Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Big 12 goes the distance with passing yards

The spread offense has enabled quarterbacks in the conference to put up big numbers.

By Case Keefer (Contact)

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell led the country in passing yards last season with 5,705. Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford ranked first nationally in passing efficiency. Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel was a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Don’t forget about Kansas’ Todd Reesing who set 21 school records, Texas’ Colt McCoy who completed 65 percent of his passes or Oklahoma State’s Zac Robinson who also rushed for 847 yards.

“I would say that we’re getting really good quarterback play in this league,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said at the end of last season. “There are some very capable guys who can throw the ball.”

Yeah, the Big 12 Conference became a haven for absurd passing numbers last season. The top nine quarterbacks threw more than 31,000 yards – roughly the distance between Mount Oread and DeSoto.

The scary part is all of them will return this year when college football starts at the end of August. At this rate, they might throw for enough yards to equal the distance between Lawrence and Kansas City.

College football expert Phil Steele said Daniel, Reesing, Harrell, Bradford and McCoy were all Heisman candidates.

“The overall strength of the quarterbacks back just makes the whole league stronger,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. “Even though we were a year ago, you’d expect it to be even more so this year.”

It’s hard to think that the Big 12 was traditionally known for teams employing a run-first philosophy. In the conference’s inaugural season in 1996, Colorado’s Koy Detmer led the league with 3,156 yards passing. Five Big 12 quarterbacks – Harrell, Daniel, Reesing, McCoy and Kansas State’s Josh Freeman – threw for more than that last season.

So what’s the origin of this sudden offensive outbreak? The spread.

The spread is an offensive system that uses up to five receivers to stretch the defense out. The receivers run short, precise routes and count on the quarterback to make accurate throws. If all goes according to plan, it can be deadly accurate.

Just ask Texas Tech coach Mike Leach. He implemented the offense in Lubbock in 2000 after being named the new Red Raider coach. Texas Tech went on to lead the conference in passing offense every season from 2001 to 2007.

Now, it’s everywhere. Teams such as Kansas, Missouri, Baylor and Oklahoma State are running a form of the spread.

Texas Tech, Missouri and Kansas ran no-huddle spread offenses last season. By not huddling, teams can move at a faster pace and disallow defenses to get set.

That trend will also grow this season in the Big 12. Oklahoma and Colorado have announced they won’t huddle and other teams will likely toy with the tactic.

“The more other offenses are snapping it quicker,” Stoops said, “you want to make sure you’re getting the same number of tries with it.”

The more tries means more potential for Big 12 quarterbacks to post inflated passing totals. The conference has some guys who are capable of doing it.

— Edited by Mandy Earles

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