Split - T The split - T is an offensive formation in American football that was popular in the 1940s and 50s . Developed by Missouri Tigers head coach Don Faurot as a variation on the T formation , the split - T was first used in the 1941 season and allowed the Tigers to win all but their season - opening match against the Ohio State Buckeyes and the 1942 Sugar Bowl versus Fordham . Jim Tatum and Bud Wilkinson , who coached under Farout with the Iowa Pre - Flight Seahawks during World War II , brought the split - T to the Oklahoma Sooners in 1946 . After Tatum left for Maryland in 1947 , Wilkinson became the head coach and went on to win a record - setting 47 straight games and two national titles between 1953 and 1957 . Basics . Although the forward pass was legalized in 1906 , most teams continued to focus on running the ball ( except in desperate situations ) into the 1930s . During this time , the University of Minnesota football team used the T formation to great effect , winning five national championships . In the basic or tight - T formation , three running back s would line up about five yards behind the quarterback . The offensive line men would form a fairly tight group in front of the backs . In the split - T , the offensive line was spread out over almost twice as much ground . This forced the defensive front to widen as well , which created gaps for the offense to exploit . The use of a split end to aid the passing game was optional , and was not an integral feature of either the split - T or the tight - T . Faurot used the new formation to create what may have been the first option offense in football , which was a precursor of the wishbone , veer , and some modern run - first spread offense s . With the defense spread out , the offense would leave only two defensive players unblocked . The blocking schemes were simple , with very little of the pulling or trapping of the more traditional power - running offenses . The two unblocked players could be called the inside player , usually the defensive tackle or an end , and the outside player , usually the defensive end or a linebacker . If the inside player had been charging upfield or swinging outside , a play could be called for the onside halfback to get the handoff and dive inside his position . This was eventually developed into an option , where the handoff could be quickly withdrawn to allow the play to actually go outside . If the dive play had not been called , or if it was an option and the quarterback kept the ball , the quarterback would run toward a spot just inside the outside defensive player . If that player closed on him , he would pitch the ball back to the outside trailing halfback , aiming for a spot outside that outside defensive player . When executed correctly , this resembled the two - on - one fast break of basketball , from which Faurot originally derived the concept . History . In 1941 , Don Faurot of the University of Missouri developed the split - by doubling the space between the offensive linemen ( causing the line to stretch 14 instead of 7 yards from end to end ) and " splitting off " a wide receiver to one sideline while keeping a tight end in close . When he combined this new formation with the athletes he had at running back and quarterback , Coach Faurot created an offensive juggernaut . In that year , the Missouri Tigers finished the season 8 and 1 and received a bid to play Fordham ( then an elite football program ) in the Sugar Bowl . The Tigers lost that bowl game 2 – 0 because rainy conditions and a wet field did not allow the split - T to be used effectively . Faurot got the idea from the " two - on - one " fast break in basketball when he was a player at Missouri in the 1920s . He knew that these types of plays forced the defensive player to make a decision about whom to guard and " that made < nowiki > [ him ] < / nowiki > wonder if the same thing couldn ' t be done in football . " The idea worked and teams using the split - T were able to run into gaps created in the defensive line by those decisions . In 1946 , Jim Tatum became the Oklahoma head coach . He installed the " split - T " offense that he had learned as an assistant coach under Don Faurot at the U . S . Navy ' s Iowa Pre - Flight school football team during World War II . In his first year , he turned around Oklahoma ' s losing record and delivered a Big Six Conference championship . In 1947 , Tatum left Oklahoma for Maryland , where he saw even more success with the split - T , including a consensus national championship in 1953 . Bud Wilkinson , also an acolyte of Faurot at Iowa Pre - Flight , was the next Sooners head coach . In 1953 , after losing to Notre Dame and tying Pittsburgh , Oklahoma beat arch - rivals Texas , 19 – 14 , and went on to win their next 46 games in a row , setting an NCAA record that stands to this day . Notre Dame book - ended the streak when they again beat Oklahoma in Norman , 7 – 0 on November 16 , 1957 . Other top football programs used the split - T during this period as well . These included Alabama , Houston , Notre Dame , Texas , Michigan , Penn State , and Ohio State .