We’re all wondering exactly what kind of offense Coach Fritz will bring to the table at Tulane. He’s indicated he won’t be using the triple option, but it’s hard for me to believe that he will “junk” the various sets, nomenclature, and much of the playbook he had at Georgia Southern. I would guess he will keep much of that while putting greater emphasis on the passing game. Having now reviewed a lot of tape from his years at Sam Houston, I am now even more convinced.
At Georgia Southern he operated out of a spread formation and ran the ball 82% of the time over his two years there. He averaged just under 12 pass attempts per game. During his four years at Sam Houston, he operated out of virtually identical sets but only ran the ball 68% of the time. He passed an average of 22 times per game. By comparison, Tulane ran the ball roughly half of the time last year (49.6%) and threw the ball almost 34 times per game. Game situations (being ahead or behind, for example) might explain some of those statistics but they are probably illustrative of intent. For interest, the four teams in the national championship playoffs, Clemson, Alabama, Michigan State, and Oklahoma ran the ball respectively 56.5%, 59.0%, 56.7%, and 57.7% of the time.
From my observations, the multiple formations Coach Fritz used at his last two schools were very similar and I can’t believe they will change significantly when he comes to Tulane. At both schools he operated out of various formations but never, from what I’ve seen, from under center. And his teams virtually never (maybe never) huddled. The multiple formations and even the degree of spread and the positioning of the running backs were almost identical. The one difference I noticed was at SHSU he employed the tight end more often, lining him up next to a tackle on most plays whereas, at GSU, when a tight end was in the game, he was generally positioned in the backfield or spread wide. The tight ends caught 39 passes in his last two years at SHSU for 497 yards and 11 TD’s, pretty respectable efficiency. At GSU, they caught fewer than five passes over two years. I’d guess our tight ends will be employed more like at SHSU, but who knows? Our current tight ends tend to be more pass receivers than blockers.
In both places, most of the passing offense was executed off of play fakes and most QB runs were off of option plays. Even when the running backs carried the ball, the QB was involved, continuing to simulate carrying the ball himself to draw off defenders.
Fritz’s primary QB at SHSU was a better passer than he had at GSU but not near the runner. Frankly, he reminded me a little of Tanner Lee, though he wasn't as big. He didn’t seem to have near the arm and, though he may have been a little better runner, the difference, if any, was small. Regardless, he rushed over 200 times in his last two years while passing 629 times. In both of those years Coach Fritz had a “running QB” who spelled the starter fairly often. In one year, it was a WR who essentially ran a “wildcat,” rushing over 100 times and passing only five. I would not be surprised at all if Coach Fritz employs a similar “game plan” using multiple QB’s at Tulane depending on his personnel.
As an aside, having nothing to do with the offense, I noticed that punt formations at the two schools were identical even to the choreographed rugby style kicks. Since our punters seem to have trouble holding on to the ball, I don’t know if running with it to punt would work very well.
Anyway, the sign of a good coach is putting his players in the best position to win. I think Coach Fritz’s offense will adapt to the players he has. While it might look the same with Tanner Lee at QB as it would with, say, Lyndsey Scott at QB, the ratio of runs to passes and how much the running game depends on the QB would be vastly different. He showed that at SHSU with his multiple QB system.
Regardless, if you’d like to view some of what went on at Sam Houston, I’d recommend a short highlight of their Spring game in 2013. It runs about three minutes and gives a little feel for their offensive sets as well as a short one-on-one drill at the end.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sam+houston+state+football+2013&view=detail&mid=1454377B4C5464437B791454377B4C5464437B79&FORM=VIRE8
If you’d like to delve into the issue deeper, several game-highlights from 2012 and 2013 are available on you tube. And, if you’re really a glutton for punishment, the entire game against Stephen F. Austin from 2013 (SHSU won 54-49, so it’s wild) is linked below:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sam+houston+state+football+2013&view=detail&&mid=99999EF98F0A8DC0E26399999EF98F0A8DC0E263
Roll Wave!!
At Georgia Southern he operated out of a spread formation and ran the ball 82% of the time over his two years there. He averaged just under 12 pass attempts per game. During his four years at Sam Houston, he operated out of virtually identical sets but only ran the ball 68% of the time. He passed an average of 22 times per game. By comparison, Tulane ran the ball roughly half of the time last year (49.6%) and threw the ball almost 34 times per game. Game situations (being ahead or behind, for example) might explain some of those statistics but they are probably illustrative of intent. For interest, the four teams in the national championship playoffs, Clemson, Alabama, Michigan State, and Oklahoma ran the ball respectively 56.5%, 59.0%, 56.7%, and 57.7% of the time.
From my observations, the multiple formations Coach Fritz used at his last two schools were very similar and I can’t believe they will change significantly when he comes to Tulane. At both schools he operated out of various formations but never, from what I’ve seen, from under center. And his teams virtually never (maybe never) huddled. The multiple formations and even the degree of spread and the positioning of the running backs were almost identical. The one difference I noticed was at SHSU he employed the tight end more often, lining him up next to a tackle on most plays whereas, at GSU, when a tight end was in the game, he was generally positioned in the backfield or spread wide. The tight ends caught 39 passes in his last two years at SHSU for 497 yards and 11 TD’s, pretty respectable efficiency. At GSU, they caught fewer than five passes over two years. I’d guess our tight ends will be employed more like at SHSU, but who knows? Our current tight ends tend to be more pass receivers than blockers.
In both places, most of the passing offense was executed off of play fakes and most QB runs were off of option plays. Even when the running backs carried the ball, the QB was involved, continuing to simulate carrying the ball himself to draw off defenders.
Fritz’s primary QB at SHSU was a better passer than he had at GSU but not near the runner. Frankly, he reminded me a little of Tanner Lee, though he wasn't as big. He didn’t seem to have near the arm and, though he may have been a little better runner, the difference, if any, was small. Regardless, he rushed over 200 times in his last two years while passing 629 times. In both of those years Coach Fritz had a “running QB” who spelled the starter fairly often. In one year, it was a WR who essentially ran a “wildcat,” rushing over 100 times and passing only five. I would not be surprised at all if Coach Fritz employs a similar “game plan” using multiple QB’s at Tulane depending on his personnel.
As an aside, having nothing to do with the offense, I noticed that punt formations at the two schools were identical even to the choreographed rugby style kicks. Since our punters seem to have trouble holding on to the ball, I don’t know if running with it to punt would work very well.
Anyway, the sign of a good coach is putting his players in the best position to win. I think Coach Fritz’s offense will adapt to the players he has. While it might look the same with Tanner Lee at QB as it would with, say, Lyndsey Scott at QB, the ratio of runs to passes and how much the running game depends on the QB would be vastly different. He showed that at SHSU with his multiple QB system.
Regardless, if you’d like to view some of what went on at Sam Houston, I’d recommend a short highlight of their Spring game in 2013. It runs about three minutes and gives a little feel for their offensive sets as well as a short one-on-one drill at the end.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sam+houston+state+football+2013&view=detail&mid=1454377B4C5464437B791454377B4C5464437B79&FORM=VIRE8
If you’d like to delve into the issue deeper, several game-highlights from 2012 and 2013 are available on you tube. And, if you’re really a glutton for punishment, the entire game against Stephen F. Austin from 2013 (SHSU won 54-49, so it’s wild) is linked below:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sam+houston+state+football+2013&view=detail&&mid=99999EF98F0A8DC0E26399999EF98F0A8DC0E263
Roll Wave!!