An alert reader passed this article on to me. It’s about the current state of the art, from the perspective of the two Mississippi schools, in offensive scheming in the conference and how defenses are attempting to deal with that. It’s well worth your time to read what both coordinators have to say about the spread and what they’re doing with it, as well as how successful others are at defending what they’re doing. (And you won’t want to miss what Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace had to say about Georgia’s defense.)
What makes the piece so enjoyable is the pragmatism on display. There’s no Gang of Six talk; it’s more about what works and what doesn’t. And at heart these coaches are realists. Take this quote from Dan Mullen at the end:
“The general consensus,” said Mullen, “of who the top three teams in the SEC were last season were Alabama, LSU and Georgia. Pro teams, all three of ’em are under center, I-formation teams. Any offense can beat any defense. I can beat any zone blitz if I’ve got the right play called. And any defense can stop any given play if you have the right kind of defense called. You see that in good old Tecmo Bowl, right? Just hit the right button and Bo Jackson scores.”
Good stuff. Make sure you read the whole thing.
Get The Picture 
Great article, Senator.
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Scheme takes you so far, and then, Jimmies and Joes take over. Ole Miss scored those 10 points early on us, and then superior athletes took over as we adjusted to the speed of the offense. The spread doesn’t work consistently if you don’t have the quality of WRs to keep safeties from cheating to the run game. We put our corners in one-on-one and dared the Rebel Black Bears to throw over the top.
That’s why I love when we come out in the pistol with 3 wide and a tight end. There are very few teams that have the depth in the back 4 or 5 that can deal with our talent at WR. Stay in base defense to stop Gurshall and Murray picks you apart. Play nickel and be ready to deal with a big dose of Gurshall with zone power.
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Did the pistol achieve for us what all along Bobo’s been going for in his goal for “balance”? I understand the Senator using the Pirate’s notion/critique of balance, but I think even more of our short-handedness on the O-line to prevent Bobo’s full O-scheme deployment that he has shown the last two years. Returning start numbers on the O-line, for the first time in a while returning a known commodity stud(s) at RB and still playmakers on the outside…I agree etom…our Jimmies and Joes makes nightmares for DC’s. An OC using the ‘tree packages’ with personnel everywhere is fun to watch.
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HD, great point about “balance.” In our offense, balance isn’t about percentage of run/pass but the ability to run or pass regardless of down & distance. I think the pistol did allow Bobo to bring balance to the offense especially on early downs and in 3rd-and-medium. We can come out in a spread look, allow Bobo & Murray to make an initial read, check based on personnel grouping, and run into nickel with 2 deep safeties or pass against base defense and exploit match-ups with linebackers. The pistol with 3 wide and a TE was a nightmare to match up against.
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football is speed chess with real fast people on a big field
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Dan Mullen obviously never played Tecmo Bowl.
Bo Jackson could not be stopped at all in that game.
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Only Ronnie Lott could tackle Bo in TB
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The “gang of 6” isnt a pragmatic attempt to solve big problems? Not sure if youre talking budget or immigration (in both cases, the size of the “gang” shifted), but I think both attempts have shown a great deal of pragmatism, only to be torn down by extremists on both sides. Am I missing something?
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?
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