1993 FSU "fast break" offense...start of the present-day spread?

[Senser81]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhS-UjT9gNU

Was re-watching the 1993 "Game of the Century" between FSU and ND, and the commentators make a big deal about how FSU had been stagnant on offense with Charlie Ward, but then they switched to a 4 WR "fast break" offense with Ward in the shotgun and they almost doubled their PPG total going from something like 26 ppg to 48 ppg. Even though FSU lost the ND game, its interesting to see how effective someone like Ward could be as a runner in the spread offense. A good passer but not the greatest, Ward was much more dangerous running from the pocket into an immediate open field. I don't remember a college team doing this prior to 1993. Thoughts?

[Senser81]

I think FT was banned by good ole Bill, so I will post his comment here...

Can't really recall one. Ward was kind of the first of his kind though too in an offense like that. Even "athletic" QB's prior to in spread offenses like Andre Ware never ran. Bowden and Co. actually encouraged it. What's interesting to me is that I'm not even sure this was the start of the present day spread because it's not as though you had many(any) teams trying to emulate what FSU did after Ward left. Hell, FSU didn't even stick with that formula. After Ward left they kept recruiting/starting idiots like Danny Kannel, Thad Busby, Chris Weinke etc. who were pretty much the polar opposite of Ward. Tough for me to say FSU in 92-93 started the modern day spread when they abandoned it after a year and a half.

For as unimaginative as VaTech could be I think that you can trace back some of the modern spread in regards to QB profile/option to those Vick teams. Urban Meyer was also using a lot of zone read concepts even during his tenure at Notre Dame. Davie gave him play calling duties for one game and Notre Dame ran a ton of zone read with Matt Lovechio. Not sure where Meyer picked his stuff up from though. I guess the modern spread to me involves more option looks. That FSU offense didn't really have that. It was really just a 4-WR set that teams like BYU, Miami, etc had been usng for a while and they just happened to have an athletic QB.

I'm just rambling now but I suppose my point is for the start of the modern spread in CFB I'd look to a team that used a bunch of zone read looks. I'd have to think that it's somewhere more towards the end of the 90's/early 2000's

[Senser81]

What's interesting to me is that I'm not even sure this was the start of the present day spread because it's not as though you had many(any) teams trying to emulate what FSU did after Ward left. Hell, FSU didn't even stick with that formula. After Ward left they kept recruiting/starting idiots like Danny Kannel, Thad Busby, Chris Weinke etc. who were pretty much the polar opposite of Ward. Tough for me to say FSU in 92-93 started the modern day spread when they abandoned it after a year and a half.

I'm just rambling now but I suppose my point is for the start of the modern spread in CFB I'd look to a team that used a bunch of zone read looks. I'd have to think that it's somewhere more towards the end of the 90's/early 2000's

True about FSU not using their own 'formula'...Bowden was kind of a bonehead. In this FSU-ND game, I had forgotten that Bowden had Warrick Dunn on the bench until the end of the third quarter...Dunn gets in for two plays and he equals FSU's scoring for the first 3 quarters (7 points).

I'll have to do some more research regarding the zone read stuff and seeing if any other team ran a modern spread-type offense in the mid-90's. I guess its odd that no one else really saw the potential of the QB getting 10 yards before the defense could even react.

[Tailback U]

I always thought spurriers "run and shoot" was one influence, the other obviously being much later with urban Meyers Utah team...

[Senser81]

Spurrier's "Fun and Gun" offense was a spread set, but the QBs never really ran from it. Spurrier would usually get smart, unathletic guys who could lob the ball accurately (Matthews, Wuerffel, Grossman). None of them were running threats.

[Guest]

Not college teams, but Richt is quoted as learning from some pro teams who were doing it. FSU was the team that started it all for college football though.

http://madvertiserblogs.com/rankinfile/2013/08/31/bowden-fsu-put-the-fast-break-in-major-college-football/