Texas Tech enjoyed an immense advantage for several Big 12 football seasons. The Red Raiders were the only practitioners of Mike Leach's offense.
Advertisement
No more. Baylor this season has adopted the wide-split spread, and now Big 12 South foes get two looks a year at the unique offense. Some teams get it back-to-back.
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State swap foes this week. Last Saturday, OSU thrashed Baylor 66-24 and OU beat Tech 34-24. Now the Sooners go to Baylor and the Cowboys go to Tech. Just like in the old wishbone days, it can't hurt that defenders already have spent a week adjusting to the offense.
"It helps, because it's an offense you have to understand," said Sooner coach Bob Stoops. "Defensively you have to get used to it, because ... it's a different style of spread offense.
"It definitely is an advantage having to work it back to back. We just worked it the entire week last week. We can look at what we didn't do well, change up some things and wrinkles, and hopefully that can help us."
Tech, naturally, is much more advanced than is Baylor. Tech is more experienced with the offense, Tech has players recruited to run the offense and Tech has the mastermind, Leach, behind the offense. Baylor is in catchup mode.
"Playing back-to-back helps out," said OSU defensive coordinator Vance Bedford. "But Baylor is three or four years behind Texas Tech. They don't execute as well as Tech. They don't really run the same plays as Tech. It really is different when you break it down.
"Leach, he is the guru of that particular offense. He knows how to execute it and they do a great job."
Stoops admits to Leach's genius but still maintains the offenses are the same: "What some of the plays they like to emphasize, there's a few differences. But there's still plays you work for both teams."
Three times this season, a team has played Baylor, followed one or two weeks later by Tech. Texas had trouble with both offenses; the Longhorns beat Baylor 63-31 and two weeks later beat Tech 35-31.
But TCU and Colorado benefited greatly from seeing Baylor before Tech. TCU beat Baylor 17-7, then 13 days later beat Tech 12-3.
Baylor quarterback Blake Szymanski (6) is flushed out of the pocket by Texas Tech’s Paul Williams (48) during their game on Nov. 4. Tech and Baylor run smiliar offenses. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Related to this story
Articles
This week: Peyton Manning vs. Tony Romo 11/16/2006 Parcells brilliant or sluggish? The NFL's two top-rated quarterbacks square off Sunday at Texas Stadium. Peyton Manning No. 1. Tony Romo No. 2. That's...
The list: Coaching's biggest bullies 11/16/2006 5. Woody Hayes: The Ohio State legend swung at a TV cameraman and a sportswriter in the 1950s, pushed a camera into the face of a photographer in the '70s...
Cheers & Jeers: Scheduling Georgia; Vertigo at... 11/16/2006 Cheers • To Oklahoma State's home-and-home series with Georgia. Good for the Cowboys to accept the challenge next September of playing between the hedges...
Sampson's redemption 11/16/2006 Kelvin Sampson is contrite about the mistakes he made at Oklahoma. That's no small thing. For instance, try to remember the last time Bob Knight truly...
Now or then: Time to order Big 12 South rings? 11/16/2006 Time to order Big 12 South rings? In 2002, Oklahoma and Texas tied for first place in the Big 12 South Division. OU went to the league title game courtesy...
0
