Steve Spurrier Talks About Air Raid

[ShotgunDawg]

We're about to find out what means more to Leach:

1. Mike Leach succeeding in the SEC
OR
2. Mike Leach proving the PURE Air Raid will work in the SEC

To me, this question will define his tenure at MSU. The air raid with some nuances and occasional power added to it, can take MSU to Atlanta.

The pure Air Raid as Leach runs it, will likely require such exceptional execution, that we'll always be inconsistent.

I think we're on the right path and I like the direction we're headed, but these are real questions that will be answered over the next 5 years.

https://twitter.com/thecatspause247/status/1313188636930826242?s=21

[TrapGame]

If Stoops' goofy ass runs a 3/8 as well as Arkansas did we are in big trouble for the foreseeable future.

[ShotgunDawg]

If Stoops' goofy ass runs a 3/8 as well as Arkansas did we are in big trouble for the foreseeable future.

I'm guessing we're going to practice it this week. I expect us to be much much better Saturday.

Not sure if our WRs have seen a zone defense in their lives outside of prevent defense or a 3rd & 15 type situation

[Homedawg]

It's not like leach has never seen a 3-8 before.... not sure why people think ark and Washington were the first and only teams to try it...

[Homedawg]

I'm guessing we're going to practice it this week. I expect us to be much much better Saturday.

Not sure if our WRs have seen a zone defense in their lives outside of prevent defense or a 3rd & 15 type situation

Of course there seen it.... y'all acting like it got I bet yes last week.... thinking that is about as crazy as thinking we are gonna out GS in to run a goal line package. Both are crazy.

[Commercecomet24]

It's not like leach has never seen a 3-8 before.... not sure why people think ark and Washington were the first and only teams to try it...

This! I watched a replay of wsu vs cal from 2014 last night. Cal rushed 3 dropped 8 all night. Connor Holliday threw for over 500 and they put up 59 points. Difference was the decision making by Holliday. He knew where the windows were in the zone and he exploited them. We'll see if KJ can learn it.

[bluelightstar]

Arkansas obviously outplayed us, and other teams might do so as well. But I do not understand why some people are acting like zone defense was just invented Saturday.

[Commercecomet24]

Arkansas obviously outplayed us, and other teams might do so as well. But I do not understand why some people are acting like zone defense was just invented Saturday.

Right. I mean dang Leach has zone busters in his playbook but the plays have to be executed.

[defiantdog]

Arkansas obviously outplayed us, and other teams might do so as well. But I do not understand why some people are acting like zone defense was just invented Saturday.
Patriots have been running a similar 3-8 zone against Mahommes all night and it's slowed him down for the most part. He's not afraid to run for the first down though.

[bulldawg28]

It's not like leach has never seen a 3-8 before.... not sure why people think ark and Washington were the first and only teams to try it...

True

[DownwardDawg]

This! I watched a replay of wsu vs cal from 2014 last night. Cal rushed 3 dropped 8 all night. Connor Holliday threw for over 500 and they put up 59 points. Difference was the decision making by Holliday. He knew where the windows were in the zone and he exploited them. We'll see if KJ can learn it.

This. The defense Arkansas ran is what Leach has played after most. Our QB had a terrible night and we lost Kylin

[ShotgunDawg]

Arkansas obviously outplayed us, and other teams might do so as well. But I do not understand why some people are acting like zone defense was just invented Saturday.

Mississippi State beat the Sh*& out of Mississippi State the other night. The traffic barrels in the way just happened to be wearing Arkansas jerseys

[Commercecomet24]

Mississippi State beat the Sh*& out of Mississippi State the other night. The traffic barrels in the way just happened to be wearing Arkansas jerseys

Maybe the funniest thing you've ever said on here! Rep!

[Commercecomet24]

This. The defense Arkansas ran is what Leach has played after most. Our QB had a terrible night and we lost Kylin

Losing Kylin hurt!

[TrapGame]

Losing Kylin hurt!

A weapon like Kylin in those red zone trips was greatly missed.

[Homedawg]

Patriots have been running a similar 3-8 zone against Mahommes all night and it's slowed him down for the most part. He's not afraid to run for the first down though.

Again, you think ne is the first team to zone them more?? No. They aren't....

