SB Nation - Darren McFadden

Thanks for the Memories, Michael Smith

Stephen Expat — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:36:20 -0000

More photos » by Danny Johnston - AP

Arkansas running back Michael Smith (21) eludes Auburn defensive tackle Mike Blanc during the second quarter of the teams' October match-up. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

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Last weekend brought the sad news that running back Michael Smith's Razorback career is finished. After enjoying a breakout year in 2008, Smith never seemed to get on track this season (well, "never" is not the right word - he did have one glorious afternoon against Auburn), and Arkansas fans were left wondering why.

Was it the Hogs' increased reliance on their video-game-like passing attack? No doubt that was part of it. How about the increased depth in the backfield? Surely that played a role as well. But last Saturday's announcement makes it pretty clear that he never truly recovered from the hamstring woes that limited his playing time at the end of last season and kept him out of the season-finale against LSU.

And that's a damn shame. The undersized Smith performed heroic work last year to keep Bobby Petrino's first Arkansas squad afloat, and if there were any justice in sports, he would have spent his senior season as a high-profile member of an exciting and increasingly high-profile team.

But sports - and life - aren't fair, and Michael now finds that his college playing days are over prematurely.

Smith arrived in Fayetteville in 2005, as a member of the same recruiting class as Darren McFadden and Felix Jones (has there ever been a class as full of talented backs as that one?). However, a hamstring injury forced him to redshirt that year, and he spent the '06 and '07 seasons toiling somewhat in obscurity as the back-up to McFadden and Jones, who had by then of course established themselves as mega stars.

When Michael was in the spotlight, it was not always for good reasons. His late-first-half fumble against Kentucky in 2007 marked the turning point in the Wildcats' come-from-behind victory. That year also brought a run-in with the law: Smith was arrested and jailed on suspicion of using a stolen credit card. However, prosecutors later dropped felony and theft charges against him after his co-defendant filed an affidavit that officials said cleared Smith.

With Darren and Felix in the NFL and his legal woes behind him, Michael enjoyed a banner 2008 and was, by all accounts, a model citizen both on and off the field. For stretches of last year, he and tight end D.J. Williams seemed to be the Hogs' only reliable sources of offense.

"Outstanding" is an understatement when used to describe his performance in a mid-season, four-game stretch that included match-ups against Florida, Auburn, Kentucky and Ole Miss. Against Auburn, he rushed for 176 yards and collected another 46 yards in receiving. One week later, at Kentucky, he ran for 192 yards and hauled in 33 yards through the air.

Unfortunately, the 5'9", 180-pound Smith's hamstring soon buckled under the load that the Razorbacks were asking him to carry, and he wasn't on the field nearly as much as the season drew to an end. When all was said and done, he ended the year with 1,072 rushing yards (making him just the ninth player in Arkansas history to rush for at least 1,000 yards in a season) and was named second-team all-SEC. This summer, he was named preseason first-team all-SEC by several sources.

How will history remember Smith? He won't be considered one of the Hogs' all-timers. After all, objectively speaking, he really was only great for three-quarters of one season. But his contributions to the Bobby Petrino era are big.

His electrifying mid-season performance stabilized Bobby's first team after those brutal early-season games against Alabama, Texas and Florida. Largely because of him, the team was able to find its sea legs, to avoid getting buried, to generate some momentum down the stretch, which helped set the stage for this year's leap forward. That's not a contribution to be dismissed lightly. Around here at least, Michael Smith's Razorback career won't be forgotten anytime soon.

WildHorn Part 3: Final Thoughts and New Plays

GhostofBigRoy — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:46:35 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

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Part 1

Part 2

Tech Success

The WildHorn debut was successful in part because Tech wasn't prepared for the play, as evidenced by about three players biting on the fake to DJ Monroe, but also because the Longhorns executed the three of the four plays well, while using the only passing play so far, a play that could have gone for big yardage had Colt McCoy delivered the pass with more accuracy.

The Goalline Dalliance

After the UTEP game, Mack Brown explained why the Longhorns used the WildHorn in the red zone in that game, seemingly an odd decision given the decreased space so close to the goalline:

Philosophically, a few things that we are looking at are the Wild Horn. When you have three games that we have pretty much blown out in the first four, you get to look at a lot of different things. We have just been looking at plays and toys. We have not run the Wild Horn on the goal line before in the red zone, but we did it the other night and did not do it well, so we are trying to tweak that entire formation and see where we go from here. We were disappointed in our red zone running game the other day - not goal line short yardage, we are doing that very well - but we do not think that we responded very well when we were in the red zone and kicked two field goals. We felt like starting at the eight or five-yard line that we should have scored touchdowns.

Brown acknowledged that using the formation in the red zone did not give the plays a high chance of success ($):

When we get into a game like that (against UTEP) - and we've been in three where we could do what we want - we hadn't worked on the Wild Horn in the red zone.

So it wasn't fair to the kids. But we just talked about it and said, ‘What the heck, let's try it.' When we've needed two or less yards, we've been great.

Brown and the coaching staff are still concerned about running the football in the red zone. Yes, the Longhorns have scored on 23 of 23 of their red zone trips, but there will be at least one game this season when they can't afford to settle for field goals. If the UTEP game is any indication, then the WildHorn won't be much help inside the 10.

Determining Cause

Did the WildHorn fail against UTEP because it is as poorly derived as the Q package? Or did the team just need to execute better and work out some kinks in the schemes? The answer, as it does many times in life, probably falls somewhere in the middle -- the UTEP defense made some adjustments and gave the blocking scheme some problems, but the Longhorns need to make some adjustments. On the most successful play, the counter read by Chies that gained three yards, Ulatoski had pick up a defensive end who sliced into the backfield after a pre-snap shift inside. EBS can't block that player, so why pull the tackle in that case? Just like the first play run against UTEP, the tackle should have stayed at home to block that player after the shift and the play might have succeeded. The blocking schemes for each of the plays was surely something the coaching staff looked at during the bye week.

The Elephant in the Room

The most strident argument against the WildHorn is probably the massive outright failure of 33% of the plays -- Chiles lost major yardage on two of the six plays so far. Both of those resulted from poor snaps by Chris Hall that forced Chiles to fall on the ball in the first instance and in the second caused the play to descend into chaos. In my recollection, Hall hasn't had any problems hiking the ball to McCoy, but I think the problems are really an indication of the lack of practice time spent with the plays.

