A while back, we had a trivia contest on HP, with the winner getting a chance to put up a blog entry on any subject he or she wanted.
The winner was all-star HP commentator Cody. He emailed me some interesting thoughts on how to counter the spread and here is what he wrote:
The Counterrevolution: Vanilla, Vanilla, Vanilla
As much as I hate to admit it, I was wrong about some of the things that I have said about the Gang of Six and “sophisticated” offenses. On the grand scale, the spread does, in fact, work. Playing an offensive style that is wide open and attempts to score on big plays as opposed to long drives allows teams to put up more points and yards than otherwise would be possible. (The spread option, however, still fits in the gimmick category.)
So all of this stuff we?ve been getting from HP and CFR makes some sense. Apparently the revolution is upon us. Countless examples, from Boise and Bowling Green to West Virginia and Utah, have shown the potential of the spread. It makes the talent gap less important in an individual game. Michigan, in the Alamo Bowl, got caught blitzing a safety and allowed Nebraska to turn a 10-yard slant into a touchdown early in the game. The spread does that to you, and all it takes is 4 or 5 similar plays to get to 30 points.
The great minds don’t rest only in the heads of OCs across the country, however. Defensive coaches are starting to figure this stuff out, and there are signs that there will be a counterrevolution on that side of the ball. Is it fancy zone blitzes that will cross up these QBs? That’s the path that many have taken against the spread, but it isn’t the solution. I get to follow Georgia more closely than anyone (although I do my homework on everyone else), and the UGA defensive coordinator (Willie Martinez) has a new idea that is the basis for stopping the spread. It?s so simple that it’s silly. Rush four, and play zone or man with safeties over the top. Never blitz, unless you have your opponent in an obvious situation, or you are really confident that the gamble will pay off.
The idea behind this is simple. Keep your defenders in passing lanes, trying to eliminate the short passing game. Keep the safeties back, trying to eliminate the big play. Against the run, make sure your linebackers stay at home and don’t run up field and give up a big gain. If you generate sacks with your front four, great, but if you don’t, it’s ok. These spread teams will put themselves in plenty of second and 10s or third and tens based on incomplete passes. If you don’t put too much emphasis on pressure, you will do a better job against screens and draws, and you have taken away some of the offense’s weapons.
Some might think that this is the solution to stopping all offenses, but tight ends and fullbacks on the field make it much more profitable to blitz and take some gambles, forcing bad throws, shutting down the run, etc. The 5 and 7-step drops that traditional offenses throw off of are much more susceptible than most of the timing patterns that the spread teams use. Today, defenses are bigger and faster than they have ever been. The spread does a great job of forcing these athletes to change directions, using their speed against them. Having them stay at home and react instead of attacking is the key to slowing down the spread.
For the record, Georgia faced two true spread teams this year, Boise State and Florida. Boise scored 13 points, mostly in garbage time, and Florida got 14. The Gators’ two TDs came while they had Leak under center and ran straight at UGA. It got to the point where when they came out in the gun and spread out was the only time we were confident we could get a stop. Other schools are using similar schemes, and believe it or not, this simplifying of defense will counter the sophisticated offenses.
HP–Good work, Cody. As I think you noted in a comment a while back, Georgia didn’t use this strategy against West Virginia and that pretty much accounted for the loss. On the other hand, I think Texas used this strategy to good effect against USC–at least enough to slow the Trojans down.
My thoughts on these concepts are constantly evolving and I look forward to coming up with some new permutations in the offseason.
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