Offense being "switched up"….Thoughts/Observations/

OddStack

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Tommy Olson said (on KFAN) he heard some insight that the Gophs are switching up their offense.


I'm interested into seeing some of the change during practices.
 

Some quotes from Tommy: (he was tweeting guys last night about practice)
"I won't even recognize the offense."
"They are no huddle."
"They are trying to speed it up like Oregon."
 

Some quotes from Tommy: (he was tweeting guys last night about practice)
"I won't even recognize the offense."
"They are no huddle."
"They are trying to speed it up like Oregon."

It's nice that we're getting enough depth to be able to have that be an option.

If we can just mix in some quick hitter short passes; I think we'll be in very good shape.
 

They are doing it to take advantage of the running game. Get the line leaning on defense. Closer to what the did at NIU. They took in Auburn practices over the last couple years.


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We face TCU in our first game, we need to be ready for how fast they move. Plus Limey is all about diversity of looks and personnel. Lastly, the faster the O can move in practice, the more reps everyone gets.
 

We face TCU in our first game, we need to be ready for how fast they move. Plus Limey is all about diversity of looks and personnel. Lastly, the faster the O can move in practice, the more reps everyone gets.

Yep. I'm not convinced it'll be a total overhaul of our offensive philosophy, but there are a lot of positives that come out of practicing this way. It's good practice for our 2-minute offense as well, which just hasn't been good at all the past few years.
 

My guess is the offense won't fundamentally change. We will probably still be a grind it out, smash mouth, time of possession offense. But my wish list for next season was seeing something like a 2 minute, or 1 minute drill, break into no huddle and be able to step on the gas when you have the opposing defense on their heels.

Maybe that is what this is. Grind it out for the majority of the game, but some drives might incorporate some hurry up. That mix of up tempo and power is what won tOSU the National Championship. This would give us a little room for error during a game if we have the ability to score quickly, whereas right now, our offense absolutely has to come away with some points every time they touch the ball to keep the game in hand.
 

My guess is the offense won't fundamentally change. We will probably still be a grind it out, smash mouth, time of possession offense. But my wish list for next season was seeing something like a 2 minute, or 1 minute drill, break into no huddle and be able to step on the gas when you have the opposing defense on their heels.

Maybe that is what this is. Grind it out for the majority of the game, but some drives might incorporate some hurry up. That mix of up tempo and power is what won tOSU the National Championship. This would give us a little room for error during a game if we have the ability to score quickly, whereas right now, our offense absolutely has to come away with some points every time they touch the ball to keep the game in hand.

Agreed. I don't think the offense will fundamentally change, but it's imperative to develop at least a workable 2 minute/hurry up offense for use when needed.
 



Agree with what others have said about this not being a fundamental change to the offensive philosophy.

Adding the up tempo / spread type elements might be because the coaching staff believes they are more athletic along the OL and at the skill positions.
 

My guess is the offense won't fundamentally change. We will probably still be a grind it out, smash mouth, time of possession offense. But my wish list for next season was seeing something like a 2 minute, or 1 minute drill, break into no huddle and be able to step on the gas when you have the opposing defense on their heels.

Maybe that is what this is. Grind it out for the majority of the game, but some drives might incorporate some hurry up. That mix of up tempo and power is what won tOSU the National Championship. This would give us a little room for error during a game if we have the ability to score quickly, whereas right now, our offense absolutely has to come away with some points every time they touch the ball to keep the game in hand.

+1
 

They are doing it to take advantage of the running game. Get the line leaning on defense. Closer to what the did at NIU. They took in Auburn practices over the last couple years.

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This is exactly what I was thinking as well. Many folks think Auburn is a primary pass team because they run the hurry up, when actually their run to pass ratio looks more like ours than most think. The way I understand it though their blocking scheme is much different than ours isn't it? More of a spread all the time?

I love this idea, I do wonder at what point in the game they will incorporate it, in a 2 minute situation only, all the time? This kind of goes against the grain of clock burning in a sense, but if it makes our offense more effective (I think it will) I'm all for it. I'm jacked about it honestly.
 

