The Best Offense for Fresno State?

In my first post today I asked what kind of offense everyone prefers. I aksed if you as Bulldog fans enjoy this clock eating offense that allows us to score between 20-24 points a game or do you prefer the quick strike offense that had been in place during the Sweeney era where we scored 35-40 points a game? I have always been a proponent of a quick strike offense because I feel like that type of offense is always putting pressure on the defense of the other team. At the same time how often is a team going to win a college football game when scoring 20-24 points a game? Part of the problem with the clock eating offense is if you play a team such as Hawaii who comes at you fast and furious your defense is now looking to force turnovers to stay in the game. When you run a quick strike offense you don't necessarily have to force any turnovers on defense because your team is scoring 35 points without any turnovers. This has been shown with respect to Fresno State this season. We do not have an interception up to this point and have had very few fumble recoveries. With the type of offense we have we are lucky to score 28 points in a game such as we did against Nevada.

Now let's take a look at the alternative to Fresno State's offense, the type of offense I would have wanted to run to start the season. This is the type of offensive coordinator I believe we should have hired instead of a conservative type of guy such as Steve Hagen. I know I am going to get crap for this idea but I truly believe it would work with the skilled players we have on this team. First and foremost this team has the ability to run the option/ spread offense easily. Just bare with me for a minute and listen to what I am proposing before you think this is the most ridiculous idea you have ever heard.

Spread Formation W/the Option - At the beginning of the year we had the ability to line up on every single play with Fernandez and West on the left side and Williams and Fairman on the right. We would have Norton at QB (or Brandstater, they both can run) with Wright or Miller at RB. Now many of you would say this would kill Wright's numbers but I say look at the numbers Hawaii's RB puts up. He is slightly bigger than Wright and runs in the offense I am trying to prove would work at state. Three of our receivers at the beginning of the season were as good as you could hope to have. I know Fairman went down but now you just substitute Pascoe in on one side or another depending on if you want to run trips or not. With the spread option formation the defense has to guess if you are going to throw, option left or right, or run the ball. Linebackers tend to blitz because you only have your five lineman and maybe a TE in on the line, but once they do your speedy receivers now have the middle of the field wide open to roam in. An offense like this could really put the scoring back on the map here in Fresno. I know that many of you prefer the Pro Style and I think that is a good offense to run if you do it like many of the SEC teams run it, but right now we are not executing that offense. I know we won't change the way we run offense, but these are just ideas to talk about from time to time. If the Dogs went to an offense like this they would score 35-40 a game base solely on the fact college corners just aren't good enough to run across the field step for step with a receiver (well aside maybe three or four select corners, McCauley included).

In the end I know this is a pipe dream but after explaining it I hope some of you understand where I am coming from. I played QB in Japan for the island football team for three seasons and we ran the Pro Set the first season. We finished 2-8 and I was contastanly under pressure. The next season we had a new coach who installed the option/spread formation and we went 8-2 because teams were lost on every play. I am not saying the league I played in was nearly as difficult as college football is, but it does work. Just watch the teams that run it with the right talent in place. Hawaii runs this offense amazingly and if we don't beat them Saturday they will not lose another game this season. I am wondering if anoyne else out there who has seen the Dogs play this year has an offensive idea that might help (aside the obvious get a QB who can make the throws and such). If so I would really like to hear it as I am as offensive minded as one guy could possibly be.