DMN- Will this be the breakout year for the R & S?

[ponyscott]

Wow this is a long article from Kate tonight with a pointed question. Is this now the time to shine?.....She predicts a 7-5 record.

This is the first part of the article, more information on the link.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/colleg ... reregister

Mustangs place premium on TDs
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By KATE HAIROPOULOS

Staff Writer

[email protected]

Published 21 August 2011 09:02 PM


UNIVERSITY PARK — Senior slot receiver Cole Beasley’s SMU career began with the arrival of coach June Jones. So Beasley has spent the last three years attempting to master the Run and Shoot.

While he and his teammates have rolled up big yards, they believe they are poised for an offensive eureka this season. SMU averaged a respectable 414.6 total yards last season, but they averaged only 25.7 points, ranking ninth in Conference USA.

“We want to make this offense as prolific as it’s supposed to be,” said Beasley, a coach’s son and former high school quarterback at Little Elm. “In this offense, any play can be a big play.”

SMU lost only one offensive starter from last year’s 7-7 team that played for the C-USA championship. With the maturation of junior quarterback Kyle Padron, the return of 1,494-yard running back Zach Line and the entire offensive line, along with experienced receivers such as Beasley and Darius Johnson, the Mustangs want to become the kind of offense that sticks the ball in the end zone again and again. And again.

“We want to dominate,” said senior left tackle Kelvin Beachum, a first-team All-C-USA selection.

Paired with a continually improving defense that should again rank among the best in C-USA, SMU is vocal about its goal of returning to the conference championship game, but winning it this time. That would lead to the program’s third straight bowl.

SMU will have to win several key road games if it’s to meet its high expectations. And its offense, which lacked the substance last season to back up the hype of Jones’ Run and Shoot, must produce consistently.

The Mustangs didn’t have that enough in 2010 — with too many drives stalling because of missed opportunities, turnovers, penalties or other mistakes. The worst of the struggles culminated in the final two games of the season, losses to UCF in the C-USA title game and to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl. SMU scored a combined three touchdowns in the two games. To be fair, coaches say Padron, who had five turnovers in the losses, was struggling more with an ankle sprain than he let on and then broke a finger on his non-throwing hand during the bowl.

Quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison warned heading into last season that expectations for Padron were perhaps too high, as the typical Run and Shoot progression includes a phase of learning through mistakes.

Morrison projects significant progress for Padron this season.

“He has a better command of the offense,” Morrison said. “He has a better idea of before the snap and after. … He’ll be a lot more productive than last year, a lot more consistent. His ball’s coming out in a real hurry. He’s got a lot of velocity. He’s stronger.

“He’s not going to hit everything. But he’s going to have one of those ‘aha’ years.”

For his part, Padron said after being the starter for the last season and a half, he is more confident and hungry than ever.

Jones said the offense has shown signs of “getting real close to having one of those breakout years.” At other moments, though, he expects more.

One key is producing more big plays — passes of 35 yards or more. Jones said SMU completed only about 15 percent of its deep throws last season, and the goal is to improve that by 40 percent, which would change the complexion of the offense.

Jones, though, is just as keen on what the defense offers. If the offense can build a lead, allowing the defense to play in the aggressive style for which it’s designed, Jones said games could “snowball.”

Overall, SMU players, who are drilled in the Run and Shoot by repetition after repetition, understand the offense at a more sophisticated level. The program is established enough that veterans such as Beasley and Padron are paired with younger players and required to teach them.

“The best way to learn is to teach,” Morrison said. “As they’re articulating, it’s becoming even clearer in their minds.”

And for SMU, the ultimate vision is reaching the end zone in 2011. Time after time.
A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
What’s to prove

SMU needs to show that it’s still on the rise in coach June Jones’ fourth season on the Hilltop. The Mustangs played in their first Conference USA title game last season, but dropped it and the Armed Forces Bowl — their second straight bowl appearance — to finish 7-7. SMU will have chances in nonconference to create a buzz, playing at Texas A&M and at TCU. SMU talks about winning the C-USA title this time, but it will have to overcome a difficult road schedule to return to the championship. The offense lost just one starter and has worked on developing a killer instinct. The defense, which ranked second in total yards in C-USA last season, appears ready to give the Mustangs a huge edge in offense-oriented C-USA. The turnover margin is crucial. SMU had only 15 takeaways last season while suffering 27 turnovers (13 fumbles, 14 interceptions).
Circle this date

The Oct. 29 showdown at Tulsa should feature two relentless offenses, and the Golden Hurricane will be eager to punish SMU for edging it for the West Division title last season. The game comes at the end of a brutal four-game stretch over five weeks that includes traveling to TCU, hosting reigning C-USA champ Central Florida and then traveling to Southern Miss and Tulsa.
Schedule/predictions

Date


Opponent


Time


Prediction

Sept. 4


at Texas A&M


6:30


Loss

Sept. 10


UTEP


6:00


Win

Sept. 17


Northwestern State


7:00


Win

Sept. 24


at Memphis


11 a.m.


