SMU freshman impersonating Navy QB

[PonyPride]

The triple-option offense SMU's defense will see Saturday from the Navy offense is extremely difficult to defend, primarily for two reasons:

• The Midshipmen are a very disciplined, well-coached team that runs its offense with great precision, and
• SMU only sees it once a year, greatly reducing the amount of time spent studying and practicing against the formation

As the Ponies prepare to head to Annapolis, Md., for Saturday's game, their scout-team offense is being led by one of their new faces ... who happens to be an old hand at running an option offense.

Freshman safety Hayden Greenbauer is playing quarterback this week, a role he filled while guiding the offense at Clark High School in San Antonio. His high school offense isn't exactly the same as the one the Midshipmen employ, but he is familiar with the base elements of the system.

"Most of our options were run out of the shotgun," said Greenbauer, who takes snaps out of the shotgun and under center while imitating the Navy offense. "I've never run the triple option like Navy's, but ours had some similarities."

Greenbauer is running the Navy triple-option offense with help from small, fast running backs like Bryce Lunday and Larry Centers, Jr., but it is Greenbauer who is emulating the heart and soul of the Navy offense: quarterback Ricky Dobbs.

The Midshipmen's co-captain is quick, smart and tough — last year, when he rushed 315 times for 1,203 yards (3.8 yards per carry) and 27 touchdowns, he played in six games while running on a broken kneecap. This year, he has rushed 113 times for 317 yards (2.8 yards per) and five touchdowns; the rest of the team has four rushing touchdowns this year.

Greenbauer said the hardest thing about impersonating Dobbs is not trying to copy the Navy quarterback's running moves, but rather making the same decisions Dobbs makes. He said he knows that the better he and the rest of the scout team do emulating the Navy offense, the better chance the Mustangs have Saturday in Annapolis.

"He just conducts the offense the proper way," Greenbauer said. "He's very deceptive with the ball, and he doesn't make many mistakes. That's what I'm trying to do, so our offense will be as ready as possible for it Saturday."

[smupony02]

hopefully we're prepared for that offense on saturday. how many high schools are running the option these days?

[Buddha]

Not many, I don't think. Our coaches seem to think high schools everywhere are going to various versions of the spread offense and throwing the ball all over the place.

[kull]

Lahainaluna school in Maui, Hawaii used to run of of the most effective flexbone offenses you had ever seen. Paul Johnson helped when he was the OC at UH. He came back during his Navy years to observe and steal a few things. Currently it is extinct there, they now run a spread option with many two back sets.

[CalallenStang]

hopefully we're prepared for that offense on saturday. how many high schools are running the option these days?

Not too many. One of the only ones I know of is Calhoun High School in Port Lavaca, TX. Some of the other schools down in South Texas run Wing-T offenses with a lot of misdirection, etc. If you want to see old-timey offenses, South Texas is the place to go.

[SMU89]

It's good to have options.




Your honor, Your Honor.

[Topper]

I think very few Division 1 teams face the option more than once a year. Haven't seen Navy go undefeated lately. Didn't our D actually do a pretty good job against them last year until things unraveled in the 2nd half?