Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1972-11-03

              The Option JL Belongs fy to Cherry His Pitch Says It 7 for Missouri By Steve Marotz M Sports Spats Writer It looks amazingly simple this modern modem version of the triple option The quarterback ck takes the snap fakes a handoff and rolls toward the sideline sideline- At a certain point in the flow of the play he either eitlEr pitches to his trailing halfback or turns tarns upheld himself him lf No sweat To football purists the kind of 0 fans who play chess between Saturdays there is much more involved in the option the play which has become the foundation for some of the more suc suc- successful successful offenses in the country in including in- in including including There are things called keys in the play pay which determine who win will run the ban ball the quarterback fullback or a halfback The key is a designated defensive player and the man who whom must m t read the key each time with split pUt lit second accuracy is the tile quarterback At Al Missouri the till man u is John Cherry CherTy TILE THE FIRST TIME I ran the option in the spring recalls Cherry Chary I didn't dont A even Me ace my ray first It key ker let alone read it tt Inn Lut spring Cherry a junior janio was one me of cl four foal quarterbacks s fighting for the opportunity to run ran Al At Onofrios Onofrio's newly waDe wishbone 1 offense the morn modern version of be tore triple option he fag faD terry Cherry got the call caD in spite of 0 his Jailor ee grounding in the T I formation and drop cp beck back passing Both Cherry and the he Tigers suffered through growing pains with the new offense aa u each was racked with inconsistency c but the th maturing process seemed to have climaxed against Notre Noire Dame and Colorado Im Fro reacting now says berry Cherry Before I had to think and you dont don't have time to do that You have to react The Th e archetypical quarterback as everyone knows carries more figures in his head than a nuclear physicist The average college male mate puns pins photos of Racquet Welch on 00 his wall waD the quarterback quarterback pins up pass patterns He lie doesn't talk in his h sleep he calls signals ACTUALLY I only have four or five basic plays out of the wishbone to remember says Cherry Plus four or 01 five out of the T. T I Everybody thinks weve got all aU these formations to remember Lately I tely Cherry Chert has been running naming the option like wen well like a quarterback g gw enough to beat Notre Dame and aDd Colorado The Tiger offense hasn't lost losta a fumble for two games off the bobble- bobble prone one wishbone and Cherry hasn't thrown interception an in two games Presumably be he has been reading his keys correctly C which according to Cherry involves m three t quick q km mental decisions I I 1 take ta the bell beD from fr n the center put it itin Itin in the fullbacks fullback's pocket and look at the defensive tackle Hes He's the first key says Cherry If the tackle is moving put out out I 1 give it to the fullback if the tackle tack is staying in I keep the ball baD The defensive end should be taking me if I keep the ball bail U If he M goes for me I pitch to the halfback If 11 he goes for the halfback I keep it Instead of blocking the defensive end and tackle you get your Mockers bookers to wall waD off the pursuit the Ithe linebackers THE LAST couple of games Ive I've been get gettin tin the hang halll of reading the tackle says Cherry berry who at 5 11 5 pounds ponds surprises J more people every game with his rambling power on the keeper At first they were re going to make a linebacker out of me recalls Cherry If I was waS bigger I wouldn't mind it Cherry told reporters after the Colorado game genie that Missouri's 62 62 0 loss to Nebraska had been the Tigers' Tigers turning point In that game the Tiger option was continually frustrated by defenders like Willie Harper the America all-America defensive end who said afterwards that defenses had caught up with the tIE wishbone e. e eYou You can ten tell from the scores now that the defense is catching up with the wishbone says Cherry berry They spread themselves outside and cut off the pitch They'll give you the three Uree ee to four yards inside Finally perhaps out GUt of desperation I the Tiger coaching coa staff installed trap blocking plays into the offense after the Nebraska game to spring the inside runs The statistics speak for themselves in inthe inthe inthe the Missouri rushing figures against Notre Noire Dame and Colorado The Tigers got yards against the Irish and against the Buffaloes The trap would have helped against Nebraska the way they pursued says Cherry ferry CHERRY ERR SAYS he has never been seriously hurt playing football ever since he began with little league football foot foot- beD balm in St. St Louis and progressed through three years at Pattonville High and two at Northeastern Oklahoma AM MM You figure a guy who's been through aD all that thatis is definitely tough and probably fearless an image further enhanced by bya a chipped front tooth that looks like it took on one too many pair of cleats All week I try to play the game in my mind says Cherry berry At night I f lie in bed and think of some big 6 66 trying to get his dews claws Into me Its It's kind of scary Which suggests the tIE possibility that there is a fourth key to the triple option one that makes it move better than the theother theother theother other three Maybe the fourth key is sheer fright