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Spread Offense Losing Ground? - WSJ.com
here's a fascinating irony developing in college football regarding the spread of the spread offense. Michigan and Auburn fans might find it funny were it not so personally painful. For years, blue-blood teams like the aforementioned two dominated lesser foes because they had superior talent. Since offenses were simpler, less varied and less potent, the outcome of many of these games was academic. If you and I both run a ball-control attack, and I have a better roster top-to-bottom, how can you ever win?
Associated PressMichigan head coach Rich Rodriguez yells from the sidelines during the second quarter of his team's loss to Toledo.
To compensate, innovative coaches at schools like Northwestern and Texas Tech turned to an offensive strategy that could make up for the talent gap: the spread, which forces the defense to account for three or more receivers, opening room for speedy skill players. In theory, once the major powers did likewise and caught up schematically, talent would once again lift the best above the rest.
But the spread isn't an equal-opportunity equalizer, it seems. While it has enabled teams of lesser talent to beat superior schools, it's causing those of superior talent to lose to lesser programs.
CBS commentator Gary Danielson said something last week that must have made Michigan supporters freak out: that the spread may already be becoming pass?. "I said it before the season?and I was out there by myself?I think we've seen the spread has peaked, like the wishbone did in the mid-70s," he said in The Detroit News.