2019 Starters

[JustinS09]

I wouldn't say "good," but significantly improved. In total defense, we were 127 out of 128 in 2016, 111 out of 130 in 2017, and 73 out of 130 last year.

It's definitely a positive trend, but there's still room for improvement. Losing Awad in the middle will hurt our rushing defense (81/130) if one of our other DL or NT's don't step up.

 

[Mpf43]

Not sure where to put this but i saw isaac pope transferred to navarro.

 

[Bobcat2013]

Not sure where to put this but i saw isaac pope transferred to navarro.

Thats too bad. I got to see him play for Yoakum and he was a stud. Wish him well.

 

[_x_]

You know who I haven't heard a word about is Anthony Smith. Anyone know how he's looking returning from injury? If he's healthy he'll definitely be in the mix at RB.

 

[DrumCat]

You know who I haven't heard a word about is Anthony Smith. Anyone know how he's looking returning from injury? If he's healthy he'll definitely be in the mix at RB.

Been thinking the same thing. I think I remember hearing he's supposed to be healthy by the time the season starts. Probably needs to work his way back up after missing so much practice, but I'm excited to see when he gets back in.

 

[Bobkat34]

For the sake of discussion (board is slow until August practices)...

With the background of Jake Spavital (not using TEs much when he was OC) and OC Bob Stitt use of spread via West Coast Offense schemes (at times), what are you expecting to see in personnel?

As I look at our more experienced players and possible system options (use of 1 H-back to create disadvantages, 2 RBs or 4 WRs).

Questions to ask ourselves: Game 1 vs. Texas A&Ma
1. What positions have experience in big games (vs. P5s or other G5 schools for that matter on the road)?
Considering our returning group, it would seem our experience #1 is at RB with 3-4 having played in games from Taylor, Brown, Twyford (if you assume he'll play some here at times), and limited action in Smith/Nelson behind them. This may be our deepest skill position.

2. What players to you trust to make plays?
Most of returning starters should be expected to be prepared to "make plays" but which can you count on? I'd say we need Haydel, Hays, and White to use their blue collar work ethic to push others to be ready to play. Definitely, I expect Sheread, Twyford (some say will be a WR), and Banks to step up while expecting Graham, Frazier, Hopkins to compete for PT. Gotta go with vets on team.

3. What weaknesses can be exposed against other team defense?
A&M will bring a strong front 4 with depth but lost their LBs that made the most tackles so their depth here is limited and experience is even less than that. DBs were the concern last year but I'd expect that position to improve based on competition there. So how to attack their LBs?

Do we go with 3 Wr, 1 Hback, and 1 RB or 3 WR, 2 RB (one may be in slot as WR that goes in motion) or something else. Right now, I'd argue our best grouping based on experience and returning ability would be 3 WRs and 2 RBs (1 RB will be able to spread field as WR as well be it White, Sheread, Twyford) . Find ways to run the ball spreading out 3-4 WRs with 1 RB in backfield like fly sweep, misdirection plays, and by spreading WRs out makes LBs have to make plays in space vs. 1-2 RBs or WRs that go in motion. Unless at Hback steps up bigtime in August practice (seems everyone things Aragon/Hilts will be the guys with maybe Callouet), this is likely our best experienced grouping.

Thoughts? Yes, I'm bored this week!

 

[JustinS09]

I'm bored too lol...

I think the tight ends are used in that Hback type position you mentioned. I also think Twyford is a full time receiver at this point. We may start him in the backfield on certain plays, but he will most likely go in motion and get set out wide. He should be a dynamic player next year. We can use him in several different ways. We can use him on jet sweep type plays, screens, rb in motion to receiver, etc.

I doubt we have one base formation (ie 3 Wr, 1 Hback, and 1 RB or 3 WR, 2 RB, etc.). I bet we mix it up a bunch and try to create mismatches on pass plays. 3-4 wide receivers with 1 running back sounds about right though. I think we’ll see more passing plays, a lot of qb read options (reading the DE for the give/keep option) handing off to receivers or running backs. I mean, there are so many different formations and plays we can run, that I think we see a lot next season.

