Where Is The Motion?

[glick1980]

Is there a reason why our offense never uses any motion? Our offense constantly reacts to what the defense does, but why don't we force them to react to what we are doing? Teams know that when they play us, all they have to do is line up. There is no attempt to put our skill players in advantageous situations or mismatches. I just wonder why this offense does not use motion.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

----Good point..... as was explained on recent NFL game.... motion in the backfield will often tell the QB what type of defense or match-ups to expect and helps the intelligent QB decide on which recievers are likely to be the better choices. The second part of that is the obvious part... it can sometimes confuse the defense a bit so that they might match up wrong and leave someone open that should not be.

--- Second ... The two things that lose close football games are turnovers and penalities. We have had way too many turnovers [ints. and fumbles ] in games we lost by 7 or less. . In the Dickey era we had way too many stupid penalites. I wish we could get these two things greatly improved. Reducing those two items plus improving our defense would make the season look very different

--- Third.... work a lot on special teams.... 1/3 of the plays involve some type of special team..especially if you include plays that are likely to gain only 1-2 yards and earn TDs or first downs when needed.... That too is a special situation that doesn't not always use the usual offensive players. That needs a lot of work and has big payoffs. How many times did we lose because we could not get the needed yard or two near their goalline or on thier side of the field to keep a good drive going....

Edited December 4, 2009 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[ntexeagle]

I dont seem to remember Texas Tech, OU or UT using a lot of motion. They seem to do just fine.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

It is quite comical how many "delay of game" penalties we seem to get. I especially love it when we get one coming out of a timeout.

[CorinthEagle]

It is quite comical how many "delay of game" penalties we seem to get. I especially love it when we get one coming out of a timeout.

How many delay of game penalties were called on NT this year?

[Monkeypox]

We have enough trouble getting our plays off and suffer enough penalties without adding motion. Need to crawl before you walk.

[CorinthEagle]

I went to ESPN.com and pulled up the play by play sheets from the games. I was able to look at all games except for Ohio and the total delay of game penalties for the season? 4

1 vs Army

1 vs Ark St

1 vs Alabama

1 vs U-La-La

[island eagle]

I went to ESPN.com and pulled up the play by play sheets from the games. I was able to look at all games except for Ohio and the total delay of game penalties for the season? 4

1 vs Army

1 vs Ark St

1 vs Alabama

1 vs U-La-La

I recall that they all seemed to come at crucial times. In addition, that doesn't tell how many wasted time-outs we had this fall because the clock was about to run out. I know it happened several times. In fact, twice in a row in one of our games.

[James Mosley]

Funny thing is North Texas had only two more total penalties than #1 Florida this year. North Texas had the same number of total penalties as did our opponents except our opponent had more penalty yards. Go figure.... would be nice to still cut down on them....

[Monkeypox]

Funny thing is North Texas had only two more total penalties than #1 Florida this year. North Texas had the same number of total penalties as did our opponents except our opponent had more penalty yards. Go figure.... would be nice to still cut down on them....

Difference is those teams are equipped to overcome them. We need to be perfect on the penalty front. Either that, or execute like Florida.

[James Mosley]

O.K. keepin it in the Belt, North Texas was 4th in the conference in total penalties. Heck, North Texas was 4th in total offense and 5th in total defense in the conference. Problem area was 7th in the league in red zone scoring. This is the one area I see the need for most improvement, red zone.......

[Monkeypox]

O.K. keepin it in the Belt, North Texas was 4th in the conference in total penalties. Heck, North Texas was 4th in total offense and 5th in total defense in the conference. Problem area was 7th in the league in red zone scoring. This is the one area I see the need for most improvement, red zone.......

It's been the same problem for 3 years. This offense puts up a lot of yards in between the 20s. Get in the red zone, back up, kick a field goal, miss a field goal, throw a pick. It's officially a trend.

And where were we on turnovers in the Belt? Both forced and given away.

