Some of you folks have to get something through your heads. True, Cochran didn't pull an absolute miracle out of his butt and win the WMU game by himself despite the play of the entire rest of the team. (which is what it would have taken) That's a far cry from justification for replacing him.

Here's a reality check: Bruce's senior year is over and Clint's sophomore season has only just begun. You're expecting a bit too much and being way too critical.

-Dan

H2Oville Rocket Wrote:

rocketfootball Wrote:

DetroitRocket Wrote:Maybe Western looked at the ISU tape and saw Clint couldn't move. Then they just teed off on him.

Plenty of pocket passing quarterbacks that "can't move" have been successful. Spread formation or not. We don't run the BG/Utah/Florida Spread formation where the QB runs on almost every play. In our Spread formation there are plenty of plays that a QB that "can't move" can be successful.

I have watched Clint do the rollout play action pass play very well in practice. I don't believe we really ran that play much against WMU. If our O-Line is not going to block, we need to do more rollout plays for Clint.

Years ago we had an immobile QB who NEVER looked away from his primary receiver and took a ton of hits in the backfield. I got so frustrated I could (and did) scream. But he went on to a modest pro career and went on to be a color man for a college football team. Of course the pro career was in baseball-A.J. Sager. He was so bad even I could tell he who he was throwing to and he was about as fast as Cochrane. I know that has little to do with this thread but I finally have a forum to get it off my chest!

I remember the frustrations with Sager as our QB. The Rockets were 20-13-1 though when he was here, 16-8-1 in MAC play. We won a MAC title his first year and were 7-4 when he was a senior. I always thought we could have been better though if he wasn't always frustrating the hell out of me.

Agree - most of the team played below average. Not horrible, just below par. the turnovers killed us - and more importantly, there was some strange playcalling that I think set us up for failure. All I can keep thinking of is 1st and goal from the 4 - and no points to show for it. that puts us down by 7 with the entire 4th quarter to play. The 90+ interception should have been another score for us and not them...

think about it - we score instead of an interception for a TD. Score then would have been 17-14 UT on top. then we get the TD at 1st and goal. We're up 24-14. They still get the field goal and perhaps the TD when it was 4th and 2 and we don't have a defender within 15 yards of 2 of their receivers (we expect a run as they run the clock down instead of them throwing a pass).

Lots of "if and buts"....

KingBob Wrote:QB's that don't move can be successful but not in this type system...

That's total BS!

Rob Spence developed this Spread offense. He ran it at Louisiana Tech before coming to Toledo. His last season there was 2000 with Luke McCown. McCown is slow. McCown netted -20 yards (that's negative yardage) for the season, -0.5 ypc. Have you watched him in the NFL? He is slow. Yet he was successful. He completed 66.1% of his passes for 2544 yards and 21 TD's in 8 games played......he missed some of the season with an injury.

Texas Tech runs a variation of this same Spread offense with a lot of short passes and screens. Their QB last year was Cody Hodges. He is not known for being mobile at all. He completed 66.5% of his passes for 4197 yards and 31 TD's. They went 9-3 last year.

Photodan Wrote:Some of you folks have to get something through your heads. True, Cochran didn't pull an absolute miracle out of his butt and win the WMU game by himself despite the play of the entire rest of the team. (which is what it would have taken) That's a far cry from justification for replacing him.

Here's a reality check: Bruce's senior year is over and Clint's sophomore season has only just begun. You're expecting a bit too much and being way too critical.

-Dan

Thank you Dan and RocketFootball

Correct me if I'm wrong, but:

1. We are allegedly a running team first. This means that our running backs are primarily tasked to move the ball on the ground. Sure, it's icing on the cake if you have a QB who can scramble when things break down. But, in recent years our offense has not been geared toward the QB having a lot of responsibility in the running game--like say a Michael Vick. My point is that we are supposed to have people who can move the ball on the ground and we failed to establish the running game in the 1st half at WMU.

2. While we didn't have a particularly impressive 1st half, we were still in the game. At half time WMU made some effective adjustments. We did not seem to make effective adjustments. In fact, I thought the play calling in the 2nd half was just plain weird. Add in some mediocre special teams play, some lousy QB protection, a ground game that was too little too late and, as Mark Beir sometimes says, the wheels just started coming off. It shouldn't happen, but it does--and it did.

3. We've had some significant injuries in the preseason. Two of our receivers, including the one we expected to be the best, have been out. We can only hope that they will make a difference when they can get back in the lineup.

I'm not trying to totally excuse Cochran, because there were a couple times when it looked like his shoes were tied together out there. But, with a guy back there who can throw the ball as he can there is no reason our offense shouldn't run on all cylinders. As I've said from the start, if everyone else out there does their job well, I believe Clint will do his well.

RocketRobert Wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but:

1. We are allegedly a running team first. This means that our running backs are primarily tasked to move the ball on the ground. Sure, it's icing on the cake if you have a QB who can scramble when things break down. But, in recent years our offense has not been geared toward the QB having a lot of responsibility in the running game--like say a Michael Vick. My point is that we are supposed to have people who can move the ball on the ground and we failed to establish the running game in the 1st half at WMU.

2. While we didn't have a particularly impressive 1st half, we were still in the game. At half time WMU made some effective adjustments. We did not seem to make effective adjustments. In fact, I thought the play calling in the 2nd half was just plain weird. Add in some mediocre special teams play, some lousy QB protection, a ground game that was too little too late and, as Mark Beir sometimes says, the wheels just started coming off. It shouldn't happen, but it does--and it did.

3. We've had some significant injuries in the preseason. Two of our receivers, including the one we expected to be the best, have been out. We can only hope that they will make a difference when they can get back in the lineup.

I'm not trying to totally excuse Cochran, because there were a couple times when it looked like his shoes were tied together out there. But, with a guy back there who can throw the ball as he can there is no reason our offense shouldn't run on all cylinders. As I've said from the start, if everyone else out there does their job well, I believe Clint will do his well.

yeh - what he said....exactly on point

KingBob Wrote:... i may be being hard on the boy... but, he needs to prove himself...

I really thought he did prove himself...against ISU.
I was there and he looked great.
Maybe you saw something I didn't on satellite Bob. Were the commentators picking him apart?

RocketBandMan Wrote:I'm not throwing Clint under the bus. Far from it. I am saying it is time to let him throw the ball a little bit.

Agreed on the Odom thing. That was painful to watch. Some of it has to do with our blocking as well, or lack there of.

Exactly. I hate to single out a player, but I noticed a certain guy at right tackle that should not have been playing after the 3rd play of the game. Let me be clear that I am in no way saying that this guy "sucks", far from it in fact. This guy was obviously hurt, his limp was very noticeable. As I sat there watching this guy thru out the game making very little to no contact with anyone, I started to wonder if the coaches were seeing the same thing? I realize that this player is already subbing for someone else who is injured right now, but are we that thin at O-line that we can't bring in someone who has two good wheels instead of just one?