Leach's offense is considered Air Raid, not Spread
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Practice Observations
- Thread starter Buffnik
- Start date
I remember them being pretty good running the ball.
Last year was considered an extremely good year for a Leach team on the ground.
80.5 yards per game with 3.6 yards per carry. That's deflated quite a bit by Luke Falk having 82 carries for -115 yards. Which is why overall it was a really good rushing year for Leach's offense. The RBs actually did some damage. http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/washington-state/2015.html
If we go back and look at 2014: 39.8 yards per game with 2.0 yards per carry. http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/washington-state/2014.html That was particularly bad. In between those 2 seasons (2014 & 2015) is pretty much the norm.
Medford M.
Well-Known Member
No. Spread offense is fairly balanced between run and pass. Air rad is extremely pass heavy. Yes, both offenses are predominately shotgun with at least 3 wide, but spread, as I said before, features a balanced attack and usually a mobile QB.
Yeah. "Air Raid" grew out of the "Run 'n Shoot" pass offenses. "Spread" grew out of the triple option offenses.
Oregon, Okie Lite, RichRod's WVU - those are run offenses first and foremost.
How about running a pass-only offense while the QB runs all over your ass...2011 Hawaii.
8Jah
Well-Known Member
If they do they need to tell him not to seek unnecessary contact. Too many times, the warrior that he wants to be, he runs like a fullback right through a LB or DT. That leads to him getting banged up and ineffective.
I like the read options, but some of the plays look more like designed sneaks where he just runs right through the tackles. Don't know about those.
I think where they struggled was in the red zone or when they had a lead and needed to run out the clock. Not sure if that's because the OL was soft from all the pass pro or if it was a scheme problem, but I don't think they were a very effective running team.
To me the spread has less to do with what you run out of it and more to do with the formations used. Washington State and Oregon use very similar sets, they just run different plays out of it. The spread option and air raid are both "spread offenses," which has less to do with a run/pass difference and more to do with how they are lined up. Atleast that is the way I see it. The article below categorizes the four main spread offenses, the air raid (Leach), spread option (Oregon and WVU), smashmouth spread (Urban Meyer and Art Briles) and the pro-style spread (mostly pro teams).
http://www.footballstudyhall.com/20...-offense-smashmouth-option-air-raid-pro-style
http://www.footballstudyhall.com/20...-offense-smashmouth-option-air-raid-pro-style
We may want to break this into a thread, because I think there's a lot of interest in what the heck is Chiv bringing us from TTU?
Here's an excellent writeup I found on the Air Raid and balance.
Here's an excellent writeup I found on the Air Raid and balance.
I found another article that summarized his time at TTU and first 3 years at WSU - bolstering your position.
"Success with the Air Raid has never necessitated much of a running game, but even through Leach’s 10 seasons at Texas Tech, his teams averaged 89.4 rushing yards per game every year.
The rushing average dropped to 40.7 yards per game in Leach’s first three years at WSU."
I just remember those wide splits of their OL and them running the ball effectively in the BIG12 and they did do that a few seasons (When Henderson was their RB). But in general, they have been pass first.
Haha.
In an indirect way, what we are discussing is the CU offense and what we can expect with Chev bringing TTU concepts.
Lindgren, for all his talk about 50/50 balance or an ideal of a 60/40 run/pass mix never showed that level of commitment to the run game. But what we did see from him is a playbook that really opens up with a mobile QB. Looking at SJSU years and what's we have seen here, there are a lot of run options designed for a QB who can carry the rock (zone reads, QB draws, rollout passes with run options, etc.). Use of a TE and even sets with a FB. When he's had a mobile QB it opens his playbook. When he doesn't, it limits the playbook.
But where Chev is coming from is Air Raid. Quick passing. Short passes serve the role that run plays traditionally do. Run plays off no huddle when you catch the defense over-adjusting to your wide splits to get an edge rush, taking advantage to bust one up the middle. Or an outside run to catch a gassed DE and/or CBs playing a cushion. It's a pass offense. Runs are set up by defensive adjustments to the pass game. Mobile QB isn't part of scheme design.
I don't think we really know how much Air Raid is being incorporated into the offense.
We could be incorporating a lot of air raid and no one would have been lying this offseason. It would take just some small tweaks to go from a balanced spread attack to an air raid type attack. The base formations and the base techniques are virtually the same.
I did see that the OL had noticeably wider splits on Saturday. There's a lot to like about that. Hopefully they mix that up a bit, though, because while it generally works great between the 10s it's not best alignment for goal line and short yardage.
I wouldn't classify all offenses that have similar formations as "Spread", unless you just want to use that nomenclature to very generally categorize them due to the facet that they spread the field from SL to SL with backs and receivers. The route concepts and offensive philosophies vary greatly from the Mike Leach Air Raid, to the Oregon Spread.
Darian3Hagan
'89 Player of the Year
8Jah
Well-Known Member
I'm not a big fan of the air raid for CU right now with Sefo as the QB. The bigger splits just open up blitz lanes. I think if you look at QBs running the air raid they often get bashed; especially against the LOS dominant teams in the Pac12 - Stanford, Utah, USC,... Mike Leach's QBs get killed at some point every year....and we can't afford to have our QB killed this year. Sefo is a smart dude who can make quick reads and audibles, but he so wants to be the tough guy that has to be dragged down by no less than a DE and two backers.
Its also a gimmick offense. I think the Vegas guys would call it a high variance offense; one that gives you a shot at beating any team a notch or two better than you are, but also a shot to lose against anyone. You never see the air raid competing for a national championship.
Its also a gimmick offense. I think the Vegas guys would call it a high variance offense; one that gives you a shot at beating any team a notch or two better than you are, but also a shot to lose against anyone. You never see the air raid competing for a national championship.
Texas Tech was 59th in most sacks allowed last year.
CUFan
Welcome back
+1. Even when our GB teams were declining, we were still beating Tech nearly every time. I always felt that was because we dominated in the trenches.
I don't think we are all of the sudden going full Air Raid. I don't think we'll see much of a widening in OL splits.
I think it's a bit like when some thought we were going to run the pistol offense. I think we lined up in that formation like 3 times that year.
Big Jim
WTF?
I hope not. I find the Air Raid offense to be one of the most tedious to watch as a fan, it is not interesting.
I think we'll see some of the passing/route concepts that Chev has taken from his time at TTU, but Lindgren is still supposedly running the show. If they were going full Air Raid, they might as well have just fired BL and let Chev have full ownership of the offense.
scoob
Well-Known Member
I find watching an ineffective offense and a losing football team tedious. They can run the single wing for all I care if it translates to points and wins.
Big Jim
WTF?
Why do you think the Air Raid offense will translate into wins for CU?