Game Changer: Bronco Seeks Mobile QB
by Zach Bloxham on Jan 12, 2012 2:49 PM PST
in BYU Football
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PrintIn a slightly under-the-radar move, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall announced that he will target dual threat quarterbacks moving forward, tweaking his program's identification and moving toward a more modern approach to his scheme. With the departure of pro-style quarterback Jake Heaps to Kansas, and with Riley Nelson the entrenched starter heading into 2012, Bronco's announcement has the potential to be a program defining moment. And it will certainly affect the quarterbacks in the BYU pipeline long after Riley's Abs has gone the way of the dust. Taysom Hill, former Stanford commit, fits the model quite well. As does Ammon Olsen, who will return from his mission this month. As for Tanner Mangum, the question remains to be answered.
BYU has always struggled to match up with athletic defenses. This schematic move will help the program move forward, and provide a needed challenge for the defenses that BYU faces. BYU will always be athletically inferior to the elite defenses it face and a mobile quarterback is a great way of filing the void. I have always thought that BYU could be effective running a Stanford-style, heavy-set run/pass gameplan. In fact, I thought that is what Brandon Doman was insinuating when he said he would be implementing a "pro-style" offense during last off-season. That simply didn't come to pass in the 2011 campaign. How much of that was as a result of fullback Iona Pritchard's spring injury and how much of it simply is Doman's inability and/or desire to run the pro-set? It remains to be seen.
A few folks on Twitter made the suggestion that this move will help BYU keep its opponents of their feet, as a unique scheme is a positive against teams who rarely see you play. Viva Independence? The benefits remain to be seen but one can look back on this announcement as one of the defining moments of Bronco Mendenhall's career.
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Let's just hope our OC
knows how to utilize one… because the scheme I saw this year was more of a drop back passer/pro scheme (minus the QB draw play).
"Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken"
by MakJaeTDP on Jan 12, 2012 3:42 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Doman was a mobile QB, but the offense wasn't really schemed that way
It would be interesting to add some serious zone-read or option looks if BYU really had a mobile QB (e.g., Tebow, Colin Kaepernick, any Oregon QB under Kelly) as opposed to a “gritty” passer who could occasionally run a draw or option (e.g., Doman, Nelson, Colt McCoy)
by Dr. Nick on Jan 12, 2012 4:48 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I wish it was as easy
as saying we are going to install the “Oregon style Zone Read” into our scheme. Zone Blocking is a tough concept/scheme to install. Plus, our OL are complete opposite of the zone read/spread option type you need to be successful. Need light and quick OL. We have big, heavy bruisers good for man-on blocking and pro style pass protection
"Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken"
Not saying it would be easy
In fact it’s exactly the opposite, which is why these sorts of “packages” are rarely effective. For example, Nelson had his option package while Heaps was starting, but it really wasn’t terribly effective because to really run the option successfully is very hard to do. With limited practice time, I tend to favor the Mike Leach model of a relatively simple offense executed almost perfectly instead of an offense that tries to have a power run game, pocket passing, spread formations, and some option looks (sound familiar?).
Best Offense for BYU
I used to think that BYU needed to get back to the pass-heavy offenses of the LaVell era do be more effective on offense, but I’m of course that was what Anae tried to run with a bit of power running and nobody was really happy with that. Given the types of players BYU generally gets, I’m interested in what kind of offensive system people think they should do with. My feeling is that a pro-style system lives and dies by the QB, so when a QB prospects flames out like Heaps did the system has issues. A true spread passing game requires speed at RB and WR, which BYU has trouble recruiting for whatever reason. I think it would be intriguing to try a spread running system like Chip Kelly or RichRod use. I also think that BYU could be very effective running the flexbone system the service academies use.
Any thoughts?
Like MakJaeTDP said above, BYU consistently recruits big bruisers at OL, which goes against a RichRod/Chip Kelly type of offense. The type of talent BYU gets — Big OL, talented tight ends — does lend itself to the pro-style. That only lives and dies by the QB if you don’t trust the run game, which BYU can’t seem to do yet. Gotta get a run game that works. Hopefully with Pritchard coming back, and Juice bouncing back from a rough year, that can change.
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