 

[Bobkat34]

Do you think Jensen is a guy you want to run 4-5 times a game? If we had an athletic QB, I could see it but Jensen doesn't seem the type. I can see much more misdirection being used from the fly sweep, reverses, and any type of screen available... especially with a west coast offense type of spread scheme.

 

[JustinS09]

I don't particularly want him running, I think he's more of a pocket passer, but I think he will end up doing a lot of it.

 

[LABobcat]

Stitt incorporated a lot of read-option at Montana, even when they had a gangly 6'7" QB his first 2 years there who wasn't nearly as athletic as Jensen is. This was the QB he inherited, before his 2 recruits were ready to play his 3rd and last year there. So I'd expect to see Jensen run several times a game, and do pretty well. He had some nice plays at Montana where he juked defenders to get extra yards or a TD. And I surely don't want to jinx him, but at 6'2" and 225 lbs, Jensen has a sturdy frame to absorb some hits.

Really hoping that Twyford does see time as the slot receiver who typically gets a lot of screens in this offense. Guess I've made that clear in previous posts. Part of it is related to what I saw at MT, when I saw Jensen struggling a little in the short game with their 5'9" slot receiver, compared to the older, more accurate QB (at that time) who played the first few games before he suffered a career-ending leg injury. Jensen is undoubtedly better now, but I also think he may appreciate the bigger target that Twyford gives compared to Sheread.

Lastly, repeating myself again, I can hardly recall any 2-RB sets in 3 years of watching Stitt at MT. Will be interesting to see if we see the Spav / WV / OK St. influence this year - any 2-RB sets will be a good indicator of that.

 

[LABobcat]

Kinda fun going back and watching Gresch Jensen's high school highlights: http://www.hudl.com/video/3/1874939/5721c9ab19a53e2a18697619.

I can see why Stitt recruited him. First, he understands the offense. But he also does a good job of buying time in the pocket with his feet while continously looking downfield. On defense, looks like he played at corner, safety, and linebacker - his hudl includes several defensive highlights. His high school was in the Seattle metro league, so it says quite a bit about his athleticism that his coaches trusted him to play in the secondary.

 

[Bobkat34]

Sorry.. when I noted 2 RBs I didn't literally mean 2 RBs in the backfield more so in the way that a guy like Twyford can line up at slot WR or RB and he's done both (year 1 WR, year 2 RB) and he was way more effective as a RB than WR (could argue QB Williams/Jones weren't good enough too).

My point was a guy like Twyford or even Sheread for that matter could line up as a slot WR then go in motion to a RB position (to identify if team is in zone or man) with a more physical RB like Taylor that can block or used in fly sweeps/misdirection plays to get defense expecting one thing and running Taylor other way for 5-6 yards. We still must find ways to run the ball even with a C- type of OL.

Remember all those fly sweeps we used for TE Brown that went for big gains, most of the time those were successful not because of blocking... mores o they couldn't stop a 6'3/250 lb TE running at them. Now, we'll have 3-4 slot WRs that can make that run with speed from White, Sheread, Twyford, Jantz to name a few. Biggest question is can two inexperienced TEs Aragon/Hilts make a quick transition to become effective receivers as I don't have much belief they'll be ready to block and that is where we better hope someone like Callouett can do it.

Thanks for the info on Jensen and possibilities of him running 4-5+ times a game to keep defenses honest. Sure hope he doesn't have to do it that much. I just hope we don't have to be the lateral team we've been the last few years (under Fran everything was 5-15yards and Withers was 10-25 yards with a few deep passes that actually worked). We definitely need to be able to run for 3-4 yards even if that means doing what Stitt does best and that is spread everyone out as wide as possible to give OL/RB an advantage or at least a chance to run ball.

 

[Bobkat34]

Stitt scheme:
Stitt at Montana

 

[JustinS09]

Notice how NDSU's corners were playing 5-10 yards off the ball. They're doing that because they have to respect the deep ball. Heck, even a mid range pass.

