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On the official debut of FOX’s new college football pregame show “FOX Big Noon Kickoff” former Ohio State head football coach Urban Meyer broke down the evolution of the spread-option and the accidental discovery of the run-pass option.
Meyer, who is considered the inventor and foremost innovator of the spread offense, explains in the segment that the spread is all built upon the offense “equating numbers” with the defenders in order to create favorable space and running lanes for running backs — in the demo, it is former Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush.
The former coach then goes on to explain how his staff accidentally stumbled upon the RPO wrinkle while at Utah. During a practice, a Ute wide receiver went for a bubble screen, instead of blocking his defender. Said defender then collapsed on the quarterback who had read to keep the ball.
The quarterback, Alex Smith, quickly decided to flip the ball to the wide receiver, thus creating the first-ever RPO.
While Meyer might be on the Mount Rushmore of modern college coaches, he also apparently is pretty darn good at this TV thing as well.
Check out the full demo and explanation:
It's all about the Run-Pass Option in college football these days.@OSUCoachMeyer breaks the system down in detail. Trust us, you'll want to watch this. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/U7LjYog4Wz
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) August 31, 2019