The biggest question that everyone raises about the LSU Tigers isn’t the state of their space forces, which are tremendous, but their infrastructure. The decision-makers on the field and the architects of the system. On offense the space force is unassailably talented. They lose Justin Jefferson and Saahdiq Charles but return multiple athletes that project … [Read more…]
For the 2020 season, the Tigers lose 15 starters from what might have been the greatest team in college football history. Certainly there’s no team from any previous year that could beat them in a hypothetical matchup, the changes in tactics would ensure that. Then there’s the resume, which is also astounding and included multiple … [Read more…]
In part II the other day, I broached the same topic I’ve mentioned when I was explaining the theoretical advantage of the “bash bros” against the “Raid bros” in the Big 12. That didn’t work out so great, because it turns out that having easy answers for 3rd and 1 isn’t as valuable as being … [Read more…]
My old colleague Bill Connelly has a piece up on ESPN.com today about how the spread has “won” in college football. That’s the thing now, spread offense. I’ve been writing, arguing, and explaining as much for the last several years. LSU’s dominant 2019 run obviously established this pretty firmly. Before the LSU title run and … [Read more…]
One of the more bizarre and interesting dimensions to the game of football is the way that it recreates the challenges of one of the worst wars in human history. World War I, or the “Great War,” was one of the most cataclysmic events in human history and a precursor to World War II which … [Read more…]
Over on Twitter I recently had a brief conversation with Travis Roeder and Cameron Soran about new Baylor offensive coordinator Larry Fedora’s fondness for power run schemes. I think this is the tweet that kickstarted the convo about his power run game. Baylor has been uniquely power run oriented since their rise under Art Briles. … [Read more…]
One of the more fascinating subplots of 2020 in the Big 12 was always going to be what Baylor made of one of Matt Rhule’s favorite young talents, Matt Jones. The 6-3, 240 pound freshman played in three games last year early before shutting it down to redshirt and preserve eligibility for the future. He’s … [Read more…]
The Houston Rockets made a very controversial trade deadline move this season, dealing their starting center and eliminating their roster of any true big men. That move flew in the face of conventional wisdom on how you win basketball games, but for the Rockets it was a very logical move, comparable to when Billy Bean … [Read more…]
Once Deshaun Watson dethroned Alabama in 2016, I began to develop my theory that spread passing wins championships these days at the college level. I then began to look around at the 2017 rosters for teams that could mimic Clemson’s method and take down Alabama, settling on the Sam Darnold USC Trojans who were returning … [Read more…]
Greatest college offense of all time? There’s no question that that was literally the hardest offense to defend that we’ve ever seen. The way their passing game attacked the full field while giving Joe Burrow options and answers to most any problem the defense could present made it the most complete and fully modernized system … [Read more…]