Win

Oct. 1


at TCU


2:30


Loss

Oct. 15


UCF


TBA


Loss

Oct. 22


at Southern Miss


7:00


Loss

Oct. 29


at Tulsa


2:30


Loss

Nov. 5


Tulane


2:00


Win

Nov. 12


Navy


TBA


Win

Nov. 19


at Houston


TBA


Win

Nov. 26


Rice


TBA


Win

2010 record: 7-7

Kate Hairopoulos’ 2011 prediction: 7-5
Defensive player to watch: Taylor Reed

The junior inside linebacker has been starring for the Mustangs — along with buddy and hard-hitting counterpart Ja’Gared Davis on the outside — since he was a freshman. As a sophomore, Reed made 145 tackles, which was the seventh highest total in the Football Bowl Subdivision. His 101 solo tackles tied for third most. He’s developing into a leader for a defense that expects to jump from 40th in the FBS last season in total defense to the top 20. The linebackers are set up to make plays, thanks to lining up behind a powerful line in the 3-4.
Offensive player to watch: Kyle Padron

The junior quarterback was thrown into the starting job midway through his freshman season. After a season and a half being The Man, it’s time for Padron to take the next step in mastering the Run and Shoot. While he passed for 3,828 yards and 31 TDs last season, consistency was an issue. He’ll have loads of support around him.
Deep at … receiver

Even with the departure of Aldrick Robinson and his 1,301 yards and 14 touchdowns to the NFL, SMU will have the luxury of sending out four receivers who have valuable game experience. Cole Beasley and Darius Johnson could be stars in the slot. Beasley had 1,060 yards and six TDs last season on a team-high 87 catches. The acrobatic Johnson, SMU’s MVP of the Armed Forces Bowl, had 845 yards and six touchdowns. On the outside, sophomore Keenan Holman should make a jump from his freshman season, and senior Terrance Wilkerson returns after having missed last season because of grades. He had 527 yards in 2009. De’rikk Thompson and Arrius Holleman have also turned heads.
Thin at … kicker/punter

Newcomers to these pressure positions must show consistency under fire. Redshirt freshman Mike Loftus takes over place kicking and kickoff duties for the graduated Matt Szymanski. He’s simply unproven and looking for steadiness, judging by fall camp. Matt Stone will likely take care of punting. The junior played in two games last season, averaging 31.7 yards on six punts, with two downed inside the 20.

[couch 'em]

We've yet to see SMU even attempt to run anything like a RnS. Even June's worst year in Hawaii looked nothink like this. Not necessarily better, but more like what you thunk of with RnS.

I've wondered whether this is due to:
Lacking the right talent (qb?)
Playing possesion to help the D?
Intentionally avoiding real RnS until all the elements are in place, intending to bring it out and shock everyone?

[cutter]

Intentionally avoiding real RnS until all the elements are in place, intending to bring it out and shock everyone?

lol.....I cannot imagine JJ intentionally holding back.

otherwise, I have no real clue, but my guess is that our qb development has been the primary limiting factor. I believe all the Hawaii qbs JJ had were starting qbs in high school, unlike KP who was not -- perhaps, that has been a factor (although, per coach Morrison, KP is 'right on schedule', regardless).
plus, the WAC defenses have always been pretty porous, even compared to CUSA, so perhaps JJ's Hawaii's teams were able to implement his offense with less difficulty.

I'm hoping this is the break-out year for the offense. all the pieces are in place. should be fun.

[Dr Death]

We've yet to see SMU even attempt to run anything like a RnS. Even June's worst year in Hawaii looked nothink like this. Not necessarily better, but more like what you thunk of with RnS.

I've wondered whether this is due to:
Lacking the right talent (qb?)
Playing possesion to help the D?
Intentionally avoiding real RnS until all the elements are in place, intending to bring it out and shock everyone?

I first fell in love w/ the R&S in 1984 when I was at my then-girlfriends house and the USFL was on and the Houston Gamblers were playing. I sat up, on the very edge of the couch and watched in amazement because this was the most unique offense I had ever seen.

Up until that point the San Diego Chargers... w/ Dan Fouts and his host of WR's and a TE who redefined the position, were the most explosive, pass-happy offense I'd ever seen. But the R&S was so much more fun than Air Coryell because it seemed on every play that someone was always wide open.

