Originally posted at PlaymakerOnline.com:
One of the things I’ve been advocating the Texas Longhorns to do all season is commit to the running game with at least a 60-40 split in play calls because the running game is so deep and the offensive line blocks best for the run. Malcolm Brown, Fozzy Whitaker and now Joe Bergeron are making plays in the ground game and they should be featured as much as possible for Texas to have a shot at beating great teams.
Austin American-Statesman columnist Kirk Bohls came out and said that there’s no way Texas can run the table by constantly running the ball at the rate at which they did against the Kansas Jayhawks in a dominating win this past week.
Well, there’s a flaw in that argument just on it’s base. I don’t think anyone thinks that Texas can run the table PERIOD. And that includes myself and just about every hard core Texas fan. This team is too young, the staff hasn’t even had a full year to implement everything they want to change about the team. The assumption before the season started, shared by most smart Texas fans is that this team would be lucky to win nine games in this rebuilding year. So running every down, passing every down, a balanced attack… it doesn’t matter. It would take a miracle of epic proportions for the Horns to finish the season 5-0.
But the games left on the schedule will determine whether Texas finishes on the high end, with eight or nine wins, or on the low end, with six or seven wins. And there’s no doubt that running the ball will give them the best chance to win.
Bohls argues that the Horns’ running numbers are skewed and that their rank among college teams in the running game is undeserved because they’ve played some awful teams. But what about the way they ran the ball against BYU and Oklahoma State? The Cougars are ranked 36th in the country, only allowing about 25 yards per game on the ground. That’s legit with their defensive line too. Texas ran for 125 yards against BYU. As for the Cowboys, they rank 86th, allowing 85 yards per game.
THAT’S ALL THE MORE REASON TO RUN AGAINST THEM!
Texas ran for 231 yards against them. Malcolm Brown and Fozzy Whitaker combined to average over six yards per carry in their 28 attempts and almost single-handedly kept Texas in a game that they probably should have won. Texas got blown out against Oklahoma because they didn’t stay committed to the run. As soon as they abandoned that game plan in the 2nd quarter, the Sooners pulled away. Against OSU, Texas threw the ball more than they ran despite the statistics and in-game results showing that the opposite should have been done.
Bohls is missing the point. David Ash is turning the ball over a lot: he has three interceptions in the last two games and no touchdowns. That doesn’t mean that he should throw more so that he can grow. It means that he should be letting the Texas run game carry him while he finds himself as a quarterback.
Maybe by the end of the season, he’ll be good enough to hang in on the road against Texas A&M and Baylor. But until then, he shouldn’t be throwing the ball more than 25 times per game. The way to win is to run.
usually i just ignore your articles (well I ignored 99% of this one too) but Texas should not even think about going to the air one time against Tx Tech.
The key to beating Texas Tech is too dumb down your offense to the nth degree. Nevada ran 3 plays against us and only lost by 1. Iowa St ran 2 plays against us and won by 34. Maybe if UT runs one running play all game, they'll win by 60
They need to stick with the run definitely, and pass mainly using play-action.
It seems like they are transitioning to an SEC style of offense, which in the next couple years, could pay great dividends for UT, playing in a conference where the majority of the teams runs spread offenses, and defenses are geared toward stopping the spread, not a ground-and-pound game.
It will be interesting to see how sick the UT run game will be with Malcolm Brown, Jonathan Gray, and Joe Bergeron over the next 3 years.
I wouldn't even go that far. The forward pass isn't even needed to beat Tech.
I would seriously tell Ash/McCoy this if I were the coach
1. Hand to fast black guy, he runs up the middle
2. After doing that a few times, fake to fast black guy then run outside
3 Rinse and repeat
If I were Ut coach, I don't even put Ash or McCoy or any wide receivers in the game.
Pretty sure if Barnett can tear our defense apart, anyone can.
Terrance Bullitt out.
gotdammit
If texas tries to get cute and sling the ball around, and Ash throws his inevitable redzone pick, I'm going to kill someone.
Smart strategy is just to run it down their throats.
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