So let's talk Mazzone after his first year

Overall I think he was fine. Offense was more consistent this year... even with an inconsistent QB. Have to give him credit for utilizing our running backs a lot more this year.

I'm not sure how to feel about him. Obviously Trevor Knight is a limited passer, so its hard to get a good read.

It's frustrating that on both sides of the ball we seem to rely on big plays and have no consistency. That to me, says we have players that can make plays but we aren't putting them in a position to succeed on a consistent basis. Our running and passing game production were 100% dependent on explosives, and our defense was dependent on negative plays and turnovers. When we had spells without those, we looked pretty bad across the board.

I agree with you and I'm not saying Mazzone was flawless by any means. I do think our offense was more cohesive this year and he did a decent job cobbling together an identity based on the personnel. Is there a a lot of room for our offense to improve? Absolutely. But it's the other side of the ball where we really need to be asking questions. People can say all they want about HS football in TX and there's certainly merit to that, but we still shouldn't be one of the worst defenses in the country year in year out. I would understand that excuse if we were consistently in the 50-60s overall

I don't want to derail this into a defensive discussion though. I think Mazzone is fine right now and it will be interesting to see what we do next year with so many new people

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What are your thoughts on our new OC after his first year?

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Start was good.
Finish was terrible.
Overall, it was very average.

Just like everything else under Sumlin.

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It's frustrating that on both sides of the ball we seem to rely on big plays and have no consistency. That to me, says we have players that can make plays but we aren't putting them in a position to succeed on a consistent basis.

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I lean more towards it being that Trevor was inconstant w/pre snap reads (3rd & 4th on last drive vs KSU is a prime example) and as a passer (aside from those one on one deep balls) while the WRs (mainly RSJ, Speedy, and to a lesser degree Kirk) had some drop issues. Even on many of the completed passes the ball often low, high, behind, and in front of the WR enough that plays didn't get as many yards as they could have. It's hard to be consistent when your offense can't execute the simple short passes at a high clip.

Also, for as good as Trevor was running the ball, starting w/Tennessee he began to miss HUGE opportunities to keep the ball on the read option. Not sure if it was b/c of defenses adjusting to his tendencies or if he was simply trying to keep from taking too many hits but there were many times a 3 yard gain could have been huge plays if he had kept it.

It was concerning that when Hubes played the offense was total trash but considering Knight was brought in at all the staff must have known he wasn't capable of handling the gig (at least w/this o-line).


Really if we can just have a QB who can complete passes somewhere in the low to mid 60% range and can run the ball enough to make defenses account for him the offense should be good enough to win quite a few games. Hopefully, more consistent passing will also lead to more extended drives that can, at the very least, give the defense more rest. That alone should make a huge difference in their late game/late season performance.

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Really if we can just have a QB who can complete passes somewhere in the low to mid 60% range and can run the ball enough to make defenses account for him the offense should be good enough to win quite a few games.

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I was going to rebut you with the 2015 season, but Allen didn't even reach 60% completion percentage.

2014

Kenny Hill 66.7%
Kyle Allen 61.5%
Leading Rusher - Tra Carson (581 yards)

2015

Kyle Allen 56.5%
Kyler Murray 59.5%
Jake Hubenak 53.3%
Leading Rusher - Tra Carson (1165 yards)

2016

Trevor Knight 53.3%
Jake Hubenak 58.7%
Leading Rusher - Trayveon Williams (1057 yards)
Keith Ford and Trevor Knight BOTH had more rushing yards in 2016 (669, 614) than our leading rusher in 2014

'14 and '15 were Spav led offenses.

Not sure how you can use those to rebut what I am talking about w/a Mazzone offense.

I'm also not accounting for a potential mental meltdown like Kenny Hill had.

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Not sure how you can use those to rebut what I am talking about w/a Mazzone offense.

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You said completion percentage in the 60's AND a legitimate run threat.

The only year we've had a 1,000 yard rusher and a passer with a better than 60% completion under Sumlin was 2012.

"No end zone" Mazzone.

He singlehandedly is the reason we lost to KSU. When the run is working, and there are running lanes, why does he frickING always abandon the run once he is in the red zone? He's just another washed up dumbass that is warming a seat and biding time until Sumlin is gone.

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You said completion percentage in the 60's AND a legitimate run threat.

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When talking about what seems to be needed for a Mazzone offense sure.

Again, I'm not sure why you'd compare a Spav called offense to a Mazzone one. Other than both being spread based they really aren't all that similar at all.