Finally got around to watching the first half of this game last night. While Texas fans might have something to worry about, let's walk away from the edge for now.
North Texas is bad. Really bad. OU was bigger, faster and stronger. If North Texas had a player that could play for OU, they held him out. And when you compound the talent deficit with some questionable coaching moves, well, you lose by 69 points.
UNT played man the entire first half and repeatedly got burned.
My conservative estimate is that the OU receivers got at least 200 yards after the catch. You can't expect a 5'8" white corner to be able to cover Malcolm Kelly. You just can't. It was like watching a kid chase an ice cream truck. UNT did nothing to take advantage of a quarterback making his first collegiate start. Try disguising your coverages. Try playing zone. Anything. I'm convinced Carl Reese hijacked the feed from the pressbox and was calling the defense.
UNT's offensive line consists of 4 guard types and one freshman tackle. These guys were recruited for a smash mouth running game and struggle in pass protection. And yet North Texas stayed in their 4 receiver set the entire first half. They never once changed the formation from what I saw. They could have decided to change formations and run the ball or at least run the ball out of their base, but they never did. Run the clock. Stop the bleeding. Make it respectable. I guess this will help the Dodge narrative. 'In his first game at North Texas, Dodge lost by 69 points. Four years later he won the Sun Belt!'
"History will judge you favorably."
So what did I learn about OU? Not much that we didn't know already. Malcolm Kelly is good. Joaquin Iglesias is a solid 2nd receiver. Bob Stoops yells a lot. OU's defensive backs are quick and like to jump routes.
We learned some new things. Sam Bradford can throw hitch passes. When Ryan Reynolds blitzes, he looks like a woman attacking a rack of clothes at a sale. Left tackle Phil Loadholt has never seen a spin move. And they couldn't run the ball worth shit.
But Demarco Murray averaged 5 yards per carry and scored 5 touchdowns?! Take away his 44 yard touchdown run on a reverse (where he lined up at WR), and he went 16-43. OU had a first and goal on the 4 yard line, and it took the first offense 4 rushes to score. They later had a first and goal on the 2, and it took them 3 rushes to score. Not Texas bad, but not good either.
Now comes Miami.