So will Auburn dust off the wishbone Saturday?

[CapstoneTider]

. Beware the onside kick...

I saw a stat the other day that said something like 74% of out of the blue on side kicks succeed in college. With our defense, I wish we threw it out there 3 or so times a season. I know we had the fake punt work earlier in the season. I wonder if Foster has the touch though.

 

[Bad Pony]

I saw a stat the other day that said something like 74% of out of the blue on side kicks succeed in college. With our defense, I wish we threw it out there 3 or so times a season. I know we had the fake punt work earlier in the season. I wonder if Foster has the touch though.

You know they will throw in several trick/unconventional plays to try and catch us sleeping...and yes, the first thing I thought about was them onside kicking just like the 2009 game. I hope we stay alert every snap/kickoff in the game.

 

[grlindsey08]

"We're going to do what we do." -Chizik..... crap, they're gonna play dirty, throw cheap shots, and get away with it...

 

[CullmanTide]

It takes literally months to install an option and run it as well as GSU does. It's absolutely not something you could do in a week, regardless of the talent - the timing and reads just take tons of practice.

Doesn't mean they won't throw in a play or two as a wrinkle, but part of GSU's success was based on their proficiency running that offense, and part of it was also due to the fact that we had three starting DL sitting on the bench.

Unless you're Coach Bryant. Alabama installed the wishbone in fall camp of '71 to great success.

 

[CapstoneTider]

Unless you're Coach Bryant. Alabama installed the wishbone in fall camp of '71 to great success.

And he hid the fact after visiting Oklahoma, so the players didn't have multiple months but the staff did in order to teach it, and USC had no idea what was coming which must have been devestating to the defensive coordinator. "What is this?" Great move by Coach Bryant, stuff of legends for sure.

But back to this game, you can't install it effectively in a week, and why would they after we just practiced defending it for a week and in a game which we won. It would be the stupidest thing I'd ever seen if they did. We'd have to call it the triple bone head attack.

 

[BamaDude06]

They are not stupid and know they cannot go head to head with us so it will be the usual from Gus and the boys, lots of misdirection, speed sweeps and that god awful everybody to the right and throw to a wide open Lutzenkurchen on the left. I hate that damn play and I hope if they run it Mark Barron is their to take his damn head off.

I hate that one too. I was really upset last year when they beat us on it. It's only a good play to me when Alabama is running it like against Florida in the 2009 SECCG.

 

[TIDEnGA]

I anticipate a lot of their read option running with Frazier and Dyer with McCaleb as the pitch man. It is au's best chance to control the ball with running plays to in affect shorten the game. They are not stupid and know they cannot go head to head with us so it will be the usual from Gus and the boys, lots of misdirection, speed sweeps and that god awful everybody to the right and throw to a wide open Lutzenkurchen on the left. I hate that damn play and I hope if they run it Mark Barron is their to take his damn head off.

Me too! I don't want Mark to hurt him too bad; just long enough to make him forget how to spell his own last name.

He makes me sick!

 

[Rachel_In_Red]

The Wishbone formation (which is what Alabama ran back in the '70s and early '80s) has a fullback and two halfbacks; the Flexbone (which is what you saw from Georgia Southern Saturday) has a fullback and two slotbacks. It's like fingernails running down a chalk board every time I see "Wishbone" in a post or article on this site.

The wishbone offense is designed to fool over pursuing defenses and compensate for a team lacking talent, which makes Auburn the perfect team to run it.

First of all, the real strength of the triple option is that you can read defenders instead of blocking them. That allows the offense to block fewer players and takes key defenders out of the play mostly through execution rather than just straight up overpowering them.

Secondly, any offensive coordinator who's any good should be able to devise schemes in which he doesn't necessarily have to have better players to move the football. There's no shame in doing things that require a little finesse and deception because you better have those things in your offense if you want to move the ball vs. teams with equal or better talent. Sure, it's nice to see Richardson get about 100 yards after contact every game and juke the same defender twice on the same play (including once in the backfield) en route to an 80 yard TD, but there's not any special coaching in that.

 

[CullmanTide]

The Wishbone formation (which is what Alabama ran back in the '70s and early '80s) has a fullback and two halfbacks; the Flexbone (which is what you saw from Georgia Southern Saturday) has a fullback and two slotbacks. It's like fingernails running down a chalk board every time I see "Wishbone" in a post or article on this site.



First of all, the real strength of the triple option is that you can read defenders instead of blocking them. That allows the offense to block fewer players and takes key defenders out of the play mostly through execution rather than just straight up overpowering them.

Secondly, any offensive coordinator who's any good should be able to devise schemes in which he doesn't necessarily have to have better players to move the football. There's no shame in doing things that require a little finesse and deception because you better have those things in your offense if you want to move the ball vs. teams with equal or better talent. Sure, it's nice to see Richardson get about 100 yards after contact every game and juke the same defender twice on the same play (including once in the backfield) en route to an 80 yard TD, but there's not any special coaching in that.

I don't think anyone was saying Georgia So. was running the wishbone. It's just the triple option offense Bama fans are most familiar with.

 

[PaulD]

The Wishbone formation (which is what Alabama ran back in the '70s and early '80s) has a fullback and two halfbacks; the Flexbone (which is what you saw from Georgia Southern Saturday) has a fullback and two slotbacks. It's like fingernails running down a chalk board every time I see "Wishbone" in a post or article on this site.

