By Ryan Dunleavy | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Admit it: When you hear no-huddle offense, you think hurry-up offense.

It's like chocolate and vanilla, dogs and cats, or Meryl Streep and Oscar.

And Rutgers fans don't want to think about a hurry-up offense after last season.

Don't Edit

Making the move last season from years in the pro-style offense to the spread offense -- the scheme that coach Chris Ash finds most difficult to defend and that was then-offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer's specialty -- proved disastrous for Rutgers because the playbook did not fit the personnel.

Enter offensive coordinator Jerry Kill, whose multiple-look offense is a mix of shotgun an under-center snaps, of huddle and no huddle, and of different personnel groupings. Kill hasn't been anything other than a head coach since 1993, but he has called plays from his top perch.

Don't Edit

John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Time of possession

Of the 128 FBS teams last season, Rutgers ranked:

No. 110 in time of possession

No. 126 in first downs

No. 123 in third-down conversion percentage

Don't Edit

3-and-out

Rutgers went three-and-out -- three offensive plays followed by a punt -- 59 times last season, according to a NJ Advance Media review of box scores.

Of those 59 possessions, 57 lasted less than two minutes, including 13 that lasted less than one minute.

That's defeating the purpose of a hurry-up offense.

Rutgers' opponents had the best starting field position in the country last season (37.5-yard line), according to cfbanalytics.com.

Don't Edit

Big Ten QB rankings

Where does Kyle Bolin fit?

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Julio Cortez | AP

Are all no-huddle offenses hurry-up offenses?

Don't Edit

Kill has kept most of his offense under wraps -- media has seen limited 11-on-11 live reps during spring camp and training camp -- other than to say it will look like what Minnesota ran under his watch from 2011-14 but with a heavy influence from his one year (2016) working alongside innovator Bill Snyder at Kansas State.

"I think that no-huddle you can do a lot of different things," Kill said. "You can speed it up, you can go slow, you can do what you need to do. It goes a lot into who you are playing and what you want to do to win the game."

Don't Edit

Kill looks at the New England Patriots as an example of a team whose offense is successful but difficult to describe.

"If you look at the Patriots, they have all kinds of different tempos," Kill said. "No-huddle does not mean you always have to go fast. I've been a huddle guy most of my life. We did some no-huddle my last year at Minnesota. I think it's a mixture of different tempos. Your opponent has a lot to do with that and your philosophy going into the game."

Don't Edit

"Every no-huddle doesn't have to be hurry-up," said halfback Robert Martin, who is closing in on the school's top 10 for career rushing yards. "Sometimes you want to have the clock on your side or vice versa. It's all about what the offensive coordinator wants and the tempo of the game, but I think it can work to both advantages.

"If you are going fast and executing well, you want to keep the defense on its heels. Then there are times where you want to slow things down and chew the clock. You are going to see a lot of different things this season."

Don't Edit

Ex-Rutgers star says dismissed gun charge 'ruined everything'

What happened in the Khaseem Greene case in his own words

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

RVision

Catch-22 with a fast no-huddle

Don't Edit

Kill understands that the team-wide effect that Rutgers' offensive woes had last season. It left the kicking game in poor field position and short breaks on the sideline left the defense gassed at the end of games.

"The thing about the fast no-huddle all the time is if you go one, two, three and out, that's not good," Kill said. "It gives the ball back. I started my career off as a defensive coordinator. When I was a head coach, we recruited defensive players right off the bat. I wanted to be good on defense first. I think your offense needs to complement your defense. The best defense you can have is the other team's offense sitting on the sideline.

Don't Edit

"(Former Ohio State coach) Jim Tressell did a great job of that style of football. Shorten the games, keep it close and win with a field goal. I think that's what Chris wants to do. Probably another reason he looked at what we do because that's what we did at Minnesota. It gave us an opportunity to do some things there that hadn't been done since 1960."

Don't Edit

How many QBs played for Rutgers each year since 2003?

HINT: Its usually not just 1

Don't Edit

17 Rutgers freshmen with best chance to play in 2017

How many true freshmen does Rutgers typically play?

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mark R. Sullivan | For NJ Advance Media

Kyle Bolin's background

Don't Edit

Louisville graduate transfer Kyle Bolin is Rutgers starting quarterback in part because he showed command of the offense, according to Ash. Bolin proved to be a quick learner because he didn't arrive in New Jersey until late May after participating in Louisville's spring practice.

Bolin played in 13 games, including his first of six career starts during the 2014 Belk Bowl, at Louisville before losing his job to 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson.