[Todd4State]

It's not like leach has never seen a 3-8 before.... not sure why people think ark and Washington were the first and only teams to try it...

Heck- Leach even stated last week that he expected to see it.

[Todd4State]

Right. I mean dang Leach has zone busters in his playbook but the plays have to be executed.

This to me is a big difference between Moorhead and Leach. With Leach- the opportunities are clearly there. We can see where there are WR's or backs wide open. Like you said- it's a matter of the QB throwing the ball to the right person.

I may be mistaken- but it seemed like against LSU things really kicked into gear for us when Costello threw the ball to Kylin and he took it to the house.

[HoopsDawg]

You guys are off topic. Spurrier is saying Leach is going to have to develop a running attack to succeed in the SEC. Is Leach another Croom/Moorehead stubborn SOB or will he evolve like the goat, Bill Belichick.

[Bothrops]

If Stoops' goofy ass runs a 3/8 as well as Arkansas did we are in big trouble for the foreseeable future.

Put Shrader in and that 3/8 will dissolve. Of course they would be forced to change, but it would keep them messed up. Costello on 1st and 2nd down, Shrader on 3rd down. That would **** up any defense if you practiced it enough.

[Homedawg]

Put Shrader in and that 3/8 will dissolve. Of course they would be forced to change, but it would keep them messed up. Costello on 1st and 2nd down, Shrader on 3rd down. That would **** up any defense if you practiced it enough.
And it wouldn't be a 3-8 anymore w GS in. They would stuff the box. Then what??? There is a reason GS isn't our qb w our current coach.

[Bothrops]

And it wouldn't be a 3-8 anymore w GS in. They would stuff the box. Then what??? There is a reason GS isn't our qb w our current coach.

Pass to the guy wide-open for a first down. That's what.

[Todd4State]

Put Shrader in and that 3/8 will dissolve. Of course they would be forced to change, but it would keep them messed up. Costello on 1st and 2nd down, Shrader on 3rd down. That would **** up any defense if you practiced it enough.

What is this weird fascination with MSU fans wanting the QB to run?

I guess this is going to be Leach's version of "why don't we run QB sneaks under center?"

I don't understand our fans.

[Todd4State]

Pass to the guy wide-open for a first down. That's what.

Or we could just leave Costello in, hit the checkdown and get an easy first down.

[msbulldog]

Costello just needs to calm down and hit the open folks like he did against LSU. I think he will. By the way, I'm in Louisiana and yesterday at work we're in an on-line meeting. A coworker, a big LSU fan texted me How did you like Arkansas? I texted back, just fine, how big of an embarrassment was the for Ya'll? He texted back, real big.

[FISHDAWG]

What is this weird fascination with MSU fans wanting the QB to run?

I guess this is going to be Leach's version of "why don't we run QB sneaks under center?"

I don't understand our fans.

maybe because a running QB carried us to #1 a while back ... I say anything to keep a defense off balance is a good thing

[FISHDAWG]

You guys are off topic. Spurrier is saying Leach is going to have to develop a running attack to succeed in the SEC. Is Leach another Croom/Moorehead stubborn SOB or will he evolve like the goat, Bill Belichick.

I'm on board with this train of thought as well ... face it, when a defense knows it's a short pass or draw play then it's just easier for them. I'm reminded of JoMo's first year when the entire stadium knew Fitz was going to run on 3rd down regardless of situation ... our one and only running play is very much like this situation

[Bothrops]

What is this weird fascination with MSU fans wanting the QB to run?

I guess this is going to be Leach's version of "why don't we run QB sneaks under center?"

I don't understand our fans.

Come on man, you know some fan tinkering with players and scheme is always the answer. Besides, Shrader running those tough yards to get first downs last year didn't disappoint.

[BrunswickDawg]

What is this weird fascination with MSU fans wanting the QB to run?

I guess this is going to be Leach's version of "why don't we run QB sneaks under center?"

I don't understand our fans.

The fascination has just changed with the coaches. When Mullen was coach, you had people clamoring for wishbone packages along with the QB sneak. With Jackie it was the fascination with the back up QB - who was always going to be better.

[RedRiverdawg]

The apple cup is their rivalry game.

