telling column I missed earlier in the season

[NT80]

Ronnie Richard: Mean Green should follow Big Red lead

08:28 PM CST on Friday, November 17, 2006

Just a few years ago I was having an argument with a friend that I find quite relevant to this year’s North Texas football team. Let me explain.

First, here’s a quick background to get you up to speed.

See, my friend was a student at the University of Nebraska (he’s now an alum), and we were discussing the Cornhuskers’ back-to-back national championships in 1994-95. Since he bleeds Husker Red, his viewpoint was just a smidgeon biased. And since I like to stir the pot in arguments, so was mine.

At some point early in the discussion, I made the point that I can’t picture a team with such a one-dimensional, run-based offense like Nebraska’s famed option attack winning the title ever again.

With defenses in college football getting quicker and smarter, I felt -- and still feel -- that it takes a truly balanced attack to win these days.

Take a look at the last few national champs -- Texas, USC, LSU, Ohio State, Miami, Oklahoma -- and think about how their offenses worked. They used the run to open up the pass, they mixed some deep throws in to keep the defense on their toes. You never knew what to expect next from those teams and that’s why it worked.

Defensive zone and blitz schemes at the top-level programs are becoming nearly as complex as those in the NFL, and it’s starting to trickle down to the smaller schools as well.

Well, you can imagine what a hardcore Husker fan might have to say about me blaspheming those Lincoln legends. I think it involved something along the lines of, “You’re a complete moron.”

But, nevertheless, I still stick to my point.

Now this argument occurred back in the summer of 2003 when Nebraska was faltering under head coach Frank Solich. Right after that football season, Nebraska made the coaching switch to Bill Callahan.

Callahan’s first order of business at his first press conference was to announce that he was scrapping the long-favored option offense and installing a West Coast scheme that would provide far more balance to the offense with a quick passing attack.

Any of this sound familiar, Mean Green fans?

Everyone knows UNT head coach Darrell Dickey likes to run the ball, wants to run the ball and will run the ball. But you just can’t be that one-dimensional anymore.

As I wrote earlier, those complex defensive schemes are starting to trickle down to the smaller programs. Assistant coaches from bigger programs take head coaching jobs at smaller programs and they bring their knowledge with them.

It’s just starting to catch up in the Sun Belt Conference and UNT is finding out the hard way.

Two seasons ago, 66 percent of the Mean Green’s offensive plays were runs, and they worked. UNT averaged 344 yards and 25.4 points per game while steamrolling the Sun Belt to another New Orleans Bowl bid.

Fast-forward to today and that production has vanished. The offense has slowly deteriorated into a sloppy mess, yet still sticking to a similar play-calling ratio (it’s now 62-percent run despite trailing in nearly every game). Heading into Saturday’s game against Louisiana Tech, UNT ranked 119th -- dead last! -- in Division I-A in yards per game.

And don’t let their production against Louisiana Tech fool you. The Bulldogs rank dead last in the nation in defense.

Entering Saturday’s game, UNT was averaging a paltry 11.0 points and 206.1 yards per game. Maybe it’s time for a change. If Nebraska can change, surely North Texas can. Let’s dump the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust and bring in a new offense.

It worked for Troy, which had the same offense as UNT before switching to spread this season. The Trojans (4-4) gave scares to Florida State and Georgia Tech, and they are now in the hunt for the conference title at 3-0 in Sun Belt play.

With the wrong players for its new offense, Nebraska struggled to a 5-6 finish in Callahan’s first season. But the Huskers came on strong last season to go 8-4, including a bowl win over Michigan to end the year.

This season, Nebraska (7-3) sits atop the Big 12 North Division standings at 4-2 after beating Missouri on Saturday.

UNT’s offensive line has struggled all season to pave the way for Jamario Thomas, while the Mean Green’s best receiving corps in years is turned into a group of extra blockers.

Open things up, make some big plays.

The quarterbacks might make mistakes, but it can’t be much worse than it is now.

I think it could work ... but then again I might just be a complete moron.

Edited November 29, 2006 by NT80