Execution, stupid

Davis could make the best, most innovative playcall with the WildHorn and it wouldn't matter if the players don't execute, particularly in fundamentals like adequately snapping the football. While the coaching staff surely put in some new plays, refining the several plays currently used is also a priority. Is it worth it to continue to try to block the read end or linebacker, given that optioning that player off is the purpose of that type of football? Can a blocker account for the outside linebacker on the counter read when Monroe takes the handoff?

The Wildcat Series

Dan Lee popularized the Wildcat (or "Wild Hog," if you will) at Arkansas running a series of three plays with Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, even using it on the goalline, as the clip shows:

How Does Darren McFadden Do It? (via CBS)

The plays worked effectively on the goalline for the Piggies, could work for Texas anywhere on the field, and present the possibility of actually, you know, running some plays from a single-wing series with the WildHorn, which is philosophically quite divorced in everything but name from what most other teams are doing with their Wildcat packages. It makes sense that the coaching staff didn't want to spend critical time in fall camp putting in a whole new series and, instead, altering some playbook staples to put Chiles at quarterback -- the zone read and the new counter read, plus the reverse pass.

With the bye week providing some extra work in practice, I believe the Longhorns could have installed the Wildcat series Lee used at Arkansas -- the blocking schemes are simple and perhaps the hardest thing element of the plays is the timing between Chiles and Monroe. Here are the plays, as they would look for Texas:

Lee calls this the Stealer play and it's been a staple at Arkansas and now at Miami. In fact, along with the power, it's the basis of what most teams use with the formation. Monroe comes into motion while the blocks down the line of scrimmage, much like the speed option play that will be discussed later. It's a deceptive play because the linebackers have to freeze for a second to defend against the power, critical time when facing the elite speed of DJ Monroe. This play gets the ball to Monroe in space better than the counter read because he's already near full speed when he takes the handoff.

If the defense moves the outside linebacker (the linebacker on the wide side of the field) outside of the box to deal with the Stealer, then the offense has an easier task running the power play with one less player in the box, though this play diagram assumes the linebacker remains in the box, as Tech played the Longhorns after the first play that Chiles broke off for big yardage:

It looks like the Stealer to defenders with their eyes in the backfield as Monroe goes in motion, but it's a pre-determined run up the middle with Chiles, behind the left guard pulling into the hole and searching for the inside linebacker. If the outside backer takes any false steps worrying about Monroe, a serious concern for him from his position inside the tackle, then the pulling guard may get to the third level before encountering any resistance, ostensibly with Chiles on his hip. Chiles may not be Darren McFadden, but the speed of Monroe outside gives a defense a lot to think about, especially at full speed.

Of course, both plays work towards the wide side of the field, so what happens when the defense overpursues? A constraint play, of course -- the counter, already a part of the WildHorn in a different iteration, but here working as pure misdirection:

Chiles fakes the handoff to Monroe, taking a slight step or two with the motioning running back before reversing course and taking advantage of the open backside of the defense.

Those three simple plays form the basis of the series that has made the Wildcat wildly successful and one that Texas could undoubtedly use to great effect -- that is, if the Longhorns decided to work on it during their bye week.

The Option Option

To my knowledge, the Dolphins also run an option variation of the original series that is much similar to the counter read play that Texas already runs, but with the running back starting in motion from the short side of the field, of course. If it isn't a play that Dolphins use, the Longhorns could easily install it by optioning off a defender in the box, the defensive end on the wide side of the field, leaving another blocker free to account for an extra unblocked player. Imagine the counter read play, except with only the backside guard pulling and Monroe coming in motion from the short side of the field.

There is another option play in the playbook that Texas could revisit with Chiles, one that they used with him at quarterback -- the speed option, another play that works well to try to punish teams for putting all three linebackers in the box:

So far this season the Longhorns have scored twice using this play with the base offense, so it works even with McCoy running it.

Oh Yeah, He Was a Quarterback

Perhaps the most intriguing, unexplored aspect of the WildHorn is the possibility of using Chiles to throw the football a little bit. Neither McFadden nor Ronnie Brown are really trustworthy enough to throw many passes out of the formation and Lee tends to use an extra tight end or an unbalanced line, which the Longhorns won't be doing, leaving Texas with two legitimate receivers on the wide side against a defense pinched in towards the middle, keeping the deep safety inside the tackles and leaving the strong safety and cornerback one-on-one with the receivers, presenting the opportunity for several easy throws.

The first throw is a play-action screen pass to Jordan Shipley in the sub-B position, with Malcolm Williams blocking for him:

If Chiles can hit Shipley even reasonably well on the run, the play has a high likelihood of success and the possibility of breaking a big one without a lot of moving parts having to come together, especially if the play fake to Monroe occupies the linebackers, as it should.

The second play is the exact same design as the reverse pass used against Tech, except with a fake to Monroe instead of using the reverse and Chiles throwing the ball instead of Colt:

Both of the passes are easy deliveries for Chiles and the design of the second has already worked in terms of sucking in the strong safety. The screen shot above was taken from a play against UTEP where the cornerback face guarded Shipley the whole time and never once looked into the backfield, so Shipley's slant route into the end zone will almost cerrtainly draw coverage. If not, it's a pretty easy throw for Chiles to hit Shipley as long as he makes sure the free safety bit on the play fake for a beat or two.

Put Up or Shut Up Time

This will be a critical week for the WildHorn -- if it is successful, expect the Longhorns to continue to use it, especially as they seek to use the quarterback to run more often, but try to protect Colt McCoy from injury. If it isn't successful, it could go the way of the Q package and disappear.This week, Brown asked the Texas players to take ownership ($) of the formation:

We're looking at Wild Horn, and we've told the kids if it's not good, we're not using it. So unless you can use it seven, eight times a game, why have it when you're taking your All-American quarterback out from under center to put someone in.

So if it's not helping take away some of the quarterback runs from Colt, then don't mess with it. So if you guys want it, you better bust your tail, or we won't be long with it.

However, Chiles believes that the unique UTEP defense disrupted the goalline plays because the Miners" gave us some looks we hadn't seen, but we've been working on it and we'll have it fixed for this week." Personally, the triggerman thinks the formation has staying power.

Chiles added, "The more we add to it, the more they can't key on just a few options. The more I give to D.J. (Monroe) and do some different things, the more it will surprise people. It spreads the field out, and I'm gonna have to give him the ball a little more, so they can't key on me."