This is the equivalent of losing to Ole Miss 5 out of 6 times because their DC has your kryptonite. Would that be acceptable?

[KOdawg1]

Or we could just leave Costello in, hit the checkdown and get an easy first down.

This.

[BB30]

The apple cup is their rivalry game.

This is the equivalent of losing to Ole Miss 5 out of 6 times because their DC has your kryptonite. Would that be acceptable?

The talent disparity between washington and washington state is much different from the talent disparity between us and OM. That would be like us comparing ourselves with Bama.

[RedRiverdawg]

Arkansas was apparently talented enough

[BB30]

[QUOTE=RedRiverdawg;1274573]Arkansas was apparently talented enough[/QUOTE

Yea they were. Just as we were talented enough to beat LSU the week before? Not sure what you were expecting? A national title run in year one of a new offense? Arkansas is about on par with us from a raw talent standpoint. Its not like they were recruiting in the 80s over the last four years.

Anyone in this conference can beat you when you don't execute and turn the ball over.

I doubt Arkansas beats us 6 out of the next 7 times like Washington did to Washington State. Hence the reason for my initial comment. Re comparing washington state/washington to OM/State is just dumb.

[ShotgunDawg]

The apple cup is their rivalry game.

This is the equivalent of losing to Ole Miss 5 out of 6 times because their DC has your kryptonite. Would that be acceptable?

I would say it's more like Texas Tech losing to Texas 5 of 6 times, if we're talking about resources

[RedRiverdawg]

The Washinton huskies are now Alabama.

Should WSU be in a non power 5 conference? ( legit question)

Nobody said anything about a national championship. Anybody that does is a fantasy driven idiot.
State hasn't been to Atlanta in 22 years, and even then they back doored it IIRC

I am saying he lost to his RIVAL every single time after the first meeting. Maybe rivalry games mean something different in the PAC 12.
I am saying he runs a gimmick offense with a serious flaw and is unwilling to modify it. I mean the man can't burn clock because his offense only knows 1 speed.

[R2Dawg]

What is this weird fascination with MSU fans wanting the QB to run?

I guess this is going to be Leach's version of "why don't we run QB sneaks under center?"

I don't understand our fans.

Real simple, that is what MSU fans have seen give success for 40+ years going all the way back to Bond in 80s, to wishbone, to spread, to Fitz SEC leading rushing QB. MSU fans want success. I'm not saying we can't have success other ways but running the ball with RB and even QB is something we have proven to do successfully. Passing and winning will take time.

[Turfdawg67]

The fascination has just changed with the coaches. When Mullen was coach, you had people clamoring for wishbone packages along with the QB sneak. With Jackie it was the fascination with the back up QB - who was always going to be better.

And with Mullen, "we" hated Checkdown Charlie football... now it's the answer.

[DownwardDawg]

Mississippi State beat the Sh*& out of Mississippi State the other night. The traffic barrels in the way just happened to be wearing Arkansas jerseys


You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to ShotgunDawg again.

[DownwardDawg]

The Washinton huskies are now Alabama.

Should WSU be in a non power 5 conference? ( legit question)

Nobody said anything about a national championship. Anybody that does is a fantasy driven idiot.
State hasn't been to Atlanta in 22 years, and even then they back doored it IIRC

I am saying he lost to his RIVAL every single time after the first meeting. Maybe rivalry games mean something different in the PAC 12.
I am saying he runs a gimmick offense with a serious flaw and is unwilling to modify it. I mean the man can't burn clock because his offense only knows 1 speed.


He isn't saying Washington is BAMA. He saying that the talent gap between wash and Washington State is more like us vs BAMA than us vs ole miss or Arkansas. We have pretty much the same talent as Arkansas or ole miss. Washington State never had talent even close to Washington.
Also, if you've paid attention, it's been posted on here many times that Washington State has great time of possession. That theory that leach wears his defense out has been debunked already.

[maroonmania]

Arkansas obviously outplayed us, and other teams might do so as well. But I do not understand why some people are acting like zone defense was just invented Saturday.

