David Yost is no offensive genius
The moment Matt Wells was hired, we were told by the so-called experts and the higher-ups in the Red Raider athletic department that we were in great shape because Wells was bringing David Yost with him to run the Red Raider offense. But thus far, there’s been nothing to indicate that Yost is the type of offensive genius that he was billed as.
If he were such a revolutionary mind, why wouldn’t he be able to get his offense to put up more than 14 points on an Arizona team that entered the Tech game ranked in the bottom 10 nationally in yards and points allowed per game? If he were such a guru, shouldn’t he be able to coax more than 314 yards out of his offense against an OU defense that is just mediocre by Big 12 standards ( which is a rather low bar when it comes to defensive football)?
Spare me the nonsense about having to rely on Jett Duffey as his QB. Last year, even the coach that Kirby Hocutt deemed not good enough to lead this program anymore was able to lead Duffey to 444 yards passing and 34 points against a Texas defense that was much better than this year’s OU defense.
It isn’t that Duffey is incapable of moving the football. The key is that he has to be put in a position to succeed. He’s not a player that is ever going to master the full playbook so his coaches have to design a gameplan to fit what he does best.
Where was that on Saturday? There were very few attempts to get him outside the pocket where he had an opportunity to throw the ball or pull it down and take off. There were virtually no attempts to use his athleticism to create confusion by leveraging his best asset.
What’s more, we’ve not seen the receivers show any improvement this year. Likewise, this offensive line is just as bad as it was last year. A guru would know how to coach up his players in a way that would make them better.
So far, against Power 5 teams, Yost’s offense is averaging 15 points per game. Last year, Tech put up 29.2.
Sure, Yost is similar to Mike Leach (whom he coached under briefly at Washington State) in that he’s quirky and has an unusual personality. But that appears to be where the similarities end. Based on what we’ve seen this year, our resident Harry Dunne look-a-like is much closer to Dumb and Dumber than offensive genius.