Thounts on the UNT game
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2023 5:38 pmUgly start, but ended well... lots of things to take away from the UNT game
- First and foremost, we have clearly established ourselves as the best team in the AAC. Comparing head to head results, UNT vs Tulane, UTSA, and Memphis were all one score games. Memphis is losing at Charlotte heading into the third quarter today. Tulane barely beat Tulsa today. This is the time of year where things start to even out between teams because of injuries and a general lack of depth at the G5 level. SMU is the one team in the G5 that has the depth to keep performing at a higher level.
- Going into the game I thought the Williams injury might play a part, and sure enough White went down, forcing a changeup at OT. The coaching staff got creative with moving Osborne outside and take advantage of our depth at guard and it ended up working out really well. Keep your eye on that, however, because Osborne doesn't have as much mobility on the outside and struggled on a couple of plays in pass blocking. What was also interesting is that Clark came in at that point to play RG, because I think the staff really wanted to give Parr the week off. Clark did okay, but it was really when Parr came in after the first drive of the second half at LG and Sparks moved back to RG that the running game took off.
- In the second half, it was great to see the power and lean that LJ and Wheaton showed in the running game. Looking for contact and driving forward with lean to get the extra yards. Haven't seen enough of it this season. They might have left a bigger play on the table by not trying to make a guy miss, but the power run and lean is what is sustainable against good teams, and we are going to need that against Memphis and hopefully the conference championship.
- It drove me crazy watching us mess up red zone opportunities by trying to get too cute with the pass calls. That said, I think Rhett knew what this game would eventually turn into and was just trying some things out.
- I also think that we play a lot better outside of the RPO concept. First half we had a lot of the RPO and QB option. Second half we just ran plays and it is a lot smoother. We need to just run standard concepts IMHO. Last night it was kind of absurd to even try the RPO and that fake QB draw, because with Preston coming out of concussion protocol, he was NEVER going to run the ball.
- I thought Preston reverted in the first half to moving all over the place (and backwards) instead of sticking in the pocket. Understandable given the concussion in the previous game, but it is going to hurt us against better, athletic teams. Second half he stayed home better.
- Preston also got caught keeping his eyes downfield too much. There were several plays early with an RB in the flat, easy catch for 6+ yards. He needs to make that pass against the better teams instead of forcing it deep. On the INT Hudson slipped, but it was a very poor decision.
- All of that said, in the first half offensively if you add the two drops and the two missed PI calls, he would have had massive numbers and we would have blown them out before halftime. The non-PI calls against Maryland were awful. In person I couldn't tell as much, but the tape is horrible.
- Defensively, we came out too passive. The defensive line wasn't pushing in. We played a lot of zone because of the 4 WR sets UNT came out with, and they ate it up especially in the first quarter. They picked on the space between the LB and S on the side that didn't have the nickel back. We play a ton of man normally, and nobody was comfortable with the zone. IN the second half, Symons got creative with how to play man with the 4 wides and we shut them down. Great adjustments by Symons to go man and it allowed the DE to play more aggressively as well.
- If I had said this last year, you would have thought I was crazy... but losing NWO early really hurt us in the passing game. Both Massey and Moses were out of place in the coverage game, leaving too big of a gap in the zones. On the early deep ball where the guy was wide open, that was Moses who crept up and left him. Massey struggled both in coverage and also early supporting the run, which allowed them to gash us. It is going to be important to get NWO back for Memphis, something to keep an eye on.
- The defensive matchup to keep an eye on was Megginson against Maclin, and he did outstanding. He basically shut Maclin down - Maclin's catches were after he was passed to other players. And with Woods' injury, he had to play the whole game. Megginson was our worst starting defensive player coming, matched up against their best WR, and played great. Hats off to him for coming up big!
- On the other side, with Woods exiting early with injury, Rogers and Smoke played the entire time at the other corner, and both of them played really well. Really, the problems in coverage early were down the middle with our safeties. Another big props for Rogers who tackled well during the game and also came up with the big INT. He has really struggled at corner, but this game could be a turning point for him. We need Woods back for Memphis though.
Great result. I thought going in that if we beat the spread it would really say something else about the team, and we managed to do it. We are by far the highest scoring team in the league, and we have allowed by far the fewest points. It has been really impressive up to this point. Now we just need to make it past a good team on the road in order to be able to play for our first conference championship since the death penalty.
