By BRAD KEITH
TheFlashToday.com
STEPHENVILLE (September 23, 2017) — Those old guys who know a thing or two about football because they’ve seen a thing or two when it comes to the sport, they seem to all know this – the most high percentage to way to beat a team, as long as turnovers don’t get in the way, is to run the ball successfully and to stop the run.
To do so requires having effective ball carrier, sure, but this is football 101. You block and you tackle better than than the opposition. An average back will gain yards if his offensive line is elite, and and an average back will gain yards against a poor tackling defense.
I’m not saying Xavier Turner is average, because he isn’t. He rushed for more han 2,900 yards at 5A Birdville High School before going attending Navarro College and now Tarleton. Turner was by no mens average Saturday when his three rushing touchdowns gave Tarleton a 21-0 lead in a 30-20 win over Lone Star Conference rival West Texas A&M a Memorial Stadium.
What I am saying is that even in the day of the spread it out and score a ton offenses that leave defenses unrested and scattering to make adjustments, the same best practices apply when it comes to actually winning the dang game: run the ball and stop the run. :Therefore, block well and tackle well.
There are many complicated strategies, most of them too compacted because they have taken kids’ eyes off what matters most. Block and tackle. Why? so you can run the ball and stop the run. Everything else stems from one’s ability to do this things, and Tarleon did them much better than WTAMU on a night when neither club looked prolific in any way.
Turner rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns of 1, 14 and 45 yards to provide a 21-0 lead and Daniel McCants rushed13 times for 87 yards spell the thunderous Turner and bring to the field a more scat-back presence. In all the Texans dominated the line of scrimmage, moving WT defenders around well enough to rush 45 times for 266 yards, or 5.9 more per carry.
WTAMU finished with 33 carries for 135 yards. It’s a respectable 4.1 yards per carry, but at halftime the Buffs had 39 rushing yards as taem and Turner had just finished a 111-yard second quarter on his own.
One step beyond the obvious running and stopping of the run is WT’s real lack of identity currently. They’re not a hit you in the mouth team with a dominant line They aren’t a spread it out and nickel and dime you to death before a couple of quick feet get loose and break a big play in space. Even with the win over Colorado State-Pueblo, I cant’ helpbut feel this is jus a transition year for the Buffs.
That said, they looked a year behind Tarleton in the transition process, and that , of course, is because they are.
And in some of the most crucial parts of that process- blocking and tackling ad therefore, running the ball and stopping the run, the Buffs appeared every bit of a behind.
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