How North Texas built the best passing attack in the G5

Looking back, the game was one of those must-have moments that separates mediocre teams from the good ones.

North Texas was in the middle of the pack and lost 37-27 to Florida Atlantic with 2:55 minutes left in the game. According to ESPN, FAU had a win probability of 92.2 percent. There was no margin for error and quarterback Chandler Morris didn’t like the play-action pass that was called.

First of all, FAU came in with an exotic blitz package that it hadn’t showcased all season and that North Texas hadn’t trained for. Three defensive linemen and an overhang linebacker were overloaded on the right side of the line of scrimmage. Morris wouldn’t have enough time to fake a handoff. But there was no panic for the fifth-grader.

“In this offense, it seems like you have an answer for everything,” Morris said.

On the surface, the ensuing 33-yard fade to Dalton Carnes was a physical performance that gave the Mean Green the momentum to erase a 10-point deficit and win 41-37. But three things that happened in the mental game show how North Texas became the best passing attack in the Group of Five.

When Morris saw the FAU left cornerback lined up in press coverage over Carnes, he heard a fade route.

As he did this, true freshman center Tyler Mercer pushed the guard to the right. Mercer played only because an injury to right tackle Landon Peterson forced North Texas to move its most experienced lineman, Jett Duncan, from center to tackle. Mercer had the wherewithal to find the right protection in the heat of battle against a lightning attack he had never seen before.

Early in the game, injured wide receiver Damon Ward Jr. noticed the FAU cornerback was playing flat-footed and told Carnes he could run past him if he shortened his release from the snap.

These mental adjustments by North Texas players have pushed the offense to 346.5 passing yards per game, nearly 100 yards more than second-best Memphis, which North Texas faces on Saturday night.

Just four seasons ago, the Mean Green were the bottom-ranked passing offense in Conference USA (they were in the top two from 2017-2020). Under then-head coach Seth Littrell, the team’s nickname was “Run the damn ball!” But in 18 games under head coach Eric Morris, the offense topped 500 total yards 11 times.

One reason for the dramatic identity change is that North Texas leads the FBS with 77 additions from last year’s team. TCU transfer quarterback Chandler Morris has thrown for over 300 yards in five of his six starts. Stay with me here – the son of longtime coach Chad Morris, Chandler’s new coach, Eric Morris, trusts Chandler to be a field general and turn heads.

Washington State transfer DT Sheffield leads the conference with seven touchdown receptions, but nine players have caught a touchdown pass this season, which ranks second in the FBS behind Auburn. North Texas leads the nation with 19 total players who caught a pass.

“When you’re on the field, you have a chance to get the ball from me,” Chandler said.

Case in point: Carnes’ 14-yard post route touchdown in the Tulsa game. North Texas hadn’t thrown the post route on that play in two weeks of practice, but Chandler got the defensive look that told him Carnes would be open, and Carnes was ready to catch him.

Ward Jr., the only wide receiver to play significant minutes to bridge the Littrell and Morris eras, says the wideouts’ understanding of Chandler’s progress keeps them from demanding the ball. Each wide receiver is the hot read for a different defensive alignment (man-to-man, Cover 2, Cover 3). Chandler takes whatever the defense gives him, and whatever they give him is wrong.

Four different receivers led the team in receiving in six games.

“There’s no selfish energy in the room,” said Ward Jr. “In this offense, you could have one catch one game and then 13 catches the next game. You don’t know when your day will be, so you always have to stay ready and excited.”

While Ward Jr. is one of the only holdovers from the Littrell years in the receiver room, Duncan is the representative of that era on offense. It is common knowledge that run blocking is more fun than pass blocking because the offensive linemen are the attackers. But Duncan says North Texas’ fast pace of play allows the linemen to attack the defense in different ways.

“We’re going at a lot of pace,” Duncan said. “So if we can make sure the defense doesn’t get tackled (and then) we’ll run at them or make quick passes and score.”

By snapping the ball quickly, North Texas can throw body shots and keep the defense off balance for the knockout shot. The Mean Green and Boise State are the only two FBS teams with four games over 70 yards this season.

The pace, coupled with the staff’s understanding of what’s being heard, gives the impression that the North Texas offense is taking a test with the answer key sitting on the desk.

“If you think too much, you don’t play with confidence,” Ward Jr. said. “When it becomes second nature to you, you go out there knowing that whatever the defense does, you have a counter move.”