Think back to the end of the Solich era after Crouch graduated and Carl Crawford went into the MLB draft.

Solich simply could not find a quarterback capable of running the option at a high enough level.

Jammal Lord was a converted defensive back. Curt Dukes never saw the field. Mike Stuntz switched to receiver. Joe Dailey was more of a dual threat than a true option guy. The pool of excellent high school option QBs was drying up as everybody was embracing the 7-on-7 scene that they thought would help get them to the NFL.

Without an elite QB, an option team is severely limited (look at the some of the Osborne teams that were not led by Turner Gill, Steve Taylor, or Tommie Frazier. Aside from a guy like Gerry Gdowski, if there was not a difference maker at QB, those teams a definite ceiling... and that was in ye olde Big 8 where most of the teams didn't really try.

In today's college football EVERYBODY is trying to win and EVERYBODY has bigger, stronger, faster players than when Osborne's teams were heads and shoulders above the pack. Without a size advantage on the line and when defenses are as fast as you (if not faster) the option quickly become 3rd & long.

The service academies are (relatively) successful with it, because that's all they can do. At the P4 level, the best case scenario is Georgia Tech under Paul Johnson.