2023 Badger Football Thread

Mark87

Mark87

Carpe Diem
Admin
Moderator
Messages
10,680
Reaction score
12,551
Website
wisconsinsportstalk.net
Turn the page for 20022, here's a nice read on the new offense.

Phil Longo isn’t just going to change what the University of Wisconsin football team’s offense looks like next season. He’s going to strap a jet engine to it and hope it works out.The air raid? In Wisconsin? Really?The Badgers’ new offensive coordinator has spent the past four seasons lighting up scoreboards in the ACC and running a high-powered group at North Carolina. Longo is a disciple of Hal Mumme and Mike Leach, but his offense features a strong rushing attack at its core before attacking down the field with passes.Longo told The Associated Press he’s known new UW coach Luke Fickell for years and considered joining his Cincinnati staff in 2017. Longo instead spent two years as Mississippi’s offensive coordinator before moving on to North Carolina. His relationship with Fickell was pivotal in agreeing to come to Madison. Longo’s passing attack is quite different than what the Badgers have featured since Barry Alvarez took over in 1990, both in its volume and its big-play ability. But Longo’s rushing attack might be as much of a departure for UW.UNC’s rushing attack breaks down into five key rushing attacks — inside zone, which was used 32.9% of the time over the past four seasons, counter (17.5%), power (12.4%), outside zone (11.1%) and draw (7.5%). Those concepts cover 81.4% of the runs Longo called with the Tar Heels. His UNC teams ranked in the top 50 in rushing in the FBS his first three seasons before dropping to 73rd this season.A base of zone blocking will carry over from UW’s previous offensive scheme, so utilizing double-teams to get movement off the ball will continue to be important, and Longo uses pre-snap motion and shifts as often as he can. These tactics force a defense to adjust in the moments before a snap, increasing the chance for a missed assignment.​

The similarities stop there. Longo rarely if ever puts his quarterback under center, with short-yardage and goal-line situations being the key exceptions. That means UW’s running backs will be running from shotgun and pistol formations significantly more than in years past. Longo also uses tight ends in the backfield or a second tailback rather than a fullback.


Those shotgun and pistol formations lend themselves to draw plays, and UW fans should expect to see more draws and delayed handoffs than former coach Paul Chryst ran.
Another alignment change that might be coming for UW is wider splits on the line. Longo’s linemen at UNC had what appeared to be 2-plus foot splits, while UW’s have been about 1 foot for years. Wider splits along the offensive line force a defensive front to spread out to cover gaps, and Longo’s teams try to take advantage of that extra space by quickly creating seams and getting running backs through them. A spread out front can mean offensive linemen don’t need to lock onto a defender and drive them out of the way but can do their job just by sealing the lane a running back is aiming for.
There’s a drawback to wider splits — if an offensive lineman fails to block his man, there’s no traffic to slow down him en route to the backfield. Penetration can blow up run plays before they have a chance to pop.
Longo’s offense and Fickell’s at Cincinnati employed quarterbacks in the run game, and it’s expected that’ll continue at UW. Jacolby Criswell was the backup quarterback at UNC under Longo before entering the transfer portal, and the former four-star, dual-threat QB is set to visit UW next week. The threat of a quarterback run changes the math in the box for a defense; it has to account for the quarterback with someone, and an offense can take advantage of that by using read-option schemes and run-pass option plays. UNC quarterback Drake Maye was the team’s leading rusher this season with 653 yards.
Running the quarterback too often is a recipe for disaster against rugged Big Ten defenses, but having that in your back pocket each play as an offensive coordinator can help get a defense to be hesitant. For example, quarterbacks carrying out fake runs after handoffs can eliminate one defender from the box without having to assign a blocker, and the QB can take advantage of an overaggressive second-level player by pulling the ball and throwing on a run-pass option.

​



UNC used split-zone concepts far more frequently that UW has. These plays feature a tight end or receiver coming across the formation after a snap to account for an edge defender. Split-zone runs can be run toward this block or away from it, but the idea is to allow the line an extra blocker one way and to create a lane for a cutback or straight run going the other way.
A big change for UW’s offensive line could be coming in how they’re used as pullers. Longo’s power and counter schemes use pullers, but instead of a guard or tackle turning their shoulders perpendicular to the line of scrimmage and running down the line for a kick out or lead block, Longo’s pullers keep their shoulders parallel to the line and find a man to latch onto.
Longo’s counter concepts are interesting because they rely on deception generated by the line’s movement, not a back starting one direction before making a designed cut the opposite way like a traditional counter.
One criticism of Longo that has followed him at his last two stops is being ineffective in the red zone. The Tar Heels scored touchdowns on 63.6% of their red-zone drives this season and 57.1% last season. When the field condenses and a defense doesn’t have as much field to worry about, air-raid offenses can get bogged down. This is an area where Longo can use UW’s larger linemen to his advantage. UNC’s O-line this season averaged just more than 6 foot 4 and 310 pounds, while UW’s averaged more than 6-6 and 317 pounds.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
LOL was actually thinking of this almost started a 2023 thread last night
 
On paper it is so exciting I need time to myself. Fingers crossed they get it rolling
 
GBP4EVER said:
Probalby not the smartest choice coming out would have been best to return for another year.
Click to expand...
Personally don’t think coming back would make him a day 2 lock. A nice college player but he’s not great vs run. Best of luck wish him well
 
@McNamaraRivals
·
8m
According to a source, #Wisconsin is set to hire Gino Guidugli as its new tight ends coach. Nice get for the #Badgers, as Guidugli was in conversation for the offensive coordinator job.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top