnon from Navy to Georgia Tech, Bobby Petrino from Atlanta (NFL) to Arkansas, Art Briles from Houston to Baylor, June Jones (see Above) and Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia to Michigan (see Below).

3.  Terrelle Pryor signs with Ohio State–Every year it seems as some kid is the coveted prize of the recruiting world.  Pryor seemed to be wined and dined by the programs and fans who wanted him to sign with their school.  A photo even surfaced of Pryor at a Michigan basketball game talking with Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez.  Pryor delayed his signing, he remained uncommitted, until after he finished his basketball season which went deep because his team won the state championship.  Pryor considered Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State where his father lobbied for him to play.  In the end, the Buckeyes won the prize.  Think Vince Young, only bigger.  Buckeye fans are thinking National Title!

2.  Ryan Perrilloux dismissed from LSU–The highly recruited QB who waited his turn at LSU struggled with off the field probelms.  No need to rehash all of that.  Head Coach Les Miles gave him several opportunities to remain on the team.  Perrilloux showed his abilities last season leading LSU to a win over Tennessee in the SEC Championship game with starting QB Matt Flynn injured.  Without Perrilloux, the Tigers go from defending national champions with a proven QB to defending national champions with no proven QB.

1.  Rich Rodriguez to Michigan and Saga–Rodriguez bailed on the Mountaineer fans.  At least that is how they feel about it.  Rodriguez, a West Virginia Alum, was poised to stay for many years in Morgantown and lead them to the elusive national title.  However, when it was all over, Rodriguez took the Michigan job feeling as if he had been cheated by his employers.  The Hawaii athletic director apologized to fans when June Jones left, no such action from the West Virginia AD.  He and WVU sued Rodriguez for the $4 Million buy out in his contract which Rodriguez claimed was void due to an oral agreement between he and the AD to take out the clause.  Of course, we know, contracts don’t mean anything.  Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor, Rodriguez wasn’t a hit with every player.  QB Ryan Mallet decided to transfer to Arkansas to play in Spread Offense that doesn’t need the QB to run the option like in Rich Rod’s offense.  And, Michigan lineman Justin Boren transferred saying that the “family values” have left under Rich Rod.  And that was only Spring!

Here is my Top Ten Heisman Trophy Contenders.  Most of these guys are already on the radar.  This list is in no particular order.

1. Tim Tebow, Florida–He’s the defending Heisman Trophy winner, and the fist Heisman Trophy winner as a Sophomore.  And, he may have more websites dedicated to him than any other college football player.
2. Chase Daniel, Missouri–He is important to the Missouri offense, so if he stays healthy, he is a part of the, um, chase.
3. Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech–The Air Raid offense at Texas Tech has never had this much talent.  He is big, strong, and fast.
4. Pat White, West Virginia–WVU will depend even more on White to lead its offense with the departure of Steve Slaton.  The Mountaineers already have a website for White.
5. James Laurinaitis, Ohio State–There is always one defensive player everyone wants in the conversation, well this him.  Destined for stardom in the NFL, not the WWE.
6. Chris Wells, Ohio State–Wells opened the BCS National Title Game against LSU with a 65 yard TD run ending the game with 146 yards rushing.
7. Knowshon Moreno, Georgia–Moreno had a stellar Freshman season, and he only started half the games.  He really is a superstar.
8. Graham Harrell, Texas Tech–Last year’s CFTT Offensive Player of the year.  His stats were astounding, but his efficiency may be even more so.
9. Percy Harvin, Florida–Electrifying.  Fast.  If Harvin can stay healthy, his stats will be big.
10. James Davis, Clemson–O.K.  I am listening to everybody else here.  I don’t know much about Clemson, but everyone seems to think that Davis will have a big year.

Possible Surprises

Mike Goodson, Texas A & M
Todd Boeckman, Ohio State
Joe McKnight, USC
LeSean McCoy, Pitt
Ian Johnson, Boise State
C. J. Spiller, Clemson

Here it is. The top 4 magazines’ preseason top ten. You can buy each magazine at your local Borders.

Sporting News has its magazine out now, and in case you haven’t heard, Street & Smith’s has partnered with them.  So, Street & Smith’s annual magazine has been merged into Sporting News’ and the magazine is issued with the Sporting News name.  You can pick one up at your local Borders.  Now for the top ten.

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

I wrote an article outlining the possibility of a weekly air show in the DFW area earlier this month. Now, if I had a mailbag like Stewart Mandel or The Denton Record-Chronical’s Mean Green Blog, I might have an email asking me about the kinds offenses that are used at UNT (The University of North Texas) and SMU (Southern Methodist University). Some may simply ask, “What kind of offense did you say that was?” Others may ask something like, “What is the difference between the No Huddle Spread Offense and the Run and Shoot?”

