HOUSTON - When it comes to adhering to one system of offense, maybe only one college football team is as stubborn as Texas Tech.
Navy (8-4), with an offense that looks like it belongs on black-and-white newsreels, brings its top-ranked rushing game into today's 3:30 p.m. EV1.net Houston Bowl against pass-happy Texas Tech (7-5) at Reliant Stadium.
In terms of polar opposites, Tech has perhaps met its match. What happens today is anyone's guess when ball control meets controlled chaos.
Tech finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in Division I-A in passing yards per game (473.5), total offense (584.6) and first downs (388). Navy's triple-option offense led the nation in rushing yards per game (326.1).
Tech has spent the week in Houston preparing for an opponent that provides a limited point of reference. Navy runs the purest form of the triple option, once a staple of all three service academies. Rice and Ohio University run forms of the offense; Air Force operates a close but inexact blueprint, while Army has gone in other directions.
When Tech coach Mike Leach talks about Navy's insistence on doing one thing the best it can, he could be talking about his own team.
"They stay within their scheme and they execute it," said Leach, whose spread offense couldn't be more different from a triple option. "Great teams don't really outsmart you as much as they really play great technique. They know what they're going to do. They've got the scheme out of the way, and then they coach great technique.
"In my experience, the guys with the tricks aren't as tough as those who have an identity or are committed to the specific things they're doing."
Leach's scheme uses four or five wideouts, and is heavy on screens, receivers who block, shovel passes and quick slants. Tech quarterback B.J. Symons, whose 5,336 yards passing set an NCAA single-season record, will give Navy a look it hasn't seen. Tulane, which averaged 257.8 yards per game and threw for 214 yards against Navy, was the closest thing to a spread offense Navy faced.
"[Symons] is a very heady player," Navy coach Paul Johnson said. "They're going to run their scheme. We've got to play smart, not give them anything easy, make them earn it. I don't think you'll ever shut them down."
In terms of philosophy, time of possession apparently favors neither side. Johnson said it could play into Navy's favor if quarterback Craig Candeto and fullback Kyle Eckel, the Mids' two 1,000-yard rushers, can keep Tech's offense off the field.
Leach dismisses time of possession as a misapplied statistic. To him, the team that scores the fastest and most often, and best utilizes the most skill players, will win or have a chance to win every time.
Navy scored 34 or more points six times this season but might need more to hold off Tech. On offense, Tech often looks comfortable playing from behind to cover up a defense ranked 110th at 463.8 yards allowed per game.
Watching such a game unfold for Tech -- a 49-45 comeback victory in September against Ole Miss for instance -- is entertaining. But despite its rally capability, Tech is 4-19 under Leach in games it trails by 14 or more points, including 1-8 when trailing by 21 or more.
"I don't think they want to get in a shootout with our offense," Tech defensive end Adell Duckett said. "I think they'll try to control the clock, which is smart with them trying to get 4 yards here and there. When they need to, they can put some points up."
Tech's defense ranked 91st nationally against the run (189.4) but can boast a schedule superior to Navy's. Navy's defense ranked fourth against the pass (153.8) while facing such throwing juggernauts as Rutgers (43rd in pass offense), TCU (53rd), Army (72nd), Vanderbilt (73rd), Notre Dame (93rd), Central Michigan (97th), Eastern Michigan (107th), Air Force (116th) and Rice (117th).
"We just have to keep them in front of us and tackle," Johnson said. "Just tackle after they catch the ball and make them snap it again. That's how we've tried to play it all year. If you let 'em throw it over your head, you won't last long."
Navy can afford fewer mistakes for another reason.
"You have to put it in perspective," Candeto said. "They've got pretty big guys up front. You never know until the game, but numbers-wise, [slowing Tech's offense] is looking good for us. The thing is you can't discount the athletic ability of a team like that shutting down our option in a hurry."
May the most stubborn offense win.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/colleges/7597612.htm
Navy (8-4), with an offense that looks like it belongs on black-and-white newsreels, brings its top-ranked rushing game into today's 3:30 p.m. EV1.net Houston Bowl against pass-happy Texas Tech (7-5) at Reliant Stadium.
In terms of polar opposites, Tech has perhaps met its match. What happens today is anyone's guess when ball control meets controlled chaos.
Tech finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in Division I-A in passing yards per game (473.5), total offense (584.6) and first downs (388). Navy's triple-option offense led the nation in rushing yards per game (326.1).
Tech has spent the week in Houston preparing for an opponent that provides a limited point of reference. Navy runs the purest form of the triple option, once a staple of all three service academies. Rice and Ohio University run forms of the offense; Air Force operates a close but inexact blueprint, while Army has gone in other directions.
When Tech coach Mike Leach talks about Navy's insistence on doing one thing the best it can, he could be talking about his own team.
"They stay within their scheme and they execute it," said Leach, whose spread offense couldn't be more different from a triple option. "Great teams don't really outsmart you as much as they really play great technique. They know what they're going to do. They've got the scheme out of the way, and then they coach great technique.
"In my experience, the guys with the tricks aren't as tough as those who have an identity or are committed to the specific things they're doing."
Leach's scheme uses four or five wideouts, and is heavy on screens, receivers who block, shovel passes and quick slants. Tech quarterback B.J. Symons, whose 5,336 yards passing set an NCAA single-season record, will give Navy a look it hasn't seen. Tulane, which averaged 257.8 yards per game and threw for 214 yards against Navy, was the closest thing to a spread offense Navy faced.
"[Symons] is a very heady player," Navy coach Paul Johnson said. "They're going to run their scheme. We've got to play smart, not give them anything easy, make them earn it. I don't think you'll ever shut them down."
In terms of philosophy, time of possession apparently favors neither side. Johnson said it could play into Navy's favor if quarterback Craig Candeto and fullback Kyle Eckel, the Mids' two 1,000-yard rushers, can keep Tech's offense off the field.
Leach dismisses time of possession as a misapplied statistic. To him, the team that scores the fastest and most often, and best utilizes the most skill players, will win or have a chance to win every time.
Navy scored 34 or more points six times this season but might need more to hold off Tech. On offense, Tech often looks comfortable playing from behind to cover up a defense ranked 110th at 463.8 yards allowed per game.
Watching such a game unfold for Tech -- a 49-45 comeback victory in September against Ole Miss for instance -- is entertaining. But despite its rally capability, Tech is 4-19 under Leach in games it trails by 14 or more points, including 1-8 when trailing by 21 or more.
"I don't think they want to get in a shootout with our offense," Tech defensive end Adell Duckett said. "I think they'll try to control the clock, which is smart with them trying to get 4 yards here and there. When they need to, they can put some points up."
Tech's defense ranked 91st nationally against the run (189.4) but can boast a schedule superior to Navy's. Navy's defense ranked fourth against the pass (153.8) while facing such throwing juggernauts as Rutgers (43rd in pass offense), TCU (53rd), Army (72nd), Vanderbilt (73rd), Notre Dame (93rd), Central Michigan (97th), Eastern Michigan (107th), Air Force (116th) and Rice (117th).
"We just have to keep them in front of us and tackle," Johnson said. "Just tackle after they catch the ball and make them snap it again. That's how we've tried to play it all year. If you let 'em throw it over your head, you won't last long."
Navy can afford fewer mistakes for another reason.
"You have to put it in perspective," Candeto said. "They've got pretty big guys up front. You never know until the game, but numbers-wise, [slowing Tech's offense] is looking good for us. The thing is you can't discount the athletic ability of a team like that shutting down our option in a hurry."
May the most stubborn offense win.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/colleges/7597612.htm
