Media: I know with a lot of systems it really doesn’t matter who the quarterback is. What about at Nebraska, are these guys different or do they just run the system.
BV: I don’t know. They’re both athletic and will move the pocket. They are multiple in what they do. They are going to get into four wides with both guys. They will get in three wides with both guys. They will get in two backs and two tights with both guys. They’ll bring in three or four tight ends. They will attack you downfield and intermediate areas. They’ll use the screen game and things of that nature.
James Hale: For the second straight week is it similar stuff? You went through a pattern of spread teams there for a while.
BV: Yeah. They’re similar to the last few weeks. They’re a lot like a number of teams we have played so far.
Media: What exotic scheme have you planned for us this week?
BV: Nothing really. We just want to play clean football. Be more consistent and play like we are capable of. We will need to play well.
Media: We talked to Gerald about not being perfect for a couple of quarters on Saturday.
BV: Yeah, they worked us a little bit. We probably weren’t as sharp as we are capable of being. It certainly felt a lot better to walk in there having won the game. That’s the perspective that you have to have, you can’t be naïve and not look past the mistakes that took place and look at the things that you need to get better at. That’s what people look at. We look at people from an offensive standpoint, what are their strengths and weaknesses. But obviously we always look at opportunities to take advantage of somebody. And they’ll do the same to us so we’ll need to get some things cleaned up.
Media: When you go against young quarterbacks like that, is there an urge on your part to really get after him.
BV: Not really. Whether it was Reggie McNeal in 2002 or even Colt McCoy when he was a freshman, we’ve played a lot of guys that are freshmen and everybody gets all fired up when we didn’t play well against them. We never go in there feeling like he is less than capable. They wouldn’t put him in there to run their system if they didn’t think he was ready. Cody Green is a terrific prospect. He’s a great athlete with a great future ahead of him. I don’t know who it will be and we anticipate we’ll see both. He’s a big kid with a big arm who can really run. He’s very athletic.
James Hale: You’ve talked about all the multiple sets that we’re seeing in football. It seems in college football anymore that offenses are bringing so much stuff in. This seems to have been a trend in the couple of years isn’t it?
BV: We’ve seen it over the past several years. Take Boise State, they’re very multiple. And, they’re very good at what they do. Sometimes it’s not how much you do but who well you do it. They’re somebody that’s very good in their system. But, you’re seeing more and more teams that are like that.
James Hale: When you think of OU and Nebraska, Oklahoma’s been that way for a while, but everybody remembers when Nebraska was so good running the option.
BV: They were really more multiple in how they ran it. They weren’t just running the mid line and the veer. I remember it well; they had every kind of option you could think of. Plus you had all the toss sweeps and counters and powers and all the boots. They’ve always been very multiple. And then which Coach Callahan came it was the same, the West Coast is a very multiple offense in what they do.
Media: Why wouldn’t a team that might be struggling in a big conference adopt an option offense?
BV: Well when you look at the spread, we didn’t really have the personnel here with the Leach spread, I think our leading returning receiver had 13 catches the year before. And with personnel that hadn’t won a lot of games, that offense turned it around. So, I think that put the spread in vogue as much as anything. Those kids are doing the seven on seven tournaments, not the option tournaments all summer. That coach is a great coach at Georgia Tech; he’s done a great job. But you can see what’s in vogue and is more popular and what you can recruit to.
James Hale: You’ve been on the leading edge in defending the spread. Coach Snyder even said that you have come up with stuff that other people are now using to slow down the spread. Now teams are going back to some more power stuff and that’s how they are adjusting to what you’re doing?
BV: It’s all cyclical. When I was playing the option was big. And it really wasn’t that long ago. Then they went to more power and off-set the fullback. When I started coaching the thing was the split zone and they might run the boot off of it. It was earth shattering. It was crazy stuff. Anyway, the point being, you can look to see just how much it has changed. Everybody has gone to throwing the ball. Although, I think the most successful teams in college football over the past ten years, a major theme is being able to run the football when they have to run the football. I think that’s what you are seeing from some of these spread teams, they are getting back to the idea of a two back offense and running the football.
James Hale: And their doing it with all types of personnel.
BV: And they’re doing it with quarterbacks where they out number you. That makes it really hard.
Media: Do people look at Georgia Tech and think that might be something that a team like Iowa State might consider?
BV: I really think it’s what the coach knows. That offense isn’t something that you go to some clinic and learn. I think you need a really detailed background in that. Now, I’m not an offensive guy, but that is an intricate offense and you have to have a great understanding to be any good at calling plays out of it and coaching it and teaching it. You can learn to throw the ball at these clinics. Everyone goes to these clinics and the kids understand the passing game more because the high school coaches are teaching it more. I would say a passing game would be easier to install than the triple option.
Media: Talk about how Brian Jackson has matured and improved from last year?
BV: I think first and foremost its experience. Playing is everything. He knows he has that every snap matters. That he has to play with desire and focus. He has to prepare like the entire program is relying on him. He has to play with a fanatical effort and sense of desperation. He knows that he’s at a position that if he screws up he knows we could lose this game.
Media: Talk about your approach to personnel. You have very few lineup changes during the first five games or so and then at Texas, you played a lot of different people. Talk about how that works.
BV: It all depends on what people are doing. And we might know what they are going to do at the beginning of the year. The only team we say with four wides was Idaho State. From a matchup stand point we matched up well in that game and matched up well with everyone else.
Media: Did you know Texas was going to use the four wides at the beginning of the season.
BV: Well in fall camp, we worked on another package against our offense when they were in four wides. We just have to have special times to use it. When someone gives us some matchup issues then we need to go with it.
Media: Did you know pretty early on that you would have to use that formation.
BV: Well I’ll tell you. If we had not lost Mike Balogun or Tom Wort, we probably wouldn’t have gone to that. Those guys are very athletic and can play in space extremely well.
Media: How are Wort and Balogun doing?
BV: Wort is rehabbing, he’s in the pool every day working. Balogun is really a pretty happy go lucky kind of guy. He’s working very hard helping us on the scout team. He’s doing a great job. He brings a lot of energy to practice.
Media: Is there a chance that Balogun could get drafted?
BV: It’s a possibility. A lot of teams are coming by and asking about him. He’s a smart guy with a great attitude, he’ll certainly get an opportunity. He might have to go in the back door, but if he does, he will get in there and do well.
