ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 27, 1996 TAG: 9609270046
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: COLLEGE FOOTBALL
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
Conley Snidow had cooked up a formation he knew no team could defend, a formation he would save for special occasions such as the Burley Bowl.
It propelled Emory & Henry College to spectacular victories in those games, played in Johnson City, Tenn., between the nation's best two small-college football teams.
And it left a lasting impression on a 6-year-old boy in the stands named Steve Spurrier.
Snidow had the tackles line up wide next to the ends on both sides of the ball, with a back behind each set. That left only the center, two guards, the quarterback and a halfback in the middle of the field.
Snidow, an innovative risk-taker, first deployed the funky spread in the 1949 Burley Bowl, a 32-0 victory over a Hanover (Ind.) team that had given up 33 points all season.
As far as Spurrier is concerned, it still works today.
``I think we must be a lot alike,'' said Snidow, who retired from coaching in 1972. ``We had a lot of fun with it, and he seems to be having a lot of fun with it.''
Spurrier said he first saw it used by Tennessee Wesleyan, but he knows its roots - that's why he gamely refers to the spread as the ``Emory & Henry.''
And just like Snidow, now living in Spartanburg, S.C., he's not afraid to use it at pivotal times.
In the 1994 SEC championship game against Alabama, he used it twice on a late drive that gave Florida a 24-23 victory. First, it gained 9 yards on a pass when Florida was deep in its own territory. Later, quarterback Danny Wuerffel lateraled to Chris Doering, who threw a 20-yard pass to Aubrey Hill to the 2-yard line.
The Gators pulled it off again Saturday in a 35-29 victory over Tennessee, a game that put Florida in control of the Southeastern Conference East Division and helped vault it to No.1 in the polls.
Florida was leading 35-22 late in the fourth quarter as it tried to run down the clock. Facing fourth-and-one from his own 46, Spurrier decided to go for it.
The Gators broke the huddle and quickly shifted into the Emory & Henry. Tennessee scrambled to adjust, but it was too late - Wuerffel took the snap and picked up 2 yards.
Three plays later, the Vols still couldn't figure it out. On third-and-five from the 47, the Gators went back to Emory & Henry. This time, Wuerffel handed off to Terry Jackson, who cut through the right side for 15 yards, effectively ending the Vols' hopes.
``We practice it every week, just about,'' Spurrier said. ``There's no rhyme or reason when it goes in. The tackles like to be out there wide so their girlfriends can see them. Everyone feels real good about it.''
Snidow feels good about it to this day. So does Chick Davis, the quarterback at Emory & Henry from 1948-52. He hadn't seen the spread formation in years until Spurrier called it against Alabama.
``I saw it and recognized it immediately,'' said Davis, who recently retired as chairman of the music department at Emory & Henry. ``I said, `Hey, that's our spread!' It was quite a thrill.''
Davis recalls Emory & Henry going to the spread formation almost immediately against Hanover, a team he described as the ``Notre Dame of small colleges.''
``We opened up with the spread and it completely baffled them,'' Davis said.
Spurrier says the biggest advantage is that teams likely have not prepared for the formation.
``At least you know the other team will have just one defense for it,'' he said. ``They don't work on, `OK, on first down against Emory & Henry, we'll run this; second-and-long, we'll run this.'''
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Florida coach Steve Spurrier likes the spreadby CNBoffense because, ``At least you know the other team will have just
one defense for it.''