There was talk the Niemann would be leaving after the season. Do you think he has a job already and the focus was not there?

I would be interesting to see how this turns out.

(12-09-2013 11:31 AM)shack66 Wrote:  There was talk the Niemann would be leaving after the season. Do you think he has a job already and the focus was not there?

I would be interesting to see how this turns out.

After that defensive performance I doubt it


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My head is going to explode.

There is literally no evidence of that.

Maybe BG was just really smart and created opportunities for their players, using their own tendencies to cue the defense to read one thing while they were doing another.

(12-09-2013 11:36 AM)7 Wrote:  My head is going to explode.

I know you use "all-caps" just for sarcasm, but you're allowed in this case.

(12-09-2013 11:36 AM)7 Wrote:  My head is going to explode.

Last couple days have been like a "Bears (loss) Monday" on the B & B show.

(12-09-2013 11:58 AM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  

(12-09-2013 11:36 AM)7 Wrote:  My head is going to explode.

Last couple days have been like a "Bears (loss) Monday" on the B & B show.

Yes. Our "Score caller" side is showing.

Instead of stating the obvious about Friday’s game, it may be interesting to take a look at what could have been done in terms of adjustments. As I see it, we have 3 defensive packages. Our base 4-3; Nickel package (2 backers), and Dime package (1 backer), none of these schemes were effective Friday. BG offense was able to move the ball from the start of the game, which required adjustments defensively. BG, a solid running team, came out throwing the ball, often times flexing the TE, allowing for an easy release from the LOS. We were in a straight man. As always the LOS battle dictates adjustments. Our lack of any pass rush was a significant factor in open receivers; TE seam routes and RB wheel routes are slower developing plays, a key to executing these plays is pass protection, which BG was able to get. So given the lack of pass rush you can do a few things. 1) Blitz the backer (s); Bass and Payton are our best blitzing LB’s, however we had limited success blitzing the backer, the one-time Bass got to the QB, Johnson threw up a prayer which was completed. 2) Switch to a 5-2 which adds another D lineman, hoping to get pressure. The risk is you become more vulnerable to the pass, specifically the flats and seams given 1 less pass defender 3) Switch to a 3-4; this may have been the best option. We were not getting any push at the LOS anyway, but this would have allowed better flat coverage and middle coverage given the extra backer; you can also blitz effectively out of this alignment. Meehan, Windsor and Rainey are very similar players athletic, fast play makers however, each have a tendency to take themselves out of plays. Bishop is a beast and capable of playing the nose in a 3-4. At LB, Bass and Payton are our most athletic players, each has the ability to make the WOW plays. Bass (at times) and Payton (often) are slow to read plays, making them easy targets to block. Boomer is a solid interior run defender, but really struggles against the pass, as he did against BG. Santa is what he is, fundamentally sound , makes the right read, fills the hole well, better than average tackler, but lacks the speed to keep up with a quick back out of the backfield on wheel routes. Folliard is the best pass defending LB, but he struggles with bigger O Linemen on running plays. Hazelett is going to be good, but he is undersized and very green. The 3-4 would allow us to take advantage of personnel strengths without exposing the weakness. Bass and Payton in a 3-4 as OLBs are able to freelance more allowing them to make plays. This also allows Santa and Mays to take on more traditional inside LB responsibilities. On obvious passing situations you can put in Folliard for Mays, or bring in Folliard and a extra DB and take out the two inside LBs. This also allows your safeties (Ward and Durante) to play pass first in more of a cover 2 scheme. Hindsight is 20/20 but this defense would have forced BG into a running the ball more, a much better alternative than what we saw on Friday.

The only time I've seen us play an odd front is against option teams.

More than anything, our LBers were exposed coverage-wise in man looks. We switched to zone and the DBs did a poor job of breaking on the ball, plus we had busted coverages that got hit. We've made some mistakes in coverage earlier in the year, and because the QB was zoned in on one WR, he never saw his other guy running free.

The players didn't make plays, guys. Everyone keeps trying to find scheme stuff that was wrong. BG had a great gameplan for what we were doing, and we were a step behind them all night trying to defend it. That hadn't happened all year. We've been able to dictate the tempo and the matchups all season. Didn't happen on Friday.

We like to play man defense as much as possible. They committed to hitting the backs and TEs, putting them on LBers. The LBers weren't up to it. You're either good enough to cover someone in man or you're not.

They dictated the matchups and they won that particular chess match. We didn't do anything different schematically from what we always do. We just played a really poor defensive game. We played well against Wenning, a vastly superior QB, and poorly against Johnson. Well, BG was plenty good enough to wear us out when you play like that. Guys start overcompensating and trying to do more than their job and then you end up with people wide open because you're guessing instead of anticipating.

Yeah, what he said.

