Spread offense, quarterbacks help surge in points
By Steve Behr

sports@wataugademocrat.com

To watch a Southern Conference football game these days can be downright offensive.

Oh, they’re not offensive as being without taste. It’s just that 2007 has been the year of the offense, which can make defensive coordinators scratch their heads trying to figure out how to stop teams.

Appalachian State leads the Southern Conference in total offense with 492.9 yards and 43.4 points per game. The Mountaineers are first in the league in total defense, giving up 366.2 yards per game. They give up 26.5 points per game, the second fewest in the conference.

In past years, 26 points would win a ballgame. Not so in 2007. Just two weeks ago, Elon scored 49 points — and lost 52-49 to Furman. Georgia Southern has beaten two of the top SoCon teams — Appalachian State and Wofford — 38-35.

And let’s not forget the 79-35 thumping Appalachian State put on Western Carolina last weekend.

Appalachian State’s offense has gained over 500 yards in total offense in four of its last five games. Yet all of those games were in doubt in the second half. The one game in which the Mountaineers did not reach 500 yards was their 45-7 win over Gardner-Webb.

There are plenty of reasons why offenses are better. One, is the quality and maturity of quarterbacks in the league.

Georgia Southern’s Jayson Foster, The Citadel’s Duran Lawson (pre knee injury), Appalachian State’s Armanti Edwards, Wofford’s Jason Collier, Antonio Miller of Chattanooga and Furman’s Reynaldo Gray are all returning starters. Only Edwards, a sophomore, is not a senior. Even then, Edwards played like a senior when he led the Mountaineers to the 2006 FCS national championship.

His backup, Trey Elder, a senior, enjoys a 170.4 passing efficiency rating.

The exception to that rule is Elon’s Scott Riddle, He is a freshman, but has to be effective throwing the ball since the Phoenix average just 66 yards rushing per game. Riddle has responded by leading the conference in total offense at 341.2 yards per game.

Wofford coach Mike Ayers has another reason — the Spread offense. Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Elon, The Citadel, Western Carolina and Chattanooga all use some sort of Spread formation.

“Frankly, certain teams have the players who have the ability to use it and it can cause problems,” Ayers, who has put Collier in the shotgun formation, said. “I don’t think the defenses are any worse. I think the offenses are ahead.”

The Spread offense allows teams to occupy potential tacklers by making them cover receivers. It also creates running lanes and it can force mismatches in coverage.

It also allows flexibility when calling plays.

“It’s hard on defenses. Everybody’s getting them all spread out now,” Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore said.

“I think one of the big things is for us, is you can change those darned plays. You come out now and line up and don’t huddle and you look at what the defense is, 50 percent of the time we’ll change the play.”

Appalachian State used the Spread to take a 28-14 halftime lead in a 34-32 win over Michigan. It also allowed them to beat Western Carolina 79-35, giving ASU its team highs for points (79) and total yards (739) since 1936.

That same Western Carolina team was down 37-3 to Wofford at halftime, but scored 41 points in the second half against the Terriers on Oct. 25. The Catamounts lost the game 47-44, but only after the Terriers recovered an onside kick were they finally able to put the game away.

Western Carolina averages 26.4 points per game, which is seventh in the SoCon. Last year, the Catamounts would be third behind Appalachian State (35.2) and Wofford (29.9).

“In the second half against Western, we fell apart and we fell apart in the second half against Georgia Southern,” Ayers said. “We’ve played pretty good defense most of the year. I think it comes down to the fact that a lot of teams have the ability to score quickly.”

“I think there is a lot of expolsiveness in our league and throughout the country,” Chattanooga coach Rodney Allison said.