bchilds420
Well-Known Member
I'll start with saying, I am a huge proponent of KF finding a new job, I have been for a few years now, and have said time and time again that his poor coaching has been masked by the amount of talent we had on the team, going back to Tate vs LSU.
That being said...
I thought a lot of calls were made right today, like the field goal attempt when the announcers said we should be in 4 down territory... absurd, it was the 2nd qt if I recall.
The bad from today
1) We stuck with a conservative play calling routine which has, let's be honest, put the fan base in doubt of the team several times, and has NOT been working and make no doubt about it, has been obsolute for about 3 years now.
2) Vandenberg looked horrible in a pro style offense (please keep reading, I will address this in the pro section)
3) Coker is NOT the RB we thought he was gonna be after last seasons bowl game. He is a tough runner, but picking up 1-2 yards then 2-3 yards will simply not put us in a position to run a play action passing system.
The good
1) Bernstein, Morris (who I said last year was going to be our best defensive player til he leaves), KMM, Davis and of course, McWONDERFUL. I have been a hawk fan since I was 2, and I dont remember a more reliable, selfless recieving core. These guys are our best weapon, and should be utilized first, to open the running game.
2) Vandenberg looked GREAT once he started throwing the ball. There was a point I texted my buddy (who coincidentally led me to this site last year) and said VB is starting to throw the ball like he did in 09 when I grew a hardon for his talent (no homo).. (Also, lets note I was NOT a stanzi fan). He made one bad touch pass which led me to think maybe he was not the god I thought, but if you take all the starting college qbs this year, maybe 5 percent make that throw he made in the last touchdown. I havent seen it mentioned in any threads here yet, but that pass was immaculate, and PERFECT.
3) we didnt try to go back to "our style of football" when we had another (superior) style that was working for us. We "had" to throw a couple runs in there, but overall, we kept with what worked obviously really really well for us. Maybe (and to prevent an instaban, Ill give the coaching staff the benefit of the doubt) they will learn from this, and finally adapt to the ever changing game of college football. We cant really expect a midseason change of offensive style, but we CAN expect them to adapt the play calling to a more pass oriented assault, which will use the weapons we DO have.
A couple more things, while I think Hyde is the bees knees, I think his two picks today were gifts given by the qb. There are qbs in the B1G that wont underthrow those balls, and he was toasted on each of those plays. Our secondary seems to have the biggest problem, which I think can be fixed by mixing in some stunt blitzes, and rotating the dline a little bit to keep them fresh. (Binns and McDaniels need to be permafixtures however)
Overall, after the first 3 quarters of this game, I was thinking the best bet of a bowl game for us was a toilet bowl, maybe even a 3-4 win season.. But after that 4th, I think if our coaching staff allows like they havent in the past, we can actually win our games except Michigan, NW and Nebraska. I think their mobile QBs will tear our defense up, unless norm has something magical up his sleeves.
That being said...
I thought a lot of calls were made right today, like the field goal attempt when the announcers said we should be in 4 down territory... absurd, it was the 2nd qt if I recall.
The bad from today
1) We stuck with a conservative play calling routine which has, let's be honest, put the fan base in doubt of the team several times, and has NOT been working and make no doubt about it, has been obsolute for about 3 years now.
2) Vandenberg looked horrible in a pro style offense (please keep reading, I will address this in the pro section)
3) Coker is NOT the RB we thought he was gonna be after last seasons bowl game. He is a tough runner, but picking up 1-2 yards then 2-3 yards will simply not put us in a position to run a play action passing system.
The good
1) Bernstein, Morris (who I said last year was going to be our best defensive player til he leaves), KMM, Davis and of course, McWONDERFUL. I have been a hawk fan since I was 2, and I dont remember a more reliable, selfless recieving core. These guys are our best weapon, and should be utilized first, to open the running game.
2) Vandenberg looked GREAT once he started throwing the ball. There was a point I texted my buddy (who coincidentally led me to this site last year) and said VB is starting to throw the ball like he did in 09 when I grew a hardon for his talent (no homo).. (Also, lets note I was NOT a stanzi fan). He made one bad touch pass which led me to think maybe he was not the god I thought, but if you take all the starting college qbs this year, maybe 5 percent make that throw he made in the last touchdown. I havent seen it mentioned in any threads here yet, but that pass was immaculate, and PERFECT.
3) we didnt try to go back to "our style of football" when we had another (superior) style that was working for us. We "had" to throw a couple runs in there, but overall, we kept with what worked obviously really really well for us. Maybe (and to prevent an instaban, Ill give the coaching staff the benefit of the doubt) they will learn from this, and finally adapt to the ever changing game of college football. We cant really expect a midseason change of offensive style, but we CAN expect them to adapt the play calling to a more pass oriented assault, which will use the weapons we DO have.
A couple more things, while I think Hyde is the bees knees, I think his two picks today were gifts given by the qb. There are qbs in the B1G that wont underthrow those balls, and he was toasted on each of those plays. Our secondary seems to have the biggest problem, which I think can be fixed by mixing in some stunt blitzes, and rotating the dline a little bit to keep them fresh. (Binns and McDaniels need to be permafixtures however)
Overall, after the first 3 quarters of this game, I was thinking the best bet of a bowl game for us was a toilet bowl, maybe even a 3-4 win season.. But after that 4th, I think if our coaching staff allows like they havent in the past, we can actually win our games except Michigan, NW and Nebraska. I think their mobile QBs will tear our defense up, unless norm has something magical up his sleeves.
