Interesting observation on our D Saturday

[BanditVol]

I was sitting in YY10, high up in the north end zone in the covered section, and although it was the end zone I actually had a great view.  From there, it was very easy to see what players were in the game on D when N Texas was driving north and even when they were driving south our players would generally turn around after the play and I could read the names with binocs.

What I noticed was that on the first few plays of almost every drive starting some time in the second quarter, we had the second string D-line in.  Sometimes it was the entire line, sometimes just the tackles, sometimes just the ends.  Then as N Texas approached mid-field, it would go back to the starters and we would stop them cold.

This could explain why they moved the ball and would make a first down or two prior to being stopped.  Apparently Jancek made a conscious decision to play more second stringer early in the game.

I didn't record it, but anyone could go back and verify what I say, though that might depend on camera angles.

And HTK, I'm not trying to "polish the turd" or "put lipstick on the pig".  This might explain why they moved the ball at times, but the offense had no excuse for not just running right over them.

Having said that, the gameplan on offense was very vanilla and Dobbs was limited.  And we STILL should have scored about 3 more TDs.

[BanditVol]

Let me add that backup DBs came in a bit also, but that the LBs were the starters until the 4th.  I guess we really truly are thin at LB.   

[PirateVOL]

Not the first time this year we have done that.
Earlier in the season when Barnett was more banged up he would not play till sometime after the ball crossed mid field.
I saw Berry on the field at safety a lot more Saturday.  There were some series before the 4th quarter where I didn't see Cam on the field.
Yeah, we played more kids early on defense IMO

[BanditVol]

Not the first time this year we have done that.
Earlier in the season when Barnett was more banged up he would not play till sometime after the ball crossed mid field.
I saw Berry on the field at safety a lot more Saturday.  There were some series before the 4th quarter where I didn't see Cam on the field.
Yeah, we played more kids early on defense IMO

Yes, Mosely replaced Sutton a few times, and Mosely or Foreman seemed to get about half of Martin's snaps.  Berry was out there quite a few times.  Towards the end someone named Smith came in, though he may have been an LB.  LBs were not replaced until late 4th quarter so far as I could see.