What do you guys think about the playcalling so far?

We were told they were going to find creative ways to get the ball to our running backs in space. Haven't really seen that.

The offense seems very predictable to me. With Marshall, it seems like they came in there knowing exactly what we'd do. Like the three games of footage was enough to figure everything out.

My ND buddy tells me that Denbrock is a heck of a receivers coach and recruiter, but not a very good coordinator.

Who is going to fix Hayden Moore? Do you guys remember the play, third quarter I think, where Hayden threw a long ball down the right side that bounced off the defender and looked like it was caught for a INT by another defender and was subsequently ruled an incompletion.

I watched that entire play develop from my seats in 117. Saw the wheel route (I think), saw Hayden lock on, saw the safety sprint hard in that direction after seeing him lock on and make a play on the ball. Who is our QB coach? Should Guidugli be doing it instead?

I'm not sure what some of you expect when the O-Line and QB play are as bad as they are. It's easy to say that our offense has been vanilla, but it's hard to get creative when the O-Line cant establish the run game, and when your QB can't hit open receivers.

The offensive line is not good, but they are serviceable in pass protection. Even under little to no pressure Hayden can't always hit an open target. Hayden missed a lot of passes early, and a pretty bad one down the field to an open Geddis that may have changed the game.

O-Line cant block
Quarterback is inaccurate/does not go through progressions well
Receivers drop a lot of passes

You can say some of those things are "coaching issues," but you can be the best coach in the world, but your guys still need to execute when they are on the field. I have seen Denbrock call a lot of "basic plays" this season, and the wide outs get open for Moore to make a bad decision, or the wide receiver drop a guerenteed TD/First Down.

I don't believe the offense is a Denbrock problem, I just think our players are simply not good enough right now. This might not change until we get another recruiting cycle or two.

(10-02-2017 10:56 AM)AeroCat Wrote:  What do you guys think about the playcalling so far?

Average at best, but players have been in positions to succeed, receivers have been open, etc.

Quote:We were told they were going to find creative ways to get the ball to our running backs in space. Haven't really seen that.

Well, when there's no space to begin with, that's kind of hard to do. Salvador Dali didn't have enough imagination to get our running backs open running lanes with this OLine

Quote:The offense seems very predictable to me. With Marshall, it seems like they came in there knowing exactly what we'd do. Like the three games of footage was enough to figure everything out.

That comes down to the fact that our offense relies on multiple reads being made, and our QB reads defenses like a toddler reads War and Peace, just ends up throwing the book away and going back to their pacifier.

Quote:My ND buddy tells me that Denbrock is a heck of a receivers coach and recruiter, but not a very good coordinator.

Kelly called most of the plays at ND until last year I believe, so it's not like Denbrock could be judged as a coordinator there. The position groups he did manage (WR/TE) were always strong though.

Quote:Who is going to fix Hayden Moore? Do you guys remember the play, third quarter I think, where Hayden threw a long ball down the right side that bounced off the defender and looked like it was caught for a INT by another defender and was subsequently ruled an incompletion. I watched that entire play develop from my seats in 117. Saw the wheel route (I think), saw Hayden lock on, saw the safety sprint hard in that direction after seeing him lock on and make a play on the ball. Who is our QB coach? Should Guidugli be doing it instead?

Short answer, no one...he's had far too long playing one way to be able to change with only a year of eligibility left. We have to hope Trail steps up or Bryant blows them out next spring. Guidugli may have been a QB, but his only experience coaching is with RBs. It is difficult to coach the positions you played sometimes as odd as that sounds.

(10-02-2017 11:08 AM)Banter Wrote:  I'm not sure what some of you expect when the O-Line and QB play are as bad as they are. It's easy to say that our offense has been vanilla, but it's hard to get creative when the O-Line cant establish the run game, and when your QB can't hit open receivers.

The offensive line is not good, but they are serviceable in pass protection. Even under little to no pressure Hayden can't always hit an open target. Hayden missed a lot of passes early, and a pretty bad one down the field to an open Geddis that may have changed the game.

O-Line cant block
Quarterback is inaccurate/does not go through progressions well
Receivers drop a lot of passes

You can say some of those things are "coaching issues," but you can be the best coach in the world, but your guys still need to execute when they are on the field. I have seen Denbrock call a lot of "basic plays" this season, and the wide outs get open for Moore to make a bad decision, or the wide receiver drop a guerenteed TD/First Down.

