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September 1, 2006 > Sports > Owls enter ‘06 with new passing attack

Owls enter ‘06 with new passing attack

Outdated option to be used sparingly in shotgun-based offense

By Nathan Bledsoe | Thresher Editorial Staff

“Balance” is not a term Owl fans associate with the option-based offense of former head coach Ken Hatfield. Last season, Rice ran the ball on 74 percent of its offensive plays. And although nine starters are returning from last year’s squad, fans will see an offense that looks completely different.

The familiar faces will be in unfamiliar positions Sophomore Chase Clement will be the clear-cut starter at quarterback, and former quarterback junior Joel Armstrong has moved to slot receiver, as have some of the running backs, like senior Mike Falco, whose big-play ability and lateral quickness have impressed coaches in camp.

Despite the focus on opening up the offense, new offensive coordinator Major Applewhite said he will run the ball if necessary.

“Our offense is all about balance, and balance to us is not about numbers, it’s about points.” Applewhite said. “If we have to throw it 50 times we’ll throw it 50 times. If we have to run it 50 times we’ll run it 50 times.”

While Clement made one start in 2005 and saw considerable playing time, tomorrow is his first game as a full-time starter. Applewhite said Clement impressed him in drills.

“[Clement] has played extremely well,” Applewhite said. “He’s made good decisions with the football. [He has] gotten better and better at learning how to take care of the ball.”

Clement will need to showcase that ability in order to score points in 2006.

Big-play ability looks to be a serious asset in the spread offense, which runs on a completely different set of principles than the double-wingback option attack Rice ran in the past. The option-based attack often utilized three running backs and at least one tight end. This forced the defense to crowd the line of scrimmage to defend the run. When eight, nine or ten defenders are in this space, the offensive linemen are faced with complicated blocking schemes, and the field gets congested.

Conversely, in the spread offense, usually only one running back is in the backfield, and a standard set includes no tight end. This leaves four receivers spread across the field, thinning the defense and making it easier for offensive linemen to decipher their responsibilities.

“Spread principles are all the same,” Applewhite said. “You’re trying to clean looks up for the offensive linemen, give them base fronts. The more guys we bring into the box, the more guys they bring into the box and the more looks you’re getting.”

While the position is not part of the base set, the tight end is not eliminated from play in the spread offense. In fact, Rice has used the tight ends heavily in preseason workouts. Look for sophomore Will Moss to put up big numbers this season.

One characteristic of the spread offense is the countless positioning and personnel combinations. By varying offensive formations, a team is able to create mismatches in both running and passing situations.

Today’s college game holds the spread offense in high esteem, with teams drawing influences from Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach’s “Air Raid” scheme and University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer’s spread, which garnered national attention when he coached at the University of Utah. Applewhite’s previous two stops were at Syracuse and Texas, two schools that run some sort of spread.

Despite the new scheme, do not expect the Owls to abandon the option completely. With the returning players used to option football, the team would be wasting some of its strongest assets by eliminating this attack. However, the option now serves as a change-up rather than the base play. Also look for the team to occasionally revert to under-center formations from its base shotgun alignment.

Running the ball often out of the shotgun is popular in college football currently, as Texas did with quarterback Vince Young and running back Jamaal Charles last season. While elements of such an offense may exist in the Rice offense, do not expect Rice to merely be a collection of the newest trends in college football.

“There are a lot of people who do the spread offense well — it’s just a thought process you go through,” Applewhite said.

With the popularity of the spread offense expanding, many teams find themselves running a collection of interesting plays rather than a cohesive playbook, a situation Applewhite said he wants to avoid.

“There’s a fine line between cutting edge and bleeding edge,” he said.

Applewhite explained that while the offensive playbook is expansive, it is not overwhelming by Division I standards. Offensive success for any team moving to a new system relies on an elusive element: Consistency. More specifically, offensive consistency relies on two components:

The play of the offensive line and the decision making of the quarterback. Both the blocking scheme and the quarterback’s responsibilities are completely different than they have been in years past, and it is crucial that the five offensive linemen make a smooth and complete transition.

“We run a zone-based [blocking] scheme. … We just try to get them out of option blocking, always blocking down — it’s been a process,” Applewhite said. “This offensive line looks completely different than they did in the spring.”

Zone-based blocking, while in itself probably the least complicated blocking scheme that exists, allows a team the most flexibility. Simply put, offensive linemen in a zone scheme block the first person to appear in a space rather than blocking an individual person. Senior offensive tackle Rolf Krueger said the offensive line has handled the changes well.

“I personally feel very comfortable with the new system,” he said. “We have practiced and worked very hard to become comfortable with it.”

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