X & Os question: Learning curve of defending hurry up teams?

[ShotgunDawg]

Serious football question here:

Lately I've been pondering two questions in regards to these hurry up spread offenses that have invaded football:

1. Now that this offensive strategy has made it to the NFL, in the form of Chip Kelly and the Patriots utilizing some its principles, there is now the opportunity for the greatest defensive minds on the planet (NFL D-coordinators) to figure out a way to shut this down. My question is, how long will this take, and how quick will it begin to effect Texas A&M, OM, and Auburn? Furthermore, now that 3 SEC West teams will be running this offense, it seems to me that we should get used to it quicker an have more ideas and strategies employed to stop it. It will no longer be a novelty offense that catches teams off guard.

2. Where is the tipping point? The positive of running a hurry up offense is that you can keep the defense from substituting and have the ability to catch them out of position and off guard. The negative is that, if the hurry up offense doesn't get a first down, their defense will be back on the field with virtually no time taken off the clock. My question is where is the tipping point in this? How successful do the hurry teams have to be on offense before it becomes a detriment in their ability to win games?

These are pretty in-depth questions, but my overall question is "How quickly, if ever, can we expect defenses to catch up with the hurry up strategy and, thus make it no longer worth it for teams to use?

[PassInterference]

I think the biggest key is substituting. It is more important to have fresh bodies than it is to be in the right coverage.

Against A&M, sometimes we didn't sub when they subbed. You ALWAYS have to get fresh people in when you can.

You also need to think about how to sub when they are running hurry up. Defenders need to be mindful about when they are *starting* to feel gassed. They need to run off the field ASAP and their replacement needs to vigilantly watch for that so they can sprint on to the field. I'm saying sub more like hockey and less like football.

[PassInterference]

Regarding offense, hurry up teams don't run hurry up all the time. They don't do it for the hell of it. You won't see a team run hurry up on their first 2-3 plays of a game or a half.

They do it after a good offensive play. They do it after they see what the defense is in and try getting a play off before the defense can call a different play. They do it when they sense they have momentum.

[Todd4State]

I guarantee you that Saban has spent the entire off season trying to figure out a way to stop the hurry up after the A&M game last year.

[QuadrupleOption]

I guarantee you that Saban has spent the entire off season trying to figure out a way to stop the hurry up after the A&M game last year.

If not for their untimely turnovers, Bama would have won that game fairly handily last season. I think they'll be okay this year without having to adjust too much on defense.