The Official Go-Hard-Go-Fast-Offense Critique Thread

[Katy Lied]

That reminds me, I was listening to some sports show and they were talking about how teams schedule creampuffs as their first game, but BYU did not hold to this policy. We schedule really hard games. but Waitaminnit! We are the creampuff!

[woot]

Since it relates, Bronco discusses some of these issues on his post-practice interview. He said the increased tempo will result in an additional 16-20 plays, which, compared to last year is like adding a little bit more than another quarter of defensive time to the game. He mentioned that statistically things may not line up when comparing year over year, but that they felt the rewards outweighed the risks.

Should be interesting.

This is the issue I have. The defense is good enough to keep BYU in most games, but lengthening the game like this just increases the degree of difficulty in doing so, making the defense work harder for the same result. I guess it could work out if it helps the offense improve more quickly, but I see it playing against BYU's interests this year.

[woot]

The thing I'm curious about is the wide splits. I rewatched and as far as I can tell, we were never in wide splits, even when we were in shotgun formation. Sometimes it is hard to tell on TV if the angle is not right, but I paused and looked on a few plays and it seems we were never in them.

IMO, this is a HUGE departure from the Anae offense that was so successful in the Beck-Hall era. During this time period, our pass protection was incredible. I remember seeing some stats that were jaw dropping related to 1) sacks allowed and 2) holding penalities, as compared to former BYU offenses. We had cut these down so much it was truly remarkable. And the wide splits was what was primarily cited as the reason for that success.

Our O-line are usually big huge strong guys that take up a lot of space but not particularly gifted with footwork. We line up our tackle five yards from the ball, and they line up a fast DE on his shoulder. The tackle takes one step back, requiring the DE to make a circle around him. By the time he gets back to the QB, the ball is in the air. If we line up in tight formation, that DE gets to the QB pretty fast. This in my opinion could be the biggest reason our line looked so poor.

Chow-Leach offense: wide splits, shotgun, rarely pass from under center, linemen can be huge, run blocking types
GFGH offense: tighter formations, more passing from under center, requires more athletic linemen

But wide splits hurt the running game and are also more susceptible to blitzes. I only see wide splits being advantageous if you sacrifice the run game and the D isn't blitzing up the middle. The run game seems to be the "strength" of the O this year.

[Eddie]

The thing I'm curious about is the wide splits. I rewatched and as far as I can tell, we were never in wide splits, even when we were in shotgun formation. Sometimes it is hard to tell on TV if the angle is not right, but I paused and looked on a few plays and it seems we were never in them.

IMO, this is a HUGE departure from the Anae offense that was so successful in the Beck-Hall era. During this time period, our pass protection was incredible. I remember seeing some stats that were jaw dropping related to 1) sacks allowed and 2) holding penalities, as compared to former BYU offenses. We had cut these down so much it was truly remarkable. And the wide splits was what was primarily cited as the reason for that success.

Our O-line are usually big huge strong guys that take up a lot of space but not particularly gifted with footwork. We line up our tackle five yards from the ball, and they line up a fast DE on his shoulder. The tackle takes one step back, requiring the DE to make a circle around him. By the time he gets back to the QB, the ball is in the air. If we line up in tight formation, that DE gets to the QB pretty fast. This in my opinion could be the biggest reason our line looked so poor.

Chow-Leach offense: wide splits, shotgun, rarely pass from under center, linemen can be huge, run blocking types
GFGH offense: tighter formations, more passing from under center, requires more athletic linemen

I thought that by the time Anae left BYU, he had moved away from the super wide splits. They were maybe still a little wider than the norm, but part of his transition away from the fully Texas Tech offense to the offense he was running when he left was also moving to not-as-wide splits.

[pellegrino]

This is the issue I have. The defense is good enough to keep BYU in most games, but lengthening the game like this just increases the degree of difficulty in doing so, making the defense work harder for the same result. I guess it could work out if it helps the offense improve more quickly, but I see it playing against BYU's interests this year.

it could be that those extra plays were what caused Uani Unga's injury.

[Indy Coug]

it could be that those extra plays were what caused Uani Unga's injury.

Virginia ran 74 plays, which was 2 higher than the NCAA average for Week 1.

[jay santos]

I thought that by the time Anae left BYU, he had moved away from the super wide splits. They were maybe still a little wider than the norm, but part of his transition away from the fully Texas Tech offense to the offense he was running when he left was also moving to not-as-wide splits.

I don't remember it this way. I remember it as being that we were in shotgun/splits certain % of time maybe 70% and we were under center in I formation about 30% of the time. And we passed most of the time out of shotgun/splits and we ran most of the time under center but we did enough of the opposite so as to not be completely predictable. I thought the transition away from TT offense was adding the under center formations and the utilization of the TE.

[MarkGrace]

In reading stuff since the game last week, it seems GFGH's biggest impact was in wearing out our offensive line and defense.

[Surfah]

In reading stuff since the game last week, it seems GFGH's biggest impact was in wearing out our offensive line and defense.

Maybe the O-line, but certainly not the defense.

[MarkGrace]

Maybe the O-line, but certainly not the defense.

Well I'm referencing a post on CB where one of the defensive players said he felt like this week was his longest recovery ever after a game because they spent so much time and so many plays on the field.

[mtnbiker]

Well I'm referencing a post on CB where one of the defensive players said he felt like this week was his longest recovery ever after a game because they spent so much time and so many plays on the field.

I could tell Van Noy was definitely gassed. Many of the other players rotated in and out, but he was in for every play, as far as I could tell.

[Surfah]

Well I'm referencing a post on CB where one of the defensive players said he felt like this week was his longest recovery ever after a game because they spent so much time and so many plays on the field.

They may not have had as much time between series but Virginia ran the NCAA average amount of plays on offense. UVA averaged 31+ minutes of TOP last year and had 34 in that game. I'd bet with the delays, climate and tough loss, the game was more mentally draining than physically which alters the perception of recovery.

[All-American]

They may not have had as much time between series but Virginia ran the NCAA average amount of plays on offense. UVA averaged 31+ minutes of TOP last year and had 34 in that game. I'd bet with the delays, climate and tough loss, the game was more mentally draining than physically which alters the perception of recovery.

That, notwithstanding the fact that they punted 13 times.

[Sizzle]

Lets ditch this monstrosity.

[Indy Coug]

Lets ditch this monstrosity.

Exactly. It took 99 plays to get 678 yards. That's way too many plays for that yardage.