Edited December 4, 2009 by Monkeypox

[DeepGreen]

I recall that they all seemed to come at crucial times. In addition, that doesn't tell how many wasted time-outs we had this fall because the clock was about to run out. I know it happened several times. In fact, twice in a row in one of our games.

True, but to be "fair and balanced", I seem remember more wasted time outs, unused timeouts in losing situations, and del of game penalties during the Dickey era.

[James Mosley]

It's been the same problem for 3 years. This offense puts up a lot of yards in between the 20s. Get in the red zone, back up, kick a field goal, miss a field goal, throw a pick. It's officially a trend.

And where were we on turnovers in the Belt? Both forced and given away.

2009 Sun Belt Conference Leaders

Turnover Margin -

Name G Fum. Gain Int. Gain Total Gain Fum. Lost Int. Lost Total Lost Margin Margin/G

1 Middle Tennessee 12 14 17 31 5 15 20 11 0.92

2 Louisiana-Lafayette 12 10 16 26 15 8 23 3 0.25

3 Florida Atlantic 11 11 5 16 8 7 15 1 0.09

4 Florida International 11 7 10 17 9 12 21 -4 -0.36

5 Louisiana-Monroe 12 10 13 23 8 20 28 -5 -0.42

6 Troy 12 11 9 20 16 10 26 -6 -0.50

7 Arkansas State 11 9 7 16 10 12 22 -6 -0.55

8 Western Kentucky 11 8 6 14 14 11 25 -11 -1.00

9 North Texas 12 8 7 15 12 17 29 -14 -1.17

[foutsrouts]

O.K. keepin it in the Belt, North Texas was 4th in the conference in total penalties. Heck, North Texas was 4th in total offense and 5th in total defense in the conference. Problem area was 7th in the league in red zone scoring. This is the one area I see the need for most improvement, red zone.......

Very true. The shorter the field the more problems we seem to have. Coaching? QB's? Inherent flaw in Dodge's basically unaltered SLC offense at this level? Don't know, but I'm sure all three are contributing factors.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

I recall that they all seemed to come at crucial times. In addition, that doesn't tell how many wasted time-outs we had this fall because the clock was about to run out. I know it happened several times. In fact, twice in a row in one of our games.

That would be nice to know. We know of at least two in the Army game.

[aztecskin]

Like it has been mentioned before, I don't think motion is going to solve execution problems. Offense is offense and really there is not a whole lot of difference between them when you really look at it. We can have any kind of offensive philosophy and it will be successful when it is executed best.

Now, after that the other challenge is getting your guys to want to run your offense. So, in that respect, running a more fun offense is beneficial.

So you want to run something fun and teachable to get your guys to buy in and execute.

This is why I don't mind our spread. Its fun and teachable (QB footwork is less in shotty). PapaDodge just has to get his guys to execute.

Execution will alleviate some of those special teams mistakes etc.

So, to sum it up for those who don't like to read: Motion is fine -- has its benefits (confuses the D) and drawbacks (requires more practice and precision). It is not the most pressing issue on this squad.

[James Mosley]

Very true. The shorter the field the more problems we seem to have. Coaching? QB's? Inherent flaw in Dodge's basically unaltered SLC offense at this level? Don't know, but I'm sure all three are contributing factors.

It simply comes down to execution and taking care of your assignments. Put a longhorn emblem on the helmet, same offense.

[glick1980]

Like it has been mentioned before, I don't think motion is going to solve execution problems. Offense is offense and really there is not a whole lot of difference between them when you really look at it. We can have any kind of offensive philosophy and it will be successful when it is executed best.

Motion won't solve any execution problems, but what it can do is give away the defensive coverage. When a guy is in motion and a defender shuffles to another position and the defense shifts over, you know you are looking at zone. When a defender whom is following the motion man turns his hips and runs across the formation, you know you are looking at man. In college, these teams are going to disguise their coverages as much as possible and I think using motion would help our QB's. How many times did you see Riley throw a pick right at a guy because he read man and it was zone? I do agree we need to execute much better, especially in the redzone. Can you say fullback?

