Untapped Potential On Offense

[BillySee58]

Hard to say a team that just put up over 700 yards of offense has more room for improvement, but with Bean taking over there are definitely some new areas that we can exploit. Right now our backs and tight ends have combined for just 14 catches for 135 yards on the season.

With Bean and our loaded backfield, teams are going to be forced to sellout on the run. With Darden in the slot on one side, safety help is going to be hedged over his way. This should leave the seems wide open on play action plays going forward.

This week we saw the Murphy twins finally get a chance and come through big on applying pressure that we hadn’t seen all year. I’m sure Pirtle and Alberding would do just fine making plays behind the linebackers with them selling out to stop the run, but I can’t help but wonder what Khatib Lyles could do there. Undoubtedly our best athlete at tight end, I’m sure the blocking has some ways to go, but that dude running routes into green grass is a big play waiting to happen. 

Teams are going to come with counters to our rushing attack with the more film that’s available. Hope we have some moves in mind to counter back.

Edited October 19, 2020 by BillySee58

[Cooley]

Jason Bean is an above average passer. Defenses will be making a mistake if they think he is only a runner. He grew on me in HS as a passer. You can’t have a quick hook on a young QB who had practically no meaningful reps last year. 

[Wag Tag]

1 hour ago, BillySee58 said:

Hard to say a team that just put up over 700 yards of offense has more room for improvement, but with Bean taking over there are definitely some new areas that we can exploit. Right now our backs and tight ends have combined for just 14 catches for 135 yards on the season.

With Bean and our loaded backfield, teams are going to be forced to sellout on the run. With Darden in the slot on one side, safety help is going to be hedged over his way. This should leave the seems wide open on play action plays going forward.

This week we saw the Murphy twins finally get a chance and come through big on applying pressure that we hadn’t seen all year. I’m sure Pirtle and Alberding would do just fine making plays behind the linebackers with them selling out to stop the run, but I can’t help but wonder what Khatib Lyles could do there. Undoubtedly our best athlete at tight end, I’m sure the blocking has some ways to go, but that dude running routes into green grass is a big play waiting to happen. 

Teams are going to come with counters to our rushing attack with the more film that’s available. Hope we have some moves in mind to counter back.

I sure could see Shorter opposite Darden. I could also see us motion the RB to a wide out which would force a linebacker to follow. Nice to have options! GMG 

[BillySee58]

3 minutes ago, Wag Tag said:

I sure could see Shorter opposite Darden. I could also see us motion the RB to a wide out which would force a linebacker to follow. Nice to have options! GMG 

I wouldn’t expect Shorter to be back this season

[agw0038]

The next guy to break lose on this team will be Deonte Simpson. 

Edited October 19, 2020 by agw0038

[Hunter Green]

9 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

I wouldn’t expect Shorter to be back this season

Any details you can offer? ACL?

[LongJim]

Was encouraged by Bean's performance Saturday, but I'm tempering excitement until UNT plays a little bit stronger competition.  MTSU is terrible. 

Having said that, I think you have to keep him involved as a running threat and like Billy says--take advantage of the passing lanes/plays that open up as a result.

Defensively--again, pretty hard to gauge against last week's competition, but definitely take the win.

[Matt from A700]

1 hour ago, LongJim said:

Was encouraged by Bean's performance Saturday, but I'm tempering excitement until UNT plays a little bit stronger competition.  MTSU is terrible. 

Definitely fair. But just the fact we got it done on the road pumps me up, especially considering the 2019 team, with its best QB in school history entering his senior year, couldn't win one game away from Apogee - and that season included road games against Charlotte and Rice. Rice, who finished 3-9 while the Green were still should have been fighting for bowl eligibility (entered game 4-6).

Edited October 19, 2020 by Matt from A700
*away from Apogee

[LongJim]

3 minutes ago, Matt from A700 said:

Definitely fair. But just the fact we got it done on the road pumps me up, especially considering the 2019 team, with its best QB in school history entering his senior year, couldn't win one game from Apogee - and that season included road games against Charlotte and Rice. Rice, who finished 3-9 while the Green were still should have been fighting for bowl eligibility (entered game 4-6).

