Most of us are disappointed because of our high expectations. If we expected this we would not have been taken down so far. Plus, we were THAT close. And it still got away. Oh Well. As Duane Thomas once said to Tom Landry about losing a Super Bowl: If its that important, how come they are going to do it again next year.
Our offensive scheme. Remember in the late sixties, the wishbone offense and then the Veer were all the rage. A coach I seem to recall said one of the problems with the option was that you simply did not have the opportunity to practice against it because only a few teams used it. Once it became widespread, teams zeroed in on methods of defense and it went the way of the single wing.
Rich Rod, at West Virginia, said he toyed with the Read Option because his teams had so little talent that he needed some way to make yards. His best season was when he had White and Slaton in the backfield but he also had a 250lb fullback and talented wideouts. White was the best qback I have ever seen with the RPO. I don't recall Rich Rod putting people in the NfL from his Olines and they steamrolled everyone (except Pitt his last year).
Offensive schemes come and go for different reasons. Sportswriter Larry Merchant, who played at Oklahoma for Bud Wilkinson, said there is a moth-and-flame quality to game plans and coaches religious adherence to them. They stay with the plan because it SHOULD work, not because it does. Once Barkley is gone, I trust we will become more creative on offense.
Oh, I am forgetting the Defense. Some work will have to done there too. But that is a different story and the scheme, while important, is not like an offense. This is much more a question of execution and discipline.
Our offensive scheme. Remember in the late sixties, the wishbone offense and then the Veer were all the rage. A coach I seem to recall said one of the problems with the option was that you simply did not have the opportunity to practice against it because only a few teams used it. Once it became widespread, teams zeroed in on methods of defense and it went the way of the single wing.
Rich Rod, at West Virginia, said he toyed with the Read Option because his teams had so little talent that he needed some way to make yards. His best season was when he had White and Slaton in the backfield but he also had a 250lb fullback and talented wideouts. White was the best qback I have ever seen with the RPO. I don't recall Rich Rod putting people in the NfL from his Olines and they steamrolled everyone (except Pitt his last year).
Offensive schemes come and go for different reasons. Sportswriter Larry Merchant, who played at Oklahoma for Bud Wilkinson, said there is a moth-and-flame quality to game plans and coaches religious adherence to them. They stay with the plan because it SHOULD work, not because it does. Once Barkley is gone, I trust we will become more creative on offense.
Oh, I am forgetting the Defense. Some work will have to done there too. But that is a different story and the scheme, while important, is not like an offense. This is much more a question of execution and discipline.
