<p>By Christian Swezey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 9, 2007; Page E03</p>
<p>The demise of the wishbone offense can be traced in part to the performances Miami had against Oklahoma in the mid-1980s.</p>
<p>The wishbone was rendered too cumbersome with the advent of speedy defenses such as Miami’s. The formation called for two halfbacks lined up five yards behind the line of scrimmage. Yet they were unable to block effectively or be receiving threats against fast defenses.</p>
<p>The defensive coordinator on those Miami teams was Dave Wannstedt; he now is the head coach at Pittsburgh. And he faces yet another challenging option offense when the Panthers (2-3) host Navy (3-2) tomorrow at 8 p.m. at Heinz Field.</p>
<p>The Midshipmen enter ranked No. 1 in the nation in rushing.</p>
<p>The Panthers are ranked ninth in total defense and have not given up 100 yards to a running back in their past six games, dating from last season.</p>
<p>“You don’t get to be [ninth] in the country on defense after five games unless you’re doing something right,” Navy Coach Paul Johnson said.</p>
<p>Wannstedt said Pitt prepared for Navy much as his teams at Miami prepared for Oklahoma.</p>
<p>For one, he had the scout team run Navy’s cut-blocking technique at full speed. He also had his defensive players wear shin guards for protection, according to published reports.</p>
<p>“If you look at our practice tape, about every other play I was looking away because guys were getting their legs cut out from under them,” Wannstedt said. “There’s no way of getting ready for that type of technique and that type of attack without practicing them. It’s as simple as that.”</p>
<p>In terms of a game plan, the Panthers’ coaches have a history of two schemes against the option.</p>
<p>In victories over Oklahoma in 1986 and 1987, Wannstedt relied on a speedy nose guard to disrupt the fullback up the middle.</p>
<p>The middle linebackers flowed to the side opposite the nose guard. And the outside defenders used their speed to focus only on the run.</p>
<p>The Sooners were held to 186 and 179 yards rushing in those two games; the passing game was open, but the Sooners completed only 10 of 25 passes.</p>
<p>Meantime, Pitt defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads had moderate success against Nebraska’s option when he was a defensive assistant at Iowa State in 1998.</p>
<p>In that game, the Cyclones used a “4-3 over” or “4-3 under” alignment on roughly 85 percent of its plays. Both alignments feature four defensive linemen and one linebacker on the line of scrimmage.</p>
<p>The Cyclones added a wrinkle by putting two middle linebackers within two yards of the line of scrimmage (they normally are four to five yards away).</p>
<p>Nebraska’s first-team offense managed three touchdowns in a 42-7 victory. Overall, the Huskers gained 359 yards on 62 carries (5.78 per run) but did not have a running play longer than 30 yards – something Wannstedt said is key against option teams.</p>
<p>“If [Navy] can keep the ball eight minutes and run 15 plays, I’ll be the happiest guy in the world,” he said. “That’s how you defeat this offense, you make them earn every yard and eliminate the big play.”</p>
<p>Either scheme will put an emphasis on a pair of juniors, linebacker Scott McKillop (57 tackles) and speedy nose tackle Rashaad Duncan (6 feet 2, 295 pounds).</p>
<p>Johnson’s spread option formation is based on the wishbone. But he moved his slotbacks closer to the line of scrimmage to make them more of a threat as receivers and also to enable them to more quickly block a defender.</p>
<p>He said he isn’t concerned about the extra time Pitt had to prepare for the unique option attack (the Panthers last played on Sept. 29, a 44-14 loss at Virginia).</p>
<p>“I don’t worry about stuff I can’t control,” he said. “It might help them and it might hurt them. Maybe they will try and do too much.”</p>
