DRC 8 isn't great, its a problem

[OldTimer]

Eight isn't great, it's a problem

UNT must get running game on track

05:17 PM CDT on Sunday, September 3, 2006

By Brett Vito/Staff Writer

Even in the worst of times at North Texas, the Mean Green could always count on one constant.

It didn’t matter if UNT was playing a national power, if it was on the road or at home, on artificial turf or in a mud bowl.

UNT somehow, some way, was going to run the football successfully at some point.

The Mean Green had 131 positive yards against top-ranked Oklahoma in 2003 before sacks and negative plays were taken into account and had 105 yards against LSU last season.

UNT is usually able to hold onto that one nugget of hope after lopsided losses, but that nugget was missing on Saturday against Texas when the Mean Green finished with eight rushing yards.

That’s right. Eight.

If there is any number that ought to keep the Mean Green up nights this week that would be it. UNT has lived and died by the run under head coach Darrell Dickey and eight isn’t enough to fill the Mean Green’s lives with anything more than heartache this season.

Dickey said as much after UNT fell to 0-1 on the season in a 56-7 pasting by the Longhorns.

“It was very disappointing the way we ran the ball,” Dickey said. “We have played Big 12 teams before. It’s not like us to not be able to run the ball. … They didn’t do anything fancy. We made a lot of mistakes that made their job easier and they played well.”

Most of those mistakes came up front.

UNT lost 67 yards on the ground against Texas. That total could be attributed in large part to four sacks, but eight of UNT’s 28 rushing attempts went for zero or negative yardage.

Jamario Thomas finished with 38 yards rushing and averaged only 2.7 yards a carry in his return from a pulled hamstring that kept him out of the last three games of the 2005 season.

Thomas had a defender draped all over him before he even had a chance to make a move and get to the line of scrimmage most of the day.

“We knew Texas had speed, but you don’t realize how fast they are until you get out there with them,” Thomas said.

It shouldn’t have been that way against Texas, no matter how good the Longhorns were last season or will be this year.

All but one of the Mean Green’s starting offensive linemen for the Texas game had started before. The starters at tight end and fullback were veterans, too.

That experience didn’t pay off against the Longhorns, who held the Mean Green to their lowest rushing total since the 2001 season, when UNT’s run of four straight Sun Belt Conference titles began.

The Mean Green finished with 34 yards rushing against TCU in 2002 and were held to 38 yards in their last trip to Texas in 2004.

UNT managed to work out its problems each time and come back to win the Sun Belt title and play in the New Orleans Bowl.

If UNT is to rally again, it will have to begin its comeback on the ground, where it has the talent at running back and quarterback to make its running game successful again.

Thomas is healthy and has the ability to be one of the best running backs outside of a major conference again. Woody Wilson has dynamic athleticism and could prove to be one of the best running quarterbacks UNT has had in the Dickey era.

The Mean Green’s fate will rest with their ability to sort out their problems on their offensive front and get their running game rolling again. UNT has talked about being more balanced, but this isn’t a team that is suddenly going to win with a vaunted passing game.

UNT runs that ball. It’s tied into their identity as a team. It’s what they do.

Whether UNT bounces back from its loss to Texas will depend on their ability to do it effectively.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

North Texas rushing lows

UNT has struggled to run the ball in a few games in each of the last five seasons, but never had as bad a game as it did against Texas on Saturday. The following is a look back at UNT’s low output in each of the last five seasons and this season’s Texas game.

Year Opponent Yards Result

2006 Texas 8 L, 56-7

2005 Tulsa 70 L, 54-2

2004 Texas 38 L, 65-0

2003 Air Force 45 L, 34-21

2002 TCU 34 L, 16-10

2001 Troy 72 L, 18-16

[TicketJohn]

I didn't expect NT to be able to run the ball on Saturday...I didn't expect them do be able to do anything. The talent discrepency is too great. In addition to that, Texas has a great defensive scheme, the 3 linebackers are incredibly strong and they have awesome help with the Griffin twins at safety. Bottom line, they're one of the best defenses in the county and they didn't just play straight up against NT, they brought backside pressure to eliminate cutback lanes and they blitzed to take away are young QB's throwing capability.

Now maybe this is the worst OL that NT has assembled in 5 years, or maybe Jamario is still not what he was as a freshman, but for right now, I'm not incredibly worried about the run game.

[FirefightnRick]

The trend is obvious to me. We are going to run the ball hell or high water regardless of how close the LB's and secondary comes up. What other non BCS team in the nation gets the ball inside the 10 yard line against #2 and tries to prove that point? I wouldn't have even kicked the field goal there. I take 4 opportunities at the 6 and throw into the endzone. If we don't complete for a td then so be it. I could have lived with that.

Rest assured that Texas won't be the last team to stack the line against us. If we can't back their LB's up with the pass it will make for another long season.

Question: Has anyone seen during this fall camp us practice a throw across the middle either in front of or behind the LB's?

Rick

[e-bone ver2.awesome]

We had 19 pass attempts to 28 rushes, which includes 3 sacks. So we had 22 passing plays to 25 rushing plays. And that doesn't even include times that Woody scrambled. That is pretty darned balanced, so I don't see how there can be complaints about a lack of passing.

Also, we passed on first down from the 7 for a 1 yard gain to Quinn. But Phillips basically waited until Quinn was almost out of bounds and had no chance to turn it upfield before he threw. So that is not the coaching staff's fault. After that I don't really blame them for giving Jamario 2 chances to run the ball. I wouldn't trust Phillips with passing the ball into a short field while being blitzed either. But then I wouldn't put Phillips back in the game later when Woody was outplaying him. So I can't really understand the coaching staff's reasoning with that.

[UNT_playmaker]

If the line is packed then do short or long passes dont keep giving the ball to poor Jamario if there is 8 or 9 people packed in the box....

The running game is CRUCIAL to any success of any Darrell Dickey team....period

FIX IT-----

The OL is a huge problem for this team, I have confidence in the QB, Jamario, Mitchell, and our receivers....

The OL need to get on track fast..... OL coach????? Offensive coordinator???? Head Coach??????

Fix It before this HUUUUUUUUUUGE GAME.... COME ON NOW

[NT80]

This isn't the first year we couldn't figure out what to do in an OOC game. 7-39.

[UNTLifer]

The trend is obvious to me.  We are going to run the ball hell or high water regardless of how close the LB's and secondary comes up.  What other non BCS team in the nation gets the ball inside the 10 yard line against #2 and tries to prove that point?  I wouldn't have even kicked the field goal there.  I take 4 opportunities at the 6 and throw into the endzone.  If we don't complete for a td then so be it.  I could have lived with that. 

Rest assured that Texas won't be the last team to stack the line against us.  If we can't back their LB's up with the pass it will make for another long season. 

Question:  Has anyone seen during this fall camp us practice a throw across the middle either in front of or behind the LB's?

Rick

←

The trend is NT/DD is going to run delay hand-offs and play action passes that take too long to develop against teams of UT's caliber. It is ridiculous after 8+ seasons to expect differently.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

What difference does it make if we get 8 yards or 80 yards? We are not going win that game either way. Most of the teams we play in Non conf are going to put 9 people in the box, so we need to get used to it. And you know what, SMU will probably do the same.