The speed of Monroe presents a lot of problems for defenses, especially as they put seven men in the box to deal with the running game of Chiles. In attempting to get Monroe the ball more often, the concern is that defenses will simply run the read man up the field to force the handoff, then not have to worry about scraping a linebacker behind to defend the play, instead leaving that man in the box to defend Chiles. The Longhorns may have to devise a play like the Stealer that is a pre-determined handoff based on previous defensive strategy by the other team.

But the main reason the Longorns are using the play is to relieve pressure for McCoy to help carry the running game, according to Brown:

We're trying to take some of Colt's hits away and let John Chiles take those runs because all the Wild Horn is what's Colt's been running and what John has been running for two years.

As the Longhorns continue to struggle finding a consistent running game, the WildHorn may stick around just because Texas needs to run the football, but also needs to protect the most valuable player on the team. However, the team must execute the plays better -- paritcularly Chris Hall, who has struggled snapping the ball to Chiles. Other concerns include players understanding their blocking assignments, dealing with pre-snap adjustments, especially players shifting into gaps across from pulling lilneman, and getting the ball to Monroe more often.

Heading into the game against Colorado, the continued existence of the WildHorn is on the line and provides one of the most compelling storylines to a game the Longhorns are expected to dominate. Does it have staying power or is it really just another Q package to which the coaches won't fully commit and let it just fade away?

Perception vs. Reality

Acid Reign — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:00:30 -0000

Chris Todd is slinging the rock!

War Eagle, everybody! We're now officially through the first third of the 2009 college football season, and every team in the SEC has now played at least 4 games. It's been an eventful season so far, and one of the more prevalent themes this year, has been "perception." How is Auburn, (or any team) and the league perceived, around the country? The answer for the league in general, of course, is "pretty darned well." With three teams in the top 4, and 7 in the top 25, the pollsters are showing the SEC some love!

There has been widespread griping from many corners, till this week, about Auburn not being in the top 25, but I think it's been understandable. After last season's melt-down, Auburn wasn't really on anyone's radar. Auburn's early schedule, with the exception (possibly) of West Virginia, was not impressive, to the national voter. The Mountaineers haven't helped matters, by playing down to the level of every team they've faced, so far. Auburn got the attention of the pollsters by beating Tennessee in Knoxville. "Wait," you say! "Tennessee isn't that good!" Tennessee, as the second-best SEC team over the past 20 years, has a reputation. Yes, this is a down year for the Vols, but UT did slow the Florida juggernaut down. That made Auburn's win, and continued offensive fireworks notable to voters nationwide. The game being on the main ESPN channel didn't hurt, either!That's why Auburn vaulted all the way to 17^th "I tellya, we don't get no respect!" As bad as some folks think Auburn had it this year, 5-0 Wisconsin STILL isn't in the AP top 25! If the Badgers played 2-2, 19^th ranked Oklahoma right now, I'd sure pick Wisconsin!

Another widely held perception is that "Arkansas/Houston Nutt has Auburn's number." A trip to Fayetteville always elicits worry from the Auburn fan base. I suppose that the 34-10 beatdown in 1999, and the 42-17 meltdown in 2001 are indelibly etched in Tiger minds. Those WERE two of the worst performances in the Tuberville era, but the idea that we always struggle in Fayetteville is just plain wrong! Auburn has 5 wins, 2 losses in Fayetteville, all time. In 1993, in the ice and snow, Auburn rode fullback Reid McMillon to a 31-21 win. In 1995, the teams played in Little Rock. In 1997, Auburn dominated the Hogs for a 26-7 4^th quarter lead, before Clint Stoerner and Arkansas came roaring back. Auburn still won, 26-21. 2003 saw Gene Chizik's defense choke the life out of Matt Jones and the Razorbacks, 10-3. In 2005, Kenny Irons ran wild, and Auburn won going away, 34-17. In 2007, it was the Will Muschamp D shutting Darren McFadden and Felix Jones DOWN, for a 9-7 win. See? Auburn doesn't do that badly, in Fayetteville! The only game that wasn't competitive was the 1999 one (Tuberville's first year, Ben Leard concussion, no running backs, etc.), in which our doors were blown off. The 2001 game went into the 4^th quarter at 21-17, and was a dogfight. Unfortunately, we could do nothing but turn the ball over in the 4^th quarter, directly leading to 21 Razorback points. I certainly think Auburn will be competitive, this year in Fayetteville!

With most SEC teams having now played a couple of league games, let's revisit my net yards per pass statistic, and see how it correlates to the standings. That stat subtracts 50 passing yards for each interception, as you'll recall. Below are the SEC teams, as they are currently ranked in the standings, along with the starting quarterback. It's amazing how relevant that number is, so far.

SEC Eastern Division	Record	Record	Starting	Net
Team	SEC	Overall	Quarterback	Yards per Pass
Florida	2-0	4-0	Tim Tebow	8.7
Georgia	2-1	3-2	Joe Cox	6.3
South Carolina	1-1	4-1	Stephen Garcia	6.0
Kentucky	0-2	2-2	Mike Hartline	3.1
Tennessee	0-2	2-3	Jonathan Crompton	3.3
Vanderbilt	0-3	2-3	Larry Smith	3.5

SEC Western Division	Record	Record	Starting	Net
Team	SEC	Overall	Quarterback	Yards per Pass
LSU	3-0	5-0	Jordan Jefferson	6.4
Alabama	2-0	5-0	Greg McElroy	8.7
Auburn	2-0	5-0	Chris Todd	8.6
Ole Miss	1-1	3-1	Jevan Snead	4.6
Mississippi State	1-2	2-3	Tyson Lee Chris Relf	4.4 4.3
Arkansas	0-2	2-2	Ryan Mallett	8.5

Generally, teams with a quarterback who has a rating of 8 or better have done very well. Guys with a 6.0 or so are OK, and those in the 3-4 range haven't done so well. The biggest anomalies in this table are LSU and Arkansas. LSU is still unbeaten, despite Jordan Jefferson's mediocre rating. And Arkansas is currently last in the west, despite Ryan Mallett being ranked among the leaders. Mallett was well ahead of everyone else early, but playing Kirby Smart and Joe Kines defenses has brought his number down. By this metric, Auburn's Chris Todd is currently ranked 3^rd in the league, slightly behind McElroy and Tebow. We'll revisit this statistic several more times this season, and see how well it matches up with team success.

