We tackled the defense previously (get it, defense, tackled . . . ) and we’re onto the offense.
Stats You Know
These are pretty standard stats and these ARE OVERALL RANKINGS (as is the next graph) which means that these offenses were really pretty good overall and were both good in certain areas, but not great in others. Texas State wasn’t great in the red zone, while the outliers for Texas Tech last year were yards per play and 4th down percentage. Where Texas State was really great was the per game points and yards. Texas Tech was really good as well, but the points per play and yards per play were in favor of Texas State.
Advanced Stats
The net ranks, overall rank, and rush rank favored Texas Tech, but the success rate statistics favored Texas State. The success rates (I think) are the measure of success on individual plays while the stats where Texas Tech is favored are really measures of the offense overall. I think it’s just how you feel.
The idea here with the offense is despite what you think, the offense was really good with Zach Kittley and Texas Tech hired a guy who had an offense that was really good. There’s probably not much of a drop-off and I don’t know that the statistics really favor a passing offense over a rushing offense.
And if you want to know about what the offense will look like (TEMPO, TEMPO, TEMPO), via the New Marcos Record:
When building the UIW offense that became the most prolific offensive attack in the nation last year, both Kinne and Leftwich worked during the offseason to figure out the perfect plan.
“Last year we went into the film room and built out what we wanted this thing to look like,” Kinne said. “We are not really this offense or that offense but we built that thing from the ground up … we see things very similarly so we are going to bounce ideas off one another. He might see this or I might see this and we will talk about it. That relationship has to be really good in order to work together especially when you have a head coach who used to call plays and someone like Mack who is now calling the plays.”
Though both coaches’ mentors have different philosophies, Leftwich was with now North Texas Head Coach Eric Morris, coming with the Air Raid passing attack, and Kinne with Central Florida Head Coach Gus Malzahn’s hurry up run-based attack, it was the run game that both Kinne and Leftwich agreed upon needed to happen.
“It’s something we both dabble in,” Leftwich said. “With the previous regime at UIW, we are an up-tempo offense to throw the ball. Kinne had been with Gus Malzahn in the past so he was familiar with the tempo aspect of things. Being an offensive lineman’s son, I definitely have an affinity for running the football. I believe if you want to play championship football, it comes with toughness and being able to run the ball when it’s fourth and one and we need a yard. We need to be a physical team.”
With an agreement on their strategy, it was now up to fitting their plan of attack around their players.
“So we saw eye to eye there; then we were, ‘How do we build this thing?’” Leftwich said. “We have a really good offensive line, good running backs who can make plays, and a quarterback who is dynamic so how do we build this thing around the run game. That led to the wide splits and the tempo which created problems for the defense which we wanted.”