We hear Fleck's offense referred to as Tresselball, but I think we might be seeing what could have happened under Mason if he ever figured out his defense.
Mason teams were dominant at running the ball but could also throw when needed. Their biggest issue was that the defense never kept pace with the offense.
There were many times under Mason where we would just dominate teams with the running game, to the point where they absolutely knew what was coming and there wasn't a single thing they could do about it. We saw that on Saturday against Maryland where they knew we were going to run the ball and it didn't matter.
MB2, Tepeh and Maroney, along with that smaller, quicker, zone blocking offensive line. And yes, they could throw the ball too. Defense was a problem in a big way.
The Big Ten was loaded with great offenses then and many defenses were challenged to the max. Northwestern could score a lot of points. Obviously, tOSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, sometimes MSU, Purdue, Iowa, PSU as well as Minnesota could score a lot of points. “Basketball on grass” and spread offenses made teams TRY to defend the entire field. Teams all over the country were more about offense and much less about defense. Oregon, Texas, Alabama, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Texas Tech…and on…and on…and more teams lived and died by their offenses. That was what was sexy…that’s what the tv markets and fans wanted.
Yes, MASE had a bad defense. A lot of Big Ten teams did. A lot of the TOP teams in the nation did.
A lot of NFL teams did…and still do. I guess THAT is what the fans wanted. I guess a lot of the fans still do.
Run the ball…stop the run and many people gripe anout the lack of attention to the passing game. And: so it goes…