Don't Edit

"He sat me down and asked me what I'm comfortable with," Bolin said of Kill. "I said, 'Coach, I'm not a strictly under-center guy. I'm not a strictly out-of-the-gun guy.' He said, 'Great. We're going to put you in the pistol sometimes, we're going to put you under center. If there's anything you don't feel comfortable with, make sure you let me know.'

"He said that to all the quarterbacks in the room, and I think we've all done a good job of preparing ourselves to expect anything he throws at us."

Don't Edit

Top Big Ten players from NJ

How many are at Rutgers?

Don't Edit

Rutgers secondary vs. Washington passing attack

Reliving a lopsided quarter between 2 units who want to be the best

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mark R. Sullivan | For NJ Advance Media

Good for offensive line

Don't Edit

While Rutgers focused on offensive speed in its 2017 recruiting class with a spread offense in mind, many of the team's starters were recruited by former coach Kyle Flood with a pro-style offense in mind. Gaining a year experience in the spread allows Rutgers to have something closer to a hybrid offense.

The position group that might benefit most from a combination of two looks is offensive linemen who carry extra weight literally and figuratively as big bodies who have the responsibility of deciphering defensive looks.

Don't Edit

"I came up in my college career being able to huddle," redshirt senior co-captain Dorian Miller said. "Being able to make adjustments at the line and get calls out was something big early in my playing career.

"That being said, I'm fine with slowing it down. Still no huddle, but at the same time if we are making an adjustment and have to get in the right play, we are going to get in the right play. We are not just going to rush it to rush it and turn it into a specifically cardio-based battle. We are going to make checks and make calls."

Don't Edit

Big Ten football recruiting rankings

Who's leading? Where's Rutgers?

Don't Edit

Latest on health of WRs Janarion Grant, Ahmir Mitchell

Jafar Williams provides an update for 2 top weapons

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mark R. Sullivan | For NJ Advance Media

Recruiting match

Don't Edit

Prized dual-threat quarterback recruit Johnathan Lewis committed to Mehringer, but kept his commitment once Kill was hired. Though Lewis' legs might not be asked to run as much as he would have under Mehringer, Kill has kept at recruiting dual-threat quarterbacks for the class of 2018, including commits Jalen Chatman and Sean Chambers.

Don't Edit

"It's a pretty fast-paced tempo," Lewis said. "For the most part, we're no huddle. But ... we huddle up, go to the sideline and get the signals. We're trying to tire out our competition. "

Don't Edit

Can Jerry Kill solve a decades-old QB problem at Rutgers?

Here's his plan

Don't Edit

Comparing Jerry Kill and Ralph Friedgen

Can Kill match Friedgen's impact in 2014?

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Grooming for NFL

Don't Edit

Because of the ever-growing number of spread-based attacks in the FBS, college and NFL offenses don't look very similar. Even as the NFL adapts more spread principles to accommodate top quarterbacks in the draft.

Rutgers wide receiver Damon Mitchell, who was recruited to Arkansas as a quarterback and played multiple positions before graduate transferring to Rutgers, says Kill's offense is unique.

Don't Edit

"I think it's similar to the next level in a way," Mitchell said. "Sometimes we have to do 2-minute (drill) and really beat at the clock and get out of bounds and move the ball fast. Sometimes we have a huddle and breakout in '21' personnel with a fullback in there. Multiple looks keeps the defense on their toes. I'm excited for that."

'21' personnel is another name for when an offense lines up with two running backs, one tight end and two wide receivers.

Don't Edit

John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Shotgun vs. spread

Don't Edit

Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo -- a former coach at Vanderbit, LSU and Indiana, said Kill's offense is what people used to call a shotgun offense before "spread" became a buzz word in football.

"I would not call it a spread," DiNardo told NJ Advance Media. "I would call it I-formation from the shotgun."

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

RVision

Hand-in-hand

Ash expects the multiple-look offense ti have a ripple effect across other aspects of the team.

"What we're going to do is with our offense is do what we need to do to win games," Ash said. "There's going to be times that we can speed it up and there's going be to times that we have to slow it down, and we're not just going to be a team that goes fast and we're not just going to be a team that goes slow.

Don't Edit

"We're going to do what we need to do to have success. And that's not just offensive success. That's defensive success, also, because the best defense is the best offense and vice versa.

"We're more multiple, so we can use different personal groupings. We can use our best players. We have contingency plans if injuries occur at certain positions and we don't have guys anymore."

Don't Edit

Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

What should fans expect from QB Kyle Bolin?

Don't Edit

Ryan Dunleavy can be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy.