Why the spread isn't always the answer

[olivecourt]

Maybe I missed something, but Iowa wasn't running a spread offense in the 4th quarter. They were simply working out of the shotgun. There is a difference. With that said, Vandenberg obviously looked more comfortable out of the shotgun, and given the o-line's mediocre blocking through the first 3 games it's probably a good thing if we work primarily out of the shotgun. I must say I have been very disappointed in our o-line thus far. They were supposed to be the clear strength of the team, but I have not been impressed in the slightest. They haven't been opening holes for Coker, and Pitt's blitzes were owning us for the first 3 quarters.

Thank you. Pitt didn't run the spread either. Most of the threads on this board are taking the spread, the no-huddle, the shotgun, the West Coast offense, and the pass/run ratio and pretending that they are all the same thing. Those same threads then critique the coaching staff for being idiots. Hard to know how to respond to that.

 

[hawkfan2679]

Spread is such an ambiguous term anymore. What we ran yesterday in the 4th quarter was certainly more spread than our normal sets (didn't we run almost exclusively out of 11 personnel, with 3 WR?), but certainly wouldn't be considered spread for, say, Missouri who ran a ton of empty stuff at us in the bowl game last year.

Were we running spread in the 4th quarter yesterday? Depends on your definition...

 

[MelroseHawkins]

He was a shotgunner in HS. Before we go off about how great the shotgun is, let us not forget about the 2-3 muffed Center-QB exchanges we had in 2004 when we had to run it a lot. And that was with Brian Ferentz at center, IIRC, he was no slouch, it just adds one more element of risk to the offensive scheme.

It also takes away, to an extent, the play-action which has been a staple for Iowa once the ground game gets going. The fake hand-off from the shotgun just doesn't have the same effect. A great play action from a couple of nice run gains does.

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

I woudln't recommend the shot-gun approach every play, I wouldn't recommend abandoning our defensive philosophy. What I would like...and what think we need to do, is ADJUST our philosophies when we can't get things going. 24-3... that's when we need to be flexible and...not abandon, but adjust. We can't be so stubborn that we are not open to making adjustments. We did that and got the W. Find out if JVB in the shotgun is good for him, and if it is, stick with our plan but find opportunitites to put him in the situations where he performs best. Iowa and the spread... not happening any time soon... not under KF.

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

Give the coaches some credit this week. They made some positive changes.
1. THey moved Hyde back.
2. They pulled Castillo
3. They moved Alvis the monster of the midway to the end.
4. They got Bernstein involved.
5. They went to hurry-up when they had to.
6. They abandoned the run when needed...

 

[Bigtenchamp]

We stil have a zone read package that we can go to if we are ahead.

Pitt didnt manage the clock well. There was nothing wrong with their offense in the 4th quarter they were snapping the ball with 16 secs left on the playclock.

 

[CP87]

As Hawkfan2679 stated and olivecourt implied, there are no hard definitions of a spread offense. I typically think of a spread-team as one that primarily operates from the shotgun with 3 or more WRs and calls the majority of their plays from the line-of-scrimmage. All teams in the nation use this approach at times, but I think of a spread-team as one that uses this approach the vast majority of the time.

Based upon this definition, which of the Top 10 teams in the nation run a spread?

Oklahoma certainly does at times, though they are not afraid to bring in a TE or 2 along with a FB and go to a power-running game. I would probably characterize them as a spread team with the talent to be flexible and play anyway they want

LSU's offense is based more on the power-run game than the spread, although they do show good creativity out of spread sets.

Alabama is definitely pro-style, emphasizing the power-running game.

Boise State I would describe as multiple. They do everything, and they do it all well. Perhaps someone who has watched them more than me can tell me if they fit my definition of a spread team, but my sense is they are tough to pigeon-hole.

Standford was definitely a pro-style attack under Harbaugh, I haven't seen them play this year.

Wisconsin's offense will always be based upon a power-running attack.

OK St is definitely a spread team, as are Nebraska and Oregon, although they all do different things out of the spread. I don't know a thing about Texas A&M, can't remember seeing them play in the last few years.

So clearly teams can have a lot of success operating the spread as I have defined it, but they can also have a lot of success taking other approaches. Ultimately it comes down to talent and execution.

Having a creative offensive mind doesn't hurt, either. No matter what your base offense is, if you have the creativity and balls to throw a few change-ups here and there it always helps. The great teams always seem to have a couple of wrinkles saved for special occasions. This does not have to be a razzle-dazzle play where everyone in the stands can see that something unusual took place. Sometimes it is an adjustments of routes to take advantage of a certain coverage or a special screen to take advantage of a blitz. It seems like Chris Peterson from Boise is the master of this.

 

[herky01]

Running the spread and passing out of the shotgun in a pro set are not the same thing.

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

Running the spread and passing out of the shotgun in a pro set are not the same thing.

Correctamundo my good sir. One we will never see at IA under KF (which I am ok with), one I would like to see a little more of THIS YEAR as a subtle change to 1) keep D's guessing 2) get the ball to our receivers and 3) give our run a chance to open up 4) see if this will make JVB more comfortable.