Times have changed. I can remember when to have a 300 ypg passer made a school a great offensive team. Even the weakest teams in FBS have athletic receivers with good hands. No longer can you win on having the better athletes alone. That is what the Nebraska program was all about, athletic advantage with a 5 year red shirt and weight room developmental program. Frank has used that philosophy at Ohio but its not enough to automatically win football games anymore. The highly successful teams are doing it by in game coaching.
Correct.
The spread offense has completely flipped the table on teams that used to rely on power and strength. That's why Nick Saban was so against it (but has also adapted to it pretty darn well). The spread gives the advantage to the little guy. Once you get someone with speed in open space, it doesn't matter how strong your defenders are. And once those teams with speed get a big lead, you have to throw out your power running game because now you're trying to play catch up.
Look no further than Oregon. They were a borderline average team in the PAC 12 for years that would rise up every so often. Then they installed the spread and they become a national power.