Conference media days are happening, which means the college football season is getting close. You have a few constants every year at these things. Nick Saban talks about how much he hates everything and everybody, Dabo Swinney says some silly things, Jim Harbaugh goes after Urban Meyer.
And of course how could you forget Gary Patterson taking shots at… Paul Chryst?
During Big 12 Media Days, the TCU head coach talked about the game plan to beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl eight years ago when Chryst was the offensive coordinator for the Badgers. Patterson said he heard Chryst was going for the offensive coordinator job at Texas. He expected Wisconsin to throw the ball more than usual for Chryst to showcase his coaching talent to the Longhorns.
I remember this game well, and Wisconsin ran the ball a ton. But yes, they should’ve run more even with 33 carries between Montee Ball and John Clay, as both averaged at least 6 yards per carry in the game. And Scott Tolzein completed just 12 of 21 passes.
Wisconsin had the clear advantage of running the ball that day and should have done so on every play until it was stopped. Despite all that, there is no way Patterson’s claims are accurate in this.
Ultimately Chryst did not get the job at Texas, but if we believe what Patterson said to be true you have to believe some crazy things.
This was Wisconsin’s no-mercy season when the Badgers were on a mission to embarrass people, scoring 70 or more points three times including an 83-20 win over Indiana. Why change the offense when it was clearly working all season long? You would think going away from what makes an offense successful would be a bad thing as Texas is evaluating potential offensive coordinators.
And would Texas really be swayed that much by one game? Would the Longhorns look at Chryst like a guy who runs a pass-happy offense, slingin’ the ball all over the yard? Of course not. Run the ball a ton, then surprise with a play-action pass. It’s what Chryst had done for years to that point. It’s what he does today.
So for you to believe Patterson, you would agree Chryst made the decision to go away from the offense that held a school record with 41.5 points per game in order to show Texas he is in love with the passing game.
Everything about that thought is dumb.
It will be interesting if Chryst ever has a response to this. He never says anything interesting unless he’s taking shots at Miami’s turnover chain, so he certainly will not create any headlines. I haven’t seen anybody asked him, but I’m guessing the response would be something like this.
“Yeah, it’s all about the process and preparing for each game. It’s just another opportunity to get better one snap at a time.”
That answer just put you to sleep and you may not even remember what the original question was. It’s the Paul Chryst Way.
Photo courtesy of UWBadgers.com
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