Week 4 Monday After: NT Loses Big, Looks Forward to Wyoming

We look back at an awful performance

North Texas was laughed off the field on Saturday by a Tech team that was looking real vulnerable. The performance was embarrassing says Eric Morris, and pretty much anyone associated with the program. The final was 66-21 but it wasn’t even that close. Tech had the backup QBs (yes plural) in to start the second half. They had 52 at the half and could have scored 100 if they wanted.

Matt Caponi is again on something of a hot seat — at least with fans. Perhaps the most damning quote was from Kittley who said that Tech ran the same play Memphis scored three rushing touchdowns on. I checked the highlights and see a similar formation but not the play. It doesn’t make a lot of difference as I am sure some other play would work.

All in all North Texas was beat up on the ground, and then started committing heavy numbers to the run and then got beat over the top. After that Tech was just toying with things, running nearly anything they wanted off the same basic counter look.

I did tweet that I saw some good from the squad in the early drives. I did see some good, but I was concerned that they had to commit so heavily to the run to get some success. I didn’t tweet that but it didn’t matter. The game got out of hand so quickly it was all moot. I know some people were saying “it looks like last year!” and I have to disagree. North Texas’ defense isn’t great, but it isn’t as awful as last year’s squad. The numbers may be similar so far, but consider that Texas Tech and South Alabama are two very good offenses. South is first in yard and yards-per-play this year and finished in the same position last season within the Sun Belt. Tech is fourth in a league where four teams average 7+ yards per play. Even taking out the North Texas effort, where they put up 8+ per play, they are about 6+ in the two games vs ACU and WSU.

Why do I mention this? Well North Texas was dog-walked vs FIU and Cal, two teams that were bad offensively last year. Cal finished 8th in the last year of the full Pac-12 and FIU finished 8th of 9, AND never sniffed 40 points the rest of the season. That’s right, a team that finished with four wins, couldn’t run nor pass suddenly became 2006 USC against North Texas. That is how bad the Mean Green were last year.

I re-watched the highlights of the Memphis game after reading about Kittley’s comments and rolled my eyes at such terrible defense. It was one-cut, touchdown every time. NT would sell out to stop the run and could not get close. On Saturday, they were out-schemed, out-played, out-coached. It is a similar outcome but different. I think this defense is miles better but yes, I know that doesn’t matter when you allow 52 first half points and 66 overall. I know, I know.

Film Time

I have decided I will do a video and talk through some of these but here are some clips for the interim.

This is a good play. NT gets backfield penetration, the safety flies up to make the tackle on the edge. It is how we draw it up.

Tech was always going to rely on their run game more in this one for three reasons: 1) They have a very good tailback and 2) They think NT is light and 3) They have huge TEs.

Testing the Mean Green defensive reaction was in the game plan. If they could not run with success they would be forced to pass. For Caponi, the plan had to be to be able to defend vs the run with the base looks, and then make a play in the secondary. The first drive was all-runs. This first play had me (and likely the defensive coaches) feeling good.

Here is an example of North Texas being too small. Tahj Brooks has a head of steam and runs over our safety. Tech is happy to have this matchup all day.

This was the very next play. You see it is 2nd and 9. Brooks truck-sticks a guy and now Tech’s guys are feeling real good. Brooks is walking with some swagger. The following is the same play with a different view. You see NT is hedging against an inside run with the Bear front here. The Nose (Brown) is head up on the center, and the Ends are on the guards in a 3 technique. This is great against inside stuff, but weak against tackle runs. This is an outside run. They are pinning 15, and pulling with the backside Tackle and TE. Tech adds to this some motion, which moves 35, 8 and 32 — our linebackers. They slide with the motion and are inside the tackle box with the three down lineman. Why is that important? Well they can’t set the edge. The playside tackle pins 15. The pulling tackle pins 32. The pulling TE pins 14. No one is there for the back until about 7-yards down the field and he has a head of steam.

A different view of the same play.

Again, NT got pinned and caught out in the worst possible play. It is good scheming from Tech’s OC.

Here we have a straight Duo or tight inside zone. The thrust of it is that North Texas is schemed up to be vulnerable.

Tech lines up in a 2x2 set, with the big TE flexed wide. He is always going to pinch and find the linebacker. The typical way 3-high teams defend this look is to walk the linebackers out. That leaves three down lineman, a linebacker, and the Star safety to deal with interior runs. The DE away from the back is typically supposed to go inside to the B-gap, and it looks like 15 does this. He’s double-teamed (why I think it was Duo) and our Nose gets A-gap penetration. We see the Star flying up to look for work, and the boundary safety coming up to be the force player. The problem is that 80 walks the linebacker backwards three yards into our Star. Now he is in traffic. The Z receiver gets a two-for-one and blocks the corner and moves on to the force safety. The corner is following his guy but now is 1) the only guy left to tackle and 2) too far inside.

Tahj Brooks makes his first cut at 1-yard up the field and uses his vision and patience to let this all play out. NT’s run fits were there, but were blocked into their own guys. Credit to 80 for essentially blocking two guys by blowing up 32.

North Texas began to get impatient, in my opinion. Rod Brown 10 — stunts but the team over pursues and is beat with a cutback.

I think this whole thing is probably just unlucky, as 32 flies in and blows up the pulling Tackle, who is aiming to lead the way though the gap. This pushes the runner back and lets him see the play a little better. Rod Brown is stunting with 15 and is there. So is our safety and Star. Part of the problem is that 15 gets knocked off his feet. If he could have stayed upright maybe the center-guard combo has to fight and cannot peel off to get the pursuit. In any case, it wasn’t enough.

There was some good, remember.

A tackle for loss!

Nelson making a great tackle here after shedding a kickout block.

North Texas was getting beat up by that counter action but was keeping themselves alive. Over a full game they probably start getting stretched for big gains but the offense would have needed to keep pace. Once the three interceptions happened, North Texas’ defense was dialing up blitzes and overcommitting and Tech just hit them with haymakers. It was like a boxer who knows he needs a knockout taking big swings and then getting put to sleep with some counters.

A Note on the Offense

This is getting long and I will have more on this later, but I didn’t like these two things:

On the opening drive, the opening play North Texas was in Ace (2x2) and had Sheffield 10 at F. He motions out and is supposed to block the corner and free up Conwright 0. He whiffs on the block and the result is a one yard gain, when it was schemed up for more.

Compare that with Tech’s superior blocking in the clips above. You have to win the details.

Similarly, on North Texas’ big touchdown to Young, our Z receiver is blown up by the DB.

Ward’s technique seems to be “catch the DB” and not “knock his teeth in” which ends up putting him on his back. It highlighted the difference in physicality between the two teams. Tech was knocking North Texas on our asses. It showed up on the scoreboard.

Next Up:

Wyoming.

Honestly I haven’t even looked at their tape. For obvious reasons. More to come later this week.

GMG