SMU Offense

[PK]

you hire june for one thing and one thing only-the run and shoot. he has a great track record with it. are some of you guys high?

So when will we get to see the R&S?

[smusic 00]

are some of you guys high?

Why? Who's asking? Am I falling out of my chair?

[CalallenStang]

He gets a lot of his yards cause the line does a good job reading coverage, and Line then does a good job reading their reads.

You're right. Line does a great job reading the line's reads, allowing him to break through the line and get closer to the goal line.

[Football4ever]

I'm surprised at the lack of shovel passes and WR screens/swing passes. I thought that was a major staple of the RnS, but then again i barely watched a game of June's at Hawaii.

Might be an execution/personnel issue, the few times I have seen shovel and screen passes run during the Jones era they haven't worked very well.

Yea, the problem with WR screens is that you have to have WR's that can block. Most of ours are having trouble catching at the moment, so i dont think we should ask too much of them.

[smusic 00]

He gets a lot of his yards cause the line does a good job reading coverage, and Line then does a good job reading their reads.

You're right. Line does a great job reading the line's reads, allowing him to break through the line and get closer to the goal line.

What happens when Reed's line reads Line?

[smuuth]

Was the early success of the run and shoot because it was unusual in that it was the forerunner of todays modern-day offenses where few offenses passed that much and defenses didn't recruit players to defense it. Now that defense are designed to stop the passing game is the run and shoot not that explosive any more? It used to be teams hated to face the r and s like teams nowadays hate to face the academy teams because of their running attack. Even the service academy guys who arent highly recruited and are undersized but play with heart have been able to shut down the r and s of SMU! Look at navy and army and our low-scoring games aginst them.

[couch 'em]

Was the early success of the run and shoot because it was unusual in that it was the forerunner of todays modern-day offenses where few offenses passed that much and defenses didn't recruit players to defense it. Now that defense are designed to stop the passing game is the run and shoot not that explosive any more? It used to be teams hated to face the r and s like teams nowadays hate to face the academy teams because of their running attack. Even the service academy guys who arent highly recruited and are undersized but play with heart have been able to shut down the r and s of SMU! Look at navy and army and our low-scoring games aginst them.

Was and is quite successful in Hawaii. Something has just been missing here. Based on the QB switch I think it's a QB problem.

[Dr Death]

Was the early success of the run and shoot because it was unusual in that it was the forerunner of todays modern-day offenses where few offenses passed that much and defenses didn't recruit players to defense it. Now that defense are designed to stop the passing game is the run and shoot not that explosive any more? It used to be teams hated to face the r and s like teams nowadays hate to face the academy teams because of their running attack. Even the service academy guys who arent highly recruited and are undersized but play with heart have been able to shut down the r and s of SMU! Look at navy and army and our low-scoring games aginst them.

I don't know you or what you or others know about the R&S, though I know SMU ran it for a time before JJ arrived, so I would think most here understand the concept of the offense. But I'll explain some things and I will try to make it simple and yet also brief.

The motto of the R&S is this: Whatever the defense does, will be wrong

Basically... if the D is in Cover 2, the WR's will run routes that exploit that coverage and take advantage of it. If the D is in Cover 3, same thing. Whatever the defense plays, the WR's and QB read that, and make adjustments post snap to hit the opening in the D.

Another motto of this offense, and something that Mouse Davis says probably more than any four words in the dictionary, are: Break Across His Face. I have several Davis playbooks and in his own hand writing these words appear on just about every page as he explains every play. To give you an example of this... say the D is in Man... usually a Man D will have the safety's in Cover 2... they are guarding against the deep pass but are also leaving the middle of the field open. Okay, so the X or Z WR will see Man... depending on what play is called and who has the Post as an option route... and if the CB covering him turns his back to the QB to run w/ the WR, then the WR will break across his face... in other words... run to where the CB is not looking... forcing the CB to turn his body, which isn't easily done at full speed... and that split second provides the separation the WR and QB need to get open.

If the CB is playing him in Man and facing the QB, then the WR will run a Post, then break across his face and hit the Corner or Out route... again, forcing the DB to turn his entire body at full speed. This is the beauty of this offense, because no defense ever can "catch up to it" unless someone finds 11 guys who are psychic.

