Congrats from a Rice Fan and New Cyclone!!

[NewCyclone]

On another note, get up to a game. Hotels are pretty cheap, you can stay in downtown Des Moines, which is the metro area just over a half hour south of Ames. You can get tix to the game pretty easy and affordably. Tailgating is awesome and everywhere. Very kid friendly place.

There is great food and drinking in either Ames or Des Moines. It may sound weird, but central Iowa is actually a pretty cool place, especially in the fall.

CycloneFanatic usually hosts a tailgate, and I am sure you would be more than welcome there.

Love it!! And would love to!!! Don't think I haven't alrady pulled out the schedule and thought about it. I have a couple of Big 12 friends, so I will definitely be taking some road trips in the years to come...

 

[mike4cy]

I can tell you that if they took a snap from under center this season I didn't see it. Never huddled either.

Rice did something very cool I never saw a team do, after a play they'd immediately get to the line without a play being called but pretend to get ready to call a play and all of a sudden, with about 20 seconds on the Play Clock he entire team would look for the signal from the sideline leaving the defense on their toes and I wouuld imagine annoyed.

A LOT of 1 rb, 1 te, 3 wr sets and also some 4 WR sets only because the TE was a freaking stud that can do it all. Kind of a Dallas Clark type but a better athelete. In fact they would bring him in (out of the shotgun) on most short yardage situations to run the Tebow type offense he was used for as a freshman. He was rarely stopped.

Peyton Manning does this with the Colts, seems to be effective for them...

 

[jaretac]

Well, our best returning WR was a true freshman this year (Darks). Our QB probably would of had a 3000 yard season if it wasn't for the fact he had to split time with a quitter, he also had an injury that limited him for two games, and he still set school records for completions.

We are more then solid at running back. ARob is a very fast running back and can break tackles, not very elusive though. We had our QB's as the 2nd and 4th leading rushers this year. We also have Bo Williams who is a transfer from Florida. He is fast and elusive, however sometimes too elusive. He sometimes spends too much time trying to get through lines, but we are still expecting good things from him. We also have a third back who actually came in as the top full back in the country, but he wants to be a RB and has enough speed to be. He will likely be the third string back.

 

[jaretac]

Peyton Manning does this with the Colts, seems to be effective for them...

ISU also did it this past season, only we didn't have a coach who knew how to handle it. As a result, we had numerous delay of game penalties because the coaches didn't get the new plays down fast enough. Missouri also does something similar to this, but they have perfected it so you don't hardly notice.

 

[NewCyclone]

and he still set school records for completions.

It was said earlier I think in this thread but this is the key!! The spread isn't about Culpepper-Moss type bombs. Sure those are fun and really cool but that's not what drives it.

It's 60 and 70 yard drives sometimes on 4-5 plays of 15 yards each. It starts with the QB and his ability to read the defense because when you have 4-5 guys to throw to you usually have someone open to hit. The accuracey drives it and Chase Clement and Rice was as accurate as it comes. A QB that can run is huge, what Rice did a LOT of is (from the gun of course) play action to the RB, misdirection one way and the QB runs the other and Chase had plenty of LONG runs....It sets up the run, it sets up the QB run and sure as heck sets up the pass over the middle once you get the LBs biting.

 

[NewCyclone]

ISU also did it this past season, only we didn't have a coach who knew how to handle it. As a result, we had numerous delay of game penalties because the coaches didn't get the new plays down fast enough.

That won't happen anymore.

 

[Kyle]

Agree. Question, is it possible to combine a high octane offense with a good / great defense? Reason I ask is this, most teams that score a lot of points also give up a lot of points because they score so quickly that the defense burns out rapidly. TT, BYU in the old days, the Indianapolis Colts all come to mind. Thoughts?

I think Utah pulled it off fairly well vs. Alabama this year.

 

[jaretac]

It was said earlier I think in this thread but this is the key!! The spread isn't about Culpepper-Moss type bombs. Sure those are fun and really cool but that's not what drives it.

It's 60 and 70 yard drives sometimes on 4-5 plays of 15 yards each. It starts with the QB and his ability to read the defense because when you have 4-5 guys to throw to you usually have someone open to hit. The accuracey drives it and Chase Clement and Rice was as accurate as it comes. A QB that can run is huge, what Rice did a LOT of is (from the gun of course) play action to the RB, misdirection one way and the QB runs the other and Chase had plenty of LONG runs....It sets up the run, it sets up the QB run and sure as heck sets up the pass over the middle once you get the LBs biting.

AA had something like 61% completion, but he had a young receiving corp that made many many drops. ISU has never traditionally been pass happy, which makes it easy to break records like that. I think our only 3000 yard passer was Seneca Wallace (who was the top QB for the Seahawks this year). I think AA will do well in that system though. He also set the record for most passing yards in a game, twice this year.

 

[URBCLONE]

AA had something like 61% completion, but he had a young receiving corp that made many many drops. I think AA will do well in that system though. He also set the record for most passing yards in a game, twice this year.

I do too. I think AA will be outstanding in this system. I was very impressed with his toughness and leadership in a dismal season. If ISU could complement his passing with a decent running threat it would make all the difference. I don't believe that the offense is all that far away. Need to be more effective in the red zone and cut down on the drive killing penalties. Other than those two items, I thought the offense was pretty solid last fall.