[NU Sports] The curse of the spread offense

[Jeff Beamsley]

If this were a question of degree, I would agree with you.  But being worse
than virtually every other defense in the country tends to wash away these
issues of degree and nuance.

There are a lot of teams that run some version of the spread.  They all had
better defenses.

There are a number of schools with high academic standards for their
football players.  They all had better defenses.

There were teams that went through coaching changes.  They all had better
defenses.

There are a lot of teams with no winning tradition.  They all had better
defenses.

There are a lot of teams that didn't go to a bowl game.  They all had better
defenses.

There are a lot of teams who lost more games than NU.  They all had better
defenses.

There were other teams with young players starting.  They all had better
defenses.

There were other teams who struggled with injuries on defense.  They all had
better defenses.

Seeing UCLA gash the worst defense in the country during the second quarter
sort of brought the whole thing home.  

Consistency is something RW promised next year.  Consistently having the
worst defense in the country tends to simplify the whole discussion of what
the problem is. 

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf Of Jim Leonard
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 11:48 AM
To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
Subject: [NU Sports] The curse of the spread offense

All, 

Looking back to the 95/96 teams, I remember having a very solid defense.
However, it is probably fair to say that the guys on those defenses were
about the same caliber of recruits that have played for the 04/05 defenses. 

So, assuming the athletic talent is about the same, why has the defense
gotten worse? My theory is that the amazing gains on offense have been at
the expense of the defense. Consider:

1) The 95/96 teams had a much more tradition 'ball control' offense. Schnur
would often lead 6+ minute drives that kept the defense off the field and
well rested. The spread offense does not rest the current defense nearly as
much. 

2) In practice, the defense 95/96 defense would face the 95/96 offense. Our
current defense faces the spread most of the time in practice and therefore
struggles against other offenses. Especially in situations where the is 1-2
Tight Ends on the line and the team runs between the tackles. 

I'm not saying NU should abandon the spread offense, but I do think that its
success can (in part) explain why the defense has gotten worse. 

Regards,
Jim




	
		
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