Alex Editorial 2: The Future of Football
On the Long Island University football team, history is being made. They may be a 2-5 team languishing near the bottom of the FCS Northeast Conference, but it’s their style of play on the field that has become interesting to me.
The trick for the LIU offense is a Junior from Baldwin, NY, named Ethan Greenwood. Though Greenwood is listed as quarterback on LIU’s website, his position is simply just, “offense”, because he truly can just play any offensive position. See, the thing about the Long Island Sharks offense is that they already have a traditional quarterback, named Luca Stanzani, but they’ve evolved over time to play both QBs at once.
LIU utilizes unique formations with multiple running backs, tight ends, and yes, even quarterbacks in the backfield. With a playstyle grounded in deception, this team is a joy to watch. Almost every single run play is a read option, which means if either quarterback realizes that the running back will get tackled, they roll out for a couple yards. LIU’s offense has also become experts in motion plays, although the motion man rarely gets the ball.
At first I wasn’t able to find a lot of game clips for this team, since they are so bad. There were some clips from their first game against then-15th ranked Florida, but not much can be taken away from LIU’s offense as their team had more penalty yards (100) than total yards (86). Their other four losses were pretty ugly, too, including a 24-21 loss against Sacred Heart, where they had only 10 passing yards, and a 10-3 loss to Stonehill, where they had 241 yards, but no touchdowns. However, it was in one of LIU’s other games, their first win, where the offense proved itself as a force to be reckoned with.
See, not only have I focused on this game because LIU’s crazy offense was its craziest, but also because the game in its entirety is available on YouTube for some reason. The account owner, FooBaw must really be into some MACtion because his page is littered with cupcake college football games, but I won’t complain.The LIU Sharks’ opponent, the Eastern Michigan Eagles, play on the newly-renovated Crosby Field (named for Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby), whose gray turf sits a significant distance away from fans, due to a track having surrounded the football field prior to this year.
LIU went on the attack right from the start. After forcing an EMU punt, Ethan Greenwood converted for a tough first down on 3rd and 11. A few plays later, Greenwood dropped back, waited for his receivers to clear the right side of the field, as he proceeded to run 65 yards down the field for a touchdown. The next three drives went by with an EMU field goal and then two punts.
The next drive started with a bang for LIU. It was Luca Stanzani who took the snap, then handed it off to Greenwood, who was in motion from the right side. Faking a run to the left, Greenwood pivoted his body back to the right and threw a beautiful pass to a wide-open Stanzani, who then ran 73 yards to the EMU 12 yard line. That play is included in the first YouTube link, and I highly recommend it because it is a beautiful thing to watch. After a couple of half-hearted runs, a Greenwood read option was the play that worked, as he took it in to make the game 14-3.
With eight minutes to go in the second quarter, Ethan Greenwood was up to 105 pass yards, 91 rush yards, and 2 touchdowns on the day. Then tragedy struck. On a run from Stanzani, he went for the slide and his feet skidded over the grey turf, with his right foot eventually buckling under his body weight, causing Greenwood to immediately hobble to the sideline on one foot.
Greenwood’s absence didn’t stop the herky-jerky playcalling, however. LIU ran the same play as the big run from the first half, but instead a third quarterback, Chris Howell, was the receiver. They also had a play with Howell taking the snap, as Stanzani and Tight End Jaiden Dozier switched places beside Howell. Howell then handed off to Stanzani where Stanzani then ran a speed-option to running back Kam Ingram.
Stanzani, who was the leading passer week 1, leading receiver week 2 and leading rusher week 3, ended up taking most of the plays for the rest of the game, as Greenwood was seen in street clothes in the second half. A late 2-yard QB run by Stanzani, eventually put the seal on it as Long Island would go on to win 28-23, in their first ever win against an FBS school.
This style of play that LIU exhibits could not only change the game in the NCAA, but could change all football forever. The question then becomes: why play with only one quarterback when you can just use two?
In a day and age in which having two elite quarterbacks has become a necessity, it may start to become beneficial to play this same system with two passers on the field at once. That brings us to the Seattle Seahawks, who have two very talented quarterbacks on their roster in Sam Darnold and Jalen Milroe. Their quarterbacking styles complement each other very nicely, with Darnold being an elite passer, who can sit in the pocket, and Milroe being more dynamic and can run with the ball.
Luca Stanzani and Ethan Greenwood may become a metaphor for Darnold and Milroe. Can you imagine a play, like the 73 yard catch and run against Eastern Michigan, where Darnold takes the snap, hands off to Milroe who darts the ball back to Darnold. Or the Seahawks could have both Quarterbacks end up on opposite sides like having two returners for a kickoff, and if one QB can’t find anyone open, then can just switch it to the other.
The Seahawks have actually experimented with two quarterback sets so far this season on a couple occasions. Through six games, Milroe has been on the field three times, one play per week, gaining four yards from three carries. The way that Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak has been using him is in a wildcat formation, with Sam Darnold out wide as a wide receiver, causing some of the most obvious QB sneaks ever.
It’s one of Milroe’s three plays that has caused the most controversy. In their game against the Buccaneers, Milroe rolled around the left end with Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III way too close to him. Milroe pitched the ball way too quickly, as it tipped off Walker’s glove and the Buccaneers scooped up the fumble. Was the fumble the fault of a dual-quarterback system? Not completely. Was the fumble more on the fault of the rookie QB adapting to a new role? More likely. Could the fumble have been prevented with more chemistry with Walker? Also likely.
What’s clear is that a transformation like the one at LIU would benefit both the Seahawks and Milroe. However, with the Seahawks sitting at 4-2 and Sam Darnold still looking like an elite Quarterback, the last thing they might need is a complete change in style.
Sources:
https://youtube.com/shorts/v4trZh52Tes?si=8usTo0AJE5x_-MTa
https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401762795/long-island-e-michigan
https://youtu.be/5xrO64-O--M?si=FHaXL4IBjzEwQ27Z
https://www.espn.com/nfl/stats/player/_/view/defense/table/defensive/sort/totalTackles/dir/desc