This scheme is comedic. I attended the Cincinnati game, bookending it with weekends at Churchill Downs and Keeneland. The trip was great. The game didn't feel like a defeat. In this offense it felt like we didn't even try.
Such pathetic finesse. Cincinnati had a couple of sturdy linemen but otherwise they were narrow and ripe to be shoved around. The Bearcat fans in the stands alongside me were laughing as we refused to fun the ball with any authority. Early in the game they were rightfully fearful that we could continue to slam them with basic running plays.
It's pure genius to run spread concepts out of the shotgun all game when your quarterback is zero threat to actually pull the ball and run, and doesn't execute the play fake with any competence or conviction. The best spread offenses are heavy run oriented, as I've detailed. We have predictably detoured in the opposite direction, to a pass based spread and all its vulnerability. My particular favorite in that Cincinnati game was 3rd and inches in the 3rd quarter. Instead of taking a simple snap from center and falling forward, like early in the game in the identical scenario, we lined up in the shotgun. I screamed, prompting chuckles from nearby Cincinnati fans. You could see the Bearcat defenders rotate forward, salivating our attack our frailty. The result of that play could not have been less surprising.
I have no idea why we envy second and third tier programs with their wimpy offenses that are thriving in the short term but guaranteed to soften the team in general. Somehow we are dense enough to project that here, with prancing touchdowns but defenses like we fielded in the late '80s and early '90s. Best of luck. Jim Harbaugh's approach fortifies team toughness on both sides of the ball, even if he is lacking in personnel in some areas this year and likely to be exposed down the road.
There are similar threads to this one on USC forums recently, bemoaning the abandonment of offensive power based heritage in favor of cutesy style. Maddening. College football is markedly less interesting for me this season as a result. The two teams I root for have both succumbed.
During Kehoe's first stint I never worried about inadequate running game early in the season. Inevitably it improved later in the season, since we were loyal to drive blocking and basic football. Now we have no identity at all. It varied against Florida State and we'll tinker again this week and next week. Laughable.
I'm sure there have been knocks on Georgia Tech recently. I was ripping them here while they were still undefeated. I saw that the offense had no push up the middle, with a weak interior offensive line compared to last season with Shaq Mason, even while dismantling the first two cupcakes. I remember that from Oklahoma and Alabama in their option primes. They could abuse the corner against weaklings but the stalwart teams stuffed them if the fullback game was frail. But at least those programs have a confident identity. No second guessing. Once everything is in place they can ramble and thrive, like an unexpected Orange Bowl victory. There is no chance of that here with this offense. Kaaya is a pocket type and needs to be in a standard offense with snaps from center, straight ahead power, play action, and routes that cover the field. We continue to be absurdly reliant on outside routes, that inverted V offense I defined two years ago. Now's it's even more pathetic since the sideline routes combine with little threat of a running game to briefly freeze linebackers and safeties.
If we want to change the offense it should be like Ohio State. I mentioned that in the recent bowl season. Meyer always uses foundational concepts like heavy volume power rushing attempts and lethal downfield passing. But it requires quarterbacks who are running threats and susceptible to taking hits downfield.