The zone defense wasn't just invented but it was the first time for KJ to deal with something like that. The issue wasn''t that Leach hadn't seen it before, the issue was KJ hadn't seen it or had to make decisions against it in real time before. Its one thing to tell someone how to operate against that defense but a whole other thing to actually do it. Decision making is apparently a whole lot easier with this offense when everything is man. Folks still forget just how little time Leach has had to get this team ready to run this scheme and run it against various defensive looks.

[maroonmania]

What is this weird fascination with MSU fans wanting the QB to run?

I guess this is going to be Leach's version of "why don't we run QB sneaks under center?"

I don't understand our fans.

I don't have to have our QB run. When we have a 3rd down conversion to make if he chooses to throw it fine, but IF he decides to run it he better run it with the intention to get the first down with his best effort. If he is just going to slide, or fall down like on the last 3rd down, and come up short without giving it his all then just THROW the dang ball. Choosing to run and then giving it a half-assed effort is just not acceptable, at least not on 3rd or 4th down. That is the issue.

[Homedawg]

What is this weird fascination with MSU fans wanting the QB to run?

I guess this is going to be Leach's version of "why don't we run QB sneaks under center?"

I don't understand our fans.
To be honest, for me and me only, it's way harder to defend a team that has a running qb. And I don't mean a guy who can run scrabbling. I mean an option threat. Have to defend all 11 Guys. With that said, that's not what leach does never has never will. I'll accept what he wants to do until he shows it won't work. He's a smart guy. Can he win a championship here? I don't know. Odds are against him and the guy who runs offense like I "prefer" too. But I'm not going to sit here and waste my time thinking he's going to change cause he's not. So I'm agreeing w your post...

[Cooterpoot]

We lost to a shitty AR team. Got out coached and out played. You guys can keep trying to make excuses for losing to a terrible team, but it's still going to be a bad loss.

[Todd4State]

To be honest, for me and me only, it's way harder to defend a team that has a running qb. And I don't mean a guy who can run scrabbling. I mean an option threat. Have to defend all 11 Guys. With that said, that's not what leach does never has never will. I'll accept what he wants to do until he shows it won't work. He's a smart guy. Can he win a championship here? I don't know. Odds are against him and the guy who runs offense like I "prefer" too. But I'm not going to sit here and waste my time thinking he's going to change cause he's not. So I'm agreeing w your post...

I'm not all that concerned with a championship. At this point if he wins 8-10 consistently and beats people he should like Dan while occasionally upsetting people like LSU this year like Jackie did and doesn't put an embarrassing product on the field like Joe did- I'll be more than good with that. If we happen to win a championship in the process- that's awesome. I'd honestly be happy with a Sugar Bowl win. If nothing else the attention MSU has gotten this year for football has been a really nice surprise to me. We could really take off nationally once Leach gets his program completely established.

[SPMT]

I don't have to have our QB run. When we have a 3rd down conversion to make if he chooses to throw it fine, but IF he decides to run it he better run it with the intention to get the first down with his best effort. If he is just going to slide, or fall down like on the last 3rd down, and come up short without giving it his all then just THROW the dang ball. Choosing to run and then giving it a half-assed effort is just not acceptable, at least not on 3rd or 4th down. That is the issue.

Good point.

[PCHSDawg]

deleted because why not

[Maroonthirteen]

Interesting, i don't recall Spurrier ever having a big bruising back. I believe he did have one RB get drafted and play in the nfl but that was one over a long coaching career at Florida.

Anyways.... Wyatts film study is good. It mostly shows the bad. However it is evidence, Arkansas was well prepared on defense and executed their plan well. We didn't execute well. Looks to me our QB held the ball to long. Or the timing of the routes were off. Regardless we didn't execute well. Leach has to get that fixed.


https://youtu.be/pWY8j7M1hUg

[ShotgunDawg]

We lost to a shitty AR team. Got out coached and out played. You guys can keep trying to make excuses for losing to a terrible team, but it's still going to be a bad loss.

I don't think we got out coached at all.

Guys were open

[BrunswickDawg]

Interesting, i don't recall Spurrier ever having a big bruising back. I believe he did have one RB get drafted and play in the nfl but that was one over a long coaching career at Florida.

He had Eric Rhett rush for 1109 yards in '91 and 1289 yards in '93; and Fred Taylor rushed for 1292 in '97 (and then became the best player in Jags history). Outside of that he usually had 1 back around 700-800 yards or 2 around 500-600. UF really hasn't had a truly dominating RB since Emmett.

