What have Watson & Co shown us to this point? Well, it seems the offense has since been stripped-down and "repurposed" for use with new starting quarterback Tyrone Swoopes. Upon watching the season-opener, the offense was "trending" in appearance similar to what Watson installed at Louisville. Watson seemed comfortable with allowing David Ash to largely control the action regarding pre-snap checks and adjustments at the line of scrimmage and for good reason. David Ash was an experienced player with above-average recognition and "eye-skill". Fast forward to Swoopes taking over, the offense was stripped-down and a different subset of the playbook has been utilized since to suit the big man's strengths, a big arm and mobility. The focus early-on was on the quick passing game along with Texas' base run game. Though very limited, I suspect the staff sought to repetition this aspect of the Texas offense to help Swoopes improve in comfort, confidence, and recognition. Also, the run and quick passing game forms the back bone of the Texas offense and is something that a quarterback must be proficient in before becoming a difference-maker. The staff then began to expand the intermediate and deep passing game over the course of the Kansas, Baylor, and Oklahoma game. The execution in attacking these zones hasn't always been satisfactory, but the fact that it has shown growing competency is what's important. So, how would I describe Watson's offense now?
An interesting thing happened with Ash's season-ending injury. For better or worse, I believe it forced the staff to stumble upon an offensive identity that I personally had hoped for since they were first hired. There is still plenty of Watson's stamp on this offense, but make no mistake, this is a fair departure from what many fans expected from Watson after watching old Louisville games. The Texas offense is a zone-based, ball-control, variable tempo, and multiple offense. Wow, that was a mouthful! Watson's "surface games" are still present, but the offense has taken to spread tactics much more than originally expected while also avoiding the seemingly over-logical approach most spread teams take regarding passing and running the football based on box numbers. This team will line up and attempt to distort and smash your front. It may also utilize box counts to guide the run, pass, or packaged play read-option call as well. It is a nice blend of "pro" and "spread" based tactics and strategies. For instance, Texas will often place the quarterback under center in order to run the football or execute the quick passing game with quarterback movement. The variable formations and quarterback-running back backfield relationships helps to protect the offense from defenses keying in on run-pass tendencies. All that is needed from here is meaninful and purposeful practice in order to obtain the critical amount of repetitions necessary for high-level execution.
I'm now okay with the Texas offense taking the necessary time to develop and grow. When it does and the environment whithin which it exists begins allowing talented players to continually grow and cycle through it, it will be diverse enough to enable a myriad of different athletes to thrive. Hook'em Horns y'all!
