Will the Oregon loss slow down the proliferation of HUNH offenses?

81usaf92 said:

Pruitt

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Pruitt was DB coach from 2010 through 2012.

This offense will still have followers, especially among teams that don't really have the talent to compete with many of the teams on their schedule otherwise. However, the changes this year so that ineligible linemen down field was actually called as a penalty, too many men in the backfield, and the officials (mostly) correctly allowing defensive substitutions when the offense substituted have played a role in returning things to normal. Even the mighty Jameis has officials in the ACC hold up plays where the rules said that was what should be done.

I think what may go away is the idea that was prevalent near the end of last season that if you wanted to compete you had to go to HUNH is what is now dead.

I'm sorry, but I live in LA and I never want to hear how great Oregon is....they have now whiffed against the SEC and Big 10 at the big dance and with a Heisman Trophy winner no less....

gtgilbert said:

completely agree that the HUNH is not an offense, but it does dramatically change what the QB does. In just about every HUNH based team, whether they run the spread, zone read, pro-style, whatever, they run up to the LOS with a single play, then look over to the OC on the sideline to see if there is an audible and it's called from the sideline. Then the QB has a couple of minor reads to make in-play. This means the QB isn't reading the alignment of the defense understanding what the d is doing and making the change on his own. That's expected to be a basic skill of a QB in the pros that HUNH style teams don't prep their QBs to do.

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I would agree with you on your point. You are correct, & I should have been more clear regarding pre-snap & post-snap reads / progressions. I think we're on the same page here.

To answer the original post - in my opinion, no. The tempo-based spread is becoming the default offense at the high school level and that tends to trickle upward from a recruiting and development standpoint. I'll add the caveat that I think the better athletes are increasingly being funneled to the offensive side of the ball starting at the high school level and I think defense in general is getting more difficult to implement. Even if you see the tempo spreads start to wane, I don't forsee a return to ground-and-pound defensively-geared football anytime soon because the offensive athletes are just getting better and are developing more quickly.

True, graydogg85, but as always these things are cyclical. It is remarkable that every national champion going back decades has at least had a serviceable defense. As porous as the champion was in 2010, they were efficient when they had to be. There is no trend toward defense losing importance, but the numbers have moved. Defensive efficiency now matters more than ever compared to raw numbers, which recent rules changes favor (that is the changes favor more yards and scoring, but don't diminish efficiency as much). Not sure if that makes sense, but that's the way it seems to me.

I played football in highschool, we ran the veer - its a form of the wishbone without the fullback. I am by no means an expert as being a coach or knowing what the best offense is. But I watched what Georgia Tech did with the triple option attack they run and if that team had depth and more talent I would not be surprised at what they could have done. For those of you that didnt watch Bama run the wishbone in the 70's I hope the SEC network replays some of those games. If CPB had ran a hurry up offense there is no telling now many points we could have really scored. And I am not talking about those childish flash cards that should be outlawed. Saban will never go to an option attack he is afraid of loosing a QB to injury. In all honesty I didnt watch the game Monday and have no desire to. RTR

NationalTitles15 said:

True, graydogg85, but as always these things are cyclical. It is remarkable that every national champion going back decades has at least had a serviceable defense. As porous as the champion was in 2010, they were efficient when they had to be. There is no trend toward defense losing importance, but the numbers have moved. Defensive efficiency now matters more than ever compared to raw numbers, which recent rules changes favor (that is the changes favor more yards and scoring, but don't diminish efficiency as much). Not sure if that makes sense, but that's the way it seems to me.

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I agree...didn't mean to imply that defense was losing its importance. I just think the days of grinding out a 13-10 win over an elite opponent may be in the rear view, for the most part. I think in the current cycle the scales have been tipped to favor offenses and I don't see that changing real soon. Defensive efficiency will still be key.

bama2112 said:

I played football in highschool, we ran the veer - its a form of the wishbone without the fullback. I am by no means an expert as being a coach or knowing what the best offense is. But I watched what Georgia Tech did with the triple option attack they run and if that team had depth and more talent I would not be surprised at what they could have done. For those of you that didnt watch Bama run the wishbone in the 70's I hope the SEC network replays some of those games. If CPB had ran a hurry up offense there is no telling now many points we could have really scored. And I am not talking about those childish flash cards that should be outlawed. Saban will never go to an option attack he is afraid of loosing a QB to injury. In all honesty I didnt watch the game Monday and have no desire to. RTR

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The clock rule changes that were implemented in 2008 were not in place in the 1970s. The rule change is really what made these HUNH / quick-snap gimmicks so beneficial for offenses. Agreed though, if the current play clock rules were in place in the 1970s, the bone would have been even more difficult to stop. Of course, that statement could / would be made about EVERY offense....IMO.

graydogg85 said:

I agree...didn't mean to imply that defense was losing its importance. I just think the days of grinding out a 13-10 win over an elite opponent may be in the rear view, for the most part. I think in the current cycle the scales have been tipped to favor offenses and I don't see that changing real soon. Defensive efficiency will still be key.

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To add to your point, the "in-game" role of the defensive coordinator for play-call purposes has / will continue to be diminished. Of course, they can make adjustments when their defense is on the sidelines.....but they are becoming somewhat irrelevant when the defense is on the field, in some cases.

once again, Oregon proved that they can beat pac 12 teams consistently with their smaller def linemen, and smaller off linemen, but the big time teams with size, excellent rush game, and timely passing, and of course big athletic qbs will win out. I am really confused as to why bama decided to abandon their road to championships by limiting the run, especially in the ohio st game. we ran on them consistently, especially to the left side of our off line. the biggest point is observing the play of def backs at ohio st and Oregon was a in your face defense, coming up to assist on the run to the perimeter, and with physicality. a trait we have not shown the last two years. our outside linebackers to slow to cover short passes in the middle of the field, and get to point of attack on perimeter runs. all season this reared its ugly head. I am hopeful, some changes are made to rushing the ball, and a qb that can see over the off line, plus run when necessary. all season qbs were able to run up the gut on third down. ohio state impressed me with their aggressive football, and desire to play 4 quarters. a hungry team that proved they were ready to play, and they were well coached for bama and Oregon.