When people keep saying 'fundamental change', what are you referring to? A fundamental shift would be something like moving to an air raid or true veer offense. We already have elements of the read option (though we do way more window dressing there than actually optioning) and sweeps and the like. That said, part of our offensive philosophy has been slowing the tempo, keeping things between the tackles, minimizing risk (ie potentially negative plays), and lessening the number of possessions in each game. It does constitute a fundamental change if we are now speeding things up and opening up the offense more. It is essentially saying that they're going to try to score more points. That sounds silly but actually scoring points wasn't the priority of the offense the last few years. The priority was taking care of the ball, winning the field position battle, not putting the D in bad spots, and then looking to score when opportunities (ie favorable field position) presented themselves. Placing a bigger emphasis on scoring is an acknowledgement that A- they feel they have better talent now, B- they're confident in their defense and C- (this is an assumption/guess) they realize you can only go so far playing that type of conservative game as its great when you're the less talented team but it doesn't really let you pull away from anyone
 



I suspect we will still be a pound and grind offense. However, I also think that the coaches believe we finally may have the playmakers on offense to switch that up when needed or when it gives us an advantage in-game. That is something they have not been willing to do in the past (see every in-game thread from last year for reference).


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When people keep saying 'fundamental change', what are you referring to? A fundamental shift would be something like moving to an air raid or true veer offense. We already have elements of the read option (though we do way more window dressing there than actually optioning) and sweeps and the like. That said, part of our offensive philosophy has been slowing the tempo, keeping things between the tackles, minimizing risk (ie potentially negative plays), and lessening the number of possessions in each game. It does constitute a fundamental change if we are now speeding things up and opening up the offense more. It is essentially saying that they're going to try to score more points. That sounds silly but actually scoring points wasn't the priority of the offense the last few years. The priority was taking care of the ball, winning the field position battle, not putting the D in bad spots, and then looking to score when opportunities (ie favorable field position) presented themselves. Placing a bigger emphasis on scoring is an acknowledgement that A- they feel they have better talent now, B- they're confident in their defense and C- (this is an assumption/guess) they realize you can only go so far playing that type of conservative game as its great when you're the less talented team but it doesn't really let you pull away from anyone

It could be a, b, and c. We can run the exact same offense at a faster pace.
 

I suspect we will still be a pound and grind offense. However, I also think that the coaches believe we finally may have the playmakers on offense to switch that up when needed or when it gives us an advantage in-game. That is something they have not been willing to do in the past (see every in-game thread from last year for reference).


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We actually did run a little hurry-up in the SJSU game with Streveler and Cobb running the read-option when it was obvious they couldn't stop it. Most people forget about that. I agree it would be nice to see it more as a change of pace when the opportunity presents itself, and with the majority of the playbook at our disposal.
 

1) They have always wanted to run more stuff here than they have, until they have an reliable upper classman QB, we will not see all the stuff they wan to run. Hopefully that is this season.
2) They do not want to put the defense in bad position, so we will still control the ball one way or the other. If they think they can wear the other teams defense out with that scheme, I could see it, but I don't believe they want to give up more points per game to score more points per game unless there is a huge difference in the change.
3) They have run scrimmages fast since they have been here. One defense stays in place for a series and they rotate offenses with the second offense ready to go to the line as soon as the first offense's play is over. They work hard at getting the max reps they can get in the time they have to get it done. That is really different than the same offense lining up fast and snapping the ball in 10 seconds, play after play. If they are doing that it is a big change in practice at least. Puts a lot more pressure on the offense to know the scheme and execute correctly. Might be good just for that reason alone.
 

In addition to the offense being more athletic and experienced, I feel they are feeling comfortable with their defensive personnel as well. They probably see both sides of the ball being ready for a change of pace.
 

Shoot - 18 posts and no one has made a snarky comment about Leidner not being able to handle a hurry-up offense. I'm pleasantly surprised.

