Sooo are we still against coach Mac's rush heavy offense?

[NorthTexan95]

I think the facilities we have now can keep talent coming to UNT. Dickey didn't have that.

Having said that, OLinemen like to run block. Coach Mac is going to run the ball. I hope we become "OLine U" and recruit top notch O Linemen year in and year out. I don't see why we can't.

If Coach Mac keeps an OLine factory going through here, this team is going to win games. And if we get our OLine established for years, where do you think the RB talent is going to want to go?

I also think our playcalling has to do with the QB. Bless DTs heart but there was no way Mac was trusting him down on our own 6 inch line. If he did, they would have thrown it out of the end zone. When Mac gets his QB in here (a running QB that can hit an open receiver) I think this offense will open up a little. He wanted McNulty but he's not good enough. I guess we'll see what Burgland has.

As for the style of offense, I like it. It can keep us in games and there's nothing prettier than seeing that safety cheat up only to get burned by a play action pass. Yes Chancellor dropped the pass but that play was beautiful if executed properly.

Great observations. I completely agree.

[MeanMag]

Don't care how its done but score. Everyone is happy now but if NT had lost, McCarney would have been ripped for his ultra conservative play on those two series from almost under NT's goal line. He was right as Atterberry and the defense played great to keep them from scoring more than 3. I think it was more dangerous running every time than it would have been to attempt a few low risk passes

I can't knock NT for not passing more, they just don't have the athletes at wrs. Having said that Delgado had a great game and Chancellor always delivers and the passing game has improved, they just need more play makers at the position.

+1 to this. Our WR depth is a little lacking at this point. But, we are compensating well at this point in the season.

TheColonyEagle makes some great points too.

Our offense has changed a little bit since the beginning of the season.

Backs: Our 3 play making running backs are being used in different ways. More screens, reverses and wildcat to get them involved more. They've been more involved in the passing game than they were before (maybe because of the lack of WR depth) or because they're just damn good backs that can make a guy miss and it's nice to have the WR down field that can block.

Our TEs are at full strength and while they haven't been involved directly in moving they ball, they are very involved in moving the ball. By that I mean, their down field blocking is springing backs. It's really nice to have a bigger body than a WR in the midrange game and a faster body than a typical O lineman, but also someone that can sneak out with good hands as a WR as well. It makes the LBs respect them more, and they can block said LBs if need be from just about anywhere on the field a LB would be. Power coming back has been really nice. We use some of our TEs as very utilitarian Full Backs. Something that seems to be rare to me at the college level anymore.

O Line:

I've read for a while that pass blocking is kinda boring for O linemen. They like pulling, pinching, run blocking schemes that give them a chance to hit the defense. It would make sense then, to me, that good O linemen would want to play in a run heavy offense because there's more opportunity for them to take the fight to those defensive linemen that are trying to sneak past them. Those of you who have been O linemen can correct me if I am wrong on this point.

Finally, Our Run Heavy scheme:

As someone mentioned before, our run heavy scheme is something that defenses aren't accustomed to. Most defenses don't take into account a 3-4 TE set where a large body pass catcher is something to look out for. I can see a scenario in the future where a heavy running game will come back into favor. But, for now, it seems that if a team can do run well, they can catch some other teams outmatched personnel wise.

[BillySee58]

I also think that Coach Mac wants to be balanced. We run a lot because we have a good rushing attack. The truth is our quarterback doesn't have the ability to make throws to stretch out a defense on his own, he needs a solid run game to set up the pass but there's nothing wrong with that. Did you guys see how much room there was on the first Jimmerson screen touchdown? Chico dialed up a good one there.

Also, while this opinion of mine won't be very popular I'm sticking to it, I don't think the step up from the current sun belt to next year's C-USA is gonna be all that huge talent wise. The teams that are competitive in the belt this year are capable of competing in the C-USA, including us. I am not undermining how big a deal this is and how much more the C-USA can do for us as a conference money-wise and competition-wise in all sports, but it's not like we're moving into the Big-12.

If we can be in the Sun Belt title hunt for the rest of the year there is no reason we shouldn't finish ahead of teams in our division next year like Rice, UTEP, and UTSA and compete with teams like La Tech and Tulsa for the division title. I think we are capable of both and it will be interesting to see how this season turns out as we leave the Belt, hopefully on a high note.