Can you hear Hank Williams Jr.’s voice from the ABC Monday Night Football musical intros?
The readership area is in for a healthy dose of option football this coming gridiron season.
Manchester and Wawasee will have new football coaches. Both teams attended the TMT Option camp this summer, so we shall likely see a lot of existing school passing records stay intact from years’ past.
There is a misnomer that the option game is not quick-hitting, and not exciting, however. People dread seeing the single digit pass attempts in a game… until they actually watch a game where a team runs the triple option.
From a passing standpoint, the triple option sets up receivers to be more open than usual when the team elects to pass. Luke Adamiec, class of 2021, spent three seasons playing in the offensive scheme. More than half of his receptions resulted in touchdowns.
Adamiec could grab anything he could reach, and he could get open. His long legs allowed him to move faster than he appeared to move.
When he was open, he was incredibly open because (usually) nine of the eleven teenage boys playing defense couldn’t resist lining up “in the box” – the area describing a group of defenders poised to stop a running play - to defend the run even when their coaches remind them passing is still a slight possibility.
There is still a progression for the quarterback even if he doesn’t attempt a single pass in a ballgame running the triple option. The progression, in fact, takes place on every snap.
A quarterback in this offense immediately has to evaluate the defensive line and linebackers to see who among them has wound up in the wrong place making the wrong choice prior to choosing to keep the ball, hand it off to the fullback (B back), or pitch to an A back for an outside run.
This is the same judgment that is just as important as a passing quarterback’s progressions and reads among linebackers and defensive backs.
For those oh you who are unaware of how the triple option sausage is made, take note.
You’ve seen B backs like Juan Jaramilla, German Flores-Ortega, and Reed Zollinger carry the ball between the center and guards on several consecutive plays. From your perspective it might appear someone is pressing the repeat button to keep feeding the B back with the ball.
This is another misnomer.
The offensive coach calling the play as well as head Coach Bart Curtis watching closely from the sideline have no idea who will get the ball on most option plays. The decision is in the hands of the quarterback, who – as mentioned earlier – has to quickly evaluate what defender made the wrong choice.
These decisions actually happen more quickly than a passing quarterback’s progression among his receivers.
Coach Curtis, in fact, spends his time watching what the defense is giving him, and often times does not see the play launch. His observations combined with the offensive coaches on the rooftop of the Warsaw press box have a few seconds after each play to determine the best points of attack.
Triple option offense has been quick-hitting, as witnessed in several quick Warsaw drives with no-huddle intensified with a sense of urgency. Warsaw’s offense has embraced “situational football” to use pitches and counter plays (a play where the ball-carrier moves in a direction opposite of MOST of the line and backfield flow) for breakaway runs.
Lucas Ransbottom turned what might have been a “victory formation” set of kneel-downs to end a half into an explosive 67-yard touchdown run last season to shift the momentum Warsaw’s way en route to last season’s victory over NorthWood, an opponent heavy in D1 and other levels of potential collegiate talent.
Another breakaway, quick-hitting opportunity comes at just about any fourth down, short yardage situation the Tigers face.
I laugh when other stadium’s announcers do the over-hyped “thiiirrrrd dooowwwn” announcement because the Tigers love going on fourth down just about anywhere on the field. What’s the point of the third down hype, right?
The Tigers have converted these short yardage situations into long touchdown runs for two reasons:
The defense is stacked to stop a short run.
The offensive line is looking for rushers on the outside to move inward toward the guards too soon, and suddenly, the aforementioned B backs were off the races because a defensive end who closed inward too soon was pinched by at least two interior offensive linemen.
Those of you who are going to see triple option football for the first time ever, or the first time in years (Wawasee has run this offense before) are in for a treat if you know how the sausage is made.