I'm quite certain Novak will pull Sheldon aside.
Cameras don't lie.
Sheldon was VISIBLY frustrated after one of the many overthrows sent his way.
On one in particular he sustained a shot to the back.
The "pro Phil" quotes from players will ring hollow with me.
If Phil is not our future, fine.
I say put someone in who will lead us closer to the goal of winning a MAC Championship.
And do it now!
Sheldon's frustration did not go un-noticed by several of us. In a way you cannot fault him yet we expect young men to suck it up and know better. Is that fair or reasonable ?
Horvath had a subpar performance on the heels of a decent first start --not all that uncommon for a green QB. His passes to the sidelines take forever to get there. If it continues at Iowa State --look out ! If he continues to over or undershoot his receivers as much as last Saturday, a double whammy and blowout is in the making.
If he settles himself down and plays within his limited abilities, perhaps we can hang in there vrs. 'Clones. He needs to get alot better & fast if he is our guy vrs. BGSU.
All these comments on Horvath sure seem to be reminisent of a QB named Haldi. Remember, this kid, prior to Maryland, last took a competitive snap in high school. Eachweek he has to improve and stay within his abilities. He has to pass just enough to keep the running game going.
I know what you are saying, but a lot of Josh's early stuff went into the ground or into double coverage. I just do not see any zip or decisiveness in Horvath's passes. I would also say the two are probably pretty far apart in leadership skills also. Josh is pretty special in that regard.
If Joe Novak and his staff think Phil Horvath is the best available option outside of Josh Haldi, then who is to argue. In Joe's judgment I trust. It seems to me that Huskie faithful should be supporting and encouraging Horvath right now. Its way too early to pass critique. He is a redshirt sophmore that was thrown into the frying pan very late. I seem to recall Josh Haldi looking fairly lousy during his early tenure under center.
niu85alum Wrote:If Joe Novak and his staff think Phil Horvath is the best available option outside of Josh Haldi, then who is to argue. In Joe's judgment I trust. It seems to me that Huskie faithful should be supporting and encouraging Horvath right now. Its way too early to pass critique. He is a redshirt sophmore that was thrown into the frying pan very late.
Captian obvious strikes again!
Watch out for the injury bug Phil! :rofl:
dawgs gone wild Wrote:Sheldon's frustration did not go un-noticed by several of us. In a way you cannot fault him yet we expect young men to suck it up and know better. Is that fair or reasonable ?
Horvath had a subpar performance on the heels of a decent first start --not all that uncommon for a green QB. His passes to the sidelines take forever to get there. If it continues at Iowa State --look out ! If he continues to over or undershoot his receivers as much as last Saturday, a double whammy and blowout is in the making.
If he settles himself down and plays within his limited abilities, perhaps we can hang in there vrs. 'Clones. He needs to get alot better & fast if he is our guy vrs. BGSU.
Dawgs you are right, but one thing i want to point out is that i'm sure the coaches realized this, hence the complaints about our play calling from a few posters. We have to call what our qb can execute and that happens to not be the intermediate passes that need zip. I look for swings and screens again against ISU, probably a swing pass to perez this time to make ISU think it's another flea flicker and have their db's play back and let perez run.
Horvath doesn't have the tools to execute certian plays, and that hurts us, but i guess no one man can do everything, as long as he doesn't keep throwing the ball at the other teams defenders his lack of physical skills won't really matter, but you couple that with physical and mental mistakes and it's time for him to go.
Anyone getting the idea that NIU is playing not to lose?
niucob86 Wrote:Anyone getting the idea that NIU is playing not to lose?
I don't think we can get any more conservative / predictable, resulting in the entire offense becoming tentative. Phil needs to be on his "game" from the beginning if we are to succeed at ISU.
niucob86 Wrote:Anyone getting the idea that NIU is playing not to lose?
Yeah. The question is, is that a horrible strategy with a first time QB instead of your expected third year starter. I happen to not think so.