One perception that I had last Saturday night amazed me. How long has it been, since Auburn forced a good defense to play cover-two, most of the game? We've had at least one safety camped out in the box against our offense, for over a decade. Saturday, Tennessee respected Auburn's deep passing threat, and kept both safeties back most of the game. Those bombs to Zachary, Adams, and Fannin in earlier games, paid dividends against the Vols. It is a WHOLE lot easier to move the ball, if the opponent has to double cover both of your wideouts! Hats off to Terrell Zachary and Darvin Adams! They occupied 2 Tennessee defenders each, and allowed us to move the ball underneath. With 7 blockers, a quarterback and a runner, you can get a LOT done against 7 defenders.

This Saturday, I think everyone is looking for a big offensive day for both Auburn and Arkansas. The weather should be sunny, with a high in the upper 50s. Arkansas has brand-new artificial turf in Reynolds-Razorback stadium, and it should be a fast track! We'll have an open thread up early Saturday morning, here at TrackEmTigers.com! War Eagle, and let's beat the Hogs!

texas Not Quite Trendy Yet

Beergut — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:59:08 -0000

texas seems to have decided to jump on the bandwagon of teams running various "Wildcat" packages in their offense by adding the "Wildhorn" package to their offense this season. They debuted the "Wildhorn" against Texas Tech last Saturday.

texas' Wildhorn formation

Notice anything funny here? Virtually every other team running the "Wildcat" package is running a simple single-wing motion series. There is a tight end, there is a wingback, there is a tailback in the backfield to receive the snap, and a motion man coming across the formation to present the threat of the sweep (the tailback taking the snap is the off-tackle thread). See Arkansas running the Wildcat after the jump....

Original Arkansas Wildcat

Notice the tight end aligned on the right side, with the wingback aligned behind him? That is vintage single-wing football. Notice how Darren McFadden is the only back in the backfield? Felix Jones will come across the formation as the motion man to present the sweep threat.

Felix Jones goes into motion

This is vintage single-wing football. This is NOT what texas is running with the "Wildhorn", despite the name given to this package by the coaching staff. This is the Q Package, redux, as Greg Davis admits here (go to the 2:10 mark of the video). So, what is texas running? Well, from the formation given above, it looks like Left Doubles with Chiles at QB and D.J. Monroe at TB, while Colt McCoy splits out wide left at the top of the screen (In texas' offensive parlance, formations side is dictated by tight end alignment. In this case, the tight end is aligned on the left side of the line, with two wide receivers on the right giving you the doubles look). This is a normal formation in texas' offense, and texas even runs a variation on the zone read (instead of TB attacking the 1-hole and QB attacking the 5-hole, the QB takes 1 and the TB sweeps to 5) from this formation (again, see video).

So, while texas seems to have tried to jump on the bandwagon with a name change for an old formation (and excited their fanbase with the possibities in the process), I think we can expect more of the same from their offense. While I like the halfback reverse pass from McCoy-to-Kirkendoll, I don't think we'll see much of this package from texas during the rest of the season. They may try it out against Oklahoma, but once defenses remember that Chiles can't pass, I think they'll be effective shutting down the running game, and this package will join the Q package as another experiment destined for the back pages of Davis' playbook. Davis' attempt to be "trendy" and "with it" regarding current offensive football just doesn't quite get it done.

Morning Coffee Thinks the WildHorn Is No Q Package

GhostofBigRoy — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:00:45 -0000

More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

3 months ago: Texas wide receiver John Chiles, left, playing as quarterback, rushes for 34 yards on a quarterback-draw during the first quarter of their NCAA college football game against Texas Tech, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009, in Austin, Texas. Tech defensive back LaRon Moore, right, pursues. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)

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Flavor of the Week at running back: John Chiles. After carrying the ball 20 times and finding the end zone for the second time in two weeks and landing himself atop the depth chart for the first time, Tre' Newton was a serious candidate to take this honor for the second week in a row. However, that's not how this things works. Fickle, remember?

That's why John Chiles lands in this spot for his cameo leading the WildHorn, the Texas answer to the Wildcat made famous at Arkansas by Darren McFadden and last season by the Miami Dolphins. It's the fad all across football at pretty much every level and the Longhorns are jumping aboard the bandwagon. On the incipient play of the formation, Chiles took a quarterback counter 33 yards and almost broke it the entire distance had he not taken a poor angle into a chasing defender. Trust your speed, Johnny C. The formation also produced a five-yard gain by DJ Monroe on a counter, a fumble on a poor snap by Chris Hall that Chiles should have handled anyway, and a completed reversempass to James Kirkendoll by Colt McCoy.

Mack Brown said on Monday that the formation is here to stay:

We want the ball in John's hands as much as we can get it. Every time he touches it in the running game in the past, he has made plays usually. Saturday night, I thought, he really jump started us offensively. He ran the quarterback counter and that was a read play and you have a 10.0 100-meter guy out there and you have John Chiles, who runs real fast at 200 pounds. It just gives you some extra weapons on the field. I thought the reverse pass was a good thought off of it, too. We'll continue to let part of the package grow and that's part of who we are because we will let Colt run it some, but it also takes the ball out of Colt's hands as a runner and lets John run, and we'll have some passes for John, too. We feel like that's better than the other package we had, so aptly named that it was dropped because John is doing more things that he is used to doing. Last year, we were trying to do things he was not used to.

Beergut questioned the difference between the WildHorn and the Q package and the last sentence provides Brown's thoughts on the matter. In the same post, I mentioned that I would like to see the Longhorns incorporate a jet sweep for DJ Monroe into the formation, a staple of the formation in Miami. Other options include Chiles throwing a pass to keep the defense honest, the zone read, and the speed option.

For a team still struggling at times in the running game, the WildHorn is the perfect formation to pick up yards on the ground, get the ball into the hands of playmakers, and put some serious pressure on the defense. Besides Kodi Burns at Auburn, there probably isn't another player in the country triggering the formation who is as much of a threat to pass the ball out of the Wildcat as John Chiles. Kudos to Greg Davis for using the formation and giving the offense a spark.

