Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Cats will face the Triple Option 3 times

In the 2010-11 football season, the Catamounts will face the triple option not just once, but a total of three times, this season.  Wofford, Georgia Southern, and The Citadel will all three field triple option offenses this season.  This means the Cats will face the triple option for 1/3 of their conference games.

With Paul Johnson's success at GSU, Navy and now Georgia Tech, the TO seems to  be making a pretty successful comeback, certainly in the Southern Conference.  While Wofford has used the triple option for a while, Jeff Monken was hired from Georgia Tech to return Johnson's triple option back to Georgia Southern.

While GSU went to Georgia Tech for it's new coach,  Kevin Higgins, of the Citadel, went closer to home.  He went to in-state rival Wofford and hired Josh Conklin.  Higgins believes he can duplicate Wofford's  recruiting success by turning to the triple option offense.  “In the triple option, you can recruit players that aren't being recruited by other programs.  There are a lot more option teams at the high school level." said Higgins. "There are a lot of option quarterbacks out there who don't have a home.”

Thought of as old fashioned, or high schoolish - it does work, especially when teams only see the option once or twice a season.  “It's a great offense,” Wofford 's Coach Ayers said. “If you've got a good quarterback and a good fullback, then you'll have a chance."

Monken said "It's not a magic wand. It's not a magic offense”  "You have to execute." he said.

The big question - Will GSU and The Citadel execute ?



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