Mason Fine gives USC reason to be excited

Philip Ferguson · April 2, 2019

https://www.latimes.com/sports/usc/la-sp-mason-fine-graham-harrell-usc-20190401-story.html?fbclid=IwAR3eA4QK4R2K47s42k-5LXXhsb-drw_8NMTEqEI525xEyeFz1-TI9SM1T94

Back in Denton, Texas, Fine has come a long way from where he was before Harrell visited Locust Grove more than three years ago. Recently, an NFL scout came by to see him and take his measurements. “I can’t control my measurables,” Fine said. “All I can control is what I put on that tape. Some teams may look the other way. Some teams may look at the film. I hope they do.”

NorthTexan95 · April 2, 2019

Great article. It's awesome seeing good things about UNT in the LA Times. Plus, now we know for certain Fine's height: 5'10".

Philip Ferguson · April 2, 2019

9 minutes ago, NorthTexan95 said:

Great article. It's awesome seeing good things about UNT in the LA Times. Plus, now we know for certain Fine's height: 5'10".

https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/5-best-quarterbacks-nfl-history-shorter-6/doug-flutie-buffalo-bills-patriots-chargers/

I'd say he's in good company!

greenminer · April 3, 2019

Not sure who USC is. Are they G5?

Mean Green 93-98 · April 3, 2019

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

Not sure who USC is. Are they G5?

They're one of those "directional schools." 😉

southsideguy · April 3, 2019

USC better hope they don't get in a 4th and 1. I never understood why we did not have a play under center for short yardage situations. You can always throw out of it. Who is the fullback this year?

GrandGreen · April 3, 2019

The point of this article seems to be that if Harrell can make a great QB out of little Mason Fine from nowhere Oklahoma, he is going to really shine with USC's four and five star QB's.

I think Harrell will do well, but Fine is a tough act to duplicate.

97and03 · April 3, 2019

5 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

The point of this article seems to be that if Harrell can make a great QB out of little Mason Fine from nowhere Oklahoma, he is going to really shine with USC's four and five star QB's.

I think Harrell will do well, but Fine is a tough act to duplicate.

And it is a completely false narrative. If anything, Fine made a rookie OC look better than he is, parlaying Fine’s talent into a top 5 (historically speaking) job.

TheColonyEagle · April 3, 2019

1 hour ago, 97and03 said:

And it is a completely false narrative. If anything, Fine made a rookie OC look better than he is, parlaying Fine’s talent into a top 5 (historically speaking) job.

matthew mcconaughey GIF

NorthTexan95 · April 3, 2019

11 hours ago, southsideguy said:

USC better hope they don't get in a 4th and 1. I never understood why we did not have a play under center for short yardage situations. You can always throw out of it. Who is the fullback this year?

We didn't go under center because Fine couldn't do it. It seemed every time we tried back in 2017 Fine bobbled or fumbled the snap. It was a disaster every time.

FirefightnRick · April 3, 2019

28 minutes ago, NorthTexan95 said:

We didn't go under center because Fine couldn't do it. It seemed every time we tried back in 2017 Fine bobbled or fumbled the snap. It was a disaster every time.

Because it wasn’t a priority,....not because he “couldn’t do it”.

The guy can thread a moving needle 40 yards away while on a dead sprint. He can do shit with a football only a handful of human beings on earth can do.

In regards to taking a snap under Center, theres no way in hell do I buy that “he couldn’t do it” arguement.

Rick

Edited April 3, 2019 by FirefightnRick

MeanGreenTexan · April 3, 2019

5 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

Because it wasn’t a priority,....not because he “couldn’t do it”.

The guy can thread a moving needle 40 yards away while on a dead sprint. He can do shit with a football only a handful of human beings on earth can do.

In regards to taking a snap under Center, theres no way in hell do I buy that “he couldn’t do it” arguement.

Rick

A snap of any kind is a 2 man job though.
So, yeah, you may be right that Mason can do everything right in regards to going under center 99% of the time, but can the center get the snap to him 99% of the time? It would take a lot of practice. Not saying it can't happen, but in practicing taking snaps under center, you're giving up practice reps of shotgun snaps that are much more a part of this offense.

We saw what happened to SMose in the NM Bowl when he was on his heels (didn't he have like 4-5 awful snaps?).

GrandGreen · April 3, 2019

8 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

A snap of any kind is a 2 man job though.
So, yeah, you may be right that Mason can do everything right in regards to going under center 99% of the time, but can the center get the snap to him 99% of the time? It would take a lot of practice. Not saying it can't happen, but in practicing taking snaps under center, you're giving up practice reps of shotgun snaps that are much more a part of this offense.

We saw what happened to SMose in the NM Bowl when he was on his heels (didn't he have like 4-5 awful snaps?).

Those awful snaps were from the shotgun, so I don't grasp your point.

Under center snaps are much easier for the center to make.

