Option Football

grandpasknee

grandpasknee

All-Conference
Somebody in another thread posted a video of us destroying Colorado 52-7 or such back in the mid 90s...and they were ranked in the top 10 I think at the time. Watching Frazier run the option was just a thing of pure beauty. And it wasn't just Frazier. Nebraska and Oklahoma (I"m leaving Texas out just because I hate them) took option football to a whole different level...us with the "I" and the damned Sooners with the Wishbone.

It seemed like no matter how talented your defense was, there would be multiple times in a game where the option runner would go pretty much untouched...guys just a few feet from the QB, but so focused on the pitch man that they had no chance to make a play on the keeper.

Gill, JC Watts, Holliewell, Taylor, Crouch, Frazier and half a dozen others come to mind, along with all the fantastic backs of those years. And when you thought you had it figured out, the freaking tight end would be open for a 40 yard rumble.

My god that was just some beautiful football. I know styles come and go, but I'll always think of option football as the nut-cracking, jock-strap juking ballet of contact sports.

 
I loved the option. But, I remember certain good defenses in bowl games that basically shut us down.

 
Bowl games were a problem as teams had 5 weeks to prepare for the option as opposed to regular season games where they may have had 3 days to prepare. Plus our bowl opponents were usually well stocked with speedy players who could cover the field quicker than our Big 8/12 teams.

 
BlitzFirst said:
Watch Georgia Tech versus good defenses now and then let us know what you think of the option versus today's defenses.
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Georgia Tech's offense has very little in common with Osborne's.

 


I've heard people complain that Tim Beck didn't run the option. Well, I like this one. It's an option pitch off the read option.
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Frost and Green ran the option as well as any QB/RB duo. Frost wouldn't even have to look to make the pitch. He knew exactly where Green would be. What my HS coaches called "pitch relationship."

Loved/hated how the OU QBs could get the pitch off while being tackled.

 
My favorite play was actually the QB option pass. Gill and Steve Taylor were so amazing running that play. Fake the full back, slide down the line a bit, and then drop back and hit a split end streaking down the middle of the field on a post route.

 
My favorite part was watching all the moving parts along the line. Guys taking bucket steps one way as a false read only to have pulling guards come round the other way.

Defenses would just freeze. Then, when least expected the fullback would spring loose from the middle of a pile and rumble young man...rumble

 
The option has evolved so much since then. Georgia tech is old school optiin. Now RPO'S are the rage and it puts defense in quite the bind. It is the only thing the Bama defense can't quite defend yet

 
TonyStalloni said:
Bowl games were a problem as teams had 5 weeks to prepare for the option as opposed to regular season games where they may have had 3 days to prepare. Plus our bowl opponents were usually well stocked with speedy players who could cover the field quicker than our Big 8/12 teams.
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I always thought that bowl games were a problem because of the 5 weeks of practice speed compared to game speed, seemed like we were always a little off on executing the option for the early parts/first half in those games, would take us a little while to get rolling. I really believe that if we had played sooner we would have put up a few more wins thus a few more championships, especially in the early 80's bowls, specifically the 84 Orange Bowl against Miami.

 
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