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What The Spread HD Will Look Like

There has been a lot of talk about what the Spread HD offense will look like. It has been described as a "glorified wishbone" to quote Jay Paterno, the architect of this football marvel. But what the hell does a glorified wishbone offense look like? Well, I think it will look like this:


You have D-Will and Butler spread wide with Norwood in the slot. Clark will line up in the shotgun position and Royster and Green will flank him on either side. This will be your very generic run or pass formation. From here you can, of course, motion another of the RBs into a WR position in order to get a favorable matchup for Green when a LB or a safety is forced to cover him.

The variations based on personnel, however, are nearly limitless. There has been a lot of talk about lining Williams up in the backfield and then motioning him into a slot position. A likely replacement for Williams at the WR position would be Zug or Moye. Zug stands 6'2'' and Moye has been playing well in practice and gives a nice target at 6'5".

For more of a running look, this is a possible base formation for the Lions.

This is a much more traditional look at the wishbone offense. Instead of lining up Norwood in the slot you put Lawlor in at FB. Of course, the variations based off of personnel and motioning players is limitless. You could replace Lawlor with Quarless in the TE position (should he ever get out of the dog house) or motion one of the backs into the slot.

This really only scratches the surface of possibilities in this offense. Like anything in football, this will be all about execution.

GO STATE! SPREAD 'EM OUT!

Jeff Rice is Spreading It Thick (and more!)

Jeff Rice has a new article up over at the CDT. The article is entitled: Spreading It Thick. Does anyone have any guesses about what this article might be about? A title for a porno with a lot of allusions to mayonnaise? No. No it isn't. Did you answer, an in depth look at the spread offense including the sets, personnel, and methods used to employ said offense? Well, it isn't really that either.

I'm afaid Jeff's first mistake was talking to Jay Paterno about the Spread HD offense and then putting in his article. Jeff also seems to put the most useless quotes possible from Jay into his article.

“Everything’s going really well,” Penn State quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said. “The guys are picking things up pretty quickly, and it’s really a continuation of what we did in the spring, so it’s not really anything new.”

Ok. Cooooool. Everything is great. Nothing is new. Super. So far, we know nothing. Maybe that was just a tease. The real treat comes later in the article:

What exactly will the spread entail? Penn State gave little indication in April’s Blue-White game, keeping the plays and formations basic, but practices then and this summer have included a little bit of everything — option plays, three-and four-wide receiver sets, and plays where two or even three backs line up behind the quarterback.

Really?

That is really what it is? A little bit of everything? This is what the offense is going to be? Thanks for the insight, Jeff. Alright, who is going to play QB?

As of now, the playbook is the same no matter which quarterback is under center. Clark and Devlin have spent a nearly equal amount of time working with the first-team offense.

Jeff manages to be wrong about this by assuming that one player will win the "starting" job and then the other player will ride the pine. This is going to be a two QB offense the entire season. Why? Beacause neither Clark nor Devlin will have the durability of M-Rob or Tebow. Penn State is going to need both players to run the spread this season.


Now Jeff brings it home with this:

Options are exactly what the Nittany Lions hope to have this season. The more of them, the better.

Solid analysis, big guy.

What do I think the Spread HD is? It is going to be a run based offense which will utilize multiple skill players to spread the field, triple options to keep the defense guessing, and the occaisional deep routes to keep the safeties honest. Weird. I didn't even have to interview Jay to find that out.

What I really learned, however, is that Joepa finally managed to stop tape recorders dead in their tracks using only his mind.

GO STATE! SPREAD 'EM OUT!

The Spread HD, or Complete Insanity

All via Deadspin.

Is this what Jay has in mind?


What is funny about this offseason is that everybody is talking about Joe's contract and not this new, super-secret offense.

I am fired up for the Insanity!

GO STATE!

Jay Paterno = Blogger?

If you want to climb inside the dome of the man responsible for the Spread HD offense, head on over to Jay Paterno's blog.(HT: CNNSIOC) This is, however, is more of Jay's political blog but he seems to touch on sports also.

I wonder if Joe will suddenly abort the Spread HD offense in late October as a purely partisan move? (HA!)

What is next? Obama '08 (HD)?!?!?!?!??!

GO STATE!

Jay Paterno Should Not Be Allowed To Speak

He just really should not speak. The CDT has an article on PSU's new offense for next year. Jaypa has dubbed it the "Spread HD." What will this miracle offense look like? Ummm, remember 2005? Yeah, pretty much like that. Except, that it is unlike anything you've ever seen before."It's not a philosophical shift, but more of a personnel shift," he said. Right.

"It's a different system that people have seen the last couple years, but the whole idea is to give us the best chance to win."

So it is the spread. Cool. Sounds a lot like what PSU ran in 2005 but we haven't seen it before. But, whatever you do, don't think that this is a change in philosophy. Just because it is brand new but yet incredibly familiar is no reason to fear it!

But what is the deal with the "HD"?

"It could stand for 'high-definition' or 'highly diverse,'" Jay Paterno said. "As long as it doesn't stand for 'huge dud.'"

So it doesn't actually stand for anything? Really, only "Highly Diverse" makes any sense at all. "High Definition" just stinks. "oooh, your offense is so highly defined. It just blew my mind."

Don't get me wrong, I am excited to see what the offense looks like and what Clarke and Devlin can do. You just shouldn't let Jay Paterno try to tell everybody about it.

GO STATE!