The problem is as you stated it is not practiced often and the OL has completely different blocking schemes. Most QB's of spread offenses have problems with under center snaps because they just don't do it often in practice or games.

FirefightnRick · April 3, 2019

21 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

A snap of any kind is a 2 man job though.
So, yeah, you may be right that Mason can do everything right in regards to going under center 99% of the time, but can the center get the snap to him 99% of the time? It would take a lot of practice. Not saying it can't happen, but in practicing taking snaps under center, you're giving up practice reps of shotgun snaps that are much more a part of this offense.

We saw what happened to SMose in the NM Bowl when he was on his heels (didn't he have like 4-5 awful snaps?).

Man, the whole “snap-under-center” issue digs at my guts so hard I don’t even hardly want to start on it again. It’s one thing to argue/discuss your favorite college/pro team or athlete in regards to it. But when it’s your own flesh and blood out there it takes it to another whole level, and what I just lived thru the past 6 years with my son and his high school team, and how this very issue affected his program overall, it just whips my ass.

I’m gonna leave it there for now. I just don’t have the energy right now, maybe later. But just know I’ll never be convinced “it can’t be done” for this excuse or that excuse...because I’ve witnessed example after example that it damn sure can be done......and done successfully

Rick

Edited April 3, 2019 by FirefightnRick

MeanGreenTexan · April 3, 2019

2 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

Those awful snaps were from the shotgun, so I don't grasp your point.

Under center snaps are much easier for the center to make.

The problem is as you stated it is not practiced often and the OL has completely different blocking schemes. Most QB's of spread offenses have problems with under center snaps because they just don't do it often in practice or games.

Are they? Especially now that these QBs & Centers have been in shotgun offenses since grade school?

And my point was that when their DLine was getting around him often, he started getting nervous and flinging the ball all over. In shotgun, your QB/RB has the best opportunity to get the ball off a bad snap. Under center, a fumbled snap is really anyone's ball.

NorthTexasWeLove · April 3, 2019

4 hours ago, 97and03 said:

And it is a completely false narrative. If anything, Fine made a rookie OC look better than he is, parlaying Fine’s talent into a top 5 (historically speaking) job.

correct donald trump GIF by Election 2016

If anything, GH should be cutting checks to Mason Fine starting on June 1st 2020 for getting him a job. MF and the offense did wonders in spite of GH sometimes. USC will see that in due time.

NorthTexasWeLove · April 3, 2019

And to me, it's not even the in shotgun on short yardage situations. It's the scheme of the plays that were called that doomed the offense in these situations. Counters, treys and traps are not a recipe for success against 8-9 man boxes on 4th and 1. But, what the hell do I know...I'm not making a million dollars a year to call plays at USC.

FirefightnRick · April 3, 2019

1 minute ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Are they? Especially now that these QBs & Centers have been in shotgun offenses since grade school?

All those shotgun snaps didn’t do Mason any good in the 13th game of the season when the ball shot over his head in the first quarter of the N.M. Bowl, forcing him to run after it and get blasted trying to recover it.

That’s probably when he got hurt initially, who knows?

Rick

MeanGreenTexan · April 3, 2019

16 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

All those shotgun snaps didn’t do Mason any good in the 13th game of the season when the ball shot over his head in the first quarter of the N.M. Bowl, forcing him to run after it and get blasted trying to recover it.

That’s probably when he got hurt initially, who knows?

Rick

He was already hurt on that last one where they recovered the bad snap on the 1 yd line. But yeah, that's the play that took him out for good.
To be clear... I'm not against it if Reeder or Littrell wants to use it as a wrinkle in the offense. That will be up to them.
If they don't think it's worth it & can execute their offense without it, even when only needing 1 yard, then I'll have to defer to them.

SilverEagle · April 3, 2019

4 hours ago, 97and03 said:

And it is a completely false narrative. If anything, Fine made a rookie OC look better than he is, parlaying Fine’s talent into a top 5 (historically speaking) job.

Quote

Then one day, out of the wide-stretching blue of an Eastern Oklahoma sky, Fine’s phone rang. It was Graham Harrell, the new offensive coordinator at North Texas, calling to say he was coming by Locust Grove High to meet him. North Texas coach Seth Littrell had heard about Fine from Locust Grove coach Matt Hennesy, an old friend, and sent Harrell to take a look.

It was not GH's idea to go up there to look at Fine, it was Littrells. I suppose that Harrell was impressed with what he observed in Fine's confidence as he talked with him, but again, it was Littrell that initiated the whole process. When I observed Fine during the fall practice of his freshman year, my main comment was that "he oozed confidence from every pore". That didn't come from spending a couple of weeks with Coach Harrell.

I also assessed that he and Shanbour were the best pure passers of the group. That was not Harrell's doing either.

Quote

Great article. It's awesome seeing good things about UNT in the LA Times. Plus, now we know for certain Fine's height: 5'10".

UNT was only mentioned in the context of being Littrell's and Harrell's employer. There was nothing mentioned about what a great school and/or what a great program we were.