Ten signs of progress for the 2008 Horns

TWC - appreciate your observations.

Your point is well taken regarding the advantages of having an effective passing game; however, both Mack & Greg insist (in their press conferences) that it is critical -- even in this era of "Arena Football" entertainment mentality -- for the Horns to have a balanced offense that is able to run the football effectively against our toughest opponents.

And yet Mack & Greg never have coached a college football team that could accomplish that goal (i.e., run the football effectively vs. its toughest opponents) with a passing QB. The only time in their coaching careers when Mack & Greg succeeded in fielding a truly balanced offense against their toughest opponents occurred when they had a dual-threat QB (Vince) who gave us a second running threat and, consequently, some substantive unpredictability and misdirection in our running game.

As Selvin Young put it: "We won (in the Horns' 2005 MNC season) because opposing defenses could not stop two running threats."

So, it is ironic that gkp would make the reference to Russell Shepard -- as if it's good news that The University of Texas failed to recruit Shepard, and as if those of us in the Horns' camp would prefer to continue to go without Conference football titles and victories in BCS-level postseason games ...

... while we watch our passing QBs (with no viable running-game support) filling the air with futility for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, no football team coached by Mack Brown or Bob Stoops ever has won the RRS when being out-rushed by its opponent.

We'll see, on October 11, what happens in Dallas this time around.

Hook 'em.
cow.gif
 
I have to agree with KC here. Against the more talented opponents on our schedule we have to be able to run the ball (or at least threaten it) effectively.

It's the same reason we've always beat Tech in the past, despite their ability to throw the ball. If a defense has players as talented as your offense and they already know you're going to throw it (or run one of three ground plays) it makes things a lot easier.

I too, hope that finally we've made some strides in this aspect. I think an improved offensive line will help, but the kicker would be if McChiles shows up on Oct. 11 with something up its sleeve.

One mans opinion though.
 
kchorn i got all pumped from reading your 8/19 post reminding me how much talent we have. Then almost immediately gets deflated by your post on our running game.
biggrin.gif


I thought we had a pretty balanced offense in 1998 with Ricky and Major. But since Ricky we have taken on a different style of running backs/scheme. Statistically though, GD's running scheme has produced the stats, yet I think most fans agree our running game has not been the threat we all want it to be.
 
I can't say I agree with it being a good thing that we could not get RS, it is never a good idea to pass up special players at any position. I like the passing game a lot, but I just don't find it consistent enough to be the ONLY thing an offense does. Tech wins games by a lot, but if the QB has a bad day then there isn't much else to rely on. Or if it rains. Or if is cold. No sense in painting yourself into a corner by refusing to embrace the running game, but I do support the current shift to a larger chunk of plays being pass plays.
 
I am very optimistic about the season and think the horns are going to be a buzz saw for anybody they face this year.

I read what Mack said about Colt "probably" running a 4.5 but I doubt that Colt actually runs a 4.5 40. He ran a 4.7 40 in high school and he has put on 30 or 40 pounds since then (i.e. he is bigger and stronger but not necessarily faster than when he ran a 4.7 in high school).

I doubt Colt runs the QB zone read play very effectively against OU. OU will certainly force him to run the ball and then try to injure him or force him to fumble the ball.

Better to involve an explosive WR in the running game (ala Harvin at Florida) as a second threat to momentarily freeze the D so they cannot completely focus on the TB. The key is that the WR who is participating in the running game needs to be an explosive athlete. for example, you might have vondrell at TB while Fozzy is in the slot. This also gives you a more potent inside running game than last season with Vondrell pounding the ball inside while still preserving a dangerous outside running threat by getting the ball to Fozzy via either end arounds or short passes. the key is to get two (or more) explosive runners on the field at the same time. That second explosive runner need not start out the play at a running back position.

I can see Colt rolling out effectively against OU and doing plenty of hand offs for sprint draws off his roll out action. I can also see him running QB draws effectively against OU when the opportunity presents itself.

