Spread offense will ensure Texas Tech goes bowling

Sporting News, The, July 3, 2000 by Tom Dienhart

And it's easy to move the ball between the 20-yard lines, but turf is tough to come by inside the red zone when there is less space to defend.

Virginia Tech, which threw fewer passes (199) than all but six Division I-A teams last season on its way to playing for the national rifle, clicked on 81.4 percent of its red-zone chances (43 trips, 35 scores). Conversely, Louisville hit on just 75.8 percent (66, 50) and Oregon State 75 percent (52,39).

Other spread attacks fared better. And some schools (such as Purdue) are installing some two-back and H-back sets to beef up the blocking and improve short-yardage odds, adding another dimension to the multifaceted offense.

"If I knew (how to stop the spread), I wouldn't tell you," Leach says. "Well, the best way is to be faster than we are. Teams that play zone leave you a bunch of holes, so you tend to get a bunch of completions. But it's slower going down the field (and difficult to execute an error-free, multi-play drive).

"Teams that play man tend to give up more big plays, but you have to make quicker decisions. If a defense can somehow cover us a little longer, which relates to speed, we could have trouble."

Zone, man-to-man--it won't matter what most teams play against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders will win more than six games and go to a bowl. But can a team from a power league (Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC, ACC, Pac-10) win a national title with this offense? Montana did it (1995) at the I-AA level-and it will happen at I-A.

CROWD CONTROL

Ole Miss quarterback Romaro Miller figured to see lots of eight-man fronts this fall because the Rebels arguably have the nation's best backfield. Running backs Deuce McAllister and Joe Gunn are the headliners.

But don't be surprised if opponents sneak a ninth defender close to the line now that wideout Maurice Flournoy has been suspended for the season for violating team rules, further clouding a murky picture at receiver.

Flournoy caught 22 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns last season. His absence means McAllister is the team's leading returning receiver with 20 catches for 201 yards.

Grant Heard, who had 40 catches in 1998, sat out last season because of knee surgery, but he must be a key cog now. The Rebels need Jamie Armstrong, who had three TD catches in '99 and played high school ball with Miller, and Mike Salters, who had a big spring, to emerge.

It's also vital that someone among incoming freshmen Chris Collins, Trey Fryfogle and Rill Flowers provides a deep threat to stretch the field.

If not, the potential for the program's strongest season since the 1990 team went to the Gator Bowl could get stuffed at the line.

inside dish

Insiders at Louisville feel good about the program's future at quarterback. Dave Ragone, a 6-4, 220-pound junior, looked good in the spring and is working hard this summer. He figures to win the job over senior Mike Watkins. Word is Ragone is ahead of Chris Redman's development at the same stage of their careers.... It's funny how one decision can have a big effect on many. Take Grady Sizemore, for example. He signed out of Cascade High in Mill Creek, Wash., with Washington, which had him pegged as a future quarterback in the mold of starter Marques Tuiasosopo. But Sizemore took his 4.5 speed and athleticism and signed a pro baseball deal with the Expos, who selected him in the third round. That left the Huskies scrambling in the spring to sign junior college QB Ryan Porter, who will arrive this fall. He had orally committed to Michigan State before switching. Now the Spartans are dangerously thin at quarterback. Bradlee Van Pelt has been released from his scholarship and might transfer to Hawaii. (The door has been left open for his return.) The Spartans' No. 2 quarterback, redshirt freshman Dan Larlham, earlier announced he will transfer to a Division III school because he anticipated getting little playing time with hotshot recruit Jeff Smoker arriving in the fall. If starter Ryan Van Dyke gets hurt, Michigan State will look to Smoker. The third-stringer? It's anyone's guess.... Cincinnati will have one of the most underrated running-back combos in the nation with the return of two players who missed last season. DeMarco McCleskey has been reinstated after his acquittal on rape charges. As a freshman in 1998, McCleskey was the top back on the Bearcats, rushing for 861 yards, but he was suspended for '99. Ray Jackson also sat out last season after transferring from Michigan. Jackson is more of a bruiser, and McCleskey has better speed. If McCleskey gets into shape mid shines in camp, look for the two to rotate series in the Bearcats' one-back set.