Wishbone Magic

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[wendy1946]

Jack Mildren died earlier this year and a number of scenes from the Okie 71 season have been available on youtube. Just once in my life have I seen a situation in which an amateur version of a sport outgrew the pro version: the wishbone era of college football.

The contrast with pro-style football is stark; instead of the offense being outnumbered 11-10 on running plays (the quarterback isn't contributing anything but a turkey imitation), if it's done right the DEFENSE is effectively being outnumbered something like 12 or 13 - 11. Note that when Mildren went to throw the ball there was never more than one defender anywhere near the receiver since you simply couldn't have a zone pass defense when you had to have nine or ten guys right up on the line to have any prayer of stopping that ground game.

Youtube OU - Colorado 1971

OU Highlights, Wilkenson era then wishbone era

OU - OSU 71

OU - USC 71

Tide vs Ohio State; Alabama's offense featured a passing game which was built specifically for the wishbone formation.

Tribute to Mildren, "Godfather of the Wishbone"

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

I miss the dominating defense. You remember, the kind you could count on?

[Red_Devil 232]

To bad the wishbone offense is not used like it was years ago. It was a team oriented offense and not suited to the Me The Star egos of today's players.

[Fiji Hill]

Although the wishbone is fumble-prone, it is an exciting offense to watch.

[wendy1946]

That's what the announcer says in that OU vs USC sequence, i.e. that Southern Cal had the athletes but the Sooners had the team. Several things you noticed about Jack Mildren in particular... you NEVER saw him get tackled on his side of the line of scrimmage with the ball in his hands; you never saw him keep the ball out of what appeared to be selfishness; the ball always ended up in the hands of the guy with the best shot at making a play with it; he often appeared to be turning straight into the line like he was an I back following his fullback, which opponents HAD to commit to stop and then pitch the ball to a point in space where the halfback knew to be... The whole thing was remarkable to watch.

Again my own preference would be for the Alabama version of it with the integrated passing game. I still believe that if Paul Bryant had ever been allowed to coach a college all star game against a Superbowl winner with either Mildren or Richard Todd as a quarterback, the NFL would likely have been seriously embarrassed.

[Red_Devil 232]

After I left the Marine Corps I went to Miss. State (again) I spent a few years there more than it should have taken to earn a degree. But I was using my Vetrans Benefits and also working as a student for the University. I just happened to be the student assigned to the Aumni House (kind of like an elite hotel) when Emory Bellard, who is considered by some to be the father of the Wishbone, came to the campus and stayed at the House for a week or two before finding local housing. I think I may have been the first non-athlete student to have a talk with him.

State had some very interesting football teams while he was there.

[varmintman]

Okies had what amounted to a pro defense in 74, eight or nine of the eleven starters were starting in the pros two or three years later. They said that the only team which was able to move the ball against them at all was their own (wishbone) offense in scrimmages.

[wendy1946]

Highlights of the entire 1971 Okie season.

Again the closest anybody ever came to making any sort of a science out of American football.