[Maroonthirteen]

Yeah, Taylor was who I was referring to. I couldn't remember if Rhett was around when Spurrier arrived. Thanks!

[Maroonthirteen]

I don't think we got out coached at all.

Guys were open

Being prepared goes back to coaching. Costello was indecisive and late with throws. Also, as typical vs Arkansas, State didn't look focused. Again coaching.

Arkansas defense was extremely prepared and focused as evident by their execution. They looked like a team that has ran that defense for years. Odom did a great job.

[maroonmania]

I don't think we got out coached at all.

Guys were open

After watching Wyatt's film study, yes there were some plays that could have been made but unless you are willing to dink and dunk all night its pretty much a mess out there to find an open throwing window with 5 in the pattern and 8 defenders in a zone. Not a lot of open space in the secondary to work with that I saw. I encourage all to watch Wyatt's film study to see how difficult it was for KJ to find an open throwing lane for WRs in the pattern. Seems to me you really have to be able to successfully run the ball a good bit to beat that defense and we were unable to do that. Would seem to me if you really had a QB truly willing to run he could gain 7 to 8 yards on that style defense at any time.

[TrapGame]

After watching Wyatt's film study, yes there were some plays that could have been made but unless you are willing to dink and dunk all night its pretty much a mess out there to find an open throwing window with 5 in the pattern and 8 defenders in a zone. Not a lot of open space in the secondary to work with that I saw. I encourage all to watch Wyatt's film study to see how difficult it was for KJ to find an open throwing lane for WRs in the pattern. Seems to me you really have to be able to successfully run the ball a good bit to beat that defense and we were unable to do that. Would seem to me if you really had a QB truly willing to run he could gain 7 to 8 yards on that style defense at any time.

That's why my theory is losing Kylin was a huge kick in the nuts for the game plan. If Kylin had been able to run the ball effectively we would have seen that 8 man zone clear some. We then would have had larger windows for KJ to hit receivers.

[Todd4State]

After watching Wyatt's film study, yes there were some plays that could have been made but unless you are willing to dink and dunk all night its pretty much a mess out there to find an open throwing window with 5 in the pattern and 8 defenders in a zone. Not a lot of open space in the secondary to work with that I saw. I encourage all to watch Wyatt's film study to see how difficult it was for KJ to find an open throwing lane for WRs in the pattern. Seems to me you really have to be able to successfully run the ball a good bit to beat that defense and we were unable to do that. Would seem to me if you really had a QB truly willing to run he could gain 7 to 8 yards on that style defense at any time.


That's why my theory is losing Kylin was a huge kick in the nuts for the game plan. If Kylin had been able to run the ball effectively we would have seen that 8 man zone clear some. We then would have had larger windows for KJ to hit receivers.

I be misremembering but I believe we really got rolling once Kylin got his long TD against LSU.

[Coach34]

This! I watched a replay of wsu vs cal from 2014 last night. Cal rushed 3 dropped 8 all night. Connor Holliday threw for over 500 and they put up 59 points. Difference was the decision making by Holliday. He knew where the windows were in the zone and he exploited them. We'll see if KJ can learn it.

Difference was he was playing a Cal defense instead of an SEC defense

Repeat after me- "SEC speed is not like other conferences....SEC speed is not like other conferences"

[Coach34]

We lost to a shitty AR team. Got out coached and out played. You guys can keep trying to make excuses for losing to a terrible team, but it's still going to be a bad loss.

This is the correct answer. People wondered if UPig would win a game this season- and they beat us at home. Kentucky's 3 man front will be better than theirs I assure you. We werent caught off guard or flat-footed- we knew they would do that. We were surprised we struggled to run the ball and had trouble beating the zone.

Outplayed/Outcoached. Wont be the last time.

[HailStateSZN19]

This is the correct answer. People wondered if UPig would win a game this season- and they beat us at home. Kentucky's 3 man front will be better than theirs I assure you. We werent caught off guard or flat-footed- we knew they would do that. We were surprised we struggled to run the ball and had trouble beating the zone.

Outplayed/Outcoached. Wont be the last time.

