Georgia Tech Football: 5 reasons the option is running on empty

Dec 1, 2012; Charlotte, NC, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Vad Lee (2) is sacked by Florida State Seminoles defensive tackle

(8) in the first quarter in the ACC Championship at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

#2 – Lack of Balance Becomes Lack of Wins

If a team wants to win, and win consistently in college football, they have to be able to succeed in any situation – not just the ones that are advantageous to their scheme.

If anyone wants to argue that the option isn’t an unbalance offense, bring it on. You can argue until the cows come home that it’s more a product of the coach’s philosophy and play-calling than the scheme itself, but that’s just hogwash.

The option IS a run-based attack by it’s very nature. It’s meant to eat up big chunks of yardage, control the line of scrimmage and eat up the clock. The offensive lines spend very little time on pass-blocking techniques, and that — coupled with quarterbacks who spend very little time working on passing — means that the run is the go-to play.

The problem comes when teams have to pass, and can’t. In the red zone the field shrinks, and the option becomes less and less effective. On long down-and-distance plays, the defense doesn’t have to guess, they know. If you can’t make a defense respect your ability to pass, you are unbalanced.