Rossley and JJ

[Nacho]

How will the R&S run by Rossley compare to the R&S run by JJ. Our wides put up some great numbers back in the early 90s against some stiff competition. Can someone compare/contrast the 2 Os.

[OC Mustang]

I can comment based on friends that played for Rossley & Gregg. The description was made of Rossley's Run & Shoot that stupid people could not run it. There were too many checkdowns and choices, and audibles were designed to declare hot routes with multiple options depending on the defense facing them. Essentially, the receivers and QB "read" the defense at the same time, and unless a receiver caught a DB flat-footed, they were supposed to "read" the same thing. The QB would know which route was being run by watching the lineup. The inside receivers had similar instructions, but they (Wolf & Bowen) were often the go-to guys when the receiver-QB "read" failed. That happened a lot early, but gradually got better, especially when Frieburger (would could throw deep) and Flanigan (who could pretty much do what he wanted) got there. I don't know if Coach Jones' offense does this. I noted a "choice" component, but he never said anything about pre-snap reads. In fact, he was quite the contrary, as he intimated that the QB options were decided a split-second after initial snap.

Another facet of the R&S under Rossley: the QB was under center most of the time. The idea was that every play, the QB would rollout, using the time that bought him (not much) to check down progressions on the multiple reads. I don't get that sense from Coach Jones' version. He runs the shotgun a lot, presumably to give his QB more time to choose target and throw after snap.

My personal opinion is that a solid running game makes this game work. If you have to respect the run, the pass becomes uber-dangerous with all of the possibilities of routes, etc.

[Garret]

On 3rd and 4th down short-yardage situations and plays near the goal line, Hawaii's offense used the QB under center quite often in recent years. If you look at tapes of the past few seasons, Hawaii often did a QB sneak or an option play to either side.

Hawaii used a QB under center more during JJ's first few years at Hawaii. The offense shifted to shotgun-only except for short-yardage 3rd/4th down situations.

When Hawaii played USC in 2005, Tyler Graunke started the game (not Colt Brennan, who came in later in the game) and Hawaii moved the ball pretty well against USC's D using a lot of option runs.

Hawaii had *very* experienced players at QB and WR last season, so they added a lot of extra stuff based on reads. However, I would expect the SMU offense to be more basic in this first season, more similar to the 1999 Hawaii offense.

Interesting note: Mouse Davis installed the R&S last season when he and Glanville started at Portland State. They started the season with the QB exclusively under center...but their QB was getting killed so about midway through the season they had the QB under shotgun the majority of the time.

[PlanoStang]

On 3rd and 4th down short-yardage situations and plays near the goal line, Hawaii's offense used the QB under center quite often in recent years. If you look at tapes of the past few seasons, Hawaii often did a QB sneak or an option play to either side.

Hawaii used a QB under center more during JJ's first few years at Hawaii. The offense shifted to shotgun-only except for short-yardage 3rd/4th down situations.

When Hawaii played USC in 2005, Tyler Graunke started the game (not Colt Brennan, who came in later in the game) and Hawaii moved the ball pretty well against USC's D using a lot of option runs.

Hawaii had *very* experienced players at QB and WR last season, so they added a lot of extra stuff based on reads. However, I would expect the SMU offense to be more basic in this first season, more similar to the 1999 Hawaii offense.

Interesting note: Mouse Davis installed the R&S last season when he and Glanville started at Portland State. They started the season with the QB exclusively under center...but their QB was getting killed so about midway through the season they had the QB under shotgun the majority of the time.

Rossley had a neat little quick screen towards one end or the other with
pulling linemen leading the way.

Coolest short yardage play in critical situations I've ever seen, and Rice
would've been history in 06.

[Stallion]

Too bad Rice wasn't history in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996 when he was actually the Coach.