DRC: woeful offense in need of major turneup

OldTimer · October 1, 2006

Russ Goodall: Woeful offense in need of a major tuneup

11:36 PM CDT on Saturday, September 30, 2006

By Russ Goodall / Sports Editor

First it was Woody Wilson. Then it was Daniel Meager.

Then it was Wilson again, before going back to Meager one last time.

Not one of those changes did anything to turn around the fortunes of the Mean Green.

Neither of the two quarterbacks could get the North Texas offense started and moving in UNT’s 35-0 loss on Saturday night to Middle Tennessee — although Meager led the longest UNT drive of the night (37 yards) in the fourth quarter and that didn’t even make it to midfield.

But Saturday’s Sun Belt Conference opening loss had more to do with the play of the offensive line — or lack there of, and not the play of the quarterbacks.

Time and time again the UNT front five got beat.

“We continue to search for the right combination on offense,” North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey said. “We had no production from the running game and we need to get this thing turned around quickly.”

The UNT quarterbacks were sacked five times, fumbled once and were intercepted twice — all because of up-front defensive pressure.

The Mean Green were only able to gain just 103 yards of total offense — 31 of that coming in the first half.

North Texas (1-4, 0-1) was ranked 117 out of 119 schools in total offense — 196.0 yards per outing — coming into Saturday night’s game.

By the time the game was over, UNT could have fallen into 119th depending on what Temple (179.75) and Utah State (179.5) did Saturday night.

In the loss to MTSU, Jamario Thomas rushed for just 53 yards. Woody Wilson rushed for negative-23 yards and threw for 42 yards. Johnny Quinn caught just two passes for 21 yards.

You can’t tell me that those numbers are what you expect from your three offensive horses.

Thomas is a former national rushing champion, so he has a skin on the wall.

Quinn, well he might be the only one on the team that has a shot at playing on Sundays, so he is legit.

Wilson might be the only question mark of the three, but he has the legs and the arm to make it work, he just never has the time.

“We expect a lot more from our guys, but just didn’t get it,” Dickey said. “It was a game where things could not have gone any worse for us.”

The other telltale signs of a bad offense were the 19:19 in time of possession and just 40 plays run on offense.

Five three-and-out drives, out of 12 possessions — which also included two drives of just one play each — is not a smoothly running offense. The longest drive of the game for UNT was six plays.

Wake up, O-line. If the five hosses up front can’t open holes or keep out the rush, this team is in serious trouble.

If this is the best this offense can do at this point in time, then maybe it is time for a change.

This UNT offense resembles an old, broken down car — sometimes you can get it running and it will get you to where you want to be. But, most of the time it just sits in your driveway with four flat tires and a motor that won’t turn over.

It might be time to start looking at trading this old offense in for a shiny new offense.

An offense that spreads out the defense with four and five receiver sets.

An offense that doesn’t rely on running up the middle and between the tackles on every handoff, but gets out on the edge and puts pressure on the defense.

An offense that will produce on the field and in the stands.

But while it is nice to dream, the offense you saw on Saturday night is the offense that Dickey feels most comfortable with.

It is an offense, and more importantly, an offensive line that didn’t look good against Texas, Tulsa or Akron — but those are the reigning national champion and two conference champions, respectively.

The one game that they looked as though they knew what they were doing was against SMU.

More than a few fans thought that would be the offense we saw come conference play. Well, not so much.

So UNT will continue to struggle to put up points, which will, in turn, lead to an SBC run that is likely to be full of losses.

It all starts up front.

Somebody let the offensive line know that, and maybe, just maybe, it is not too late to get this old offense a tune-up and ready to drive.

RUSS GOODALL can be reached at 940-566-6871. His e-mail address is rgoodall@dentonrc.com.

LoveMG · October 1, 2006

It might be time to start looking at trading this old offense in for a shiny new offense.
An offense that spreads out the defense with four and five receiver sets.
An offense that doesn’t rely on running up the middle and between the tackles on every handoff, but gets out on the edge and puts pressure on the defense.
An offense that will produce on the field and in the stands.
But while it is nice to dream, the offense you saw on Saturday night is the offense that Dickey feels most comfortable with.
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sounds like a call for a coaching change. good. why can not vito say that?

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 1, 2006

You know that is best job a writer has done in this city about calling for a change, however, he didn't go far enough. He should have stopped it there, or spent more time on it. Instead, he goes back to DD's offense.

Russ is not so much afraid to make more points than Vito. I am not sure why Vito won't.

eulesseagle · October 1, 2006

Russ has some good points and some misconceptions......

MISCONCEPTION: In the Akron game UNT passed 50% of the time and against MTSU 40% of the time which really is not the Coach Dickey of yesteryear. Dickey is spreading out the team more this year with virtually no results, except for the SMU game.

GOOD POINT: Russ is correct in calling our front 5 "flat tires." These guys are really bad. The offensive line (and there zone blocking scheme) can not make holes & defend against the pass rush/protect the passer. No wonder our QB's are rushed and running for their lives while the other team hurries their moves. No wonder JT has gone from Riches to Rags this year.

Travis · October 1, 2006

That is funny you say that... Because Tim MacMahon the guy that Vito replaced was an extremely good beat writer and he managed to write an opinion article often. He wasn't afraid to say when there was something wrong and challenge.

Travis · October 1, 2006

Yes they have changed sports editors. But that was a year or so ago when I believe the sports editor passed away. I liked him by the way.

What I think it is... is Vito is trying to play nice with the team. the only way to be on the inside is to give them what they want for the most part. Because, i can't fathom that Vito actually would support a coach that produces what Dickey does on the field.

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 1, 2006

That is funny you say that... Because Tim MacMahon the guy that Vito replaced was an extremely good beat writer and he managed to write an opinion article often. He wasn't afraid to say when there was something wrong and challenge.
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True, but as you see, Tim was promoted to a better position because he wasn't afraid to challenge and still report at the same time.

Yes they have changed sports editors. But that was a year or so ago when I believe the sports editor passed away. I liked him by the way.
What I think it is... is Vito is trying to play nice with the team. the only way to be on the inside is to give them what they want for the most part. Because, i can't fathom that Vito actually would support a coach that produces what Dickey does on the field.
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The emails that I have recieved back from him, state basically the same words. That he feels like he has to report the game and not throw his 2 cents in.