View Single Post
Old 06-09-2018, 09:08 PM   #1578
thesportsguru11
Cooking With Sauce
 
thesportsguru11's Arena
 
OVR: 0
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 5,109
Blog Entries: 1
Re: We have a football team too... Guru's UConn Huskies (NCAA 14)














An Oral History of Me and Defending the Triple Option



Bryan Cook during his time at Georgia Southern.


I am, in effect, reposting an article I wrote last season right before we played Syracuse. For longtime followers, it has been well documented that I struggle to defend the option for some reason. Perhaps it's because I rely on man and zone defenses and don't blitz as much as I should. Perhaps I am just too aggressive and allow big plays as a result. Whatever the reason, the option has been a major achilles heel for us in the nine seasons of this dynasty.

While we had to deal with Army and Navy annually when we were in the AAC (Seasons 1-4), we were fortunate enough to avoid playing an option team every year until we moved to the ACC before last season. While Paul Johnson is still kicking at Georgia Tech with his triple option, there's a new problem we face in that another team has implemented that style of offense. That team is this week's opponent, Syracuse. Their head coach Bryan Cook was the offensive coordinator for several years at Georgia Tech, and took the offense with him when he was hired at Syracuse in 2020. While we managed to beat both Syracuse and Georgia Tech (ACC Title Game) last season, those games have never been easy.

My combined record against Army and Navy is… 1-4. Army dealt us L’s in both of Bob Diaco’s first two seasons, while Navy drilled us in 2015 and 2016 before we finally beat them in 2017 prior to leaving the AAC at the end of that year. We haven’t faced either team since then.

However, did I ever get a scare when later in 2017, we took on a winless Cincinnati team coached by Ted Roof.. also a former Georgia Tech coach and alum.. Also a user of the triple option. Though Cincy would finish just 3-9, the Bearcats damn near ended UConn’s perfect season and possible playoff hopes in a narrow overtime game that ended with UConn barely hanging on for survival. More recently, if you want to get really technical, Oregon whupped us two years ago in the CFP Title Game with a zone/read option style offense. We managed to go 3-0 to wrap up last season with the aforementioned wins against 'Cuse, Tech and an Oregon rematch in the Orange Bowl (if you want to get really technical). However, we did lose to UCF earlier this year, who apply similar option principles as Oregon. We gave up 200 yards of rush offense and generally looked clueless at times, a bad harbinger for a game like this. As a result, my record against the option and similar offenses is 6-6.

Syracuse scares the you-know-what out of me as they have a thumping fullback and two very talented running backs, including true freshman Kornelius Kimmel. Quarterback Tyronn Weber is capable under center, despite being a first-year starter. They have a very good defense, especially up front, where we've struggled in recent weeks. If we thought Pitt was going to be tough last week, I think Syracuse will be tougher. It never gets easier facing the option, after all. We'll see you back here soon to find out how the game went.


--------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigPlayJ1220
Great game from Lake and the offense but our defense let us down
It's unfortunate as 35 points typically is enough to win -- bad defense has sadly been a shortcoming for many CAC careers to this point. Even so, I think your Minutemen have improved a lot this season. Contending for wins in year one is a big accomplishment, and I think the future is pretty bright. Hang in there!
__________________

6x Super Bowl Champion Patriots |Red Sox | Celtics | Bruins |Boston College | USC | NASCAR Young Guns

OS' biggest game show nut.

Last edited by thesportsguru11; 06-09-2018 at 09:18 PM.
thesportsguru11 is offline  
Reply With Quote