If you have Colt and Chiles in the game at the same time, it would be easy enough to put chiles at QB (with colt going to WR) when down/distance make a running play probable (3rd and 1, for example). Then the QB zone read will be sweet. Colt is a good athlete with good size and hands who can not be ignored at WR when chiles is at QB. Colt should also be safer at WR than QB.

Last year the problem for Chiles is that he rarely passed (and when he did pass it was almost always an incomplete pass)so the D would focus on stopping him from running. If Chiles were to throw more short, easy to complete passes when he is QB, it will keep the D more honest.

The two tight end set with Ullman and Greg Smith at TE (and chiles at QB) should provide great blocking for running and good reliable targets for the short passes that will keep the D honest while still moving the chains.

Just as the D will be more "Multiple" this year, so will the offense. When the horns need to run the ball this season, they are going to be able to put guys out there at the skill positions who can both block and catch/run the ball.

On obvious passing downs, Chiles can go to WR and Colt goes to QB.

My guess is that GD gets too much blame for horn running game problems. Mack was a running back in college and GD was a QB in college. Mack focused on coaching RBs and the QB option play when he was a position coach while GD has focused on coaching QBs as a position coach.

The implication is that Mack probably has a bigger impact on the horn running game than many realize. this is just a SWAG (of course). Major may have a big impact on the horn running game strategy this year since he is the running back coach.

Clearly it would be great if the horns have a balanced offense (i.e. can run effectively inside and outside, and pass well short, intermediate, and long). It makes it easier to exploit whatever specific weakness a particular opponent might have. It helps you force the opposition D to choose personnel who can deal with a wide variety of offensive actions and play more vanilla defensive schemes.
 
Thanks to jprizzle, Okichi, TWC, Kafka and NorthCoastHorn -- those are substantive and insightful contributions to this discussion.

The 2008 Horns have the player-talent available to make the adjustments necessary (just as Kafka has described) to create some meaningful unpredictability in our running game "this" season. We are not required to wait for "next year" in order to beat Oklahoma.

Texas is in the unusual position this year of being under-estimated, as NorthCoastHorn has noted, and if the current reports from Mack & Greg (and Major) are accurate ... we may surprise some folks by matching the energy and creativity level with our offense that we all expect to see this Fall from our defense. And if we have the same aggressive approach from our coaches on both sides of the line of scrimmage, then the Horns could make things more than interesting in the RRS on October 11.

It is good that we finally are just one week away from the 2008 football season opener.

Bring it on.

Hook 'em.
cow.gif
 
This has been a great thread with some very good observations, but no one has addressed my biggest concern for the '08 season: quality quarterback depth. If Colt goes down, I just don't see John Chiles consistently managing the offense over the course of several games, especially during the critical stretch in October. He's simply a frighteningly bad passer. As for Sherrod Harris, he's flashed skills in what little I've seen of him, but he's an unproven quantity.

Hopefully, the first few games will include early blowouts that afford the opportunity for Chiles and/or Harris to get some meaningful minutes. I know the Q package is supposed to get Chiles on the field more, but I have my doubts that it will give him the consistent live snaps he'll need to develop into even a respectable threat as a passer.
 
For what it is worth, the Mack Brown site has a lot of video showing Chiles throwing pretty well this preseason in scrimmages. Obviously they don't show the bad throws so it is impossible to know what his % of good throws is.

chiles should have a pretty big upside someday as a QB because he played QB just one year in high school.

The coaches could also improve Chiles' passing quite a bit by simplifying the passing offense for him and stressing more short passes that require little reading of the D and are simple to complete.

Most big 12 teams are in deep trouble if they lose their starting QB so the horns are not alone in that boat. It does make you wonder about a strategy where Colt has to run a lot, risking injury when he gets tackled. We all remember the QB sneak against K State in 2006 that basically ruined the horns' season.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Recent Threads

Back
Top