Spread the word: Defenses evolving to take away option

Oklahoma, we know about. The other team that impressed Daniel? Illinois, who lost to the Tigers by six last year and open the season against No. 6 Missouri in 10 days. The goal ...

Head hunt: Willie Martinez is old school. In the offseason, Georgia's defensive coordinator posts the schedule in his office and obsesses over every opponent with one thing in mind.

"Defensively, you've got to punch the quarterback," Martinez said. "You look at one of our goals, we're going to find out how tough he is."

The effect of a smackdown -- legal, of course -- is cumulative. Georgia led the SEC in sacks last season and returns one of the best defenses in the country. Martinez doesn't claim to have a secret, just a method. The Bulldogs lost to South Carolina's Blake Mitchell, no one's superstar, but also contained -- make that punished -- Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow in the Cocktail Party.

"A knockdown of a quarterback can be effective," Martinez said. "Is he a guy who is tough enough to take those (hits), legally? If he runs the ball you better punish him. That's what makes Tebow so tough, he's a physical kid. He can endure. How long he can endure remains to be seen."

The new breed

These five defenders are among the most effective against the spread:

Taylor Mays, S, Southern California: Some coaches prefer cover guys in the defensive backfield. Mays is 6-feet-3, 230 pounds of destruction. He has the speed (an amazing 4.25 in the 40 in the spring) and hitting ability to intimidate receivers.

George Selvie, DE, South Florida: A swift, lithe 245-pound All-American who has tormented West Virginia in consecutive victories. West Virginia just happens to have the best power running game out of the spread, except when it plays against Selvie.

William Moore, S, Missouri: When senior safety Pig Brown went down eight games into the '07 season, the 6-1, 230-pound Moore became the leader of a defense that was No. 1 in Big 12 games. Moore is built like Mays and is just as nasty.

"Nowadays you've got guys who have more juke moves than anybody," Moore said. "You've got to decide when to go for the big hit and when to be fundamental."

Alphonso Smith, CB, Wake Forest: Expect a dip in Smith's numbers. Quarterbacks tend to stay away from guys who are coming off seasons in which they picked off eight passes (three for touchdowns), broke up 10 passes and forced four fumbles. That's 12 turnovers from one guy.

Auston English, DE, Oklahoma: English, the Big 12's preseason defensive player of the year, just returned from surgery to remove his appendix. Once he gets in shape, English should continue to wreck all those Big 12 spreads. In the first meeting against Missouri, he had nine tackles and 1½ sacks.

The final blow

The spread will die out for the same reason the wishbone died out.

It doesn't translate well to the NFL. Eventually, blue-chip offensive players will see their skills don't necessarily translate well to the pros. They will start gravitating toward programs that can exploit their talents. Goodbye spread.

"We do point it out in recruiting battles," said Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema, who still runs a pro style offense. "(The NFL) looks at that from not only working with a quarterback but an offensive tackle who protects a drop-back passer."

"If you ran (the spread) in the pros, you'd get killed," Notre Dame's Charlie Weis said. "I could never do it in a heavy dose myself because the quarterback gets exposed."

Few of those great option quarterbacks in the '60s and '70s had meaningful careers in the NFL. Draft experts are still perplexed as to how Tebow's talents translate to the next level. The same for West Virginia's Pat White. Daniel took advantage of an NFL Draft evaluation after his junior year but decided to stay in school to sharpen his skills -- and win, of course.

As good as he is, Daniel's pro future is uncertain. His immediate past, though, may become a historic touchstone when the spread eventually dies out.

"Oklahoma, they're not perfect at everything they do," he said. "They're really, really, really good at everything."