[greenminer]

Since Dodge won't budge on the under-center thing, we've clearly had to move on to bigger and better things.

Let's hope he listens this time.

[Green P1]

Since Dodge won't budge on the under-center thing, we've clearly had to move on to bigger and better things.

Let's hope he listens this time.

Thats not quite fair. At the rate we're going(if my math is correct) we should expect 4 plays from under center next season.

[Green P1]

O.K. keepin it in the Belt, North Texas was 4th in the conference in total penalties. Heck, North Texas was 4th in total offense and 5th in total defense in the conference. Problem area was 7th in the league in red zone scoring. This is the one area I see the need for most improvement, red zone.......

You know what would help red zone offense? A bull nosed, battering ram, running back operating from the Power I. YOU of all people already know we have that running back on the roster. Todge's refusal/inability to utilize his full arsenal of talent both dumbfounds and disgusts me.

[FirefightnRick]

We did run goal-line from under center and fumbled the snap early in the season...Don't know if they ever did it again.

Twice, once against Balls ate, and once against THE University of Ohio.

And I'll second the earlier statement: We have that battering ram, his last name is Mosely. During the '07 and '08 seasons he had 115 combined carries and averaged right at 5 yards every time he touched the ball. So for this year during the offseason he recommitted himself to the gym, put on the needed mass and muscle to be even better at this level and I think everyone here who attended the games realized the noticable difference. His reward this season for his sacrifice? 3 carries and non that I recall as a fullback.

Like Montgomery was going into this season, he's now down to one season left. Lets hope his talent is utilized a bit better. If your not going to run him, use him to plow a seem.

Rick

Edited December 5, 2009 by FirefightnRick

[FirefightnRick]

Put a longhorn emblem on the helmet, same offense.

Excuse me, but NT's offense isn't even remotely close to tU's.

Bryant Seidle, our lone Tightend whose actually credited with a catch has 2 for 14 yards, and we don't even run a fullback at all that I have seen, although I may have blinked and missed it?

Texas on the other hand, has two TE's this year, Dan Buckner and Greg Smith. Buckner finished the regular season 3rd on the team in recepeptions with 41 catches for 431 yards (a 10.5 yard per catch average....My God!, Can You Imagine That????), and 4 TD's. Smith, their B tightend, had 6 catches for 48 yards.

Texas' main Fullback is Antwan Cobb, listed at 5'11'', 250 lbs, racked up 83 carries for 336 yards (4.0 average) and 12 TD's. I took the high output of TD's for a 250 lb man to mean that they go to him a lot on short yardage, especially in goal line situations. Again, Imagine That????

Obviously, Mack Brown has been at this college coaching thing for quite sometime.

Emmitt, don't hate me. I didn't make the comparison.

Rick

Edited December 5, 2009 by FirefightnRick

[emmitt01]

Excuse me, but NT's offense isn't even remotely close to tU's.

Bryant Seidle, our lone Tightend whose actually credited with a catch has 2 for 14 yards, and we don't even run a fullback at all that I have seen, although I may have blinked and missed it?

Texas on the other hand, has two TE's this year, Dan Buckner and Greg Smith. Buckner finished the regular season 3rd on the team in recepeptions with 41 catches for 431 yards (a 10.5 yard per catch average....My God!, Can You Imagine That????), and 4 TD's. Smith, their B tightend, had 6 catches for 48 yards.

Texas' main Fullback is Antwan Cobb, listed at 5'11'', 250 lbs, racked up 83 carries for 336 yards (4.0 average) and 12 TD's. I took the high output of TD's for a 250 lb man to mean that they go to him a lot on short yardage, especially in goal line situations. Again, Imagine That????

Obviously, Mack Brown has been at this college coaching thing for quite sometime.

Emmitt, don't hate me. I didn't make the comparison.

Rick

I don't hate ya. You just proved that even a whiny buffoon can grasp the simple things...which makes me even sadder. Thanks Rick!!