Indeed, it seemed at times like North Texas wanted to out-Army the Black Knights. The Mean Green attempted a minimal number of deep shots, settling instead for short throws that resulted in a bare 5.8 yards/pass. They also went for it 5 separate times on fourth down, converting 3 attempts in impressive fashion. In taking what Army’s defense gave them, their first drive went a whopping *18* plays in just under seven minutes. That was great in concept, but as noted, Army only gave up a field goal off that first drive. The Black Knights then countered with their own 9-play drive that went for a touchdown, followed by a 14-play drive that netted no points but ate up damn-near the rest of the first half. When the Mean Green’s first possession of the second half went three-and-out, it meant that they’d held the ball for all of 38 seconds in the third quarter.
Their offense sat on the sidelines for over thirty minutes of real time!
North Texas did a nice job countering Army’s triple-option, forcing an interception, a fumble, and a punt. They kept Army’s explosive plays in check, making the Black Knights earn it one play at a time. However, they ultimately gave up 4.6 yards/carry. That final tally didn’t do a lot to get Army off the field. The Black Knights wound up going an outstanding 9/14 on third down and 3/3 on fourth down. With that, they held the ball for almost 42 minutes total.
Time of possession might not be the be-all, end-all of college football, but when the other team is holding the ball, and they’re also scoring touchdowns, it becomes a problem. North Texas couldn’t get off the field on defense, and they also couldn’t score. By comparison, Army’s defense forced exactly one punt, but they stood tall in the red zone three times, once with an amazing goal line stand that started at their own 1-yard-line and twice by generating interceptions from something like 10 yards out.
read more: https://www.asforfootball.com/2024/11/10/quick-thoughts-army-shuts-down-north-texas/
Agreed. You could clearly see the ball in hand cross before the knee hit the ground in my opinion. The only issue I can see is "the camera isn't exactly on the line." Game changing call but with 3 more downs from the 1, should it have mattered this much if the offense is truly elite? I don't know what's more frustrating: the call or that the offense was exposed?
And to add, not only does the ball just need to break the plane, it can break it and then go back out. Live play is essentially ended once the plane is broken. Seeing where his body was and the video review shown on TV, I don't know how you don't rule that a touchdown.
We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Please review our full Privacy Policy before using our site.