high flying hornets

8/14/2019 High Flying Hornets

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63The Insiders Perspective

StadiumInsiders Perspective

MPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY, AN NCAA DIVISIONII school in the prestigious MIAA (Mid-AmericaIntercollegiate Athletics Association) Conference, fea-

tured the most balanced, yet explosive offensive attack in all of

college football. Utilizing an attack with four receivers, notight ends or fullback, the Hornets established 42 ESU, 30MIAA, and nine NCAA records.

No tight end and no fullback. Wait a minute, is this the run-and-shoot? Hardly. To say that the Hornets have achieved theseaccomplishments by simply implementing the much malignedrun-and-shoot offense would be a stretch. The ESU offensivescheme, known as the Sting-and-Shoot, may be the systemto take this somewhat radical brand of offensive football to thenext step in its evolutionary process.

Not since the inception of the Run-and-Shoot by GlennTiger Ellison, in 1954, has there really been a truly explo-sive, balanced attack using this type of personnel deployment.

Yet, balance was not always the key to moving the ball forESU. In 1995, Matsakis first season, the Hornets threw theball an MIAA record 623 times while rushing just 299 times.

During the spring of 1996 the Hornets offensive philoso-

phy underwent a drastic paradigm shift. In a spring ball teammeeting, head coach Manny Matsakis explained to the offen-sive personnel the importance of being able to rush the balleffectively, especially considering the fact that the Hornetswere going to be young defensively that next fall, 8 freshmenwere to start on defense. We needed to keep our defense offof the field. We challenged the offensive personnel to not onlylead the conference in total offense, but also do it with supremebalance by leading in both rushing and passing, explainedMatsakis.

In the fall of 1996, the ESU offense fulfilled its mission.The offense did just what they set out to do that spring: theaverage yield rushing was 274.4, passing 203.9. Each total led

The NationsBest Offense?Total Offense 531.5Rushing Yards 249.7Passing Yards 281.7Avg. gain/play 6.8 yards*Scoring 42.2

*NCAA Record

AFQ Research Staff

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but a 2,000 yd. RBB but a 2,000 yd. RBB but a 2,000 yd. RBB but a 2,000 yd. RBHigh-flying Hornetsigh-flying Hornetsigh-flying Hornetsigh-flying Hornets

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B but a 2,000 yd. RBB but a 2,000 yd. RBB but a 2,000 yd. RBHigh-flying Hornetsigh-flying Hornetsigh-flying Hornetsigh-flying Hornets

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No TE, no FB but a 2,000 yd. RBo TE, no FB but a 2,000 yd. RBo TE, no FB but a 2,000 yd. RBo TE, no FB but a 2,000 yd. RBNo TE, no FB but a 2,000 yd. RB


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66The Insiders Perspective

cess on game day: first down efficiency, turnovers, explosivesand green zone.

First down efficiency is measured by the ability of theoffense to run and throw well on first down. The key to attain-ing this goal on rushing attempts is for the offense to rush forplus four (+4) yards in over 50 percent of first down attempts.From a passing standpoint, the Hornets strive for a high per-centage of completed passes, better than 60 percent.

Turnovers are certainly a major determinant in the outcomeof a game. Over the past three years when ESU has had a pos-itive turnover ratio it has won 60 percent of the time. This is aninteractive variable in that it has to do with the giveaway/take-away relationship of both offense and defense.

Explosive plays were the key to winning in 1997 for ESU.The Hornets won 70 percent of their games when they gener-

ated two or more explosive plays than their opponent. We putexplosive plays into two categories, rushing and passing. A runof over 12 yards and a pass completion of over 16 yards is con-sidered an explosive play, said Matsakis.

In 1997, ESU produced 151 explosives (14 per game) ascompared to 87 (eight per game) by its opponents.

What many fans call the Red Zone is considered theGreen Zone by ESU. While most teams consider this part ofthe field from the 20 yard line and in, ESU has expanded thearea back to the 30 yard line. Furthermore, the coaching staffof the Hornets feels touchdowns are the truest measure for theoffense so only count six-point scores towards Green Zoneefficiency.

Basically, field goals are part of our kicking game goals. It

is the job of the offensive personnel to get into the end zoneand we shoot for a 70 percent touchdown scoring efficiencyonce we get to the 30 yard line, said Matsakis.

In 1997, the Hornets converted 56 of 78 green zone posses-sions into touchdowns for an impressive 72 percent in touch-down efficiency.

On the plains of Kansas, Manny Matsakis and his staff haveunleashed an attack that has the potential to be more devastat-ing to opposing defenses than the tornadoes that have made thestate famous. With its lethal balance and quick strike ability,the ESU Sting-and-Shoot refuses to limit its carnage to a sin-gle incident of touching down, but rather touchdowns havebeen sited time after time after time.

The Matsakis-designed one-back attack is lethal both on theground and in the air, due in large part to the extensive use ofmotion.

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