Is there a reason you haven't commented on the thread talking about how much better our defense has been compared to expectations, especially yours, so far this season?.........

Once again, you search out the threads where you can s**t on the team and focus solely on them but won't go comment on a thread where you have been just absolutely terribly wrong so far this season. Consider me shocked....

[Coach34]

Interesting, i don't recall Spurrier ever having a big bruising back. I believe he did have one RB get drafted and play in the nfl but that was one over a long coaching career at Florida

RB draft picks under Spurrier:

Dexter McNabb
Erick Rhett
Fred Taylor (1st round)
Terry Jackson

[messageboardsuperhero]

Difference was he was playing a Cal defense instead of an SEC defense

Repeat after me- "SEC speed is not like other conferences....SEC speed is not like other conferences"

In the last 10 NFL drafts, Cal has had 14 defensive players selected and Arkansas has had 12 defensive players drafted. Just because Arkansas wears an SEC patch on their uniforms does not mean they are more talented or faster than Cal.

[Coach34]

Is there a reason you haven't commented on the thread talking about how much better our defense has been compared to expectations, especially yours, so far this season?.........

Because we have played 2 bad offenses and the season is marathon- not a sprint. We all thought the D would be good against the run- I said that if you will go back to my posts.

[Coach34]

In the last 10 NFL drafts, Cal has had 14 defensive players selected and Arkansas has had 12 defensive players drafted. Just because Arkansas wears an SEC patch on their uniforms does not mean they are more talented or faster than Cal.

That's only talking best players. What separates the SEC is the speed of the guys on the whole D vs the whole D of Cal. Best player #7 on an SEC D is better than best player #7 on a Cal D. Get it?

[messageboardsuperhero]

This is the correct answer. People wondered if UPig would win a game this season- and they beat us at home. Kentucky's 3 man front will be better than theirs I assure you. We werent caught off guard or flat-footed- we knew they would do that. We were surprised we struggled to run the ball and had trouble beating the zone.

Outplayed/Outcoached. Wont be the last time.

Of course it won?t be the last time we get outplayed and outcoached. We didn?t prepare well enough or execute the offense well enough.

Good coaches get outcoached all the time. Dan Mullen is our best coach ever, and he would get outcoached minimum 1-2 times per year.

[HailStateSZN19]

Because we have played 2 bad offenses and the season is marathon- not a sprint. We all thought the D would be good against the run- I said that if you will go back to my posts.

LSU has 4 & 5 star talent all over the field. I'm well aware of what they lost from last year but they put more 4 and 5 star talent out there.

You predicted we'd be absolutely gosh awful on defense and would be one of the worst in the SEC and would get torched and finish close to last in the SEC.

We are currently the 19th ranked defense in terms of total defense giving up 350 ypg. Take out the 2 pick 6's from the scores & we've given up 20.5 PPG on defense, which would also rank 19th.

You can point out that you thought the run defense would be alright but fact is, you've been just absolutely terribly wrong so far about what the defense would be. Period.

Repeat after me-- "You were terribly wrong about the defense so far..... You were terribly wrong about the defense so far"

[messageboardsuperhero]

That's only talking best players. What separates the SEC is the speed of the guys on the whole D vs the whole D of Cal. Best player #7 on an SEC D is better than best player #7 on a Cal D. Get it?

Arkansas has not been faster or more talented on defense than Cal has been the last five or so years. That is absurd. There?s no way you could argue that. Cal has routinely been a top half of the P5 defense, and Arkansas has been trash.

If the scheme can work against Cal, Oregon, and Stanford, it can absolutely work against Arkansas, Kentucky, and OM. Just have to give it time to get the execution there.

[Coach34]

Arkansas has not been faster or more talented on defense than Cal has been the last five or so years. That is absurd. There?s no way you could argue that. Cal has routinely been a top half of the P5 defense, and Arkansas has been trash.

If the scheme can work against Cal, Oregon, and Stanford, it can absolutely work against Arkansas, Kentucky, and OM. Just have to give it time to get the execution there.

We will see, wont we?

[messageboardsuperhero]

We will see, wont we?

Yes, that we will.

Dan Mullen won an average of 7.7 games (counting bowls) per year while he was at State. I think Leach can match that.