Here's the issue as I see it

Harry · September 8, 2013

First off - tip of the hat to the players, coaches everyone from the game last night. They never gave up and despite the mistakes kept fighting and gave us a chance to win in the 4th quarter against a good team. It's never easy to win on the road and against a team like Ohio it's even tougher. There is no denying the effort is there. This is not meant as criticism more as just an observation after 2 weeks.

Here's the problem we have as I see it. DT has a lot of positive aspects to his game and he's a hard worker and leader but he is NOT a running threat. We have a good offensive line and running backs and our receiver position is clearly improved. We are not dominant in these areas. In a perfect world we would run the ball on everyone and dink and dunk in the passing game up and down the field. Works against Idaho doesn't work against the better programs. Our defense isn't stellar but it is sure good enough to win against teams like Ohio and C-USA if they aren't required to be on the field for a long periods of time.

In this offense if you do not have any running threat from the quarterback position the odds are stacked against you. And I'm not talking about needing Johnny football -- just a guy that can hit you for 3-5 yards if you ignore him and forces the defense to pay attention. A guy that can get away from the rush if the pocket happens to collapse. Mac is trying to smashmouth all of our opponents and we just don't have the horses to consistently do that against the better teams. IF we had any semblance of running threat at the QB position it would prevent these teams from loading up on our running backs as they did last night, essentially shadowing them with a good athlete who can run...

The issue is Mac and company believe after careful consideration that Dajon, Brock, McNulty aren't ready.... or that their errors, lack of experience etc will erase any advantages that having a more mobile quarterback will provide the team. They need to win now, they can't have another 4-3 win season and expect to recruit players, sell season tickets or be around for a long time with three consecutive losing seasons...

Until we are able to place a more mobile quarterback into this offense we will allow teams to have an upper hand against us defensively. They can go into every game knowing that DT is more often than not going to hurt you with his wheels. And that takes away any advantages that we may hold with our offensive line and running backs. Instead of 4 yards a run we will get 2; on passing downs they will blitz knowing that the price they will pay with a quarterback scramble is fairly minimal.

The reality is Mac and Chico have put their chips all in on DT. Sure they'll throw in a wildcat with Chancellor here and again, which frankly any team is going to recognize and defend against pretty well unless they are blind. The Beyond the Green documentary made it very clear that they are putting this season in DT's hands. There were several moments last night where they chose to stick with DT despite another pick six and some very poor decisions.

UTSA recognizes the importance of having mobility at the QB position. Soza is not the most accurate passer in the world, and he doesn't have sprinter speed -- but they know that his mobility forces opponents to keep an eye on him because he will hurt you if you ignore him. And having a more mobile QB loosens things up for the running backs and receivers allowing the offense to have more sustained drives which keeps the defense off of the field. A mobile quarterback gives you a chance to come back in games if you are behind.

I think Mac and Chico know this issue very well -- that's probably why Scotty Young is playing for La. Tech instead of us right now. They are doing an honorable thing by standing by their man. We all want DT to succeed but I fear that it will be very difficult for him to do so unless he plays nearly perfect every game.

Ball State has a good team and I fear the outcome of this game will be very similar to the one we played last night unless we change things up...

Huff · September 8, 2013

Going into the season the biggest problem that I saw was with our defensive line. We are smaller than most and my fear was that people would just line up and knock us off the ball. Ohio did exactly that and I believe others will, too. We can survive with the quarterback, offensive line, receivers, and running backs that we have. Unless something magical happens I do not see us being able to stop people from shoving the ball down our throats. That is going to make for a looooong season. I sure hope that I am wrong, but that is how I see it.

Harry · September 8, 2013

Going into the season the biggest problem that I saw was with our defensive line. We are smaller than most and my fear was that people would just line up and knock us off the ball. Ohio did exactly that and I believe others will, too. We can survive with the quarterback, offensive line, receivers, and running backs that we have. Unless something magical happens I do not see us being able to stop people from shoving the ball down our throats. That is going to make for a looooong season. I sure hope that I am wrong, but that is how I see it.

