Not only was the Veer hard to stop but it was deadly at games end running time off the clock with time consuming drives. Rice was a great runner but not much of a passer and because of the option attack was throwing to open receivers most of the time because the defensive backs were in the box trying to stop the run. Winbush has been terribly misused relegated to an offensive scheme in which he is uncomfortable and doesn't have the skills to operate consistently. The read option we use is slow developing and gets stuffed on a regular basis.
Ideally, Kelly's offensive scheme requires an accurate passer with mobility and ability to read defenses. BW has only one of those three traits and our offense is often relegated to school yard football where he uses his feet trying to make things happen when plays break down.
Kelly gets low marks for not adapting his offense to the talent he has recruited and our struggles of the past two weeks against Ball State and Vandy prove the point. Without a miracle, this season will be a poor copy of last year with three or more losses.
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My understanding from reading about the Holtz years is that Rice was an above-average but not great athlete and he was definitely not a great passer. If you look at his stats for the NC year, you wonder how ND won anything: about 700 yards rushing and 51% completion rate. Rice's stats are in no way comparable to Wimbush's stats last year. But Rice is recognized for his leadership, his heart, his fearlessness and his teammates credited him with making them better. The problems with Wimbush are not about system.
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Veer? Maybe? Sometimes. Lou ran everything from "I" to "T" to wishbone to empty. The issue is our line and we have a bunch of guys named "Sam" at RB.
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New England has a GOAT for QB, but still they'll run the fuck out of the ball versus any team when they they can.
NE has been so successful because they have an adaptable game plan: Prostyle one game, more running the next... Never the same each game because of his genius at seeing the big picture and ruthless break down of his opponents's weaknesses. Hell, I bet he'd run the wishbone if he thought it would win him the super bowl! God I hate the Patriots..
the defense having to always account for Rice who handled it perfectly. The problem was after Rice we became less efficient and there was a lot of publicity about our offense not getting a QB to the NFL. Holtz later had Powlus who was solid but did not create the explosiveness without team speed that we had in the Rice days. Don't forget our recruiting rankings and the great players we had from 1988 to 1992. Some leftovers remained, though not quite as talented, but Kevin McDougall was a great passer that year. Contrary to popular belief he was not a great runner and in fact hated running the ball himself.(One great game he had running the ball was against Michigan that year). We got unbelieveable production from Ray Zellars and Lee Becton who in 1994 fumbled twice against Michigan. We were never the same after that and our defensive talent was not as good that year and after.
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Over Theissman?
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Agree.... not even close....dual threat, great leader.... kicked Texas in the ass in Texas for the championship....
That team was special.... Theissman went to Texas and beat Texas.... National championship....old time....Terry Hanratty up there....BC loss was about the most difficult to stomach...