Hurry-up offense is a site to behold

Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 28, 2014

Walking down the sidelines of the football games I went to last week, it felt as if the fast-forward button was pushed on the Blu-Ray player.

Andalusia and Opp were utilizing the-now-popular-hurry-up-no-huddle-offense and it was giving me a little trouble trying to keep up with every play and taking stats at the same time.

Typically, I’ll carry a notebook and a stat sheet, recording each play in the notebook and writing down the yardage a particular play gained on the drive. Additionally, there’s the picture taking, too.

Defenses, like me, were scrambling to get ready and focused on the next play.

That’s the main advantage of the hurry up — confusing defenses so that an offense can take advantage.

Other than the Bulldogs and Bobcats, I don’t know if any other team in Covington County uses the hurry up.

If we could rewind a bit that would be great.

Last season, I started noticing a new trend among high school football teams.

Instead of relying more on the run game, which they did, they started to pass a lot more. I’ve written about this topic in this space before.

For the life of me, I couldn’t possibly imagine what players have to go through to get ready for this type of offense.

They’ve got to be in incredible shape because it’s go-go-go all the time until your team scores, gets held over on downs or turns the ball over.

One disadvantage of the hurry up I think is communication.

Usually, a signal caller — either an assistant coach or backup quarterback — is giving out the plays from the sideline to the offense as they get set on the line.

This offensive scheme, in my opinion, was made popular by Auburn in recent years.

The Tigers did an excellent job of executing offensive plays with mastermind Gus Malzahn behind the wheel.

That sort of mentality on offense has made its way down to the high school ranks and it’s here to stay.

If only I can hurry up and write down plays and stats quicker.