An AFL Offensive Primer: Pass First
K.E. Schlosser
Friday February 6, 2004
99-68
91-62
87-48
What is the meaning behind those numbers? They happen to be three of the highest scoring games in Arena Football League history.
368-512, 4,515 yards, 98 touchdowns
390-562, 4,786 yards, 104 touchdowns
What is the meaning of those numbers? They represent two of the best seasons by an AFL quarterback. I didn’t even mention a completion percentage of over 69% for the season, or a nine to one touchdown to interception ratio. I could also mention that there have been three receivers with 46 touchdowns in a single season, or that ten times over the last decade ten receivers have had over 120 catches in a season.
429 yards
392 yards
364 yards
What is the meaning of those numbers? They are the top three rushing seasons in AFL history. While the yardage totals are relatively low, touchdowns per carry is the stat that matters the most.
Why rehash old numbers? Because Arena Football is an offensive game, and a different type of game than football fans in Columbus are familiar with or may be expecting to see. With a smaller field and shorter end zones, 16 players traveling at warp speed equates to a fast-paced, high octane, high scoring game. In the AFL, offense and big hits are the game.
During his time in the AFL, Columbus Destroyers head coach Earle Bruce has seen “players get checked so hard into the boards they didn’t remember their own name; saw players hit so hard they ended up in the second row of the stands, and has seen countless players get knocked out of their shoes, literally and figuratively, in a sport that is sometimes reminiscent of hockey on grass.”
Perhaps the largest difference on the field between the National Football League and the Arena Football League is the emphasis on the passing game and the limited use of the running game. The vast majority of the time, coaches are not using the pass to set up the run. Instead they pass, pass, and pass to set up the occasional run. The AFL rushing record of 429 yards on 88 carries was set in 1991 by Major Harris while he was playing for the Columbus Thunderbolts, but that team finished with the worst record in the AFL.
When commenting on some of the lessons he has learned in Arena Football, coach Bruce stated, “my first year in Cleveland, we were going to run the football. We led the league in rushing by over 200 yards but also had the worst record in the league.” After moving to St. Louis the following year, he changed that philosophy to “pass first, run it when you need to.”
As far as goals this season for the Columbus Destroyers, Bruce has stated he wants to see his “quarterback have a completion percentage of over 60%, a low number of interceptions, and to make good decisions on the field.”
While acknowledging there will be some struggles and miscommunication early on as the Destroyers learn the system and develop chemistry, Bruce believes “a little coaching will go a long way in developing and reinforcing the fundamentals of football.”
Whether or not practice equates to success on the field is a question that will be answered as the season unfolds. Will the Destroyers lead the AFL in total offense? Probably not, but they should see continuous improvement throughout the season.
Will the Destroyers set AFL records in scoring? Probably not, but they should see improvement and more consistency as the season progresses, with the players becoming more familiar with the system and with each other.
Will the Destroyers set AFL records in rushing? Probably not, based on Bruce’s previous experience and current outlook on the team.
The moral to this story is that Buckeye fans should expect to see three yards and a cloud of dust, but rather a three-yard completion with the hope that the receiver leaves the defensive players in their dust. Passing is the name of the game in the AFL and completion percentage, touchdown to interception ratio, and yards per catch are some of the most important numbers. While the majority of the players played college football and many have ties to the National Football League, Arena Football is a unique brand and style of play that is more reminiscent of Kevin Gilbride’s run and shoot Houston Oilers of the late 1980’s than Woody Hayes’ run oriented Ohio State teams of the 1960’s and 1970’s.
