Don’t try to act like you understand the spread offense.
One UF student made the mistake of doing so in last week’s Student Town Hall Meeting and coach Urban Meyer called him out on it.
The student was asked what he would do if the defense loaded the box. Meyer didn’t like his response.
“Do you play that video game?,” he asked the student, referring to `NCAA Football 11.’ “I bet you get your ass kicked in that video game.”
Let’s be real, Meyer is right.
The spread offense is misconstrued as a pass-happy scheme that lacks a running game. This stereotype couldn’t be further from the truth.
Last season, the Gators accumulated more rushing yards than the Crimson Tide’s pro-style scheme, which is believed to depend on the ground game.
In Meyer’s first season at UF, the team racked up just 1,761 rushing yards. But that number grew each season until it peaked at 3,236 yards in 2008.
This year, the Gators will top that.
With the loss of quarterback Tim Tebow, who used his legs to do much of his damage, UF will depend on the running backs more. And there is nobody happier than Jeff Demps, Emmanuel Moody and Mike Gillislee.
Demps could become the first Florida running back to gain 1,000 yards since Ciatrick Fason in 2004. The scheme won’t be the obstacle standing between him and this feat; the depth at the position will.
The Gators are expected to feature a rotation of three running backs, with Demps seeing most of the action, and Moody and Gillislee not too far behind him.
With a group of unproven receivers — Deonte Thompson’s 42-career catches are the most on the team — and a quarterback that has yet to make a start, Meyer will have to rely on his group of backs and an experienced offensive line.
The line will consist of four seniors and one junior when the Gators face Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, including the offense’s leader, center Mike Pouncey.
The spread offense can adjust to the personnel. For example, when Tebow is at UF, the coaches used a bunch of quarterback runs.
“It’s hard for me to define the term spread,” offensive coordinator Steve Addazio said. “We have taken that thing and twisted it and turned it a lot of different ways.”
It doesn’t just consist of one particular style. The goal of the scheme is to put top-caliber athletes in space and let them work.
And that’s exactly what’s going to happen this season.
With Percy Harvin, Tim Tebow and Aaron Hernandez gone, the running backs are the only skill position players left from the 2008 national championship team.
Now it’s their time to become the focal point of the offense.
