I've seen people on here speculate that the reason we can't switch QBs is because Jimbo's offense is too complicated. I've even seen bloggers say the reason we're not experiencing success is because the offensive is too complex. Yeah, I don't believe that.
We literally have seven running plays on offense under Jimbo.
Power.
Counter.
Inside Zone.
Outside Zone.
Speed Option.
Pin-Pull Sweep.
Iso (for short yardage)
That's it.
Against Vanderbilt, we ran counter, inside zone, outside zone, and speed option. Sometimes we got a little frisky and combined speed option with inside zone for a triple option, but it is still the same basic play and same blocking. Add in iso for short yardage, that would make five running plays against Vanderbilt. Five. That is youth football offense simple.
Here is Mond running counter. Watch Smith's counter-face immediately post snap.
Smith is lead blocker for Mond here. Wydermyer either needs to kickout the safety, or pin him inside, one or the other, his no-block here is a failure. Wydermyer kicks him out, Smith pins the linebacker inside, and Mond is off to the races, the only defender a cornerback fighting Jalen Preston's block.
Here is Ainias Smith running counter, same play, just out of 21 personnel.
You see the same counter-step by Smith after the snap. Same blocking, with a beautiful kickout by #64 Layden Robinson. Wydermyer again doesn't really get his man, I can't tell if he gets a hand on him and spins him, or if the LB just tried to twist and dived and missed. I love Wydermyer as a player, think he is a guaranteed first round draft pick if he plays his cards right, but he NEEDS to take more pride in his blocking. Spiller is a lead blocker for Smith here, you're tempted to say he should go get that safety, but reality is that Smith was getting downfield faster than he was, outrunning his blocking.
Here is Isaiah Spiller running outside zone.
Vanderbilt's defense follows the zone footwork and flows playside, which is why Spiller isn't able to hit the edge. Well, that and Carson Green getting shoved upfield, which gave up the edge. To Carson's credit, he stays on his man and doesn't let him come free, giving Spiller room to cut upside inside the block. Hocker got away with a pretty blatant hold here, spinning that guy like a merry-go-round. Wydermyer does his job here, displacing the safety back four yards and out of the play. I'd like him to bury the guy or play to the whistle, but that is just my nitpicking. McCollum is good on the double-team of the three tech, but isn't able to get off to the second level fast enough to get the backside linebacker. He tries to give him a little shove from the side to avoid a block-in-the-back call, but we're just lucky Spiller is a freaking football player who makes the people around him look good. I'd really like it is Kellen would continue with a bootleg fake on the backside to force the backside end to respect the running threat, but he just turns to watch the play develop.
Here is Kellen running speed option:
Protect the ball so you won't get stripped and fumble, Kellen.
Here is Smith running speed option:
Same play, different decisions based on the QB read.
Here we get frisky and combine inside zone and speed option.
We are wild men.
From what I recall, we did not run Power or Pin-Pull sweep in this game, but they're definitely in our offense. Pretty sure we also did not run iso, although it is a short yardage staple in goal-to-go for Jimbo.
So we ran counter, inside zone, outside zone, speed option, and the triple option combining inside zone/speed option in this game. That is five running plays. What is complex about that?
Some people might point to the passing game and say it is too complex for young QBs, but I don't buy that either. Unless you're a full-time triple option team that only puts one or two people out in pass patterns, every college team pretty much uses all of the same two and three-man passing concepts, the only difference is how they're tailored for the arm strength and accuracy of the QB. If a QB can't throw across his body 20 yards to the top of the numbers, you don't ask him to make that throw. If you've played HS football in a passing offense today, you've already run many of the concepts you will run in college.
Other than asking Mond to throw an accurate fade, which I'm not sure he can do on the field on game day, we don't ask him to make any throws he can't make. Mond's first overthrow to Smith in the end zone off a wheel route was a failed fade pass. I'm not sure he can consistently execute that throw. It's not that it's too complicated or he can't make the right read, it's a physical issue, not a mental one.
We run the same two-man and three-man passing concepts as anyone else. We have a handful of running plays we use on offense. So please stop calling Jimbo's offense too complex, because it is a false narrative.
