Combining smash mouth with spread at Temple

Steve Addazio and Temple are coming off a strong 9-4 season, including a 37-15 victory over Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl. Three of their four losses came by a combined 11 points, including a week 3 loss to Penn State where they lost 10-14.

Addazio explains that when you line up against them, they're going to make you defend the power run game, as well as the spread option game. That's something that he's been aiming to do for quite some time.

Addazio told ESPN that the offensive staff has focused this off-season on tweaking their offense to combine spread elements with the ability to line up under center and play smash mouth football, all with the same personnel. To do that, the staff has recruited well and loaded the roster with hybrid type players that can play multiple positions.

"I always thought cutting edge was the ability to not only be in a spread component, but then to have the ability to line up under center and come right at you. We never quite got that done at Florida. We stayed in the shotgun with Tim (Tebow) and we had a lot of success with Tim doing that...but in my heart, I always knew, when I get a chance I'm going to run this thing."

"I want a defense to feel the power aspect, defend the run-power game, and then have the ability in that same grouping to spread the field and put in a spread-option component. That's where we are now." 

Simply having the ability to move the ball effectively both ways is going to stress a defense and force them to find practice time to cover it all, he explains. "Lining up under center, having a power run game creates its own issues for a defense. Attacking a defense with that, then having the spread offense component to it, now it creates a lot of stress to say: 'Now this is what we have to stop but wait a minute, we also have to stop this and we also have to stop this.'"