” The University of Akron football team is undergoing a major offensive overhaul. With quarterback Luke Getsy gone, the Zips will not only have to find a new quarterback but integrate a new offensive system. Under Getsy, a classic drop-back passer with the elusiveness of a statue, the Zips moved the ball with a traditional offensive scheme where the quarterback passes and the running back chews up yards on the ground.”
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The University of Akron football team is undergoing a major offensive overhaul.

With quarterback Luke Getsy gone, the Zips will not only have to find a new quarterback but integrate a new offensive system.

Under Getsy, a classic drop-back passer with the elusiveness of a statue, the Zips moved the ball with a traditional offensive scheme where the quarterback passes and the running back chews up yards on the ground.

Next season, the Zips will have a different approach to moving the ball. The three candidates for the starting quarterback job (Carlton Jackson, Chris Jacquemain and Sean Hakes) are nothing like Getsy.

All three are more athletic and suited for a style of offense that has been sweeping through the Mid-American Conference and the country.

The system uses the quarterback as the second – and sometimes first – option as a ball carrier, which is commonly known as the spread offense.

The Zips aren’t exactly utilizing the spread, but more of a no-huddle offense that uses the quarterback as a main ball carrier out of the backfield.

I wouldn’t necessarily categorize it as a spread, offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead said. To me, spread means you aren’t going to have a fullback or tight end on the field. To me, it’s more of a no huddle than a spread. We’re very deep and talented at the running back and tight end and we’re going to utilize those guys.

Moorhead said that the change came about because of the personnel that UA has heading into next season.

He said the new system – which will include more options and direct quarterback run plays – not only suited the quarterbacks, but the skill position players and offensive line as well.

With the guys we have now, they’re young, they’re inexperienced, but they’re very athletic, Moorhead said. They can throw the ball well and they add the extra dimension of being able to run the ball.

Head coach J.D. Brookhart said the change to a different style of quarterbacks is an evolution of the game that has come about for a number of reasons. One is the increasing speed of opposing defenses.

You look at the speed of defenses, and there aren’t many times you get to drop back, set your feet and have time to throw, Brookhart said. The athletes are too good out there, so you have to have a guy out there that can move.

Another reason Brookhart said the change has come about is because it is easier to find and recruit an athlete than a passer.

To account for this change, you have to change your scheme and you have to change your recruiting, Brookhart said. You might recruit a guy that’s a little shorter, and doesn’t throw as well. You might take your chances on a kid like that.

The change for UA is one that will likely stay for sometime.

Jackson and Jacquemain will be sophomores next year and Hakes will be a redshirt freshman.

Matt Rodgers, a 2007 recruit who will likely redshirt next year, is also of the same mold.

We don’t want just a runner and we don’t want just a passer, Moorhead said. We want someone who is capable of doing both well, and I think we’ve done that.

Part of the allure of having a mobile quarterback is having someone who can turn a broken-down pass play into a big gain with his running ability – something that hurt UA’s defense this past season.

I think when you have a spread offense, you spread the field to throw the football, said Toledo head coach Tom Amstutz, who has to choose this offseason between a mobile quarterback (Aaron Opelt) and a tradition quarterback (Clint Cochran). Then when you add the threat of a running quarterback as well, it puts the defense in a great strain.

But are the Zips better off with a running quarterback than a drop-back passer?

That’s what we have now, Moorhead said. You can’t necessarily say that one is better than the other. It just so happens that the guys we have are three quarterbacks that are capable as both runners and throwers. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, that’s just what we have.

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