SF Chronicle: Spread the offense and don't bother getting in huddle

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By Jake Curtis

What does the future of college football hold? Here are four theories:

-- The huddle is nearing extinction.

Most teams have the no-huddle offense in their repertoire and many teams suggest they will use it more this year. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said the new 40-second play clock will make the no-huddle more beneficial because it will give quarterbacks and coaches more time to look over defenses before calling a play. In five to 10 years, perhaps nobody will use the huddle anymore. "It's possible," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said.

The huddle is one of football's trademarks, although there is debate about when it was invented, with three people getting varying degrees of credit: Paul Hubbard, quarterback at Gallaudet University, a school for the hearing-impaired, in 1894 realized his hand signals were being intercepted by opponents so he needed a huddle to create secrecy. Amos Alonzo Stagg, in a Nov. 26, 1896 win over Michigan, told his University of Chicago players to form a circle 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage to call the play because of the intense crowd noise made it difficult to communicate. Illinois coach Bob Zuppke popularized the use of the huddle, although he was criticized for first using it in 1921, probably because the Illini finished 1-4 in the Big Ten. But when Illinois won the national title two years later (with considerable help from a sophomore All-American named Red Grange), use of the huddle spread. Now the innovators are finding reasons not to huddle.

-- Some defensive genius will figure out a way to defend the spread offense. Two more major programs - Michigan and Auburn - are switching to the spread offense this year, because it takes better advantage of defenses' weaknesses and because nobody has figured out how to stop it.  The mere fact that the spread is so common should help defensive players and coaches get used to it and learn how to deal with it. Two-back offenses have almost disappeared, and USC coach Pete Carroll said he keeps the two-back set in his playbook because the longer he keeps it, the more unique it becomes.

-- The new rule involving the play clock and game clock will confuse officials, coaches, players and spectators for a while.  This is a short-term issue, but one that seems sure to cause mistakes and disputes early this season. In the recent scrimmages at Cal and San Jose State, which had full officiating crews, errors were made in implementing the new rules. Tedford said he still is not sure of the nuances of the rule, which provides for a 40-second play clock, except in the final two minutes of each half when the old 25-second clock is used. Also, now the game clock is stopped only temporarily after a player goes out of bounds, except in the final two minutes. The game's pace should pick up, and teams that are ahead should have an easier time running out the clock. There is also some incentive for teams to intentionally commit penalties in some situations.

-- The two-quarterback system could become the rule rather than the exception.  The past two national champions - Florida in 2006 and LSU last season - used two quarterbacks throughout the season.  They did it primarily because the backup provided a different dimension, but it has other benefits. Eight of the top 14 teams in last year's preseason Associated Press poll had their starting quarterback miss playing time because of injury, and it dearly cost most of them. Preseason injuries to quarterbacks are affecting UCLA and USC this year. One reason LSU was able to survive last year was because backup Ryan Perrilloux, who had played in spots throughout the season, played well when Matt Flynn was out with an injury.  Ohio State coach Jim Tressel has not said how, or whether, he will use incoming freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor this season, but Pryor could add a vital dimension if he occasionally spells returning starter Todd Boeckman, similar to the way Florida used Chris Leak and Tim Tebow in 2006.