I'd like to have our vet out there tossing the ball around and scoring 50 points a game. Unfortunately, that is not possible right now, so we have to deal with it.
HuskieDan Wrote:niucob86 Wrote:Anyone getting the idea that NIU is playing not to lose?
Yeah. The question is, is that a horrible strategy with a first time QB instead of your expected third year starter. I happen to not think so.
I'd like to have our vet out there tossing the ball around and scoring 50 points a game. Unfortunately, that is not possible right now, so we have to deal with it.
thanks huskiedan!! Thanks for making sense! Couldnt agree with you more.
There is a fine line between playing not to lose and modifying the game plan to take advantage of player capabilities.
niucob86 Wrote:There is a fine line between playing not to lose and modifying the game plan to take advantage of player capabilities.
Care to describe the difference?
HuskieDan Wrote:niucob86 Wrote:There is a fine line between playing not to lose and modifying the game plan to take advantage of player capabilities.
Care to describe the difference?
I hate to agree with dan, and i mean i really hate to, but he is right, it's the same thing, in this situation.
We have a qb with a lack of physical tools who we don't want to lose us the game, hence the play calling that plays to phils strenghts and a safer game plan.
crazywilly Wrote:I hate to agree with dan, and i mean i really hate to, but he is right, it's the same thing, in this situation.
:bluethumb:
I don't know if I have the persuasive talent to convey how I feel about this, but I'll try.
It's about the aversion of risk.
In my view, football teams that play not to lose avoid risk to such a degree that they become virtually ineffective anyway. Their behavior becomes too conservative, too predictable.
Teams like this are afraid to throw on 3rd and long.
When faced with 4th and short, they always punt.
"We've got to get the balance back in our offense. We cannot be one-dimensional, particulary this week at Iowa State."
Coach Novak
What means will Novak use to get the balance back?
How will Novak introduce risk so that the Iowa State safeties don't cheat up?
It's about calculated risk and decision-making. If a play is there, you take it, if it's not, you throw the ball away rather than risk a pick.
I'm sure we'll see some risky plays the next two weeks and beyond, but where and when and how often is going to depend on who is running the show. The reason Haldi has been successful despite his lack of physical ability is because he has an uncanny ability to make good decisions.
Horvath may be even less physically gifted than Haldi, so he'll need to be just as good or better to be successful. I agree theres a point when the limitations of certain players are so great they can't be overcome , and I'm concerned that 4th and 3 last weekend was an example.
However, after two games, I'm not going to concede anything. I believe Joe will find a way to win w the QB's we have available to us.
niucob86 Wrote:I don't know if I have the persuasive talent to convey how I feel about this, but I'll try.
It's about the aversion of risk.
In my view, football teams that play not to lose avoid risk to such a degree that they become virtually ineffective anyway. Their behavior becomes too conservative, too predictable.
Teams like this are afraid to throw on 3rd and long.
When faced with 4th and short, they always punt.
"We've got to get the balance back in our offense. We cannot be one-dimensional, particulary this week at Iowa State."
Coach Novak
What means will Novak use to get the balance back?
How will Novak introduce risk so that the Iowa State safeties don't cheat up?
Good argument. But I don't see it as averting risk as much as using what we have the best way possible, and we have a good defense that should keep us in games.
It's playing field position football. I'm watching the tape of the Maryland game, and we get a fumble on Md's 40 or so. We end the drive punting from the Md 34 on 4th and 10. Now, 10 yards is much longer than 3, but we pin the ball on the Md 1, then a bad pitch turns into a safety for the Huskies and we lead 2-0.
Now, that is an extreme example, but right now asking our QB to value the ball more than big yardage is the smart play. Turnovers are the quickest way to kill yourself. Take Indiana @ Oregon this weekend - IU benefitted from 7 turnovers, including two fumbled punts off the face mask of the punt returner - yes, two.
What we've played recently is smart football, trying to run the ball, establish the line of scrimmage, run the clock and make sure we don't do anything stupid. Stupid play is the difference between winning by a point or losing by 2TDs.