A "work in progress?" Coming into the season, there were questions about the running game, the tight ends, and the defensive tackles, but few people found themselves spending time worrying about whether the offense was going to be able to move the football. Overall yardage isn't a a particularly strong measure of success, but the 340 yards of total offense gained against Tech represented the lowest output in total yards since 2007 KSU game, one of the low water marks of the last several years.

Mack Brown called the offense a "work in progress" after the game on Saturdya, a surprise considering the expectations surrounding the unit coming into the season. Last week, the major story was the conversation Mack Brown had with McCoy about having more fun, hoping that would help alleviate the slow starts by the offense over the first two starts. Unfortunately, McCoy got hit by the flu this week, according to Brown:

Practice is important and he didn't practice Tuesday. He was out there but didn't practice. He got very little done Wednesday. I thought at halftime, he had the shakes just a little bit because he hadn't eaten. He didn't feel good, and he was weak. They gave him stuff, some energy to help him, and I thought he settled down and played better the second half. I don't know.

The health problems explain the first half against Texas Tech, but not the first half of the other two games. Part of the solution may be speeding up the tempo earlier in the game:

We changed the tempo in the second half the other night. We probably should have started with a faster tempo and that would have helped. The first drive was good, but then we just kept getting stopped because you look and you have one guy here, one guy there, so you just challenge everybody to do better and be more consistent.

A faster tempo earlier in the game might help, but McCoy is also part of the problem. He often focuses in on Jordan Shipley and misses other open receivers. At other times, his mechanics break down and the ball sails on him, the case with both of the interceptions on tipped balls against Texas Tech. Sure, Malcolm Williams could and probably should have caught the second interception, but there's a reason quarterbacks are taught to keep the ball low when throwing over the middle of the field. It's hard to tell what the problem is mechanically, but McCoy needs to work hard on staying on top of the football this week. Another problem is his footwork, as he failed to step into a pass in the first half last week.

If defenses are going to keep two safeties deep and only six men in the box, the Longhorns must run the football more often and more consistently. In football it's hard to get betters numbers than that. Another adjustment is to run more intermediate routes and routes up the middle of the field, especially if a linebacker isn't retreating to cover the seam. That's a role for Buckner to exploit, but the Longhorns haven't used him down the field consistently, often keeping him underneath as a screen threat or check down option.

Until McCoy rediscovers his accuracy and the offensive line blocks well enough to force another linebacker onto the field or a safety up closer to the line of scrimmage, the Longhorns will probably continue to struggle against two deep safeties and seven or eight players dropped into coverage. Can Greg Davis make the proper adjustments?

Playmaking defense makes an appearance. Through the first two games, it appeared that Texas hadn't made progress in their off season goal of forcing more turnovers. Earl Thomas and Blake Gideon dropped interceptions and Aaron Williams looked like the only player really trying to knock the ball out on defense. That all changed on Saturday. Well, mostly. Earl Thomas could have intercepted one or two more passes and Aaron Williams had one hit his hands.

However, there were positive signs. The Longhorns sacked Potts three times, pressured him 10 times and got 23 hits on the Tech quarterback. More importantly, Texas forced five fumbles, recovering two. Emmanuel Acho forced two of them, with Aaron Williams forcing another and Eddie Jones and Sergio Kindle both stripping the ball on sacks. The Longhorns should have recovered the fumble forced Jones had Alex Okafor simply fallen on the ball instead of scooping it up and trying to run in for the touchdown. Sam Acho would have. Earl Thomas intercepted a pass that he nearly returned for a touchdown, but replays showed that his knee hit the ground as he caught the football.

Interceptions may continue to be hard to come by as land as the defensive backs show a general inability to catch the football, but there is potential for growth there with the secondary still being remarkably young. More heartening is the playmaking of Aaron Williams and Emmanuel Acho -- those two players seem to have a real knack for knocking the ball loose and if there has been one truth revealed by the first three games, it's that Sam Acho will be around the football once it ends up on the ground.

Tracking: first half third down conversions. A major reason why the Longhorns struggled to move the ball in the first half was the inability to convert third downs for a second straight week. After going five for 17 against Wyoming, Texas only converted three of eight third downs in the first half against Texas Tech. The first failed third down came on the first possession after Adam Ulatoski got beat on a speed rush by a defensive tackle playing defensive end out of necessity. Think about that for a second. Not good. On the second failed third down, McCoy rolled to his left and airmailed a pass over the head of an open John Chiles on a 3rd and 3 -- it should have been an easy pitch and catch.

The third failed third down found McCoy's footwork breaking down on 3rd and 11 and missing Kirkendoll on his check down, but the play wouldn't have gotten close a first down anyway -- the real problem came on the play before on an ugly play that might have been a zone read as Bront Bird took down McCoy in the backfield for a six-yard loss after a gain of four yards on first down. If the play was a zone read, McCoy should have handed off the ball because Bird crashed hard into the backfield. Whatever the case, the play was a complete disaster and put the Longhorns in a tough situation on third down.

The fourth failed third down came mostly as a result of the Chiles fumble on first down in the WildHorn that put the Longhorns behind the chains. Chiles made up for it on second down with a screen pass that he turned into a 10-yard gain with a couple of nice cuts and a spin, but McCoy tried to find Shipley on third down even though he wasn't open and had the pass knocked down at the line of scrimmage.

On the last Texas drive of the first half, the Longhorns failed to convert a third down for the fifth time in the half. On 3rd and 5, the Extra Blocking Surface stayed in the game and caught a pass for three yards in the flat. He never had a chance to make the first down. An Extra Blocking Surface might help the running game (I'm not overly convinced of that, either), but on obvious passing plays like 3rd and 5, if EBS is going to stay in the game the Longhorns might as well just punt on third down and save themselves the trouble. And that's not a knock on Greg Smith as much as it's a knock on Greg Davis.

In analyzing all the failed third downs in the first half, it's really a smorgasbord of the failures of the offense at the current time. There's a missed block on the offensive line, courtesy of the left tackle, an overthrown pass by McCoy, bad footwork by McCoy, McCoy staring down Shipley, and the fan favorite, EBS. Just a little bit of everything there. A resumption of McCoy's normal accuracy would greatly help the offense on third down, as would McCoy going through his reads properly.

The bad news is that this team, without Quan Cosby, Chris Ogbonnaya, and Brandon Collins, just might not be as good on third down as last year and that means the running game in particular needs to step up and avoid plays that result in zero or negative yardage because McCoy completing 80% of his passes doesn't look like it's going to happen this season.

