Going fast in football
Great article in the NY Times on the high-speed offense that Oregon runs. I was particularly interested in the innovation angle to this. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but it's strange to consider that "let's just play the game faster when we have the ball" would be an innovation in a game as old as football is. However, Oregon's record and their invitation to the title game begs to differ - no one has ever played the game of football quite like them.
From the NY Times article:
Kelly’s fast-paced attack positions speedy skill players from sideline to sideline and gives the quarterback multiple options on each play like a point guard in basketball. Kelly did not invent the spread offense. The nature of his innovation has to do with the speed with which he is able to communicate signals to his players from the sidelines — and their ability to quickly line up and run play after play at a pace that ultimately debilitates the opposition.
In the city of the distance-running legend Steve Prefontaine — Eugene is known as Tracktown, U.S.A., and is also where the sporting-goods company Nike was started — Kelly has transformed football into an aerobic sport. This style is particularly of the moment because it is apparent that football, at least in the short term, will become less violent. Kelly’s teams have found a new way to intimidate, one that does not involve high-speed collisions and head injuries. “Some people call it a no-huddle offense, but I call it a no-breathing offense,” Mark Asper, an Oregon offensive lineman, told me. “It’s still football. We hit people. But after a while, the guys on the other side of the line are so gassed that you don’t have to hit them very hard to make them fall over.
As with all innovations, the underlying principles at play aren't groundbreaking. Oregon's secret sauce: conditioning. Nothing new to the game or athletics in general, but the manner in which they train is interesting. Wind sprints are dropped in favor of simply running game plays over and over and over. By practicing at double speed, when it comes to game time, they are ready. Instead of running 110s, they run a slant pass, hustle back and line up, run another slant pass, hustle back and line up, hand the ball off, hustle back and line up, run a post. They practice all the muscles they need to play football . . . while they are playing football . . . fast.
“Nobody in the whole history of football can snap off plays as quickly as this team does. Other teams can’t condition for it. It’s a great equalizer. If you’ve got a 350-pound guy, I don’t care how good he is, you’ve got to get him off the field. He can’t keep up. I think what everyone wants to know is, What’s the trick? How do they do it? As with many innovations, the trick is almost certainly less complicated than it appears. Oregon’s innovative offense is really about is conditioning, repetitions in practice, precision and, most of all, agreement on the core mission — to go fast.
Now, they just need to get through Cam Newton, who is perhaps the best example of another recent football innovation: the modern, mobile quarterback who can beat you with his legs, his hands and his head. Should be a great game.
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