Now, as if there weren’t enough teams running a spread of some kind, it seems that the Oklahoma Sooners are going to spread it out next year. The Texas Longhorns have runned some version of the Spread Offense dating back to the Vince Young era. Tulsa runs a high octane version of the Hurry Up No Huddle Spread Offense. Therefore, there are many college football teams in the DFW area running something in the way of a Spread Offense.

SMU runs June Jones’ version of the Run and Shoot. The advent of the Run and Shoot dates back to the 1950’s and 60’s when an Ohio high school football coach developed the offense. Jones himself played QB in the Run and Shoot at Portland State under “Mouse” Davis who popularized the offense. Jones has extensive experience running the Run and Shoot in college, the NFL, the USFL (the United States Football League which no longer exists) and the CFL (Canadian Football League). Jones, the Mustang coach, has brought an offensive system to Dallas that he not only has experience coaching and playing, but one in which he was a major part of its own development. The Run and Shoot uses four receiver sets, or double slots. The key to exploiting the defense is the ability of both the QB and the receiver to read after the snap of the ball to what the defense is doing. Such a tactic is called a “hot read.” The “hot read” is still an important element in the NFL even though the Run and Shoot’s use has largely faded from the NFL playbooks. In fact, just playing EA Sports’ Madden football will leave a fan familiar with the concept of the “hot read.” Some of the subsequent reads happen prior to the snap. Often, the QB knows exactly where he is going to go with ball for it is snapped, or least he knows his best options.

The Spread Offense is very similar in that the offense often employs the use of four receivers. The idea is to spread the defense horizontally and sometimes vertically with deep passes. The Run and Shoot also tries to spread out the defense horizontally. What are the differences? For starters, those that run the Spread Offense are not afraid of using a Tight End. Missouri Tight End Martin Rucker was an All-American at that position for Missouri’s Spread Offense. Usually, a team that uses the Spread likes to use a TE or some kind of H Back. With the need for defenses to have extra defensive backs on the field to cover the spread formations, a TE becomes a major match-up problem. An H Back is usually built like a TE or a Fullback. However, in addition to his ability to block, he has the ability to catch the ball. Imagine an extra Cornerback standing at 5’10″ or 5’11″ and weighing 190 lbs covering someone, by accident, who is 6’6″ 255 lbs. So, while the Spread Offense likes to spread out the defense, at times they use a more TE or H Back type player instead of all four receivers.

Another difference between the two formations is how the Spread Offense uses the QB. The QB is called on to make plays with both his arm and his feet. He is the ultimate playmaker on the field. He uses instincts to make a positive play. Coaches usually make the calls from the Press Box based on what kind defense is being run. Often, teams in the Spread Offense do not use a huddle and look to the coaching staff to make the call based on the defense’s alignment. Reads are made before the snap most of the time. However, some teams use a Hurry Up style of No Huddle Offense in which the object is to snap the ball within 3-5 seconds. Such a philosophy does not depend on what the defense is running, particularly because the defense is out of place because of the quick snap of the ball. Other teams, use the run oriented option out of the Spread Offense. West Virginia has been the best example of this under Coach Rich Rodriguez. Some incorporate what is known as the Zone Read. Vince Young excelled using the Zone Read when he was playing at Texas. All of these variations rely on the playmaking ability of the QB with both his arm and his feet. Such a QB is known as a dual threat QB.

A Run and Shoot is usually more geared toward a passing game. Texas Tech’s Air Raid offense is more of a Run and Shoot offense. Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell averaged 54.8 attempts per game. There was not a lot of emphasis on the running game at Texas Tech. As we have seen, the Spread Offense has several different variations which include a pass oriented, a balanced oriented and a run/option oriented. Todd Dodge’s No Huddle Spread Offense is a little more of a passing oriented attack. However, he does like to use the running game. At Southlake Carroll High School, Dodge enjoyed the use of Texas recruit Tre Newton. Further, all of his QBs were mobile and were considered a threat to run the ball.

Now that you know some of the differences between these two offenses, check out SMU and UNT this fall to see how they are used by each team.

Note: A number of websites and webpages were used to help construct this article. Below is a list of those sites and pages.

Americanfootballmonthly.com
Doubleslot.com
Wikipedia Articles Run & Shoot, Spread Offense, Todd Dodge, June Jones, Mouse Davis
Espn.go.com Bob Davie Column
Maddenscecrets.com
ohsfca.org
scribd.com
smartfootball.blogspot
Video from Espn.go.com with June Jones
sports.espn.go.com
thespreadoffense.com
spreadoffense.com
tulsaworld.com: Oklahoma, Todd Graham
usatoday
Video: Colt Brennan demonstrates Run & Shoot
everything2.com
ezinearticles.com