In Reply to: UCLA football turns to an unlikely savior posted by TJJ on October 01, 2025 at 11:01:36
as I recall, he didn't change or add to his N-Zone offense the second year and his play calling was repetitious and predictable (read option run on first down, read option run on the second down, and pass of third down). Defenses adapted as the season went on and in his second year, opponents limited the success that the N-Zone experience that first year. He didn't adapt, his play calling was easily and predictability defensed. It stagnated.
I remember reading about Homer Smith's offenses that he changed and adapted his offenses by design as the season went on, to keep this fresh. Same formations, same principles, but different plays out of those formations. I didn't see that in Mazzone's second year of implementing the N-Zone...it was the same as the first day he assumed the O-Coordinator title. And teams learned how to defend against it.