Baker football players Adam Novak (84), Damon Nolan (9) and Josh Kock (97) run out on to the field before the Wildcats' 38-17 loss Saturday in the NAIA football championship game Saturday at Municipal Stadium in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Baldwin City ? Baker University’s high-octane offense fueled the team to a 14-1 finish, the lone loss coming in the NAIA national-title game. The Wildcats ranked fourth in the nation in scoring (47.7 points per game) and total offense (536.6 yards), and second in passing yards (362.1).

When I asked Baker coach Mike Grossner what type of offense he ran, I was not surprised to hear his answer, yet was pretty much clueless as to what that meant.

He said that Baker ran the Air Raid.

So do Texas Tech, Washington State, California, Kansas and countless other FBS schools. But even after covering 23 of 24 games coached by David Beaty, I must confess I don’t know what that means. Since it would be too embarrassing to ask Beaty the question in a press-conference setting, I asked Grossner in a conference room on the Baker campus.

“It’s simplified offense that goes fast,” Grossner said. “So, basically, you’re trying not to substitute.”

Why? The defense can’t substitute unless the offense does first. (An exception: The defense can sub when the offensive player goes out of bounds on his own sideline.)

“You’re trying to utilize the personnel you put on the field and go as fast as you can with plays as simple as you can because you’re signaling everything in,” Grossner continued. “You’re signaling protections. You’ll see three guys going at it (signaling). The O-line’s looking at one. The receivers are looking at another coach, getting their signals and going.”

Grossner, who just finished his 13th season at Baker, said that early in his tenure, he tried to do it all. He has learned to delegate, giving offensive coordinator duties to Miguel Regalado five years ago. Following his boss’ example, Regalado encouraged quarterbacks coach Jake Morse (60 career TD passes at Baker) to install the Air Raid, to which Morse was exposed as a defensive graduate assistant at Texas Tech under Kliff Kingsbury.

What separates successful Air Raids from sluggish ones?

“You’ll see the great quarterbacks get the ball out of their hand,” Grossner said. “How we win football games is we wear the D-line out. You can play with a lesser offensive lineman in this offense because you don’t have to sit there and maul people. Your quarterback is getting the ball out to where (the O-linemen) are just getting in people’s way. You can play with a lesser (O-lineman) because you know you’re going to be distributing the ball. And we’ve got five really, really good receivers.”