The past few years, we haven't had that threat and defenses have lined up right on top of us. Screens don't work when there's no separation. Part of that was the oline wasn't giving us enough time to run a full route, part of that was the lack of diversity in our play calling.

It's little changes like that between the schemes of Fran/Withers and Spavital/Stitt that make me believe we can see a drastically improved offense.

 

[LABobcat]

a guy like Twyford or even Sheread for that matter could line up as a slot WR then go in motion to a RB position (to identify if team is in zone or man) with a more physical RB like Taylor that can block or used in fly sweeps/misdirection plays to get defense expecting one thing and running Taylor other way for 5-6 yards. We still must find ways to run the ball even with a C- type of OL.

Biggest question is can two inexperienced TEs Aragon/Hilts make a quick transition to become effective receivers as I don't have much belief they'll be ready to block and that is where we better hope someone like Callouett can do it.

I think we'll see the slot in the backfield a lot with motion / sweep plays, which should help the run game or open up screens (which essentially are part of the run game in this offense). Ditto for the H-back / TE - motioning into the backfield as a lead blocker or receiver out of the backfield. I still want to review some of this stuff so I can do a better job of talking X's and O's -- I've always mostly just followed the ball but like I've said I'm more interested this year than ever before - should be a lot of fun to see what Stitt and Spav come up with this year!

I hope Callouett emerges at TE, because he was already known to be a skilled blocker in high school. If he can also run downfield and catch the ball, then he may fit the bill.

 

[LABobcat]

Notice how NDSU's corners were playing 5-10 yards off the ball. They're doing that because they have to respect the deep ball. Heck, even a mid range pass.

The past few years, we haven't had that threat and defenses have lined up right on top of us. Screens don't work when there's no separation. Part of that was the oline wasn't giving us enough time to run a full route, part of that was the lack of diversity in our play calling.

It's little changes like that between the schemes of Fran/Withers and Spavital/Stitt that make me believe we can see a drastically improved offense.

Jensen excelled in the medium and deep areas of the field when he played at MT. He was good at putting the ball in windows downfield that allow receivers to make plays. Stitt does use the screen a lot, almost like running plays that can wear the defense down, but I recall that most of Jensen's yardage at MT came through medium and deep passes.

Regarding the offensive line, maybe we'll see Jensen on designed roll-outs to keep the pocket moving and gas the D-linemen. Jensen is plenty shifty to elude D-linemen in the open field. His high school highlights show that he's always been pretty comfortable moving around to set up the throw.

 

[vp98]

A&M is going to be a yell practice. We just need to play our game. Put our 1st string against their 1st string, our 2nd string against their 2nd string etc. Everybody gets their butts handed to them in that game including the coaches. Its not a home game anyway. What will be interesting will be the the chance to win some games at home with the 1st half of our schedule and maybe even make some noise against WYO or SMU. I can't wait to see the offense against WYO!

 

[Bobcat87]

A&M is going to be a yell practice. We just need to play our game. Put our 1st string against their 1st string, our 2nd string against their 2nd string etc. Everybody gets their butts handed to them in that game including the coaches. Its not a home game anyway. What will be interesting will be the the chance to win some games at home with the 1st half of our schedule and maybe even make some noise against WYO or SMU. I can't wait to see the offense against WYO!

I like the “idea” of going into CS and “playing our game.” But when you’re in a contest that is clearly a total mismatch, it’s kinda hard to “play your game” when the other fella is “blowing it up” every play.
I really hope that it’s not as one sided as I fear it may be, and that we can actually “run our game.” But at this point, I’m not overly optimistic about this one, just want us to get out of there healthy, and hope they spell the name of the Universiry correctly on the check.

 

[_x_]

spell the name of the Universiry correctly

Ha

 

[Richard]

I am excited to see what Brother Spavital does, but man I wish Woods would have stuck around (knew that wasn't realistic though)