Well, thanks. I try not be a jerk but I guess sometimes it just spills out. [laughing] But that said I think there was a strong expectation that UK would operate at a faster tempo that what they did.
I'm not sure personnel was the reason UK did not operate at faster tempo. I think fast tempo is first and foremost a mentality to do so and Dawson seemingly came from that offensive style. But I'm not sure the defensive minded CMS wants to play that way. OTOH, while coming up on the defensive side Tubbs has always been a more wide open guy as HC.
A fast pace does put pressure on your defense and Cincy could not stop a toilet. I was critical of how much UK ran Towles in 2014 but it did show he was very capable of running some read option which I believe, for most teams, is the real key to a "fast paste" offense. Just run up to the line, set and you have 2 or 3 options built into a single play. But there are exceptions. Cincy was not a read option team with Kiel who had less than 100 rushes in 2 years as QB and they cranked off a lot of plays.
Peace
I think the "fast paste" offense was known in some circles as the "instant spaghetti" offense. But maybe only in the Italian community.
And I think Towles was one of our best weapons as a runner, a lot faster than most realize with the fastest shuttle time in the Elite 22 he attended, which included a 5' 10" athlete playing QB. From two of the tackles he made on DBs that intercepted his passes (one an All American he manhandled, the other he knocked winding, literally) he could have played linebacker, and would have made an excellent TE, unfortunately his measurables were too good to consider that------or maybe not, but I still think he gets drafted as a QB just on his measurables and arm, certainly gets a shot as a free agent.
But then I thought Couch was a very good runner also, although I can see not exposing him to too many carries. Couch was also quite an athlete, IIRC he averaged about 28 PPG in basketball, maybe in his junior year of high school.
A running QB in a defense spread out by the threat of a pass and with an extra blocker is a big weapon, just ask BP. Kelly just had a 43 yard scamper vs Oklahoma State, (Then a TD pass to Treadwell, who is a GREAT target), but he should have scored if he had stopped dead and used his two blockers. I think not using Towles as a runner was a huge mistake, and he was big enough to take some punishment, probably not as much there as having to take hits while also trying to throw the ball.