- First and foremost, we have clearly established ourselves as the best team in the AAC. Comparing head to head results, UNT vs Tulane, UTSA, and Memphis were all one score games. Memphis is losing at Charlotte heading into the third quarter today. Tulane barely beat Tulsa today. This is the time of year where things start to even out between teams because of injuries and a general lack of depth at the G5 level. SMU is the one team in the G5 that has the depth to keep performing at a higher level.
- Going into the game I thought the Williams injury might play a part, and sure enough White went down, forcing a changeup at OT. The coaching staff got creative with moving Osborne outside and take advantage of our depth at guard and it ended up working out really well. Keep your eye on that, however, because Osborne doesn't have as much mobility on the outside and struggled on a couple of plays in pass blocking. What was also interesting is that Clark came in at that point to play RG, because I think the staff really wanted to give Parr the week off. Clark did okay, but it was really when Parr came in after the first drive of the second half at LG and Sparks moved back to RG that the running game took off.
- In the second half, it was great to see the power and lean that LJ and Wheaton showed in the running game. Looking for contact and driving forward with lean to get the extra yards. Haven't seen enough of it this season. They might have left a bigger play on the table by not trying to make a guy miss, but the power run and lean is what is sustainable against good teams, and we are going to need that against Memphis and hopefully the conference championship.
- It drove me crazy watching us mess up red zone opportunities by trying to get too cute with the pass calls. That said, I think Rhett knew what this game would eventually turn into and was just trying some things out.
- I also think that we play a lot better outside of the RPO concept. First half we had a lot of the RPO and QB option. Second half we just ran plays and it is a lot smoother. We need to just run standard concepts IMHO. Last night it was kind of absurd to even try the RPO and that fake QB draw, because with Preston coming out of concussion protocol, he was NEVER going to run the ball.
- I thought Preston reverted in the first half to moving all over the place (and backwards) instead of sticking in the pocket. Understandable given the concussion in the previous game, but it is going to hurt us against better, athletic teams. Second half he stayed home better.
- Preston also got caught keeping his eyes downfield too much. There were several plays early with an RB in the flat, easy catch for 6+ yards. He needs to make that pass against the better teams instead of forcing it deep. On the INT Hudson slipped, but it was a very poor decision.
- All of that said, in the first half offensively if you add the two drops and the two missed PI calls, he would have had massive numbers and we would have blown them out before halftime. The non-PI calls against Maryland were awful. In person I couldn't tell as much, but the tape is horrible.
- Defensively, we came out too passive. The defensive line wasn't pushing in. We played a lot of zone because of the 4 WR sets UNT came out with, and they ate it up especially in the first quarter. They picked on the space between the LB and S on the side that didn't have the nickel back. We play a ton of man normally, and nobody was comfortable with the zone. IN the second half, Symons got creative with how to play man with the 4 wides and we shut them down. Great adjustments by Symons to go man and it allowed the DE to play more aggressively as well.
- If I had said this last year, you would have thought I was crazy... but losing NWO early really hurt us in the passing game. Both Massey and Moses were out of place in the coverage game, leaving too big of a gap in the zones. On the early deep ball where the guy was wide open, that was Moses who crept up and left him. Massey struggled both in coverage and also early supporting the run, which allowed them to gash us. It is going to be important to get NWO back for Memphis, something to keep an eye on.
- The defensive matchup to keep an eye on was Megginson against Maclin, and he did outstanding. He basically shut Maclin down - Maclin's catches were after he was passed to other players. And with Woods' injury, he had to play the whole game. Megginson was our worst starting defensive player coming, matched up against their best WR, and played great. Hats off to him for coming up big!
- On the other side, with Woods exiting early with injury, Rogers and Smoke played the entire time at the other corner, and both of them played really well. Really, the problems in coverage early were down the middle with our safeties. Another big props for Rogers who tackled well during the game and also came up with the big INT. He has really struggled at corner, but this game could be a turning point for him. We need Woods back for Memphis though.
Great result. I thought going in that if we beat the spread it would really say something else about the team, and we managed to do it. We are by far the highest scoring team in the league, and we have allowed by far the fewest points. It has been really impressive up to this point. Now we just need to make it past a good team on the road in order to be able to play for our first conference championship since the death penalty.