No, you're absolutely right.  It's a win, and they could have folded in the first half.  You can only beat the teams you play, and they took care of business.

[MrStrange18]

While the Murphy twins didnt light up the stat sheet... they did get a sack and solid pressure... I think think that is something that we need to factor into the win this weekend.

[UNTLifer]

5 minutes ago, LongJim said:

, and they could have folded in the first half.  

This gives me the greatest encouragement and proves to me that they believe in each other and the coaching staff.  They could have very easily shut it down after the penalties and turnovers in the first quarter, but they didn't and ended up with the win on a record setting day for the offense and a day where the defense showed some grit.

[BillySee58]

3 hours ago, Hunter Green said:

Any details you can offer? ACL?

Adam of MeanGreenNation has been reporting a broken leg and out 2-3 months. The size of the boot and crutches would seem to corroborate that. No official announcement but I’m just not expecting him back. Wouldn’t be expecting him back just based on the boot and crutches and if he can make it back I would see that more as a bonus than something I’m hoping for

[SigmaGreen]

Did we play a 4-3 this game? I read on another thread that we did ( maybe occasionally) but that we were getting a lot more pressure upfront. Haven’t had a chance to watch the game yet.

[97and03]

4 hours ago, MrStrange18 said:

While the Murphy twins didnt light up the stat sheet... they did get a sack and solid pressure... I think think that is something that we need to factor into the win this weekend.

And where have they been all year? I think this was @BillySee58point 

[Withers940]

1 hour ago, SigmaGreen said:

Did we play a 4-3 this game? I read on another thread that we did ( maybe occasionally) but that we were getting a lot more pressure upfront. Haven’t had a chance to watch the game yet.

From what I saw, we ran the 3-3-5 but it wasn't the generic 3 down linemen that we have been showing all year. We actually mixed it up 

[BillySee58]

36 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

And where have they been all year? I think this was @BillySee58point 

Correct. Why was Tre Siggers 4th on the depth chart to start last season? Why was Oscar Adaway 3rd at the start of this season? Cole Brown has been pretty good, why was he behind Preston, Plantin, and Parish last season when they were struggling? How many more of these cases have never actually come to light? 

The Murphy twins are just another example of us sandbagging on getting our most talented guys on the field. Can’t help but wonder if Lyles, who is a far superior athlete to Pirtle, could help give us some playmaking at tight end that we are lacking, with a QB who lives over the middle of the field. Pirtle, a converted receiver himself, only has 8 lbs and one more year of experience at tight end than Lyles. Is he really so much of a superior blocker that he gets the most snaps while Lyles gets zero? Just wanna see the group that gives us the best chance to win from the start.

Edited October 19, 2020 by BillySee58

[greenminer]

4 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

This gives me the greatest encouragement and proves to me that they believe in each other and the coaching staff.  They could have very easily shut it down after the penalties and turnovers in the first quarter, but they didn't and ended up with the win on a record setting day for the offense and a day where the defense showed some grit.

 

4 hours ago, LongJim said:

No, you're absolutely right.  It's a win, and they could have folded in the first half.  You can only beat the teams you play, and they took care of business.

Definitely a sign that SL has not lost this team.

[UNT Mean Green]

4 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Correct. Why was Tre Siggers 4th on the depth chart to start last season? Why was Oscar Adaway 3rd at the start of this season? Cole Brown has been pretty good, why was he behind Preston, Plantin, and Parish last season when they were struggling? How many more of these cases have never actually come to light? 

The Murphy twins are just another example of us sandbagging on getting our most talented guys on the field. Can’t help but wonder if Lyles, who is a far superior athlete to Pirtle, could help give us some playmaking at tight end that we are lacking, with a QB who lives over the middle of the field. Pirtle, a converted receiver himself, only has 8 lbs and one more year of experience at tight end than Lyles. Is he really so much of a superior blocker that he gets the most snaps while Lyles gets zero? Just wanna see the group that gives us the best chance to win from the start.

Do you think that Lyles may have a hard time picking up the playbook & scheme with having such limited experience at TE? Pirtle is a savvy veteran. 

