College football is an ever-expanding landscape that sees its fair share of innovation and trends. New systems and schemes are constantly being tested in the game, few of which ever pan out and become assimilated into the mainstream.

But the ‘wildcat’ is one formation which has been introduced to college football over the past couple of years that has continued to soar in popularity. This year alone, five of the eight Big East teams have at least experimented with the formation by trying it out in a game.

‘It’s something that is certainly in vogue in college football right now,’ Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe said. ‘A lot of people are utilizing it. It’s definitely something you have to account for nowadays, particularly with guys who can run and throw the ball. I think that’s one of the things where you’re a little bit at bay because they can hold you hostage with the run and then still have the ability to throw the ball out of it too.’

The wildcat is a unique formation that resembles the old single-wing formation that was popularized in the early nineteen hundreds by the legendary Glenn ‘Pop’ Warner.

In the wildcat, teams usually use a running back that can run the ball and throw it as the formations quarterback. Teams often keep their quarterback on the field – typically at wideout – so that they can keep their opponent from guessing exactly what they’re doing.

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said the advantages of the wildcat aren’t just on gameday, either. Opponents have to prepare their defenses for the formation with the chance that they might not even see it used during the game.

‘I think it definitely has its advantages,’ Schiano said. ‘If nothing else, it makes your opponent prepare for something different. So it steals snaps away during the practice week preparation. That within itself is enough of an advantage.’

For Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly, he sees the formation as a surprise tactic.

The Bearcats opened the season with a Big East game against Rutgers, where Kelly opted to use his own variation of the wildcat in the game when nobody saw it coming.

Instead of putting a versatile and shifty player at quarterback, Kelly opted to use Travis Kelce, a tight end, for short yardage situations. Kelce, who played quarterback in high school, successfully ran the ball out of the formation three times during the game for a total of 18 yards and two touchdowns.

‘We thought we had the pieces that were similar to what Florida does with Tebow,’ Kelly said. ‘We thought we had a skilled running back that could threaten the perimeter and then we had a big psychical guy who could run it up inside. We just felt like we had the personnel on our team that could better resemble what Florida does with theirs or what the Miami Dolphins do with theirs.’

Even though West Virginia has a mobile quarterback in Jarrett Brown – who averages nearly 70 rushing yards per game – they, too, have their own variation of the wildcat.

The Mountaineers do not use the formation often, but did get a big play out of it last week against Auburn when former quarterback-turned-wide receiver Bradley Starks lined up behind center and threw a 31-yard pass to Jock Sanders. It was the crucial play in a drive that ended with a Noel Devine touchdown run.

‘It’s an up-tempo offense,’ West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart said. ‘You have to switch gears mentally and you have the threat of not only the run out of it, but the pass as well.

‘It’s an exciting offense when it works and it’s not very good when it doesn’t. The wildcat is being used by the pros and is being used by colleges all over. There are a lot of good points to it.’

With a rising number of teams adopting the system and assimilating it into their offenses, it would appear that the wildcat would be the future of football.

Kragthorpe – who doesn’t employ the formation – warns that college football is a game of trends and eventually defensive coordinators will find a way to shut it down.

‘It will be cyclical, people will adjust to it,’ Kragthorpe said. ‘It’s like this in football, you can see this formation if you go back 25 years in football. It’s the single wing formation, that’s all it is. Football is like fashion; it’s cyclical and comes back every 25 years.’

Grothe out for year

South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe will miss the remainder of the season after tearing his left ACL in a game against Charleston Southern.

Grothe is only one week removed from becoming the Big East’s all-time leader in career offensive yards and was arguably the most valuable player in the conference this year.

‘Matt is a great quarterback, we all know that,’ South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt said. ‘His play speaks volumes and he was just a great young man. I’m sorry and we all feel bad for him.’

Grothe is a fifth-year senior and his playing days are most likely over as the NCAA is not likely to grant Grothe a sixth year of eligibility.

Replacing Grothe will be redshirt freshman B.J. Daniels. So far, Daniels has thrown for 179 yards and two touchdowns on just 15 attempts on the season.

‘B.J. is a confident young man, he’s got tremendous athletic talent,’ Leavitt said. ‘He throws the ball extremely well, he runs well and has great leadership abilities. B.J. is a heck of a quarterback and we’re excited about what he can do.’

Grothe’s injury comes at a bad time for the Bulls as they’re set to head to Tallahassee, Fla. to take on the No. 18 team in the country, Florida State.

Game of the Week

Pittsburgh vs. North Carolina State

Saturday, 3:30, ESPNU

After a win over Navy this past weekend, Pittsburgh is 3-0 for the first time since 2000. This week, the Panthers head to Raleigh to take on North Carolina State (2-1).

N.C. State is coming off of two easy victories over Murray State and Gardner-Webb after opening the season with a loss to South Carolina.

The key to the Wolfpack will be their starting quarterback Russell Wilson.

Last year, N.C. State started the year rotating three quarterbacks and averaged 267 yards per game. In the last seven games, when Russell Wilson was the starter, the same offense averaged 360 yards a game and 16 additional points each contest.

‘They have one of the, if not the, most efficient quarterback right now,’ Pittsburgh head coach Dave Wannstedt said. ‘You can tell that he’s extremely intelligent, he understands the offense and his release is about as quick as we will see all year.’

rwmarfur@syr.edu

Published on September 23, 2009 at 12:00 pm