And I think a lot of recruits just saw the TO as antiquated. While I love option football, it's not what most 16-18 year-old athletes are dreaming of playing in. I had hoped that kids would see how successful the offense was with guys like Dwyer and Thomas and it would help offset previous perceptions, but that just never materialized in recruiting. PJ's attitude probably didn't help in this regard.
The schematic advantage helped compensate for this somewhat, but think about all the times we had backs caught after a 20-30 yard run, then fumbled or otherwise failed to score that drive, and imagine someone like Dwyer taking that same run to the house instead.