44BluesExplosion
11/8/2006, 02:03 PM
It wasn't that long ago, so the memory is still pretty vivid. I remember after a game his senior year when Stoops was asked what kind of permissions Josh had at the line of scrimmage. He responded with something like this:
"Josh gets the call the sidelines, but once at the line of scrimmage he becomes the offensive coordinator. He can check based off of formation into anything he wants."
And man, did he ever audible... Second only to Peyton Manning it seems like now. And his cadence was so unpredictable (often snaps happened in the middle of fake checks) that d-lines often found themselves in the neutral zone while defensive backs tried to defend the "free" play.
The value that Josh brought to the table was so much more than just natural ability. This brainy method of play really hasn't been seen at Oklahoma since.
If you really pay attention to what's going on at the line of scrimmage, you'll know that we haven't really had a QB in such great command of the system since. It's not that we've had a bunch of brain dead QBs piloting the offense (far from that in fact) since Josh left, but we just haven't had enough confidence in the decision making capabilities in a QB since. Starting with Nate, our QBs have predominantly taken their audible directions from the sidelines while in formation.
I'm sure you have all noticed Paul glancing to the sidelines before each snap looking for a check. Nate, Rhett, and even Jason did this as well. Josh rarely if ever did...
The interesting thing about this year is that Josh is actually the guy signing in a lot of these checks this year. Great, right? While it has been pretty good for us, it was a real problem at A&M. Because of noise, the coaching staff decided not to check many times last weekend. In an effort to be conservative, we relied heavily on Paul under center and our OL to support the running game. If you go back and look at the tape, you will only count 3 audibles the entire game. That really limited us on offense.
While some might see this as a relative weakness, I see it as a perfect example of why Josh Heupel was an amazing QB with an incredible command of the line of scrimmage regardless of the environment. To me, this characteristic is one of the major reasons we have a 2000 banner.
"Josh gets the call the sidelines, but once at the line of scrimmage he becomes the offensive coordinator. He can check based off of formation into anything he wants."
And man, did he ever audible... Second only to Peyton Manning it seems like now. And his cadence was so unpredictable (often snaps happened in the middle of fake checks) that d-lines often found themselves in the neutral zone while defensive backs tried to defend the "free" play.
The value that Josh brought to the table was so much more than just natural ability. This brainy method of play really hasn't been seen at Oklahoma since.
If you really pay attention to what's going on at the line of scrimmage, you'll know that we haven't really had a QB in such great command of the system since. It's not that we've had a bunch of brain dead QBs piloting the offense (far from that in fact) since Josh left, but we just haven't had enough confidence in the decision making capabilities in a QB since. Starting with Nate, our QBs have predominantly taken their audible directions from the sidelines while in formation.
I'm sure you have all noticed Paul glancing to the sidelines before each snap looking for a check. Nate, Rhett, and even Jason did this as well. Josh rarely if ever did...
The interesting thing about this year is that Josh is actually the guy signing in a lot of these checks this year. Great, right? While it has been pretty good for us, it was a real problem at A&M. Because of noise, the coaching staff decided not to check many times last weekend. In an effort to be conservative, we relied heavily on Paul under center and our OL to support the running game. If you go back and look at the tape, you will only count 3 audibles the entire game. That really limited us on offense.
While some might see this as a relative weakness, I see it as a perfect example of why Josh Heupel was an amazing QB with an incredible command of the line of scrimmage regardless of the environment. To me, this characteristic is one of the major reasons we have a 2000 banner.