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Air Force September 14

The Service Academies are hard to prepare for but you just have to get the lead. They can't play from behind. People are always like "Man that is a bitch dealing with that."

Yeah, at 7-7 it is. Not up 21-7.
 
The Service Academies are hard to prepare for but you just have to get the lead. They can't play from behind. People are always like "Man that is a bitch dealing with that."

Yeah, at 7-7 it is. Not up 21-7.
Yikes, we haven't been great in the first half so far.
 
I live in the springs and have been to a ton of AFA games.

The way I see it, this is a troubling game, but CU should be able to cover that spread.
AFA does some smart things nobody else really does. They are ok wiht punting, for example. They don't look at hte game as a failed drive if they punt...they use the punt to simpy give their D a favorable position for a stop so when they get the ball back they'll be in a better position than they were. Very disciplined.
They will run all day long, waiting for hte CB's and Safeties to sneak closer to the line. Once they're asleep, BOOM, a 65 yard TD pass over the top to some very fast WR's. Happens ALL THE TIME, no matter who htey are playing.

I think CU has the advantage with depth, but AFA has some great athletes. I see AFA getting their points, but eventually CU's depth and power attack will take it's toll.

I see it ending as CU: 34, AFA: 17. The second half will be easier for CU as it has been all year.

For hte record, I think AFA is a much better team than CSU this season.

The QB does not look scared at all:
GettyImages-1064354784-775x465.jpg
That QB looks concerned about your spelling.
 
So how do we match up with Air Force? I have no idea since we havent played an option team in???

Only thing that comes up is we have small CB's who will get pushed around and we havent been able to stop the run off the edges so far

Henry Chisolm’s BSN Buff’s podcast on Monday is all about the triple option as an equalizer. Key points:

Tucker has been doing option drills in Fall camp in prep.

A 2 or 3 star athlete on AFA’s offense may be considered a 4 or 5 star when recognizing that the player is brought in to specialize in just one thing - running the option.

AFA players are NOT recruited to be versatile. They are cut blockers or readers of a defense who practice the same 3 base plays. It’s just that those 3 plays can end in hundreds of options based on how defenders are lined up.

The point of the option is not to push the perimeter, but to gain 3-4 yard up the middle. Any gains on the edge or over the top is the result of some lack of focus & coverage by a defender prematurely committing to tackle someone who has an option to pitch.

Defending the option requires ability to shed blocks, stay patient, and hold assignments.

It’s an exciting matchup for a football junky because the triple option, when run well, is a site to behold. And AFA lives or dies by this largely abandoned system.

Should be a real challenge and a great learning experience for every Buff defender to play against such an oddity.

Don’t expect AFA to adjust at the half or tire in the 4Q. The O will keep probing, looking for tendencies they can exploit. And they will do the same thing in 4Q that they do in 1Q.

It’s key that CU’s offense takes what AFA gives, too. A few stalled CU drives on offense is bad news if the defense happens to struggle.

 
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NO. LMFAO.

Look at it this way. If AFA ran CU’s offense, the line on the game would be broader than 3.5 points.

Because AFA has a novelty offense, they can be competitive with smaller or less athletic players.

Anyway, I found it a good podcast to check out in advance of the game.

Cheers. LOL.
 
As if he would be like: "Yes, it's a trap game. We think they suck riceballs and are looking ahead to beautiful Tempe on 9/21. We should be very surprised if we lose, as we are not considering this to be a challenge."
 
Look at it this way. If AFA ran CU’s offense, the line on the game would be broader than 3.5 points.

Because AFA has a novelty offense, they can be competitive with smaller or less athletic players.

Anyway, I found it a good podcast to check out in advance of the game.

Cheers. LOL.


Well the highest rated FB in H.S. last year was a 2.5 star and he didn't receive any D-1 offers, so AF could have turned him into Ironhead Heyward by this variable.

(I know it was the podcast and not you saying it BTW.)
 
There is a high level of intensity in this week's presser from Coach Tucker. You can tell he is 100% focused on Air Force and the challenges that triple option attack poses. I get the sense that he is really working to make sure that the team respects their next opponent as well, he wants/needs the team to match his intensity.
 
To state the sort of obvious, tackling will be the key for both defenses. Just watching the AFA-Crest (oops, sorry, Colgate) highlights, AFA gets blockers ahead of whoever's running the ball, leaving only one guy to make the tackle. So, either get off the blocks or that one guy must make the tackle.

