For whatever reason, it just wasn't working.No matter what The University of Memphis football team tried, they just couldn't get things going early.
It started with 10 points in the first half at Ole Miss.Then it snowballed with three first quarter points at Arkansas State, compared to the Indians' 14.
But the final straw was the team's three point first half at UAB, which allowed the Blazers to jump out to an 18-point halftime advantage.
"We told Danny and our offensive players that we're going to be us, we're going to throw the ball and we're going to have a good time playing football," said Memphis coach Tommy West. "And (against Houston) we looked like that."
The let-it-all-hang-out attitude seemed to be the key as The U of M entered halftime with a 21-0 lead against the Cougars.
For the first time this season the Tigers looked like the offense that put up gaudy numbers during their run to the New Orleans Bowl last year.
Memphis quarterback Danny Wimprine said the change in approach helped, but the main difference was finally carrying it out.
"The biggest key was execution," said the senior quarterback. "Early on in a couple of games this year we got the ball and would make some stupid mistakes that would kill drives."
It looked as though the early mistakes might plague the Tigers again last Saturday. Wimprine lofted a pass to the corner of the endzone for Tavares Gideon that was nabbed instead by Cougars defensive back Willie Gaston.
But the Memphis defense held Houston in check and once the Tigers got the ball back, they never slowed down.
Another change West and offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner implemented against the Cougars was a return to the one-back setup that allowed tailback DeAngelo Williams to have so much success last season.
West said giving Williams the extra room to operate is crucial.
"I just think that's us," West said. "The more we move some people up and the more we spread some people out the better we run the ball."In previous weeks, the Tigers had been running many two-back sets with Robert Douglas acting as a blocker for Williams. But defenses had been packing so many defenders into the box that Williams was rarely able to get into the open field.
Coming into the Houston game Williams' longest run of the season had been 21 yards, but the back posted several runs over 20 yards against the Cougars in the one-back set. Overall, the team rushed for 333 yards, more than in the Arkansas State and UAB games combined.
West said the Tigers are not completely abandoning the two-back set, but that it will just be used on a more limited basis.
"We will still carry two backs, but we're a one-back team," West said. "Robert Douglas was playing, and is playing, really well. So we started using it a little more. But that's not us."
Douglas, who is one of the best athletes on the Tigers' roster, will spend time in practice at tight end. Douglas could present more of a passing threat from the tight end position in some sets that current tight end John Doucette.
It remains to be seen if these adjustments continue to pay dividends.
