Anybody else catch Finley getting the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the Packers-Cowboys game last night? Taking a page from the Killebrew playbook. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.

I’m worried about the TE spot, we really needed Irby there. I guess I’ll be optimistic about Smith. We all know Ullman can block, but catching footballs, not so much. Maybe it would be prudent to get Ogbonnaya in the game more often, since he can block well, and he’s a clutch check-down receiver.

And officially mark down Cody Johnson as one of “my guys” – he could be the main guy as far as I’m concerned.

Although we seldomly use the TE position to the fullest, the TE issue can potentially be devasting for the passing and running game given how the team is consituted.

1. GD and Mack love the versatility of the position particularly when we go to 4 and 5 WRs. If you notice, we almost exclusively go to these formations by adding either Irby or Ogbonnaya lined up as a WR or both at the same time. This allows for the greatest optionality, without completely selling out in favor of a pass play.

2. Safety valve. Irby’s speed and size was similar to David Thomas’ and allowed the TE to release after making a block and catch a ball within the flow of the offense. The majority of Colt’s throws are designed to be made in 2 to 5 seconds after the snap, so bigger TE’s aren’t as valuable due to their inability to get down field. This means that without a suitable pass catcher at TE this reduces GD ability to have a safety valve in the offense. Also, without a deep threat to stretch defenses vertically, the TE helped spread them. Without Irby, we need to go deep now. Before Irby went down we were fine without a deep threat, now we need it in order to continue to see Quan and Ship get favorable matchups.

This is going to affect a number of different situations. First and foremost in the 3 WR set with Colt in the gun, the TE will be almost exclusively blocking. I just can’t see Ullman or Smith lumbering around as a receiver and being anywhere near as effective and respected as a guy like Irby. Defenses can now counter two ways. First, they can have an additional defender in an intermediate zone keying on receivers crossing over the middle or the back finding room in the middle of the field. Second, they will take the opportunity to blitz and allow the TE to roam (taking the gamble that they can reach Colt quicker than the TE can get open). This is probably also going to make us more succeptible to a weak side blitz so that the defense effectively eliminates two receiving threats by causing the RB to have to stay home and block.

So in sitiuations where we want to pass, how do we address this? Does Ogbonnaya get more than just 3rd down and obvious passing situation snaps? Here is where the lack of good RBs spells trouble. Given that the RBs are each more specialized in one aspect over another this means we could tip the defense off simply bc of personnel on the field. This may be a chance to see more Cody Johnson. I’m not sold in the slightest on Ogbonnaya’s running ability, and would prefer to see more Cody Johnson in this situation. Defenses would probably be more concerned with his running ability and could not abandon the threat of the run. If CJ is not the answer and a more traditional TE does not emerge, I have to think that its possible we will see a lot less of this formation.

The 5 WR formation as it is currently consistuted is going to be affected as well. An intelligent OC won’t put Greg Smith or Peter Ullman out there as the 5th WR. So what could we see? My guess is that the first attempt would be to solve for the problem with the current personnel (i.e. not burning a potential redshirt). This would probably mean Ogbonnaya moves over into the TE’s position on the 5 WR sets, and Chiles comes in to run the route Ogbonnaya would have run. How GD and Mack address this formation is critical to our success given that we almost exclusively go to 4 and 5 WR in hurry-up mode. If we can’t move the ball effectively out of these formation, kiss the come from behind victories goodbye.

Irby’s loss won’t just have a schematic impact, it will also fundamentally affect offensive philosophy. With Irby, the short passing plays became our ball control running plays. Take him out, and we could be removing one or even 2 receiving options from the field as defenses blitz with an extra defender. While I still think the passing game will be efficient, we will have to balance it with a dependable running attack. This is obviously where the RBs and Chiles come in.

Aside from addressing the concerns we have now with the standard offense, the staff should also further develop the triple option formation with Colt at the helm. We saw a pretty healthly dose of this in the 3rd quarter vs Rice and this could become the “run out the clock” formation at the very least. But if we use it with more regularity and then shifting or motioning out of it, we can dictate defensive personnel and hopefully exploit some match up concerns. Picture Quan and Shipley split out, with Chiles/Fozzy/Kirkendoll as one back, and Johnson or Ogbonnaya as the other. From this personnel, you can shift out to the 5 WR set or even move the FB up to the line as a TE or into a pass blocking position in the back field with the same assignment the TE would have had.

Greg Smith should be a better blocker on the line (though probably not downfield) than Irby. It will be easier to run off tackle with Greg Smith than Irby. Greg should be fine on catching short dump passes. Presumably Greg will be moving slow enough that it will be pretty easy for Colt to hit him. The big thing that is lost is the explosiveness of Irby. The horns are already hurting for explosiveness (the long plays against Rice don’t really prove much) so this is a big blow.

Last year against OU, the horns had at least three long passes to TEs (2 to Finley and 1 to Irby). That isn’t going to happen this year against OU. UT is a team that is really going to have to grind for points against a good D. That means mistake free execution and an excellent short passing game will be required. They are going to have to be able to hit Malcolm Williams across the middle on quick slants and they need at least one explosive runner (Fozzy?) at WO to participate in the run game and get lots of YAC on short screen and dump passes.

I doubt that UT will be able to give Colt a bunch of time in the pocket against OU (bye bye double moves) because Stoops is excellent at pressuring the QB. In the OU game, it might be a good idea for the UT TB to be a really good pass blocker (i.e. Ogbonnaya or maybe Cody will be blocking well enough by the OU game) to give colt a little more time to get off the pass. It will probably be easier for fozzy or Vondrell to get yards by getting the ball to them in space via short pass rather than trying to pound it through the line. That good blocking TB can get the ball mostly on draws and short dump passes.