Tracking: special teams play. For the second year in a row, Jordan Shipley scored a touchdown on a punt return against Texas Tech. Fortunately for Texas fans, this punt return helped the Longhorns win the game instead of just get back into the game and counted for the only touchdown of the first half. Had Shipley not found the end zone on that play, which included great blocks by Ben Wells, Nolan Brewster, and Curtis Brown, the first half would have been an unmitigated disaster for the Texas offense, and, instead of playing comfortably with a two score lead for most of the second half, the Longhorns would have found themselves in a dog fight with the Red Raiders.

Last season, field position wasn't a big deal for the Longhorns, as it just meant the Longhorns would take more time off the clock and wear down the defense even more with a longer drive for a touchdown. This year, with the offense struggling at times, field position appears to be a much bigger factor, at least in the last two games. The Longhorns failed to score on all four drives that started inside their 30 yardline and scored only once in six such drives against Wyoming. To give proper credit to the Texas offense, three drives went for more than 70 yards and touchdowns against ULM, though the WarHawks are by far the worst team Texas has faced yet this season.

The point in all this is that DJ Monroe and Malcolm Williams become even more important returning kicks, along with Jordan Shipley returning punts, because field position may play a larger factor this year in determining whether the Longhorns score or not. Monroe averaged 33 yards per return against Tech and Williams averaged 29, so both players are putting the Longhorns in good position to start drives. Shipley averaged 22 yards per punt return against Tech, numbers aided greatly by his return for a touchdown.

The problems in the kicking game did not return this week, perhaps aided by the unconventional rugby-style punting Texas went with against Texas Tech, as John Gold did not attempt a punt in the game and Justin Tucker continued to be effective kicking with either foot, leading to three punts down inside the Tech 15 yardline. On kickoffs, Tucker hasn't been as impressive during the two games at home as Mack Brown seemed to indicate he was in fall practice, but the coverage has generally been solid, keeping Tech at their 27 yardline on kick offs. More touchbacks would nice, however, and save yards in the field position, but the Longhorns shouldn't be losing any phases of the kicking game very often.

Heading a Few Things Off at the Pass

Year2 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:00:51 -0000

Florida's offense by itself won't score 50 on Tennessee.

Even when UF beat Tennessee 59-20 in 2007, it wasn't all the Gator offense doing the scoring. Brandon James had a punt return touchdown, Dustin Doe had a fumble return for a touchdown, and the final score was on a 29 yard drive after a Jonathan Crompton interception. Florida's offense did have some good drives, including a 99-yard touchdown drive, but only 38 of the 59 points were solely the offense doing its thing.

That 2007 edition wasn't exactly a vintage Vol defense though. It was perhaps the worst of John Chavis' tenure, finishing 70th in total defense and 61st in scoring defense. Last year, Florida only scored 20 points from sustained drives, with a touchdown coming from another James return and a field goal coming on a one yard "drive." Granted, both teams wanted to shorten the game with rushing, so that held the scoring down. Florida did score on five of its seven drives, with its final drive of the game ending inside Tennessee's red zone with Urban Meyer electing not to try to run up the score.

Crompton's renewed commitment to turnovers means that the Gators could put a big number up on the scoreboard. It's not likely however that Florida will be running up huge numbers on long drives. Tennessee forced a lot of field goals last year, and Percy Harvin is gone.

Georgia's problems are not solved.

Only two teams in the country have lost more turnovers than Georgia has: Tennessee with its turnover machine of a quarterback, and Virginia, the team that lost to William and Mary. Only three teams that have played two games are averaging fewer plays per game than Georgia: Oregon, Colorado State, and Western Kentucky. The Buldogs are being outgained by an average of 84.5 yards per game. They are 108th in the country with an average of 10 penalties per game and 109th with an average of 83 penalty yards per game.

Yes, Georgia saved its season by beating South Carolina in that 0-2 would have meant crisis mode and no one has any margin for error in trying to beat out the Gators in the SEC East. However, it's still going to be a rough slog from here on out and if the Bulldogs win 10 games again, Mark Richt should win Coach of the Year.

Michigan's quarterback will look mortal.

A lot of praise is being heaped on Tate Forcier for his gutsy play against Notre Dame, and rightfully so. I said yesterday I was more impressed by him than I was by Matt Barkley against Ohio State. But, he is a freshman and that will kill Michigan in at least one game. Freshman quarterbacks who win a ton of games are ones like Mitch Mustain in 2006, who was asked to do little more than not fumble when handing off to Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.

Forcier is the quarterback of a quarterback-centric offense. At some point, he's going to make some bad decisions that will cost the Wolverines a game or two. It will likely cause a flood of articles about how he's not Superman anymore. Just ignore them; the kid's got talent but as with everyone good, it will take refinement.

Checking in on Mr. Shark Eyes and Other Hodge Podge Items

John Expat — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:15:12 -0000

The pace of Razorback news is definitely picking up as we inch closer and closer to the start of the season. Here are some links that have caught my eye recently:

Can't We All Just Not Get Along? I was intrigued to see that ESPN.com had an entire day of themed content around hated teams and individuals earlier this week (clearly we're a huge influence on their editorial process), and when I noticed that none other than Pat Forde had written a column about the 40 greatest villains in college sports my immediate reaction was to wonder if he'd listed Bobby Petrino 1st or 2nd on the list. After all, Forde has earned his reputation as the #1 Petrino-hater in all the land.

But, imagine my surprise that Mr. Blank Shark Eyes couldn't even crack the top 40, which apparently makes him a less hateable figure than St. Tim Tebow and the mild-mannered Jim Tressel (not to mention Houston Nutt). Either Forde has gone soft or Petrino has slipped way down the hate scale...whatever it is, I'm not comfortable with this new world order.

More Preseason Prognostications The good people at the Fayetteville Flyer have weighed in with their predictions of how the 2009 season will go, and it's an entertaining read. Plus, bonus points to them for their use of the groovy old-school Razorback illustration.

Free D-Mac! In the latest chapter of the ongoing Oakland soap opera that surely makes Darren McFadden long for the peaceful, quiet days of his time as a Hog, Raiders head coach Tom Cable is in hot water for allegedly breaking an assistant's jaw (and putting him in the hospital) with a mighty punch. Meanwhile, D-Mac is still trying to find his role on a team that's overstuffed with running backs.