If the avatar is your picture, you're much too young to remember Alabama running the wishbone! There are several different versions of triple option offenses, of which the wishbone is one. The veer is another, as is the spread.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Unless you're Coach Bryant. Alabama installed the wishbone in fall camp of '71 to great success.

In '71 they didn't have the sort of practice limits we have today. It would be impossible to do it with modern rules, period.

 

[MOAN]

I don't care what they try on offense, a couple touchdowns ain't gonna be nearly enough to beat us when we are going to put up 49. If LSU beats Arkansas Friday I see no reason for Bama to not leave the starters in and run up the score!

 

[bama2112]

If the avatar is your picture, you're much too young to remember Alabama running the wishbone! There are several different versions of triple option offenses, of which the wishbone is one. The veer is another, as is the spread.

Who cares if she was around during the wishbone era. And she can quote what ever she likes about the wishbone. On and yes Auburn was one of the teams that did run the Veer, if I am not mistake University of Houston was pretty good at it back in the day. But I still like her avatar if it is really her and she is really a she. Just saying . RTR

 

[Rachel_In_Red]

I don't think anyone was saying Georgia So. was running the wishbone. It's just the triple option offense Bama fans are most familiar with.

Alabama hasn't run the Wishbone for 30 years, and it hasn't been run by a major football program since the late '80s. We saw the Flexbone 3 days ago. I dunno why people keep mentioning the Wishbone in the days surrounding the GSU game. There are a lot of key differences between the Wishbone and the Flexbone.

If the avatar is your picture, you're much too young to remember Alabama running the wishbone!

Well, I'm also much too young to "remember" Abraham Lincoln being President of the United States. Does that mean I can't look at pictures and know that he was tall and had a beard? Or read his writings/speeches and know his stance on certain issues?

There are several different versions of triple option offenses, of which the wishbone is one. The veer is another, as is the spread.

You can run the triple option out of a variety of formations. You can even run it out of the I Formation, as I want to say Air Force has done. The triple option is a play, not an offense. I have seen high school teams runs some Wishbone just to pound people with three big backs w/o running any option whatsoever.

My father's coached option teams for decades, so I love the style and wish more teams ran similar offenses at the college level.

 

[BamaGunner]

Patronization trumped with intelligence. Nice job RinR.

 

[CapstoneTider]

I take offense to those getting bashed over misnaming a formation where the difference only has two backs are lined three ft forwards and three feet out, both formations with the same attack. The basic play run from the flex bone and wishbone is the TRIPLE OPTION. So we are talking minuet formation differences and someone is sick over that?

The wishbone or triple option has evolved and I am supposing without Googling it, that by placing the backs in front of the FB enables another option with the lead back or slot being able to get down-field quicker, but what we saw on a majority of plays was a quarterback performing the same thing many of us did in HS and saw at Bama, option to FB, run around end see if you are getting played and either run the ball or pitch it to the RB(Slot,wing-man). Calling the formation wrong out of habit is small potatoes.

People that watched the triple option run out of the wishbone formation for years are 1000 times more likely to misname the formation than someone who does not have wishbone grilled in their minds. Especially since the offense is not discussed much. I would like to think that if I was the later, I could figure out the confusion without getting a willy. And those with a willy I have to think don't really understand the bigger picture, or the formation misnaming would not be a huge issue. Someone calling it the spread, which is a different philosophy might be worthy, but not the wish vs. the flex.......they are both the bone running the triple option with same first three option reads.

So let's just call it the bone or drop it

 

[Ole Man Dan]

Auburn won't dust off the 'Bone' this week but we will probably see Frazier in option plays some to see if whey can bust one on us.
As long as we remember that Auburn's bread & butter has come from running outside, we can be more effective against the Frazier option plays.
When Auburn's not running outside, they have thrown a few times...
It's Auburn's inside run game that really sucks.
I could see Frazier in an option look then attempt a pass to Lutz...
In key situations Auburn has consistently gone to Lutz...
(Half the time I can't remember Lutz... name let alone spell it.)

 

[GrayTide]

If you want to put all of this wishbone, flexbone, veer, etc in perspective the option play was run out of the old Notre Dame Box in the early 1900s. The current triple option was refined and honed by Oklahoma in the early 1950's when it was run out of the old Split T using one of the halfbacks as a wing back. Whatever you want to call it, it has been tweaked numerous times over the years but the basics are the same 2 offensive players against one defender, who does he take.

 

[PaulD]

Patronization trumped with intelligence. Nice job RinR.

It wasn't patronization on my part, but it was intelligence on hers. I was trying to pay her a complement, but upon re-reading what I said, I agree that the words would come off that way. I have apologized to her in a private message and, for what it's worth, to everyone else here.

The irony is that I agreed with what she said.

 

[CapstoneTider]

If you want to put all of this wishbone, flexbone, veer, etc in perspective the option play was run out of the old Notre Dame Box in the early 1900s. The current triple option was refined and honed by Oklahoma in the early 1950's when it was run out of the old Split T using one of the halfbacks as a wing back. Whatever you want to call it, it has been tweaked numerous times over the years but the basics are the same 2 offensive players against one defender, who does he take.

I liked it back in the day because it spread the defenders, and the halfback could really pick up some yards with a head of steam going up against a defender that much of the time was still trying to get his body adjusted back to vertical play. I saw this happen to Bama against GSU and Barron would end up making the tackle after a 7 yard run.