(06-09-2018 07:18 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote: (06-09-2018 12:57 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote: (06-09-2018 11:01 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote: I think people are missing the point when they say the key is Childers. It does not matter who the QB of this offense is as long as it is RC's offense. Its not the car's fault, its the driver's fault. Garbage In Garbage Out.
I know you're a big Childers supporter but you're using Rod as an excuse to cover up Childer's poor passing. While I do think this offense is outdated and gimmicky, it is still effective vs MAC teams(its worthless vs P5 or talented defenses). Its predicated on dink-dunk, dink-dunk, deep ball. Without the deep ball all you have is dink-dunk and then a defense that will creep up to make that even more difficult.
That being said, NIU was still 4th in total offense in the MAC last season with no QB play what to speak of. If Childers can improve, and hopefully by a lot, NIU should be in the top 2. There are certain things I really like about Childers, but any fair evaluation of his play last year was that he was garbage downfield. Graham was garbage downfield too and that's why this offense was less effective under him as well.
Wow, I think you have things EXACTLY 180 degrees flipped. Rod Carey uses the quarterback position to cover up his shortcomings. He places absolutely no value on the position, and in most years does not even have the comfort level to name the QB. Why is it usually a 4 man competition the past several years? 1) Because QB skills are not utilized in this offense, its impossible for a QB to stand out when you do not run an offense that would allow a QB to even be successful and 2) He knows injuries in this "offense" will result in having to go through 3 or 4 people during course of the year. The QB position to Rod Carey is like a box of Kleenex. Blow your nose on one and move onto the next one.
I think its impossible to separate Childers' performance and the system he is playing under. It has to be probably THE most predictable/conservative in all of college football and the most limited. I am just so frustrated of watching NIU Toledo or NIU WMU games and feeling like one team is playing checkers and one is playing chess on offense. Not to mention, being QB at NIU is basically a suicide mission from an injury standpoint. One thing that really worries me this year is that in the post-Lynch era, NIU still had playmakers at WR and RB that carried it to a middle of the road MAC offense like you are talking about. This year, NIU virtually has no playmakers on offense. Couple RC's limitations + no playmakers and you may have a recipe for a complete disaster. Hope I am wrong, but thank the Lord NIU has a solid defense. It was sure a shame to see that defense last year wasted, that was a defense that should have been part of a top 25 team.
i'm going to give you some hard stats to help you see whats happening here. This offense hasn't changed much under Carey. But QB play has. Under Carey there's been 3 good QBs and 2 bad QBs(not considering Santa or Fiedler due to lack of games)
Good: Lynch, Hare, Maddie
Lynch PPG 39, team ydsPG 519 (Strength of schedule 122/125)
Hare PPG 31, team ydsPG 420 (SOS 112 & 83 /125)
Maddie PPG 35, team ydsPG 462 (SOS MAC only 125/125)
Bad: Graham, Childers
Graham PPG 28, team ydsPG 429 (SOS - too small sample)
Childers PPG 29, team ydsPG 379 (SOS - MAC only 128/128)
If you want scary here's Childers and Grahams career numbers. No need to label who's is who's when they're the same.
Rushing:
127att - 413yds 3.3avg
143att - 473yds 3.3avg
Passing:
141/267-53%, 1561 yds 16td/10 int, 114qbr
152/265-57%, 1674 yds 16td/5 int, 126qbr
I put SOS on there just to remind people that as great as Lynch was, he benefitted from the easiest schedule in the country in 2012 and 2013. It doesnt take away from what an amazing player he was, but it did pad his and the team stats a little.
Bottom line, 2 things have happened. NIU's offense has gotten worse at the QB position and has also gotten worse at running the ball. But this offense has NEVER been about passing. LYNCH averaged about 215 yds/g passing. Maddie 220 and Hare 200. But those guys could all run and make plays. They made this offense work. Graham and Childers don't make plays. To get this offense working again NIU needs stability at the running game. As dynamic as Huff was, he couldn't stay on the field. Harbs and Jones need to be the focus so the TEAM rush attack can get up to about 250 yds/game. Under Childers and Graham it fell to about 180. Lynch, Hare, Maddie had it at 290,250,240 respectively. Then Childers needs to make the big play when called upon whether that's with his arm or his legs. This offense isnt about throwing the ball around like Logan Woodside or Matt Johnson. So Childers doesn't need to be a jugs machine back there whipping it down field. Just make the damn big throw when it time to.