The Football Brainiacs

What happens when you take one of the top defensive coaches in the country (Patterson, Saban, Narduzzi, etc.) and you give them the best players in their region? You get a dang good defense. And as they say, “defense wins championships”. Sorta.

Saban is one of the few guys who is able to marry his own defensive genius with a crop of his true top targets. He doesn’t usually get the third of fourth choice on his board. He typically gets the first or second. Defenses, in general are struggling to keep up with offenses. But he’s certainly relied on his defense (and a great running game) to win some crystal balls.

2012 NC he goose eggs LSU

2013 NC he holds the Fighting Irish to a measly 14 pts to win back to back national championships.

But as the offensive spread attack continues to evolve and you get more passing quarterbacks who can run and the run action on pass plays gets more sophisticated you start seeing things change a bit.

2015 Alabama makes the first playoff and gives up 42 points in the semifinal game of the playoffs in a losing effort to Ohio State (Tom Herman sprinkled fairy dust on that offense)

2016 Alabama wins the national championship but gives up 40 points to Clemson

2017 Alabama gives up 35 points to Clemson in a losing effort in the national championship. In every other championship game Alabama has played in under Nick Saban, the 31 points they scored on Clemson would’ve been enough to win the game.

And the times they are a changin’

So now, imagine a scenario where you take the best offensive mind in the country and give him the best players in the region. What do you get?

Well, you get Lincoln Riley in the next year or two. Even the best defenses will succumb to that kind of individual skill married to that scheme, creativity and rhymic play calling.

In years past OU might have a good line but they didn’t have enough elite guys at the skill position who could win one on one battles. For example, in the Oklahoma vs. Florida NC, OU had Gresham who could beat the tight coverage but guys like Iglesias were good system players who ultimately couldn’t have the same kind of success against elite cover guys. If memory serves correctly, guys like Iglesias weren’t OU’s first, second or third choice on the board at the time they were recruited. And Kevin Wilson isn’t Lincoln Riley.

Other times it was something else that was missing. When Oklahoma faced Clemson in the playoffs a couple years ago, they just seemed out-manned in the trenches on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. The offensive line struggled with Clemson’s down hill attack and physical brutes. Could OU have beaten Clemson that year? I suppose. But in hindsight I think most would agree the talent disparity couldn’t have been overcome by the scheme or playcalling…or at least it would have required a miraculous effort (think Knight in the Sugar Bowl).

So let’s talk about now.

What happens when you take one of the best QBs in the country, an offensive line that’s proving it can stand up to one of the best defensive lines in the country, skill guys that can win one on one match-ups (guys like Lamb and Badet will only be better at the end of the year) and a group of running backs that will be pretty good by the end of the year and give all those to one of, if not the best offensive coach in the country?

You get a team that can ACTUALLY beat anyone. I don’t mean a team who’s got a good quarterback than on any given day can get hot and score points on a Clemson or Alabama. I’m talking about a team that appears to have the talent and leadership to score points on anyone nearly every time they play them.

That’s a team that can actually beat anyone.