Thus began a long search to discover all I could about the offense, which, in 1984-85, was not easy. There was no Internet. Resources were very limited but eventually I did find a Mouse Davis seminar on 6 VHS video tapes where he explained the offense inside/out, including not just the passing routes and reads, but the line calls, the screen game and the running game.

I've coached football and this is the offense I've always used because A:) It gives less talented kids a chance to compete w/ anybody and 2:) This offense is just fun, and when kids are having fun, they tend to succeed.

To answer the question about the R&S at SMU, this is why what you've seen is nothing like what JJ had at Hawaii; in 3 seasons he's had a True Freshman at QB who threw way too many pics and then, during his Sophomore year, when he got hurt and was costing us games, JJ turned to another Freshman.

This offense is not easy. In 2006-07, when Colt Brennan was completing a staggering 72% of his passes and throwing for 96 TD's while sitting out the 4th periods of many games, he made it look so easy. On thing that's funny, is that Graham Harrell currently holds the NCAA record for career TD passes at 134. Brennan is second, w/ 131. Yet Harrell had something like 470 more passes than Brennan. Give Brennan Harrell's attempts... and he would be around 180 TD's... a mark that might never be broken.

This year, as Padron is a Junior who has been in this offense for 3 years now, this is the year he should step up and really deliver. If he does, SMU could win a lot of games because, as Brennan has proven, when working correctly, this offense is simply unstoppable.

Not only will the wins add up, but 4 and 5-star QB's will have more of a desire to come here, meaning the future of SMU football would be going in a great direction.

That's a lot of pressure for Padron to deal with, but if he does, and if he comes anything close to what Brennan did or even Nick Rolovich in his final half of his Senior year, then the 2011 Mustangs will have something very special.

[Mexmustang]

Thank you for your post--very interesting perspective. I have always guessed, but never known, but with QB's, it wasn't the system, but the fact the system maybe show cased rather average qb's as to why they didn't have careers in the NFL--the raw matterial simply wasn't star quality to begin with, but the system gave them star statistics.

[One Trick Pony]

Im not paying to read that

[Dr Death]

Thank you for your post--very interesting perspective. I have always guessed, but never known, but with QB's, it wasn't the system, but the fact the system maybe show cased rather average qb's as to why they didn't have careers in the NFL--the raw matterial simply wasn't star quality to begin with, but the system gave them star statistics.

This opens up a can of worms for me and I'll try to be brief... but the NFL is very old-school. The owners hate change and when the R&S was in the NFL, everybody hated it because it was so difficult to defend. Three of the worst team used it and all 3 made the play-offs. {Oilers - Falcons - Lions}

What's funny, is that now, all teams have some option routes in their playbooks. They won't call what they do the R&S, but they borrow heavily from it. Especially New England. In 1994, when Belichick was in Cleveland, he scrimmaged against JJ and his Falcons and Belichick wanted to learn all he could about the offense. The year Brady threw 50 TD's and Moss caught 23 and they went 18-1... they used a lot of R&S principles in their scheme.

As for the QB's... to run this system you have to be smart. Case in point... Bo Levi Mitchell. I could tell by his fifth game he wasn't going to make it in this offense. You don't need a cannon of an arm, you need to be smart and accurate and quick and decisive in your decision making.

The NFL scouts QB's wrong. They all get a massive boner over some guy who can throw the ball 80 yards. Look at JaMarcus Russell. That guy had no business being a top pick yet, he had that cannon. He couldn't read defenses, he wasn't accurate, he wasn't a leader. He just had size and an arm.

Mike Leach summed it up best when he said NFL scouts really don't have a clue as to what they're looking at when evaluating QB's. Tom Brady... 6th round pick. Kurt Warner... undrafted. And there are many others, meanwhile, guys like Ryan Leaf and Russell get picked in the first few picks.

Neil Lomax was a pretty good NFL QB and he was the original R&S college QB. One of the reasons these guys have such a hard time is they have been in an offense that has a motto of: Whatever the defense does, will be wrong. But in the NFL... at least in the past, they were taught to run plays and if the defense has the routes covered, then you better make a great throw. The flexibility that the R&S has is something the NFL ignored for years. It's so simple... if I am the Z WR and I am supposed to run a 10 and Hook and the D is in Cover 3, meaning I will be blanketed, now, I'll just run a 10 and In.

It's taken the NFL years to catch up to this simple philosophy and none of them will admit it, but they all use aspects of the R&S now.

[One Trick Pony]

Mike Leach quote

[ponyscott]

Thank you for your post--very interesting perspective. I have always guessed, but never known, but with QB's, it wasn't the system, but the fact the system maybe show cased rather average qb's as to why they didn't have careers in the NFL--the raw matterial simply wasn't star quality to begin with, but the system gave them star statistics.

