"The pistol offense is essentially the shotgun formation with the quarterback three to five yards behind the center but also places a running back several yards behind the quarterback.
It is a pass-ready offense that provides the opportunity to use different running attacks, such as counters and options, because of the formation.
It helped lift Nevada nationally in 2005 to No. 14 in total offense and No. 15 in scoring offense.
Those results caught the attention of football coaches across the country, who then became interested in running the offensive system.
That is, with the exception of ASU's Dirk Koetter, who is not impressed.
"The whole pistol thing is a joke," Koetter said. "That's a little fancy name for an offense. The name pistol means nothing. They aren't getting any yardage by calling it the pistol."
Koetter did, however, compliment those running Nevada's offensive unit, giving credit to head coach Chris Ault, senior quarterback Jeff Rowe, senior running back Robert Hubbard and sophomore running back Luke Lippincott.
Koetter said he even attempted to recruit Rowe to play at ASU when he graduated from high school in 2001."
