Thursday September 03, 2009

Give him the D### ball!!

So, I've seen/heard the arguments about Spiller and his Heisman campaign this year and with those points aside we still should have Spiller be the focal point of the offense (and return game).

What sounds reasonable? 20-25 touches a game? Probably. But how can we get Spiller his needed 25 touches? Easy actually.

Think about it. There are about 75 offensive plays per game and another 15 or more special teams plays (10 or more are punts and kickoffs) so depending on the type of game being played there can upwards as 100 chances for Spiller to get his hands on the ball.

EXAMPLES: In the Alabama game last season there were 48 offensive plays and 8 special team kick return plays... 56 total.

In the SC game there were 64 offensive plays and 9 special teams plays, 73 total.

In the Duke game there were 79 offensive plays and 12 special teams plays 91 total.

Yes, yes... I know, Spiller will never be on the field 100 times during a single game, even a blow out, but that's beyond the point. The point is that Spiller will be on the field 50+ times a game even when the offense is struggling and that's why we need to be creative.

There's more to a touch than a simple hand-off or screen pass. There should be more reverses that send him and Jacoby in motion. Utilize their speed. Even the wild-tiger offense, or whatever they want to call it, should be implemented occasionally but with more twists (IE passes, WRs as the backs and simple screens from the formation).

There are at least 10 different types of running plays in a game: dives, counters, tosses, draws, off tackles, weak sides, strong sides, options, zone runs, traps, reverses, etc etc. There's got to be a mix of these in a single game alone in order to ensure some success offensively.

Same thing goes with the passing game. How many different pass plays are there? 10..12...30... a lot! Why not put Spiller in the flat or even line him up as a WR once or twice a game to go along with the simple HB screens and scat routes out of the backfield? Even as a decoy he's got to be out there in different places. Teams are going to single him out and try to eliminate his touches which is why being creative will be a must.

Our home opener for instance. With no lack of respect for MTSU we should win this game and I hope we can win by more than 20. This is a game of vanilla offenses and defenses but should be a fine indicator of how Spiller is to get the ball in order for us to get the greatest efficiency out of him. CJ should get at least 15 carries, 5 passes thrown to and 5 punt returns without even trying to get him the ball extra times. There's 20 touches right there. Assuming the game stays close and CJ doesn't take 3 of these long distances for TDs that would be a good total for him in this game. This game isn't where Spiller will need to get his touches. Its games like GT, FSU and TCU where his touches will become more important... important for our team to have balance running the ball as well as who is getting the ball.

The Heisman campaign and the wins will come together, not separately. There won't be any 8-5 Heisman talk but there will if we can get to 10 wins and to an ACC title. It's no secret that getting Spiller the ball, into a flow and successfully will give us a better chance to win. That's one of the things our opponents will be focused on stopping as well.

In my opinion, there's got to be an average of 25 touches per game given to Spiller in BIG games if we are going to have any shot to win. This means a handful of things too. Not only would our biggest play-maker in history be given 25 shots per game to make something happen, it means that we are (hopefully) forcing punts and not kickoff returns, creating some running lanes and a rhythm on offense. It's quite simple really. Get into a rhythm, run the ball and play solid defense. Sounds like a good strategy to win huh? Just get CJ the D### ball and I think we can find that rhythm... on offense at least.

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http://shoelessworks.com/blog/Blog.html