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ow to shatter the Wishbone - T?
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by Jim Johnston
Some folks say Monte
Kit" fin is the most elgible
bachelor in Lincoln. Others say
he'll never get married because
he watches too many football
films.
Kiffin, the only bachelor on
the Nebraska football coaching
staff, hasn't encouraged his
chances of getting married the
past week. He's spent more
than the usual amount of time
watching films of the
Oklahoma Sooners.
KIFFIN is the Cornhuskers'
defensive line coach. He's
watched every game and every
offensive play the Sooners have
run this season several times
over. His job has been
preparing the Cornhuskers to
stop what has been so far this
season an unstoppable
Wishbone-T offense.
Just how much time has
Kiffin spent watching
Oklahoma films?
"I'd hate to guess," said
Wishbone-T formation.
Splitend Jon Harrison is split
to his left This is basically a
running formation, however, if
Harrison is not covered
quarterback Jack Mildren is
capable of throwing to him
while rolling to his left
Halfback's long gain play.
Quarterback Jack Mildren rolls
to his left, fakes to fullback
Leon Crosswhite and then
pitches to right haifback Greg
Pruitt with left halfback Roy
Bell leading the blocking. This
is the play where Pruitt has
gained most of his yards.
Quarterback's long-gain play.
Mildren rolls to his left, fakes
to Crosswhite and then runs
around end with with the
halfbacks leading the blocking.
This is where Mildren has
gained most of his yardage.
Counter-dive. Mildren goes to
his left and fakes to
Crosswhite. Bell also flows left
Mildren then changes direction
and hands off to Pruitt up the
middle. Oklahoma hurt
Nebraska with this play last
year. Oklahoma trys to get the
defense to flow with the play
and then Mildren switches
direction.
Monte. "Let's just say I've
watched every game several
times."
From those observations,
Kiffin feels the Wishbone can
be stopped.
"IT'S ALWAYS risky to say
you can do something before
you actually do it," said Kiffin,
"but I'm confident that we can
do a good job against the
Wishbone. This is the best
defensive team I've ever been
associated with and I have
great confidence in them."
The big thing to defensing
the Wishbone, according to
Kiffin, is discipline,
"The kids have to have
mental discipline on defense,"
explained Kiffin. "Each
defensive player has a specific
assignment. He must carry out
that assignment. The trouble
starts when somebody starts
guessing instead of carrying out
his assignment. That's what
kills you against the
Wishbone."
JUST WHAT is the Wishbone
ooo
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o
formation? What makes it so
effective?
The Wishbone is basically
the old T formation with the
fullback lining up closer to the
quarterback than the two
halfbacks, (diagram one) It's a
fullhouse backfield that
concentrates 90 per cent .of its
effort on running.
The success of the Wishbone
depends greatly on the ability
of the quarterback. He must be
an excellent ball handler and
talented runner. In senior Jack
Mildren, Oklahoma has perhaps
the best Wishbone quarterback
in the nation.
THE WISHBONE is a triple
option offense which means
the quarterback has three
options with the football. He
can handoff to the fullback
going up the middle, run with
it himself or pitch to the
trailing halfback.
The first option available to
the quarterback is handing off
to the fullback as he runs off
tackle or faking the handotf
( ) Pruitt ( Bell
( ) Crosswhite
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Idren
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olocA Q
v 9
and keeping the ball.
"If Mildren sees that you're
not taking the fake and not
tackling the fullback then he'll
try to catch you by giving the
ball to the fullback," said
Kiffin. "You have to respect
the fullback, but then if you
start tackling him Mildren runs
with the ball."
Leon Crosswhite,
Oklahoma's fullback, definitely
deserves respect. He has
rambled 563 yards this season
on 110 carries and has only
been thrown for four yards
behind the line of scrimmage.
THE SECOND option
available to the quarterback is
running with the ball. Diagram
three shows where Mildren
makes his big gains.
Mildren is an exceptional
runner for a quarterback. He is
the Sooners' second leading
rusher with 1 ,069 yards and a
6.3 yards per carry average.
The third option is pitching
to the trailing halfback. If the
flow of the play is to the left.
2
Harrison
then Mildren would pitch to
the right halfback (Greg Pruitt)
with the left halfback (Roy
Bell) serving as a lead blocker
THAT'S THE play where
Pruitt, the nation's second
leading rusher, has gained most
of his yards. Pruitt has rushed
for 1,435 yards and has been
caught for just 12 yards loss.
"Mildren executes the triple
option with great confidence,"
said Kiffin. "Sometimes he'll
pitch to Pruitt 10 or 11 yards.
He can really read the defenses
while running the option."
Bell, Oklahoma's probable
starter at left halfback, can also
go for the long gains. Bell, like
Pruitt, has exceptional speed
and is always considered a
dangerous runner.
Joy Wylie, the Big Eight
Sophomore Back of the Year
in 1970, has been slowed with
injuries this season. Wylie
probably won't start against
Nebraska, but he is in better
shape now than he has been at
other times this season.
ALTHOUGH Mildren has
proven that he's capable of
throwing the football, the pass
is used basically as an element
of surprise in the Oklahoma
offense.
Mildren has thrown just 45
passes this season, but has
completed 22 for 646 yards
and seven touchdowns.
Split end John Harrison is
the leading pass receiver.
Harrison, who is basically used
as a decoy to take another
defender out of the picture,
has caught 1 1 passes for 338
yards. He's averaged 30.7 yards
per pass.
How do you defense the
Wishbone?
"NOBODY really knows if
there's an ideal way to defense
the Wishbone," said Kiffin.
"It's not necessarily the type
of defense you use, but how
well you execute whatever
defensive strategy you decide
to use."
The Nebraska coaching staff
has toyed with the idea of
using a six-man defensive line
against Oklahoma. Missouri,
for example, used a six-man
defensive line against the
Sooners and didn't allow a
point in the second half in a
20-3 game.
It's doubtful that the
Cornhuskers will use a six-man
line Thanksgiving Day,
however. Head coach Bob
Devaney has warned about the
disadvantage of switching in
the middle of the stream.
Nebraska will try to do
what it's been doing all season
on defense . . . best people one
on one. The Black Shirts are
the best in the nation in that
department.
Huskers Sooners
risk records
Nebraska and Oklahoma
both take winning streaks into
their Thanksgiving Day game.
The Cornhuskers have
logged 29 games without a
defeat, marred only by a 21-21
tie with Southern Cal last year.
The Huskers have won 20
straight games since the USC
tie.
Oklahoma's last loss was a
28-21 decision to Nebraska last
year. Since that meeting, the
Sooners have gone 1 1 games
without a loss marred only by
a 24-24 tie with Alabama in
the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.
PAGE 10
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1971