I don't believe the offense is a Denbrock problem, I just think our players are simply not good enough right now. This might not change until we get another recruiting cycle or two.

x2. I see a poor roster with poor execution that is impacting conservative play calling. I believe Moore has thrown at least one to two balls per game into the ground with no one around but the turf mites. He also gets wide-eyed and happy feet that affects his throws when there is even a "hint" of a pass rush. I don't necessarily blame him in every instance because he has taken his fair share of hard shots over the past several years. Everything starts up front and we are just not that good or consistent along the O Line.

BearcatMan, double kudos for the Salvador Dali reference!

(10-02-2017 11:08 AM)Banter Wrote:  I'm not sure what some of you expect when the O-Line and QB play are as bad as they are. It's easy to say that our offense has been vanilla, but it's hard to get creative when the O-Line cant establish the run game, and when your QB can't hit open receivers.

The offensive line is not good, but they are serviceable in pass protection. Even under little to no pressure Hayden can't always hit an open target. Hayden missed a lot of passes early, and a pretty bad one down the field to an open Geddis that may have changed the game.

O-Line cant block
Quarterback is inaccurate/does not go through progressions well
Receivers drop a lot of passes

You can say some of those things are "coaching issues," but you can be the best coach in the world, but your guys still need to execute when they are on the field. I have seen Denbrock call a lot of "basic plays" this season, and the wide outs get open for Moore to make a bad decision, or the wide receiver drop a guerenteed TD/First Down.

I don't believe the offense is a Denbrock problem, I just think our players are simply not good enough right now. This might not change until we get another recruiting cycle or two.

i wrote elsewhere to go two TEs to help with inline blocking and create mismatches in the passing game (hopefully), run HM using read options and other misdirection to help with the run game.

Our WRs and OLs are as bad as our QB apparently. i don't think we lose anything by sitting one of the WRs in favor of a TE. i agree with the premise that we are predictable and i want to see any adjustments. in all frankness, i'm in the "Change for Change Sake" phase at this point.

I can't really blame the play calling for our woes. Fumbles, interceptions, penalties, et. al rarely are the fault of the play calling. They clean this up, they're in games for the most part. I'm not saying it's great, but not their big issue right now. I would like them to give more emphasis to running the ball outside versus inside the tackles. We've run the ball well on the edges when they've done it. I think if you ran more outside it would make it easier to run inside. Needs more balance. Not mention it also helps to freeze corners and safeties.

(10-02-2017 11:31 AM)eroc Wrote:  

(10-02-2017 11:08 AM)Banter Wrote:  I'm not sure what some of you expect when the O-Line and QB play are as bad as they are. It's easy to say that our offense has been vanilla, but it's hard to get creative when the O-Line cant establish the run game, and when your QB can't hit open receivers.

The offensive line is not good, but they are serviceable in pass protection. Even under little to no pressure Hayden can't always hit an open target. Hayden missed a lot of passes early, and a pretty bad one down the field to an open Geddis that may have changed the game.

O-Line cant block
Quarterback is inaccurate/does not go through progressions well
Receivers drop a lot of passes

You can say some of those things are "coaching issues," but you can be the best coach in the world, but your guys still need to execute when they are on the field. I have seen Denbrock call a lot of "basic plays" this season, and the wide outs get open for Moore to make a bad decision, or the wide receiver drop a guerenteed TD/First Down.

I don't believe the offense is a Denbrock problem, I just think our players are simply not good enough right now. This might not change until we get another recruiting cycle or two.

i wrote elsewhere to go two TEs to help with inline blocking and create mismatches in the passing game (hopefully), run HM using read options and other misdirection to help with the run game.

Our WRs and OLs are as bad as our QB apparently. i don't think we lose anything by sitting one of the WRs in favor of a TE. i agree with the premise that we are predictable and i want to see any adjustments. in all frankness, i'm in the "Change for Change Sake" phase at this point.

Have you watched the TE's block, they are terrible!!!!!!! I get in the stadium early to watch warm-ups. When the Qb's are throwing the ball, straight patterns, not bad. If you watch when they change to hooks or come backers. Patterns are not run crisply. I zoomed in on Gettis. On every hook pattern he ran, he did not come back to the ball once. Not once. The receivers do not get any separation on their patterns during the game.