Irony is Not Dead As if playing four top ten teams on the road wasn't enough, Petrino has a new worry for his Razorbacks: swine flu.

Post-Spring Previews: Arkansas Razorbacks

Gamecock Man — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:51:49 -0000

More photos » by Butch Dill - AP

5 months ago: Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino speaks to the media during a news conference at the SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala. on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Browse more photos »

After traveling to Knoxville to take on the Vols, the Gamecocks head to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. Arkansas is another team looking to rebound from a shaky 2008. Luckily, momentum is in their favor. After playing poorly early in the season--see the close wins over cupcakes and absolutely ugly blowout losses to elite opponents--the Hogs played well to close out 2008. Moreover, they should only improve with a year in Bobby Petrino's system under their belts. Petrino may be one of the game's true professional slimeballs, but he's also a fantastic coach that came close to getting Louisville to the national title game. To understand the gravity of that accomplishment, take a look at what has happened there now that Petrino is gone. Petrino's offense was undoubtedly hampered last year with Casey Dick--an average quarterback at best--under center. However, this year he has Ryan Mallett taking over quarterbacking duties. Mallett will make mistakes at times, but he'll also be brilliant at times. The tools are in place for this to be a prolific Arkansas offense. While they probably won't win more than seven or eight because of Mallett's youth and a suspect defense, this is a team that will undoubtedly make for exciting football and perhaps an upset of one of the conference's big-name teams.

Let's see how we matchup against them.

Offense

The Hogs run Bobby Petrino's power spread, a modified pro-style attack. Often mischaracterized as a coach that likes to air it out, Petrino believes being able to run the ball is just as important as being able to go long. To this end, Petrino likes to move back and forth between spread formations and power-I formations. The spread formations usually allow him to get the ball to his receivers on the outside, whereas the power-I allows him to run the ball down hill. Petrino likes to throw deep to the tight ends out of the I, as well. His offense is also notable for running similar plays out of multiple formations, which I'd imagine is confusing for defenses.

Quarterback

After sitting out for a year after transferring from Michigan, highly recruited Ryan Mallett takes over under center for the Hogs. Mallett is a prototypical pro-style quarterback: he's big, tall, and can throw the ball a mile. Mallett should thrive in Petrino's system, where his vision and arm will give him lots of advantages. Mallett is somewhat inexperienced and may show it at times. However, while this is Mallett's first year playing at Arkansas and he can thus be expected to make some mistakes, it's not like he's a freshman. He had significant experience playing at Michigan in his freshman year and has had a year to learn Petrino's offense since then. His one liability other than his relative inexperience is that he's kind of slow because of his size. That could pose problems if he doesn't get great protection, which is a distinct possiblity. Overall, though, he looks to be poised for a big season throwing the ball.

We've yet to really see what Mallett can do, whereas we've at least seen Garcia play well in spurts, so I can't give Mallett the advantage here. I'm tempted to, though. Mallett is good and he will thrive throwing to a talented group of receivers in Bobby Petrino's system. Plus, Garcia frankly has almost just as much to prove at this point as Mallett. It will be interesting to see what kind of year these two are having when this game rolls around in November.

Verdict: Push

Running Backs

The Hogs return one of the SEC's best tailbacks in senior Michael Smith. Smith, who spent his first two seasons in the shadow of Felix Jones and Darren McFadden, broke out last year for over 1000 yards. Although small, Smith is a tough runner. His size, though, makes him vulnerable to injury, as the Hogs saw late last season. They'll look to lighten his load this year. The Hogs will look at a host of players in the rotation, although some injuries that occurred during the spring may limit some of those players' effectiveness. The primary backup role may, in fact, go to highly touted freshman Ronnie Wingo, Jr., one of the Hogs' prize recruits and a guy we'll probably hear a lot more of after Smith graduates.

I call this a slight advantage for Arkansas. We have more experienced depth than the Hogs at this position, and depth has to be a concern for the Hogs right now. However, Arky does have some nice young players that stack up well against most SEC teams, and Smith pushes the balance in their favor.

Verdict: Slight advantage Arkansas

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

Arkansas returns an experienced group of talented receivers that could be poised to put up big numbers if Mallet and offensive line step up. The big name in the group is tight end D. J. Williams, who is one of the nation's best ends. Williams has and will continue to thrive in Petrino's offense, which frequently utilizes the tight end as a long-yardage passing option from what look like power-running formations. Lucas Miller, Jarius Wright, London Crawford and others fill out what should be a very effective group.

I give Arkansas another slight advantage here. I think our receivers have the potential to be as good as this group, but they have to prove it, first.

Verdict: Slight advantage Arkansas

Offensive Line

Here's where things get a little murky for what has the potential to be a great Arkansas offense. Last year's line had lots of trouble with both pass protection and run blocking. However, pass protection was the biggest problem, with the Hogs giving up a whopping 46 sacks. If problems continue this year, they may keep the Hogs from having the kind of year offensively they're otherwise capable of having. The fact that Ryan Mallett is hardly the kind of quarterback that can evade sacks with his feet makes protecting him all the more important.

This year's more experienced unit should be better, but they'll really need to be a lot better for the Hogs to truly live up to their potential on offense. Arkansas returns three starters as well as one player that started in 2007 but redshirted last year. It's hard to say who will play where; expect a lot of shifting around on this unit throughout the year, although Ray Dominguez looks to be the guy at the important left tackle position. The reserves are mostly inexperienced. All in all, there are still a lot of question marks here.

I'm going to call this a slight advantage for Carolina. Neither team was good up front last year and both have lots to prove, but we return a bit more experience and should start playing well sooner.

Verdict: Slight advantage South Carolina

Let's look at the defenses after the jump.

Defense

To put it simply, the Hogs had a bad defense last year. Arky finished at or near the bottom of the SEC in most major categories. To put things into perspective, we managed to score 34 points against them. Experienced defensive coordinator Willy Robinson must get better play out of this group if Arkansas is to contend in the West.

Defensive Line

The Hogs' front four--which returns four starters--is led by tackle Malcolm Sheppard, who was second in the conference in tackles for loss a year ago. Adrian Davis, Zach Stadther, Lavunce Askew and Alfred Davis should round out the bulk of the rotation, although some newcomers may see time as well. This unit wasn't very good against the run last year and has focused on bulking up this offseason. I expect better production from them, but this may still be a team that good teams can run against fairly easily.

