How Wofford Grew from a Preseason Disappointment to a Playoff Contender Once Again

by Guest Writer, Joe James

Wofford head coach Josh Conklin, enjoying the glow of a conference championship and playoff win in his inaugural season, decided to take the Terriers away from the triple option attack this year. The system, put in place by his predecessor Mike Ayers and perfected by offensive coordinator Wade Lang, had won hundreds of games, including nine in the FCS playoffs and six southern conference championships.

However, the season looked over after two games. With upset losses to South Carolina State and Samford, alumni were restless. The internet commentariat exploded. Comparisons to Rick Gilstrap (Mike Ayers’s predecessor who only won a single game in 1987) and Brian VanGorder (Georgia Southern head football coach in 2006 who removed the triple option, demoting a playoff team to only three wins in a single season) were common.

Yet Josh Conklin didn’t panic.  He also didn’t “bring back the option,” as many observers claim.  He did something better: he showed the FCS why Wofford hired him in the first place.

The Problems

No Offensive Identity

Against South Carolina State and Samford, Wofford not only had two losses, but also less than 600 yards of offense and only 27 total points scored. For an offense that had averaged over 400 yards per game the year before, this was jarring, especially considering Samford had at the time (and still has) one of the FCS’s worst defenses.

Against South Carolina State, the Terriers called 20 passes in the first half, more than any half in recent memory, completing less than 50 percent of those passes. Wade Lang was less aggressive in play-calling in the second half, but Quarterbacks Joe Newman and Miller Moseley still completed more passes to the other team in that stretch, putting away any comeback hopes.

The next week, the Terriers only threw the ball seven times for six yards. Though the Terriers were able to rush for over four yards per carry and limit the total possessions for each team to eight, the inability to bust big plays–in the option or otherwise–proved to be the downfall of the Terriers.

Early Injuries & Defensive Youth

But the losses didn’t just mount on the schedule, but on the roster as well. Two all-conference defensive linemen, Mikel Horton and Thad Mangum, went down with season-ending injuries before halftime of the South Carolina State game. What looked to be the deepest and perhaps most talented unit on the field was now the thinnest. And it showed up in production.

The Terriers only managed a single sack in their first two games, a fatal error against an air raid offense such as Samford. The Terriers had already lost three experienced defenders in the secondary and NFL talent Miles Brown in the trenches. Though they were able to hold the strengths of both SC State (run) and Samford (pass) in check, they had a hard time containing big plays due to their inability to get pressure.

If Conklin, Lang, and defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes didn’t find solutions soon, this season would be a terrible disappointment.

The Changes

Step One: Create a Pass Rush

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. To have any hope on defense this season, the Terriers had to lean on their strength: the linebacking corp. Of eight players in the two deep, seven have been a part of the program for at least three years.

Pass defense wasn’t a problem for this unit; the secondary held the line against Samford, but because the pressure wasn’t threatening to dual threat Chris Oladokun, Wofford couldn’t get off the field. In response, Conklin and Siefkes installed a 2-4-5 third down package that proved unbeatable in its debut the following week against Gardner Webb. The Terriers had five sacks, including three by outside linebacker Jireh Wilson.

On the defensive line, young talent such as freshman Michael Mason, who is having an all-freshman campaign with four sacks on the year, grew into their roles. Today, the Terriers lead the Socon in sacks per game.

Step Two: An Option, but Faster

The main difference between Wofford in the last month and Wofford in the first two games, or even last season, is the speed they play. A position grouping of TJ Luther, D’mauriae VanCleave, Jacquez Allen, and Joe Newman on the field may be the fastest in Wofford history.

It really is saying something when Blake Morgan, indeeringly nicknamed “Big Play Blake” by the Wofford color analyst Thom Henson is a power back in this offense. The Wofford coaching staff emphasized speed in recruiting running backs, seeking football players with track experience.

Anyone who watches sports understands the importance of speed, but understanding what Wofford is transitioning to is more complicated. Namely, Wofford is trying to (and getting better at) incorporate both spread and pro principles into their offense.