I've mostly been ok with the play calling. Offense just doesnt execute (throwing out the 4th quarter against Miami and Navy game).

Our Offense has been OFFENSIVE!

I think the playcalling has been decent when you consider how bad the OLine is, the QB and who he is throwing to.

Bill Walsh could not pull a rabbit out of the hat with this group.

(10-02-2017 03:32 PM)bearcat72 Wrote:  

(10-02-2017 11:31 AM)eroc Wrote:  

(10-02-2017 11:08 AM)Banter Wrote:  I'm not sure what some of you expect when the O-Line and QB play are as bad as they are. It's easy to say that our offense has been vanilla, but it's hard to get creative when the O-Line cant establish the run game, and when your QB can't hit open receivers.

The offensive line is not good, but they are serviceable in pass protection. Even under little to no pressure Hayden can't always hit an open target. Hayden missed a lot of passes early, and a pretty bad one down the field to an open Geddis that may have changed the game.

O-Line cant block
Quarterback is inaccurate/does not go through progressions well
Receivers drop a lot of passes

You can say some of those things are "coaching issues," but you can be the best coach in the world, but your guys still need to execute when they are on the field. I have seen Denbrock call a lot of "basic plays" this season, and the wide outs get open for Moore to make a bad decision, or the wide receiver drop a guerenteed TD/First Down.

I don't believe the offense is a Denbrock problem, I just think our players are simply not good enough right now. This might not change until we get another recruiting cycle or two.

i wrote elsewhere to go two TEs to help with inline blocking and create mismatches in the passing game (hopefully), run HM using read options and other misdirection to help with the run game.

Our WRs and OLs are as bad as our QB apparently. i don't think we lose anything by sitting one of the WRs in favor of a TE. i agree with the premise that we are predictable and i want to see any adjustments. in all frankness, i'm in the "Change for Change Sake" phase at this point.

Have you watched the TE's block, they are terrible!!!!!!! I get in the stadium early to watch warm-ups. When the Qb's are throwing the ball, straight patterns, not bad. If you watch when they change to hooks or come backers. Patterns are not run crisply. I zoomed in on Gettis. On every hook pattern he ran, he did not come back to the ball once. Not once. The receivers do not get any separation on their patterns during the game.

Honestly, i have not watched the TEs block. The thought was to have more numbers on the LOS to help with double teams and getting some second level blocking and perhaps getting some mismatches on LBs. Like i said, some change is better than no change as far as i'm concerned

At tight end we had Travis Kelce, Adrien Robinson, Blake Annen. All of those played in the NFL. Nothing lasts forever.
Likewise at WR, we had Chris Moore, Johnny Holton, Mekale McKay, Shaq Washington and a bunch of others. I don't really see the kind of talent we used to have at the skill positions anywhere. That wouldn't be such a problem, if the O-line wasn't also pretty bad.
The problem I have though, isn't with the talent. There was no excuse for the sorry-ass effort we saw last week. The offense that went tit for tat with Navy, shouldn't allow us to get trucked by Marshall. Sure coaching failed to adjust, but their performance was just

That offense also played pretty well against Michigan outside some horrible (big surprise) throws from the QB.

(10-03-2017 03:37 PM)Recluse1 Wrote:  At tight end we had Travis Kelce, Adrien Robinson, Blake Annen. All of those played in the NFL. Nothing lasts forever.
Likewise at WR, we had Chris Moore, Johnny Holton, Mekale McKay, Shaq Washington and a bunch of others. I don't really see the kind of talent we used to have at the skill positions anywhere. That wouldn't be such a problem, if the O-line wasn't also pretty bad.
The problem I have though, isn't with the talent. There was no excuse for the sorry-ass effort we saw last week. The offense that went tit for tat with Navy, shouldn't allow us to get trucked by Marshall. Sure coaching failed to adjust, but their performance was just

The offense didn't exactly go tit for tat with Navy. We scored a late TD and 2 pt conversion to get it to...hell it was still a double digit deficit.

This offense sticks largely because the guys on the field for us would not be able to get any playing time for the FBS teams we are playing against.