With the recent development of the spread offenses, I wonder how long it will be until we see a return of the option offenses, the wishbone and power "I". I love watching the classic games on ESPN Classic when for example Texas is playing Oklahoma in the 70's. Both teams running very different variations of the wishbone. I am suprised someone hasn't tried it yet.
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Once defensive coaches learned how to beat the wishbone, it fell out of favor. Same thing with the "Power I". Now that coaches have figured out the Spread, it will be less common. Maybe the next big thing will be the A-11 formation.
I loved the Wishbone when it was popular. A very high risk/high reward offense. If run properly it made the OLB,DE and CB play honest football and had to commit to either the QB or the RB. When they did the option worked but it took a special kind of QB, big, strong and fast that could take a hit every play that had a sort of kamakaze attitude. The QB rarely ended up playing Pro as a QB, more likely as a RB or TE. Several of the best QBs I've seen were Jack Mildren of OU, James Street of Texas, ? Montgomery of Arkansas and John Bond of Miss. State. Street and Montgomery played each other for the National Championship in the mid-60s, one of the best games I've ever seen.
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After going 6-5-1 in 1970, coach Bryant introduced the wishbone in 1971. They finished the '70's decade with 100 victories, while playing only 11 regular season games each year. That was the first time any team had ever won 100 games in a single decade. They also claimed 3 national titles with the wishbone, 1973, 1978 & 1979. ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!
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I watched the Navy-Notre Dame game just last night (the joy of a dvr) and Navy runs a version of the option. They racked up the yardage, but the quarterback took a lot of hits. I believe the announcers said the quarterback used to play the fullback position in high school, so he's probably used to some abuse. Of course, after pounding the ball on the ground all game, they finished Notre Dame off with a long pass play.
The time sure ticks away quickly, as they don't often run out of bounds or have an incomplete pass.
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Anybody remember the Single Wing offense? There's variations of it being played in both College & Pros occasionally, with a running back taking the snap from center.
as mentioned before watch GT- that is a thing of beauty right now. Or you can watch the service academies- they run a lot of the "old-school" offenses.
But, if you look at the spread- it can be deceiving. Florida runs the spread- but it is a spread option. They are looking to run it down yout throats.It's basically an option offense run out the shotgun even though they have 4 wideouts. Meyer is even quoted that he came up with his offense (at Bowling Green) because his QB was having difficulty making his reads until he was in the gun & it gave him more time to make his reads. then go look at Houston- 4 wideouts & they throw it 50 times a game.
So, like a lot of things that announcers don't understand- it is still the "Spread" but what each team is trying to accomplish depends on the personnel...