Seriously - I think it's good to be able to throw different looks at a defense. The more predictable the offense, the easier it is to game-plan for. If nothing else, running some spread or hurry-up principles in the non-conf games will force the B1G teams to prepare for that scheme.
 

Shoot - 18 posts and no one has made a snarky comment about Leidner not being able to handle a hurry-up offense. I'm pleasantly surprised.

Seriously - I think it's good to be able to throw different looks at a defense. The more predictable the offense, the easier it is to game-plan for. If nothing else, running some spread or hurry-up principles in the non-conf games will force the B1G teams to prepare for that scheme.

Snark, snark, snark, snarkety Leidner snark! :) J/K

Obviously he is going to have to improve to be able to have a more passing based offense. Time will tell if he has done that but there is no reason to think he won't improve this year. Will he improve enough? We'll see.

Even if they only get a functional "2 minute" style offense I'd be happy. The pace the team has moved at with limited time left has been frustrating. Not that they aren't chucking the bal 50 yards each play - I understand they haven't been that team and probably won't be under Coach Kill. But that they take SO MUCH time off the clock between plays. It's like they are trying to run out the clock!!
 

Snark, snark, snark, snarkety Leidner snark! :) J/K

Obviously he is going to have to improve to be able to have a more passing based offense. Time will tell if he has done that but there is no reason to think he won't improve this year. Will he improve enough? We'll see.

Even if they only get a functional "2 minute" style offense I'd be happy. The pace the team has moved at with limited time left has been frustrating. Not that they aren't chucking the bal 50 yards each play - I understand they haven't been that team and probably won't be under Coach Kill. But that they take SO MUCH time off the clock between plays. It's like they are trying to run out the clock!!

This is not leading to a more pass based offense. We will always be run based under Kill. It's basically to get better at the 2 minute drill and take advantage of matchups and plays that work well. Tommy O basically said that the O-line gets one signal for zone or man blocking and the WR's and QB's get another signal for the play. He talked about Auburn being able to run the same exact running play over and over again and making the right read.
 

It sounds to me like they have confidence in Leidner to run the offense they ran at NIU. I loved watching NIU play, but they always had a QB that could run that offense and it sounds like they finally feel Leidner can do it. I can't wait for fall.
 

Tommy is just assisting the staff with some slight of hand

subterfuge
 

This is not leading to a more pass based offense. We will always be run based under Kill. It's basically to get better at the 2 minute drill and take advantage of matchups and plays that work well. Tommy O basically said that the O-line gets one signal for zone or man blocking and the WR's and QB's get another signal for the play. He talked about Auburn being able to run the same exact running play over and over again and making the right read.

Do you know (or did tommy say it) that they changed the blocking scheme or that's what it's always been?
 

It could be a, b, and c. We can run the exact same offense at a faster pace.

This could be a signal that Kill and Claeys believe the D will be improved and deeper. A faster paced offense could put more pressure on the D especially if the O struggles to move the sticks.
 

This could be a signal that Kill and Claeys believe the D will be improved and deeper. A faster paced offense could put more pressure on the D especially if the O struggles to move the sticks.

That may be, could also be that they are trying to take advantage of the run game as much as possible. This element adds to the potential effectiveness of it; and if used at the right times doesn't necessarily have to put a that much more pressure on the D.
 


I hope this is an indication the staff realizes it is okay not to be super conservative at all times.
 

At least it signals that killing the clock will no longer be our primary offensive strategy. Big positive.

I don't think they are changing because of improvements in our defense. It is the next phase of offensive that keeps the opponents defense off balance and opens up the scoring. It can help the defense by pressuring your opponents to score more often which makes them take bigger risks that can lead to mistakes.

As others have stated, it is not a move to an Oregon style, but more like Auburn or Ohio State. Just enough pace to put the opponents defense at a disadvantage. More aggression, which has been sorely needed.


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Offense being "switched up"….Thoughts/Observations/

Do you know (or did tommy say it) that they changed the blocking scheme or that's what it's always been?

He did not say it was changed, just said the OL gets a signal from GA on sideline as to zone or man. He said they showed flashes in two minute or playing from behind when organized.


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