Why the WildHog has been a bust
Wonder why the WildHog has been a bust this season? David Lee, Arkansas’ offensive coordinator, has an answer.
“After the damage that had been done to the Wildcat and WildHog last year, you know for a fact that Alabama and the other teams that played us…took the WildHog, they cut it up, and looked at it,” Lee said Tuesday. “I looked at it and had it broken down and cut up when I came here.”
Before the season began, Lee explained the ins and outs of the special formation to the kind folks at CSTV.com. By then, the WildHog had been analyzed by some college coaches and adopted by others. In turn, the package lost its effectiveness when teams realized how to defend it, according to Lee.
“That’s why the element of surprise in football is so big in football,” he said. “Nobody had any research on it. Nobody knew where it came from. Everybody has researched it and it’s not as effective as we like.”
Running back Felix Jones, who plays a key role in the WildHog, said Lee’s answer is the only plausible explanation he can come up with when trying to reason why the formation has been so ineffective in 2007.
“We showed some new things last year and they really didn’t know how to defend it,” Jones said. “But now that they have experience under their belt, teams are coming down there and defending it well.”
That may be true. However, the WildHog has been employed differently this season. Last year, when running back Darren McFadden received the direct snap, Jones was usually in motion. McFadden would then either hand the ball off to Jones, run it or drop back and pass.
Under former offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, the formation’s success was predicated on perfect timing between McFadden and Jones. The plays were scripted and
McFadden’s “option” was determined before the team broke the huddle.
This year, Lee tried to give McFadden the freedom to determine what he would do with the ball once it was snapped. The modified package, which was named the Racehorse, didn’t work.
The exchanges between McFadden and Jones were anything but clean. Both players looked unsure of themselves in preseason practice and the first few games.
That’s understandable. The WildHog is a package that requires precision. And in theory, it should still work because the special formation forces a defense to choose a side of the field to attack. This is especially true when McFadden fakes a handoff to Jones on an end around and runs a counter.
No matter how many times a defense prepares for that play, it will eventually get burned because its personnel will either be too concentrated in one area or too spread out.
The WildHog was developed to exploit the weaknesses of the opponent trying to stop it. And there’s no reason why it still can’t do that with arguably the best backfield in the nation teaming up to run it.
The proof is on the videotape.
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Rainer you are almost always spot on and you nailed this one. What I didn’t know is that they were making McFadden read the option this year. That in itself causes enough problems, not to include the lineman who need to adjust on the fly. David Lee might be the offensive coordinator by name, but my guess is HDN is still “inspirational” as to what gets called. You can see that by our horrible offensive preparation and lack of a passing game.
One more thing that Arkansas stopped doing was screen passes. They worked great last year and this year they have been a bust when/if they are even ran.
Like you said Rainer, when you put Felix in motion the defense has to pick Felix or McFadden. If they choose wrong, then it’s probably a big play, but anything you have a 2 guys who run sub 4.4s you can’t key on one… oh wait you can this year.
10 Years is too long, Houston it’s time for a change and your it… goodbye.
offensive coordinator, eh? hehe.. david lee and whomever else may be helping with play selection are simply offensive. it’s a one dimensional, run oriented, wholly predictable, 1960 offense trying to get by in modern day times. it’s not going to happen against the better teams, just like it did not happen last year, etc., etc. where’s the BALANCE we have continued to hear about, over and over again, guys? lee is a run [option] football coach and nutt has evolved into the same, post clint stoerner. where’s the BALANCE? i’m about done “holding the rope” on this, as you say, houston.
David Lee is partially correct. It’s called scouting. Makes me wonder about the scouting report on Auburn’s defense. What was the game plan to attack their D? Was there a plan? or was it just more of the same no matter the opponent? For Wildcat to Wildhog. The offense Saturday night looked more like DeadHog and the offense line nor quarterback can be totally to blame. It starts with scouting and planning before any execution.
The Hogs rode the Gus bus to their 10 win season. He is gone, and so is any chance of Nutt ever seeing another 10 wins.
When I watched the differences in the Wild Cat from last year to this year’s Wild Hog, the differences are more than obvious. The motion is not as crisp, the exchanges are not as crisp and the motion is not to the level it was last year.
More than one person was moving last year in either direction. It was setting up the defense for the perpared package that was being run. This year, the “read” option is not puting the defense where you want them, it is reacting to the defense where it is at.
No wonder the defensive coordinators are able to get after the Wild Hog, all you have to do is guard 2 receivers and put 9 in the box with two people assigned to get to DMac and Felix. It is so obvious how to defend this year’s version as opposed to last year’s version. That is the difference between an offesive genius and an offensive coordinator.
Gus explained last yr. for the Wildcat to work you had to use it sparingly.Nutt turned it into his offense which Gus said wouldn’t work.Nutt and Lee have ruined a great offense and both need to leave and while there going pick up Herring also.