Option offenses a familiar challenge for D’Onofrio, Cougars
NEW ORLEANS — As defensive coordinator at Temple and Miami, Mark D’Onofrio had to prepare for his share of option-style offenses.
“I don’t know if I’ve been fortunate or unfortunate,” D’Onofrio, the University of Houston’s defensive coordinator, said of his yearly meetings with Georgia Tech and service academies Army and Navy. “A lot of defensive coordinators would say unfortunate.”
The Cougars (6-3, 4-2 American Athletic Conference) have the task of ending the regular season with back-to-back games against option teams over the span of seven days, beginning Saturday against Tulane at Yulman Stadium and a Black Friday home matchup against Navy.
‘Different challenges’
While both schools use triple-option attacks, the two schemes bear little resemblance to each other. Tulane’s version is shotgunbased and that spreads the field with multiple receivers. Navy has run its patented triple-option for nearly two decades: an under-center, downhill attack that focuses on a power running style designed for the quarterback and running backs.
To nobody’s surprise, Navy leads the nation in rushing with an average 369.8 yards per game; Tulane is 17th at 244.1.
“They are different challenges, different styles,” D’Onofrio said.
While not the only reason, D’Onofrio’s knowledge of facing the triple-option was one of the selling points in the hiring process. In 10 seasons as a defensive coordinator, D’Onofrio is 7-5 against option teams. Most of the losses came when he was at Temple, which regularly played Navy and Army. At Miami, he won four of five meetings against Georgia Tech.
“At the end of the day, everybody in college football these days has some form of option.” D’Onofrio said. “It just requires more than ever on the defensive side that you are discipline and do your job.
To prepare for the final stretch, the UH coaching staff began to introduce the triple-option in preseason camp. Last week’s open date in the schedule not only allowed the Cougars to get healthy, but also spend extra time installing a defensive plan.
“We were able to sit down and concentrate on that,” coach Major Applewhite said.
One big piece of the preparation, Applewhite said, was getting the scout team — many of whom did not play in option offenses in high school — up to speed.
“In a lot of ways training the scout team is every bit as important as what you tell your defense to do,” Applewhite said. “These are skill sets that many weren’t taught in high school. To get your defense prepared, you’ve got to have guys ready to run that with great speed to be able to get the defense the right look and prepared.”
Building on success
UH played well in last year’s 30-18 win, holding Tulane to 100 yards as the Green Wave attempted 42 passes. The Cougars forced nine punts and made three fourth-down stops in the fourth quarter.
When Tulane’s option attack is executed properly it produces performances like last week’s 325 yards against East Carolina. Earlier in the season, the Green Wave had 488 yards and eight touchdowns in a blowout of Tulsa.
Heading into Saturday’s game, UH said it has to be mindful of Tulane quarterback Jonathan Banks, the team’s second-leading rusher with 476 yards, who tries to utilize his speed to get to the edge for a potential pitch to the running back. Tulane
running back Dontrell Hilliard had 189 yards against East Carolina and is 3 yards shy of 1,000 for the season.
After struggling in the second half in losses to Tulsa and Memphis, D’Onofrio said the Cougars have redeemed themselves in the last two wins over nationally ranked South Florida
and East Carolina.
“We had two halves that weren’t what we expect,” he said. “But I think on the whole end of the season the guys for the most part have played really, really well at times.”