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"This is not complicated people: Davis sucks, EXCEPT when he has a mobile QB who can move the chains with his feet. Even better, an athletic QB who can run the zone-read with talented backs and is adept at hitting open receivers in space (because LBs and safeties are frozen due to being so focused on what's going on with the zone-read in the backfield) thrives under Davis (#10).
2004 (with the big exception of 12-0 loss to OU), 2005 and 2008 were Greg Davis' halcyon days. The Texas offense in those years was the undisputed BEST in the country. Not easy to do. Why were these years so good when every other year under Davis has ranged from vaguely acceptable to mediocre to abysmal? Vince Young and Colt McCoy, two QBs who could always keep drives alive with their feet amid the consistent Davis mindfart. But guess what? After each bailout by his QBs, Davis invariably called plays aggressively in those years, and our offense was nigh invincible. The distinction between Vince and Colt is that Vince was the most dangerous presence in college football history, while Colt carried a near-equal clutch gene as Vince and had the two best receivers in Mack's tenure in '08 (notice how Colt's play dropped precipitously in '09 with the absence of Quan). The Vince and Colt offenses were drastically different schematically, but each relied on the ability of the heroic, athletic leader at QB to make things happen running. Unfortunately, Colt tricked Mack and GD into thinking they were good at running the finesse dink and dunk PASSING spread, something they should have had no illusions about after the Simms era. What they failed to realize (and this will never cease to amaze me) was that their meal ticket in two of our three most successful years was a RUNNING spread offense, that oh by the way just so happened to also be lethal in the pass because D's were so scared of Vince, Jamaal, Ramonce, Selvin. The success in '08 was a passing spread with zero running game (Ogbannaya was our featured RB, god bless him), but it only worked because of Colt's guts and Ship/Quan's brilliance.
Now any high school student with any understanding of analysis would look at the three most successful sample groups and say: OK, it looks like the KEY is having an uber-athlete at QB and designing an offense around a run-dominated zone-read/spread. Not only does that give Texas the running identity their coach craves, but it also allows average-at-best receivers (Pittman, Sweed, Brian Carter, freshman Quan) to post gaudy statistics because they're consistently wide open. All you need is for the uber-athlete to be basically adept at throwing the football to wide open dudes wearing the same color jersey. In conclusion, while the '08 sample was impressive, it has to be an anomaly. Great QB with two great WRs was enough to produce prolific offense, but to be swayed into thinking Texas can run the football without the presence of an uber-athlete or that Texas can methodically and consistently march down the field throwing short and sideways would be the height of hubris.
That Mack and especially Davis haven't EVER truthfully acknowledged what made them successful and fought day and night in recruiting to stockpile potential Vince Young, Cam Newton, et. al. prospects will go down as the biggest mistake of the Mack/Davis era. Yes, even bigger than not pulling Simms from the Colorado game until he hurt his hand when he was willfully flicking lit matches all over a kerosene-doused Texas dream. What makes it even MORE frustrating for fans is that Greg Davis is SORT OF A GURU at calling that type of an offense!!!! Chip Kelly modeled (and refined, improved upon) his Oregon offense on what Texas did in 2005! Gene Chizik, our D coordinator in '05 watched Vince Young work his magic that year. Think that had something to do with their aggressive acquisition of Cam Newton? Think he's gonna allow Auburn to recruit anything BUT 6'4 220+ black athletes to play QB there as long as he's in charge? I think not.
WTF were Mack and Davis ever thinking going away from that type of player?"
2004 (with the big exception of 12-0 loss to OU), 2005 and 2008 were Greg Davis' halcyon days. The Texas offense in those years was the undisputed BEST in the country. Not easy to do. Why were these years so good when every other year under Davis has ranged from vaguely acceptable to mediocre to abysmal? Vince Young and Colt McCoy, two QBs who could always keep drives alive with their feet amid the consistent Davis mindfart. But guess what? After each bailout by his QBs, Davis invariably called plays aggressively in those years, and our offense was nigh invincible. The distinction between Vince and Colt is that Vince was the most dangerous presence in college football history, while Colt carried a near-equal clutch gene as Vince and had the two best receivers in Mack's tenure in '08 (notice how Colt's play dropped precipitously in '09 with the absence of Quan). The Vince and Colt offenses were drastically different schematically, but each relied on the ability of the heroic, athletic leader at QB to make things happen running. Unfortunately, Colt tricked Mack and GD into thinking they were good at running the finesse dink and dunk PASSING spread, something they should have had no illusions about after the Simms era. What they failed to realize (and this will never cease to amaze me) was that their meal ticket in two of our three most successful years was a RUNNING spread offense, that oh by the way just so happened to also be lethal in the pass because D's were so scared of Vince, Jamaal, Ramonce, Selvin. The success in '08 was a passing spread with zero running game (Ogbannaya was our featured RB, god bless him), but it only worked because of Colt's guts and Ship/Quan's brilliance.
Now any high school student with any understanding of analysis would look at the three most successful sample groups and say: OK, it looks like the KEY is having an uber-athlete at QB and designing an offense around a run-dominated zone-read/spread. Not only does that give Texas the running identity their coach craves, but it also allows average-at-best receivers (Pittman, Sweed, Brian Carter, freshman Quan) to post gaudy statistics because they're consistently wide open. All you need is for the uber-athlete to be basically adept at throwing the football to wide open dudes wearing the same color jersey. In conclusion, while the '08 sample was impressive, it has to be an anomaly. Great QB with two great WRs was enough to produce prolific offense, but to be swayed into thinking Texas can run the football without the presence of an uber-athlete or that Texas can methodically and consistently march down the field throwing short and sideways would be the height of hubris.
That Mack and especially Davis haven't EVER truthfully acknowledged what made them successful and fought day and night in recruiting to stockpile potential Vince Young, Cam Newton, et. al. prospects will go down as the biggest mistake of the Mack/Davis era. Yes, even bigger than not pulling Simms from the Colorado game until he hurt his hand when he was willfully flicking lit matches all over a kerosene-doused Texas dream. What makes it even MORE frustrating for fans is that Greg Davis is SORT OF A GURU at calling that type of an offense!!!! Chip Kelly modeled (and refined, improved upon) his Oregon offense on what Texas did in 2005! Gene Chizik, our D coordinator in '05 watched Vince Young work his magic that year. Think that had something to do with their aggressive acquisition of Cam Newton? Think he's gonna allow Auburn to recruit anything BUT 6'4 220+ black athletes to play QB there as long as he's in charge? I think not.
WTF were Mack and Davis ever thinking going away from that type of player?"
