Again, where were the counter plays and wrinkles instead of vanilla

uihawk82

Well-Known Member
I love the hawks, they were great this season, but did you see how Stanford defenders immediately flowed to the first direction of the hawk's offense movements? I think KF and GD had a really good year but it seemed like they didnt think of many ways to try to fool Stanford with mis-direction. No jet sweep action to keep backside linemen and linebackers at home, no two running backs split in the backfield to run counter plays, not even a misdirection run with a fullback.

And even the old fashioned option play, which the hawks ran last year with Rudock a few times, could have been a nice wrinkle that Stanford would not have seen on tape this year.

Go back to right before the pick 6 when it was 14-0 and the hawks had 3rd and 3 from about the Stanford 34 yard line. Watching the game we all said this was 4 down territory so why not either run straight at them with Daniels on 3rd and 3 or run more of a surprise play like the option. You have a good chance of picking up 3rd and 3 with a power or option run or getting into 4th and very short.

I was more disappointed in the lack of imagination in the offensive coaching scheme than the defense, which took some time to adjust to mainly McCaffrey's and Stanford's speed.
 
We never did figure them out. They could've put 70 on us. Defensive team speed is a big problem. We also never generated a pass rush. When our defenses can't generate a pass rush with our front four, we have problems. We just happened to have a qb who could make plays this year. Hopefully next year we can find some protection and some receivers.
 
Every offensive play looks the same when the line can't block and the wide receivers can't get open.
 
I am far from a X and O expert, but my 30+ years watching football tells me it was a poorly called game. Not only did it lack imagination they went away from who they were.
 

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