The Offense .... and Defense

We all know the idea is to score points, right? Well we don't do too much of that. We are at 19.9 ppg, which isn't good when the top 9 teams in the nation through Friday average 40.8+ a game, with OU averaging a monstrous 51.4. The  only way NT can compete with that is on defense, where they average 48 a game ... allowed. .. which isn't so cool. 

So what is the problem? Well good news is that we arent battling for last place in yardage and points like we were in '05 and '06. In fact, the TD led offense averaged a nice 400+ ypg in '07, and is at 379 for this year, better than Baylor, Northwestern and even Michigan State. Those teams are doing alright. So why are we losing? 

Well, for one, it isn't the offense's fault. They do a good job of taking care of the ball and moving it decently. I said the same thing about the LSU game. We start turning the ball over when we try to play catch up, which we invariably do by the end of the 1st half 'cuz we are down 40. I figure with a semi-stout defense backing them, the offense could probably put up somewhere around 25-30 a game. 

We have a horrible defense now. It is hard to imagine why. We had a decent group during Dickey's last few years. Everyone thought we just needed someone that could guide us to a few more points per game and we would be golden. Well, in all our zeal to improve the offense, I guess we just forgot about the D. 

I understand giving up 35 points to Oklahoma in the first half.  I don't understand giving up 56 points to Rice. They are not THAT good. We are just THAT bad. 

The problem is that TD isn't known for his defense. Really the dude just outgunned every other team in high school. That would work here too, if we had playmakers. Just like at Tech the last few years. The guys we have now are good for controlling the ball like Dodge-y said. We need guys who can take a 5 yard route 70 yards for the score. We need speed and explosiveness, if we are going to try to outgun the opposition. 

Even then, we still need to upgrade our defense. I really don't know how you do that without better players, more on that later.

Like I have written before, this offense isn't new or unique anymore. Most colleges run some or all of it, and even more high schools do. One of the biggest advantages of this thing is that it is hard to stop without smart, elite defenders. 

It is an arms race.  You used to be able to get away with scrubby, slow wideouts because they were faster than the run-stopping linebackers. Now there are fast-wideout stopping 'backers who only can be beat by faster, elite receivers. North Texas, is stuck with not-as-talented-or-fast defenders who get smoked by the elite or para-elite wideouts every team has. I even hear that the UNT offense routinely abuses our guys in practice. 

What to do. Like I said, I don't know. Get better players? Get better coaches? Those are obvious. How about a unique defense like a 3 3 5? Well with our overwhelmed d-backs, it may not be wise to put more of them on the field, but hey, its not like we are going to be messing with something that works. 

I would try something like that. It has had success in places like WVU where they didnt have a lot of big lineman guys. You need to take advantage of what you have. We have relative speed.  I would put our fastest guys in, and blitz the shhh out of the other team. Forget the bend-but-don't break mentality. We always break when we do that. Instead, lets take some chances, attack. A spread offense is more aggressive. A spread defense should be too.