I'll grant you that the D-Line is average but combined with our linebackers I believe they can get us some wins... heck just last night we would have won that game had DT not thrown another pick six and we given up the touchdown on the first play of the damn game. Those two plays (14 points) had nothing to do with our defensive line.

Green P1 · September 8, 2013

DT has a lot of positive aspects to his game and he's a hard worker and leader but he is NOT a running threat.

Honest question. Outside of vague and unmeasurable attributes... what exactly are the positive aspects to his game?

Harry · September 8, 2013

Honest question. Outside of vague and unmeasurable attributes... what exactly are the positive aspects to his game?

Fair question -- I think when given time he can be a fairly accurate passer at this level. He gets pretty good zip on the ball and can at times have a good touch on the long ball. That's not really the direction I was trying to go in this post but it's a very valid question.

Rudy · September 8, 2013

Honest question. Outside of vague and unmeasurable attributes... what exactly are the positive aspects to his game?

Senior leadership.

FirefightnRick · September 8, 2013

I agree with both of you, and Huff, this has been a major concern of mine for three years now. I don't believe we had a single sack last night, and that's telling considering it was against a make shift O line that had been devistated with injuries. Still, as Harry pointed out,...our LB's are good and are able to make up the difference somewhat.

Harry, I completely agree about Soza,...and if you got to ENJOY the Texas game last night as I did you saw BYU's QB do to Texas what we need to do to Balls Ate. That guy's performance last night was incredible.

Rick

H-towngreen · September 8, 2013

Well said Harry. Just think of what a zone read with a mobile QB would add to the offense. I honestly find it hard to believe that either BB or DJW can be that much worse than DT throwing the ball. He had some good passes last night but there were too many cathches made on bad passes where the WR had no chance of picking up YAC.

Got5onIt · September 8, 2013

Well put, Harry. 100% accurate, IMO.

I'm going to use a Parcells reference ( or Pursulls as Jerry Jones would say) but DT is just the bus driver. He's not going to nor is expected to do anything more than sit in the driver seat and get you from point A to point B. All fine-n-dandy for a team that can dominate in other aspects of the game. NT needs a dynamic threat at QB to open up the offense. The coaching staff knows this & recruited BB (and DW) for those reasons. Will we see that at all this year????

Edited September 8, 2013 by Got5onIt

Side Show Joe · September 8, 2013

Fair question -- I think when given time he can be a fairly accurate passer at this level. He gets pretty good zip on the ball and can at times have a good touch on the long ball. That's not really the direction I was trying to go in this post but it's a very valid question.

I don't think he is accurate. Our WRs are getting hung out to dry. If he keeps throwing off his back foot, we are going to lose some WRs for the season. I don't think he throws well on the run either. Just my opinion.

Green P1 · September 8, 2013

A QB that could move would really cure most of what ales us. Riley Dodge would do wonders for this offense right now.

H-towngreen · September 8, 2013

A QB that could move would really cure most of what ales us. Riley Dodge would do wonders for this offense right now.

Or Dajon. Or Brock.

Andrew · September 8, 2013

Of Dajon or Brock are not starting by the time conference play starts up I will throw in my hat already.... Basketball season is looking more and more promising (for now ....)

NT03 · September 8, 2013

Of Dajon or Brock are not starting by the time conference play starts up I will throw in my hat already.... Basketball season is looking more and more promising (for now ....)

I like football Andrew !!!

casual fan · September 8, 2013

DT as the starter makes sense, but not playing DW for a limited number of plays in certain situations does not.

He needs to be developed, certainly for next year and possibly this one. What if DT goes down to injury this year?

Use a limited set of plays that let DW take advantage of his abilities. He needs to get into every game and gain experience.

TheColonyEagle · September 8, 2013

A QB that could move would really cure most of what ales us. Riley Dodge would do wonders for this offense right now.

I keep going back to the last 5 games of the year when Canales took over. Yes the same Canales that everyone hates. That offense was really clicking. And that was with a QB that was no threat to throw.

I don't know if we have a QB that's as fast as Riley. But both Dajon and Brock are more of a threat to throw.

I would LOVE to see it.

Rudy · September 8, 2013

I'm tired of saying, "At least basketball season is around the corner." That was when we had JJ as coach. I don't think you will find many saying the same thing now.