However, I feel our offense should have been able to keep up and make this a shootout that we could have won at the end. We drove up and down the field but we came up with zero points when we were inside their 35-yard line several times. We got there with ball-control passing and big runs by JL and sometimes Cam. I felt like we wasted Cam and Spence the entire game. They should have played a bigger role instead of the 15-25 yard outs that we were SO unsuccessful in. Our offense bogged down because of those plays that JL didn't have much success in throughout the season. JL was successful throwing the ball to the flat to our RBs and TEs, bubble screens, seam routes, and short outs. I was frustrated because I felt like they played to their strengths and we panicked by doing things we didn't do all year.

Also we didn't play the run well at all. We couldn't stop anything: runs, short passes, medium passes or long passes.

We really didn't have a chance on defense. Our offense was our only hope but it just didn't happen.

(12-11-2013 02:41 PM)badmoonrising13 Wrote:  Also we didn't play the run well at all. We couldn't stop anything: runs, short passes, medium passes or long passes.

and we definitely did not have a pass rush to get BG out of their comfort zone....

(12-11-2013 02:39 PM)badmoonrising13 Wrote:  However, I feel our offense should have been able to keep up and make this a shootout that we could have won at the end. We drove up and down the field but we came up with zero points when we were inside their 35-yard line several times. We got there with ball-control passing and big runs by JL and sometimes Cam. I felt like we wasted Cam and Spence the entire game. They should have played a bigger role instead of the 15-25 yard outs that we were SO unsuccessful in. Our offense bogged down because of those plays that JL didn't have much success in throughout the season. JL was successful throwing the ball to the flat to our RBs and TEs, bubble screens, seam routes, and short outs. I was frustrated because I felt like they played to their strengths and we panicked by doing things we didn't do all year.

Well, I think you've hit the nail on the head. I think the offensive side of the ball tried to force things to score quickly because the defense couldn't stop much of anything. You won't hear it said publicly, but I'm sure the staff looks back at it and thinks they called a less-than-stellar game. The evidence of that is the patience and deliberate play choice coming out after halftime. We ran power-power-power on the scoring drive. But, BG chewed up tons of clock, even though we hung around at 31-20 for awhile. So, you saw some of that same desperation creep back in.

Plus, Lynch could have changed plays at the line/made incorrect reads, etc that make the play look dumb after the fact. The fact is, these are all human beings. Mistakes were made. I guarantee nobody on the coaching staff approached this game with hubris. It just didn't work out.

Everyone on the coaching staff lost a lot of money by losing Friday. There wasn't anyone who, when asked if they should break down more 3rd down film, said "Hell with it. I think we got this. We'll figure it out when we get there. That beer ain't gonna drink itself."

It was just a boulder rolling downhill. I was as shocked as anyone, because I've seen this team and coaching staff shrug off so many high-pressure situations. It just didn't happen on Friday.

Teams play bad games. We played one.

(12-11-2013 03:25 PM)cawoo22 Wrote:  

(12-11-2013 02:39 PM)badmoonrising13 Wrote:  However, I feel our offense should have been able to keep up and make this a shootout that we could have won at the end. We drove up and down the field but we came up with zero points when we were inside their 35-yard line several times. We got there with ball-control passing and big runs by JL and sometimes Cam. I felt like we wasted Cam and Spence the entire game. They should have played a bigger role instead of the 15-25 yard outs that we were SO unsuccessful in. Our offense bogged down because of those plays that JL didn't have much success in throughout the season. JL was successful throwing the ball to the flat to our RBs and TEs, bubble screens, seam routes, and short outs. I was frustrated because I felt like they played to their strengths and we panicked by doing things we didn't do all year.

Well, I think you've hit the nail on the head. I think the offensive side of the ball tried to force things to score quickly because the defense couldn't stop much of anything. You won't hear it said publicly, but I'm sure the staff looks back at it and thinks they called a less-than-stellar game. The evidence of that is the patience and deliberate play choice coming out after halftime. We ran power-power-power on the scoring drive. But, BG chewed up tons of clock, even though we hung around at 31-20 for awhile. So, you saw some of that same desperation creep back in.

Plus, Lynch could have changed plays at the line/made incorrect reads, etc that make the play look dumb after the fact. The fact is, these are all human beings. Mistakes were made. I guarantee nobody on the coaching staff approached this game with hubris. It just didn't work out.

Everyone on the coaching staff lost a lot of money by losing Friday. There wasn't anyone who, when asked if they should break down more 3rd down film, said "Hell with it. I think we got this. We'll figure it out when we get there. That beer ain't gonna drink itself."

It was just a boulder rolling downhill. I was as shocked as anyone, because I've seen this team and coaching staff shrug off so many high-pressure situations. It just didn't happen on Friday.

Teams play bad games. We played one.

Have to think our D will show up and redeem themselves in the bowl, also Lynch is not going out like a punk, all signs point to game on in the bowl gents. If not and anything else than I will not only be disappointed in the team, it will make me question are we the worst 12 win team in the history of college football?????