This opens up a can of worms for me and I'll try to be brief... but the NFL is very old-school. The owners hate change and when the R&S was in the NFL, everybody hated it because it was so difficult to defend. Three of the worst team used it and all 3 made the play-offs. {Oilers - Falcons - Lions}

What's funny, is that now, all teams have some option routes in their playbooks. They won't call what they do the R&S, but they borrow heavily from it. Especially New England. In 1994, when Belichick was in Cleveland, he scrimmaged against JJ and his Falcons and Belichick wanted to learn all he could about the offense. The year Brady threw 50 TD's and Moss caught 23 and they went 18-1... they used a lot of R&S principles in their scheme.

As for the QB's... to run this system you have to be smart. Case in point... Bo Levi Mitchell. I could tell by his fifth game he wasn't going to make it in this offense. You don't need a cannon of an arm, you need to be smart and accurate and quick and decisive in your decision making.

The NFL scouts QB's wrong. They all get a massive boner over some guy who can throw the ball 80 yards. Look at JaMarcus Russell. That guy had no business being a top pick yet, he had that cannon. He couldn't read defenses, he wasn't accurate, he wasn't a leader. He just had size and an arm.

Mike Leach summed it up best when he said NFL scouts really don't have a clue as to what they're looking at when evaluating QB's. Tom Brady... 6th round pick. Kurt Warner... undrafted. And there are many others, meanwhile, guys like Ryan Leaf and Russell get picked in the first few picks.

Neil Lomax was a pretty good NFL QB and he was the original R&S college QB. One of the reasons these guys have such a hard time is they have been in an offense that has a motto of: Whatever the defense does, will be wrong. But in the NFL... at least in the past, they were taught to run plays and if the defense has the routes covered, then you better make a great throw. The flexibility that the R&S has is something the NFL ignored for years. It's so simple... if I am the Z WR and I am supposed to run a 10 and Hook and the D is in Cover 3, meaning I will be blanketed, now, I'll just run a 10 and In.

It's taken the NFL years to catch up to this simple philosophy and none of them will admit it, but they all use aspects of the R&S now.

Awesome posts Dr Death!...don't be a stranger here.

Full DMN text in now shown.

[Stallion]

I'm not a Football Coach but I'm pretty damn sure that there is more than just 1 player on Offense. It wouldn't hurt for SMU to have more than 1-2 WRs a year that aren't possession type receivers. We've needed to upgrade our WRs just as much as our QB. No doubt both freshmen both were overwhelmed playing as Freshmen though. All receivers put up big numbers in the Run and Shoot-we need more receivers that can turn small plays into big plays. This year we have no established proven deep threat. Last year we basically played with 3 receivers and then since we need 4 on the field we threw Holman-who was not ready- or whoever else was availiable. Very unproductive at the 4th WR spot last for a Run and Shoot team.

[cutter]

thanks, ponyscott.

[Mexmustang]

Thanks I appreciate your opinions and perspective, all I had was at best a gut feeling on the issue.

[PonyTime]

Dr. Death came over to our board with the move from JJ to the mainland. I greatly appreciate his insight and colorful commentary (as is his trademark).

Thanks!

[The PonyGrad]

Intentionally avoiding real RnS until all the elements are in place, intending to bring it out and shock everyone?

lol.....I cannot imagine JJ intentionally holding back.

otherwise, I have no real clue, but my guess is that our qb development has been the primary limiting factor. I believe all the Hawaii qbs JJ had were starting qbs in high school, unlike KP who was not -- perhaps, that has been a factor (although, per coach Morrison, KP is 'right on schedule', regardless).
plus, the WAC defenses have always been pretty porous, even compared to CUSA, so perhaps JJ's Hawaii's teams were able to implement his offense with less difficulty.

I'm hoping this is the break-out year for the offense. all the pieces are in place. should be fun.

KP was a starter but was injured after five games as I recall. But I agree with you about past experience.

[The PonyGrad]

I'm not a Football Coach but I'm pretty damn sure that there is more than just 1 player on Offense. It wouldn't hurt for SMU to have more than 1-2 WRs a year that aren't possession type receivers. We've needed to upgrade our WRs just as much as our QB. No doubt both freshmen both were overwhelmed playing as Freshmen though. All receivers put up big numbers in the Run and Shoot-we need more receivers that can turn small plays into big plays. This year we have no established proven deep threat. Last year we basically played with 3 receivers and then since we need 4 on the field we threw Holman-who was not ready- or whoever else was availiable. Very unproductive at the 4th WR spot last for a Run and Shoot team.

True, and I think we are moving in that direction. I felt we really missed ES last season.