The reason the R&S struggles are this: About the only way a defense can beat the R&S is to have a great front four and get quick pressure on the QB. They rush 4, leave 7 in coverage... maybe 4 in Man, w/ 2 safety's deep and a LBer spying the RB and/or QB. And if their front four can get to the QB quickly, before he gets the ball out, they can blow the offense up. Case in point: Hawaii vs Georgia in the 2007 Sugar Bowl.

People said Colt Brennan had a bad game... well, so would Peyton Manning in that situation. Brennan would get the snap, take two steps back and BAM. Someone would be in his face. Georgia's D line was so much more athletic and quicker than Hawaii's O line, that Brennan didn't have a chance.

The only other way this offense can be stopped is when it stops itself. As in... turnovers... dropped passes... misreads by the QB and WR's... case in point... the second INT that Padron threw against aTm. The WR was W-I-D-E open... nearest defender was what? 10 yards away? 12? 15? If he hits that pass who knows how many more yards the WR gets and the whole complexion of the game could have changed. And again... down 14-20, JJM missed another wide open WR down inside aTm's red zone... again... if he hits that pass, the whole game changes.

One thing that hasn't helped SMU is they have had 3 QB's in 3+ seasons... plus they had E. Sanders for 2 years... A. Robinson for 3... and now Beasley and Wilkerson are the only two w/ any significant playing time in this offense. At Hawaii... Jones had guys like Brennan, Bess, Rivers and Grice-Mullen for 3 straight seasons. That continuity goes a long way in an offense like this.

The offense needs to find its rhythm and when it does... it is unstoppable. Right now... they're still searching for that elusive rhythm. But no... defenses have not figured it out or caught up to it... the blame lies on the SMU offense. I have faith they will get it worked out.

[Stallion]

Yeah its unstoppable against a watered down WAC. There is a reason nobody runs the Run and Shoot in real conferences.

[Mestengo]

Old man football?

[redpony]

Yeah its unstoppable against a watered down WAC. There is a reason nobody runs the Run and Shoot in real conferences.

Our resident organge-blood has spoken. The R&S will never work, it is garbage. After all Mack doesn't run it so how could it ever be any good?

GO PONIES!!! IGNORE THE ORANGE BLOODED NAYSAYERS.

[Mestengo]

Long live RedPony and submissive women from Peru

[Dr Death]

Yeah its unstoppable against a watered down WAC. There is a reason nobody runs the Run and Shoot in real conferences.

Apparently you weren't around when 3 of the worst NFL team started playing this offense and all 3 made the play-offs. Perhaps you aren't aware that Bill Belichick, when coaching in Cleveland, would scrimmage against June Jones' Atlanta Falcons, because he was intrigued by this offense, and that during his time in New England, the Pats have run a lot of R&S though they don't come out and call it the R&S.

The year NE went 16-0 and Brady threw 50 TD passes and Moss caught 23 TD's... they ran a lot of R&S principles, usually in 4 or 5-wide sets, but also w/ 3-wide and a TE.

To say it's unstoppable against a watered down WAC is a terribly misguided statement.

Here's an article about Belichick's offensive philosophy and how he views the offense:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/preview09 ... id=4443119

Another link... scroll to the bottom and read all the quotes, by people like Marty Schottenheimer, Bill Parcells, Belichick, Derrick Thomas, Rod Woodson, Howie Long, Chris Ault, Marty Mornhinweg, Cam Cameron, Rusty Tillman and Rich Kotite. And read the last statement by June Jones. {It should be noted that Rod Woodson's statement, in 1994, was after the Oilers decided to stop using the R&S.}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_and_shoot_offense

[ponyscott]

Love it! We appreciate your observations Dr. Death! We all know its just the offense is sputtering, and we DO have talented WR's who just need to make the catches and hang on to the ball after the catch and the QBs need to see the split second openings when they occur and the R and S or the West Coast offense or whatever someone wants to call it, will excel at this level.

[redpony]

Dr. I appreciate your comments and info on the R&S. I believe that a lot of people on this board and at SMU do not really understand its' concepts and philosophy. Thanks for helping to inform us.

GO PONIES!!!