The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

We can kinda Occam's Razor the whole TCU thing. The fact is, we've had two head coaches whose entire offensive plan consisted of running between the tackles as hard as possible. That works against teams without Texas' talent, or when everything goes like it's supposed to. TCU may not be world beaters, but they know how to play coherent defense. Certainly, if you're telling them what you're going to do (and it helps when that thing is power up the middle), they're going to stymie it.

They win against Texas because Texas played such predictable offense that it's like watching the game on replay. A journeyman defensive coordinator could shut it down. Patterson certainly exceeds journeyman.

There's no voodoo or mental gymnastics. It's rote offense versus disciplined defense. I fully expect that to change Saturday.

The last year  Texas would run 2 up the middle and then a sideline pass

we will need to pass the ball and it will need to be north and south

might be nice to see a pass on 1st or 2nd down as well

if we can complete the 15 yards down field pass we can open up the run game

all I can say is that its my impression that our QB rarely checks off and calls a different play if the def warrants it

Pretty sure the ghost of GDGD will haunt the Texas sidelines forever...

Pretty sure the ghost of GDGD will haunt the Texas sidelines forever...

apparently the Iowa sidelines as well.  At least until Ferentz is gone.

not trying to argue but was this a play change or just putting the receiver in the correct place the original play called for

Thompson reacts much better then Card does to the defense

It almost certainly wasn't a play change. I just noticed that Thompson knew the exact alignment, and didn't want "good enough". During the Rice game, he was apparently telling our RBs where their holes would be during the huddle. He studies film obsessively. While some kids can do that and never really know what it means, Thompson uses it to predict where the defenses will be weak.

Modern play calling in the RPO world is weird. Usually, straight up "audibles" aren't called in the traditional sense unless the QB sees something that's just absolutely not going to work. Almost every play call will have both a run or pass procedure built into it. At the snap, the OL will set and carry their guys for a couple of counts. Its up to the QB to make his decision during that time. If the ball isn't thrown by then, the OL will assume there's a running play behind them and begin driving down the field. If the QB was, in fact, late with his read, you get the dreaded "ineligible lineman downfield" penalty.

Instead of running predefined patterns, our receivers are supposed to understand their role in the play. One receiver might be taking the top off. He's running deep in an attempt to influence any safeties. Maybe pull them out of the middle. If they don't go for it, then he knows he'd the deep target and should expect the ball to arrive at whatever shoulder his DB defender didn't cover. Another receiver might be running a hook. He's either occupying a nickel or moving a LB away from edge contain. The TE might be dragging a shallow cross. These routes prevent Safeties or LBs from overcommitting to run support.

No matter if they're lining up in "X" or "Slot" or "H" position, they have a role. It can be executed from any starting position. When Bijan Robinson catches the swing pass all by himself for a training jog into the endzone, it's because all the above concepts worked.

I think Major Applewhite was the best field general Ive seen for the Horns.

He more then made up for average speed and passing ability by reading defenses and exploiting their weaknesses