[BillySee58]

1 hour ago, UNT Mean Green said:

Do you think that Lyles may have a hard time picking up the playbook & scheme with having such limited experience at TE? Pirtle is a savvy veteran. 

It’s definitely possible and I’m sure that’s the explanation Littrell would give. But I think, as you pointed out, Pirtle has a reputation of being this experienced veteran player when in reality he only had 22 catches on his career coming into the season and has only been a tight end since spring 2019. Lyles has been a tight end since spring 2020, and I know time was missed because of COVID but I think the experience difference is not so severe that it would prevent the better player from being on the field.

Pirtle is averaging just 19 receiving yards per game as the starting tight end in an offense that is averaging 339 passing yards per game. And pass catching is supposed to be his specialty as a converted receiver. His backup has just one catch for 12 yards on the year. It’s an area in our offense that seems to be lacking and Lyles was such a big-time prospect it just sticks out to me as an area where we seem to have a guy already on our roster who could help.

[TheColonyEagle]

I want to get excited...but this is year 5 and we've seen this before. I've learned my lesson

This team can very easily go get blown out by La Tech and UAB. History says they will. And then there's the annual "how did they lose that game" game in which UTSA or Rice are prime for that one.

I would love to be proven wrong but we have a 4+ year track record here. Maybe all the sudden Littrell figured it out...

[BillySee58]

4 hours ago, TheColonyEagle said:

I want to get excited...but this is year 5 and we've seen this before. I've learned my lesson

This team can very easily go get blown out by La Tech and UAB. History says they will. And then there's the annual "how did they lose that game" game in which UTSA or Rice are prime for that one.

I would love to be proven wrong but we have a 4+ year track record here. Maybe all the sudden Littrell figured it out...

I think this will be the mindset when Littrell wins a bowl game or conference championship game here. That he “figured things out.” When it reality it will be because the years of top recruiting classes will have given him a better roster than what he had when he was losing those games.

[TheColonyEagle]

10 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

I think this will be the mindset when Littrell wins a bowl game or conference championship game here. That he “figured things out.” When it reality it will be because the years of top recruiting classes will have given him a better roster than what he had when he was losing those games.

I hope you're right

[untjim1995]

18 hours ago, TheColonyEagle said:

I want to get excited...but this is year 5 and we've seen this before. I've learned my lesson

This team can very easily go get blown out by La Tech and UAB. History says they will. And then there's the annual "how did they lose that game" game in which UTSA or Rice are prime for that one.

I would love to be proven wrong but we have a 4+ year track record here. Maybe all the sudden Littrell figured it out...

I know it’s Year 5, but you’d all do yourself a big favor and really look at this as SL’s 2nd year without GH. He will get one more season to show if he can get an extension or get fired. His pay and tenure say 5th year coach, but this team is nowhere near being what it was 2-3 years ago, from the QB and coordinators, to the defense.

SL knows 2021 is it. He’s trying to get all the chips ready for that push. What will be really interesting to see is how the players react to this. Because it is very normal for players to realize their coach is gone and just let up after that.

[UNTLifer]

1 hour ago, untjim1995 said:

I know it’s Year 5, but you’d all do yourself a big favor and really look at this as SL’s 2nd year without GH.

But the majority of folks posting on this board wanted GH gone because he couldn't make adjustments.  How'd that work out?

[RBP79]

20 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

It’s definitely possible and I’m sure that’s the explanation Littrell would give. But I think, as you pointed out, Pirtle has a reputation of being this experienced veteran player when in reality he only had 22 catches on his career coming into the season and has only been a tight end since spring 2019. Lyles has been a tight end since spring 2020, and I know time was missed because of COVID but I think the experience difference is not so severe that it would prevent the better player from being on the field.

Pirtle is averaging just 19 receiving yards per game as the starting tight end in an offense that is averaging 339 passing yards per game. And pass catching is supposed to be his specialty as a converted receiver. His backup has just one catch for 12 yards on the year. It’s an area in our offense that seems to be lacking and Lyles was such a big-time prospect it just sticks out to me as an area where we seem to have a guy already on our roster who could help.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/4039082/jason-pirtle

Jason's career stats...IMO not bad since NT has good receivers that get most of the throws.