AF DBs are going to play zone and try to keep everything in front of them. Can they tackle 'viska? They are certainly going to need more than one DB to do so.
Yeah. Colgate defenders looked like they were glued to AF blockers, haha.
 
Buffs defense has been pretty stout in the run game up the middle. Stopping the triple option means taking away the first option (FB up the middle), and then making sure your edge defenders, who are usually left unblocked as the read man, remain disciplined and take QB, while your pitch man (usually a Safety or other contain player) does his job and makes the tackles in the open field.

One breakdown in that sequence and the play goes for good yardage, especially if the breakdown happens on the QB or pitch man.
 
Well the highest rated FB in H.S. last year was a 2.5 star and he didn't receive any D-1 offers, so AF could have turned him into Ironhead Heyward by this variable.

(I know it was the podcast and not you saying it BTW.)

Chisholm has wood for the triple option, for sure. He got that religion watching Cal Poly use it against his Montana Griz.

As for me, watching Hagan run the option back in the day was top shelf.
It’s been a loooong time since we’ve seen it run in Folsom.

I’m looking forward to watching the chess match and will very much like to see the Buff’s superior and more versatile athletes demonstrate why the TripO is now largely obsolete.

But I do agree with Chisholm that it is dangerous to handicap this game based purely on comparative rivals star rankings.

This game is more about coaching philosophy.
 
I can't cite just one or two things. But Coach Tucker seems more organized and more focused than coaches in recent memory. I don't want to put him on a pedestal yet (and many of us are quick to do it after so much frustration in the past). But I sense some true attention to detail, focus and organization from day one on the job.Everything was new for him just a few months ago, so much to put in place, yet he was prepping for the AFA offense in August. Maybe our prior coaches did the same. Maybe not??
 
SIAP, I am looking forward to the matchup. Holding outside contain has been the defenses top opportunity, and nothing is better medicine than practicing against the triple option all week.
 
I guess when it comes down to it......if all you had to do was switch to the Triple option...why wouldn't an awful program like Rutgers run it.
 
I guess when it comes down to it......if all you had to do was switch to the Triple option...why wouldn't an awful program like Rutgers run it.
Because it means a COMPLETE overhaul of the way you recruit, the way you train, the way you operate. If you don't have good athletes all over the offense, it doesn't work. If you don't have a team full of guys who are extremely disciplined, it doesn't work. If you don't have the right coaches that have the patience or the game management chops to allow the system to work, it won't.
 
What's interesting is CU offers a pretty good - obviously dated but still instructive - case study in how a under-manned team can level the playing field with an option offense. The foundation for the Buffs rise under Mac.
 
It would take a few years. But that goes with anything. What is athletic about it? It's more about durability. Army were discussing dropping down because they felt they couldn't GET athletic players before they went to it full on. It's to mask that.

I don't think it would work in the Big Ten though, was my point. I guess we just have to look at GT. And it's not like he didn't have success with it at Navy.
 
It would take a few years. But that goes with anything. What is athletic about it? It's more about durability. Army were discussing dropping down because they felt they couldn't GET athletic players before they went to it full on. It's to mask that.

I don't think it would work in the Big Ten though, was my point. I guess we just have to look at GT. And it's not like he didn't have success with it at Navy.

It’s as much a behavioral issue as an athletic equation.

The option does not reward freelancers. It is no place for someone like Johnny Manzel who improvises selfishly. If everyone isn’t buying in, the option will fail.

Military Academies have a built in a culture of team work and sacrifice. Just by considering a service academy appointment, you are going in with eyes wide open that discipline and conformity comes with the territory. Regardless of who is coaching at AFA, that culture has taken root.

Air Force players tend not to be focused on playing two years and getting drafted into the NFL. And the NFL draft doesn’t reward players who are proficient in running the option.

Air Force coaches aren’t filling holes with Jucos struggling to pass the NCAA clearing house. They are getting players who are wired differently, who probably recognize that playing in the League is not a common dream in the AFA locker room.

It’s not that Rutgers couldn’t adopt a triple option. To do so would require long term commitment and buy in. Georgia Tech is an example of this. I tend to agree with you that the TripOp is unlikely to find a home in the Big 10. And even less so in the NFL.
 
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