I give us a slight advantage here. There's no reason that our line can't be one of the best in the SEC this year, while Arkansas simply has lots to prove despite its experience.

Verdict: Slight advantage South Carolina

Linebackers

This is another fairly experienced group. Senior Wendel Davis is perhaps the defense's overall leader. Davis missed the first part of last season, and when he returned, the defense clearly improved. Freddy Burton and Jerry Franklin round out the group. This should be another improved unit, but depth may be an issue here.

I give us a slight advantage here. Again, Arkansas has a lot to prove, whereas we have one of the league's better units with Eric Norwood and Rodney Paulk leading the way and a talented group of underclassmen providing depth.

Verdict: Slight advantage South Carolina

Secondary

Secondary is perhaps the biggest cause for concern for this Arkansas defense. The most talented players just might be five-star freshman corner Darius Winton and highly touted JUCO transfer safety Rudell Crim. Both will push for playing time, as the returning starters all struggled last year. Corners Ramon Broadway and Isaac Madison have experience, but neither exactly instills fear in opposing quarterbacks and wide receivers. Safeties Elton Ford and Jerico Nelson also return with experience, but Ford will likely have to fight to keep Crim away from his job.

I call this a push. Both teams have some talented players but will have to rely on freshmen and must worry about depth problems. It's worth point out here that our secondary versus Bobby Petrino's offense is a cause for concern.

Verdict: Push

Special Teams

Kicker Alex Tejada struggled mightily last year after a solid 2007. The Hogs hope he can regain his old form. The Hogs had trouble with some of their return units last year, but should be better this year, especially with Petrino's mentor and former Michigan State coach John L. Smith taking over the special teams.

I'll call this a push. Arkansas doesn't have a reliable kicker at this point, while we don't even know who ours will be quite yet. Punting should be OK for both teams. Both teams look to have good kick return games but will need to figure out punt returns. Both should have decent coverage units. All in all it's hard to make a call right now on which team should have better units.

Verdict: Push

Head Coaches

As I said at the beginning of this preview, I think Bobby Petrino is one of the best coaches in the game. He almost won a national title at Louisville, for goodness's sake. The last two years haven't been nice to the guy, but let's face it: he wasn't exactly playing with a stacked deck last year or in 2007 in Atlanta. He has more pieces in place this year, and it should show with an extra couple of wins. I expect the team will continue to get better over the next few years and will regularly compete with Alabama and LSU in the West.

I'll give Arkansas a slight advantage here. Petrino may not have as many conference titles as Spurrier, but he has been relevant more recently.

Verdict: Slight advantage Arkansas

Overall

Although their strengths are somewhat different, in a lot of ways these are fairly evenly matched teams. Arkansas should have a slightly better offense and we should have a slightly better defense, but the gaps aren't that large. My general impression is that this will be one of the higher scoring games of the year for us; Arkansas's offense is capable of putting up poitns against anybody, and we're capable of putting up points against their defense. Unfotunatley, if the game does become a shootout, I'll have to give the advantage to Petrino and Arkansas. To make matters worse, the game is in Fayetteville, and the atmosphere will likely be raucous if Arky is still in the running for a Western Division crown. If we're to win, we'll have to counter these Arkansas advantages by putting lots of pressure on Mallett, getting some sacks, and hopefully forcing a couple of game-changing turnovers. That kind of performance can't be taken for granted, though, and I have a feeling we'll lose this one.

Predict: seven-point Arkansas victory

Poll

The Arkansas game will result in a...

Blowout Carolina victory

3 votes

Close Carolina victory

27 votes

Close Arkansas victory

104 votes

Blowout Arkansas victory

79 votes

213 votes | Poll has closed

Darren McFadden is Funkier Than You Are

John Expat — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:24:32 -0000

The SEC Media Days have begun, and there's lots of news coming out already - Bobby Petrino looking relaxed and cracking jokes about Twitter, Malcom Sheppard discussing how he got shot in the eye with an arrow (!!!) as a kid and, most importantly, the all-consuming hunt for the solitary coach who dared not vote for St. Tim Tebow as QB of the preseason All-SEC team.

But, we at Arkansas Expats like to take the road less traveled, so we're here to bring you details of the week's true top story: Casey Dick's recent wedding. According to the Benfield Photography blog, it was quite the soiree and included appearances by some notable ex-Hogs - Darren McFadden and Marcus Monk among them (Houston Nutt's and Mitch Mustain's invites were probably just lost in the mail).

Jokes aside, we didn't start this site to become a society column, so we'll get to the main point of this post...this awesome photo of the best player in Razorback history getting funky on the dance floor:

We miss you D-Mac!

(Photo courtesy of Benfield Photography...they have others on their site if you're really curious. And thanks to ArkansasSports 360 for the link.)

Darren McFadden is Still Unfair

Year2 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:00:20 -0000

Arkansas has certainly had some memorable players over its SEC years, from Clint Stoerner and his ill-timed fumbles to the insane improv ability of Matt Jones. Without a doubt though, the most exciting of them all was Darren McFadden:

I know that wasn't exactly the 1985 Bears he was going against, but it's rare to find anyone who can do that on any level. Next to Vince Young, he could be the best offensive player of the past half decade not to win the Heisman, and really, can't we just go ahead and give Troy Smith's stiff arm trophy to him?

I wish I could find the video (if you know where it is, please post it), but there's another long run of his that was against LSU a couple years ago. It was back when, you know, LSU lined up All-Americans like LaRon Landry in the defensive backfield and had only one coordinator. Anyway, he breaks off what looks like a nice run in the middle of the field, but LSU's two safeties are converging on him at the proper angles around Arkansas' own 40 yard line. It was a good gain, but that's it right?

Wrong. Soon as McFadden hit the 40, he engaged his afterburners and blew right past both of them. He somehow split the middle and ran the 60 remaining yards with ease. It's a thing of beauty.

Of course, D-Mac didn't just run the ball with frightening speed. He also ran the Wildcat offense that has taken football by storm with remarkable aplomb. After the jump, there's a video of former Arkansas offensive coordinator David Lee (now with, you guessed it, the Miami Dolphins) going to the whiteboard and explaining the basics of it. Good stuff.

As you can see, the Wildcat is an offensive package and not just a gimmick formation/play. That makes it viable as a threat, as Houston Nutt and the Dolphins have shown.