We can’t talk about that without talking about Wofford and the triple option, so here goes: there’s lots of philosophical discussion about the costs and benefits of triple option and flexbone offenses relative to other kinds of offenses. For our purposes, just understand the following:

1. Option principles are widespread in college football. You can run option plays and still pass the ball effectively
2. There’s a difference between “a normal offense that runs option plays” (What Wofford wants to be) and “an option offense that runs normal plays” (What Wofford is)
3. Wofford is trying to move away from the option because they want to win a national championship; teams that rely heavily on the triple option without an effective passing game haven’t won an FCS championship in almost 20 years. There’s a reason why gimmick offenses (triple option, air raid) don’t win national championships. At a certain level of athletic talent and intelligent coaching, the benefits fail to outweigh the costs. The option can win conference titles, but probably not national titles anymore.

Finding a Balance

By incorporating spread and pro principles into their offense, the Terriers are trying to implement the best of both option and spread/pro principles.  Many triple option offenses, for instance, don’t use tight ends (and if you look at Wofford’s 2018 highlights 80% of plays do not have a tight end) because the quarterback needs to read the defensive end to determine whether to hand off or not.

But on Wofford’s option plays this year, they’ve had at least one tight end in the formation for the majority of option plays. What gives? Put simply, Wofford is doing less triple option and more double option schemes: less pitch plays and reads (which take time to develop), but more down-hill running for the quarterback. These schemes are more common in pro or spread offenses trying to use their Quarterback’s athleticism than traditional “triple option” teams, which seemingly run these plays 80% of the time.

The benefit of having a pitch man on an option play is that the quarterback has a safety valve, but the cost is that he’s not running as fast because he’s also reading the play. The Wofford coaching staff has confidence in Joe Newman’s running ability that they’re willing to take the cost of no safety valve for its benefit. Instead of “spending” a player as a safety valve, Wade Lang would rather use that player as blocking personnel (the vast majority of option plays last year didn’t have a tight end; this year a majority of them do) to give their speed players an open blocker to get them into open space. It’s working.

As a result, Wofford’s offense looks more like a mix between a spread option and traditional pro-set offense than it does a mix between a flexbone and a spread option. When Wofford wants to pass more and run the quarterback less, they can do that, pending on personnel. It’s what Conklin wants when he advocates for balance and flexibility. 

In this way, much of the Wofford offense isn’t really what it was even last year. In fact, some of the Wofford plays look more like plays you see at Florida, Alabama or Auburn than by Mike Ayers-coached teams, with jet sweeps, mid-line options, and tight end/h-back pulling on zone read plays.

Though the Terriers run triple option plays about 30% of the time (yes, I counted), they’re running double options (speed, power, lead options, etc) and direct handoffs more often at about 50% of the time.  So yes, they are progressing away from the option and still averaging almost 50 points a game in the last month.

Part of the reason why Wofford struggled in the first part of the season is because these plays require blocking schemes that are slightly different for the offensive line (more pulling, for instance) and require more blocking on more plays from tight ends. That develops with repetition. Coming into this season, the offensive line was the anchor of the team with five starters returning. The coaching staff correctly leaned on them, even if it took a little longer to develop.

The Fruit

Going into this year, Josh Conklin and his staff wanted to move away from the triple option. They passed too much in game one and suffered key defensive injuries. After developing a pass rush through the growth of young players and smart scheme, the revamped offense came to a head, and the results are nothing short of remarkable.

Defense

Wofford has the number one overall defense in the SoCon, including the number one rushing defense. They’re second in total sacks, but number one in sacks per game. Even though the pass defense is ranked a forgettable fourth, including sixth in pass efficiency defense, it’s worth remembering that Wofford has played two of the best passing games in the FCS in Samford and VMI. Their pass defense rank should improve.

Offense

For the offense, the Terriers lead the conference and nation in rushing, while also maintaining a top rank in the socon in total offense and second in scoring offense. Joe Newman is well on his way to a 1000 yard rushing and passing season. Through six games he’s already eclipsed his rushing total from last year.

Having said all of that, the season is only half way over and it’s worth pointing out that Wofford’s schedule has been relatively weak. But over the last 4 games, their offensive numbers have looked more efficient scoring, relative to performances against the same teams last year.

Wofford has a long way to go before they can either win the conference or wrap up a playoff spot, but they’re continuing to develop young players, and in late October playing on at least the same level as they were last year. So long as the terriers stay focused and don’t read too much of their own press, they’re going to continue to climb this year, in 2020, and beyond.

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 Joe James is a graduate of Wofford College and the University of South Carolina. He is a Southern Conference reporter for FCS Nation radio and a cohost of the Socon Pigskin Podcast.