Houston admitted he thought about inserting Johnson at QB this week in practice because he wasn’t happy with the offense.
Once the Nooch had 2 bad TO’s in the first quarter he made the switch.

Johnson went on to have 4 turnovers of his own. Not good.

This week will be interesting. Perhaps even Maloney gets back in the picture.


Just a few weeks ago, Houston announced that they were not playing Cole Johnson more than 4 games so they could save his redshirt.
About face?

I think the QB that plays on Saturday is the QB for the rest of this season. We need one of them to step up this week. I don't care which guy it is. We don't need an all-star QB to win. We just need a guy that can execute and not turn the ball over.
Our season isn't over yet, but this week will most certainly decide our fate.

Indeed. This team just needs competent QB play to win most games.
The defense and special teams are good enough to carry the load.

We need someone willing to run and mix it up a bit. Begrudgingly, I’ll admit CJ showed that capability this week. We know Nooch and Gage are both mobile. I don’t care who they go with but I stand by the idea that if our OL doesn’t drastically improve the playcalljng has to change.

I wouldn't mind a shift up front. Move 77 back inside the guard and get Chavious back out to tackle. Is Jackson back this week? That would get him at the LG spot with 67 back at LT.

I agree about the OL. Thing with Cole is for every nice downfield throw he makes, he turns the ball over. I know we haven't seen a ton of him, but in all of his action at JMU he has been a turnover machine. Playing behind this line will just exacerbate that. He also tends to throw the ball high and has no pocket presence to know when to get rid of the ball which resulted in a couple of the turnovers today.

I think Cole really only had one interception that should count against him. And, the fumble wasn’t his fault. He looked so much better than the Nooch there was no comparison. He stood tall in the pocket and got rid of the ball much quicker. He had 398 yards passing. Nooch will never have a 400 he game.

I will concede that if you just looked at a box score and saw 3 INTs, it's not fair. One was basically a heave for the end zone at the end of the half and one was just a complete breakdown in pass protection where he had a half second to throw and got hit while throwing. It'll be interesting to see how it looks not playing from a hole. I'm not here to criticize 'Nooch. Anybody is going to have a tough time when you have no run game. I'm sure this is driving Mike Houston nuts. He wants a balanced offense and right now we have to throw because otherwise we're in 3rd and 8 every time.

(11-03-2018 08:22 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote:  I will concede that if you just looked at a box score and saw 3 INTs, it's not fair. One was basically a heave for the end zone at the end of the half and one was just a complete breakdown in pass protection where he had a half second to throw and got hit while throwing. It'll be interesting to see how it looks not playing from a hole. I'm not here to criticize 'Nooch. Anybody is going to have a tough time when you have no run game. I'm sure this is driving Mike Houston nuts. He wants a balanced offense and right now we have to throw because otherwise we're in 3rd and 8 every time.

It goes both ways though. Sure you could argue the 3 ints in the box score is misleading (I even posted when it happened that the one pick wasn't all his fault due to the lack pass protection), but at the same time the 398 yards was misleading as well bc we were basically down by 3 scores the entire time, meaning we were putting the ball in the air more than usual, and he was playing against a zone or prevent defense for a large portion of the game.

He made some good throws and he was more mobile than I anticipated (but one reason he had to run in the first place was due to blocking breakdowns), so he deserves credit for that. But that performance doesn't warrant just giving him the starting position. His pick 6 was just as devastating as DiNucci's and if the fumble wasn't his fault then was DiNucci's fumble not DiNucci's fault? Also, DiNucci is still clearly the better runner and doesn't that add value when you're playing with a line that isnt blocking well? He would have gotten much more yardage on some of Johnson's runs.

I think either QB would be serviceable if we didn't have blocking issues and if we had an explosive running game. Unfortunately that's not the case and we are asking BOTH QBs to play outside of their skillsets and we are expecting them to win the games for us. It's not going to happen.

I personally think getting Jackson back to bring some much needed stability to the line and giving Percy carries would actually have a bigger impact on the offense than who is playing QB. I honestly believe Percy has the speed and explosiveness to go the distance any time he touches the ball. He and Marshall should be splitting carries, if Marshall can return from injury that is.

That's my two cents worth. I hope we figure out a way to turn things around, but I don't feel great about these last two games now.

How has DJ Daniels been playing in minor league baseball?

(11-03-2018 09:31 PM)TheDuke Wrote:  

(11-03-2018 08:22 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote:  I will concede that if you just looked at a box score and saw 3 INTs, it's not fair. One was basically a heave for the end zone at the end of the half and one was just a complete breakdown in pass protection where he had a half second to throw and got hit while throwing. It'll be interesting to see how it looks not playing from a hole. I'm not here to criticize 'Nooch. Anybody is going to have a tough time when you have no run game. I'm sure this is driving Mike Houston nuts. He wants a balanced offense and right now we have to throw because otherwise we're in 3rd and 8 every time.

It goes both ways though. Sure you could argue the 3 ints in the box score is misleading (I even posted when it happened that the one pick wasn't all his fault due to the lack pass protection), but at the same time the 398 yards was misleading as well bc we were basically down by 3 scores the entire time, meaning we were putting the ball in the air more than usual, and he was playing against a zone or prevent defense for a large portion of the game.

He made some good throws and he was more mobile than I anticipated (but one reason he had to run in the first place was due to blocking breakdowns), so he deserves credit for that. But that performance doesn't warrant just giving him the starting position. His pick 6 was just as devastating as DiNucci's and if the fumble wasn't his fault then was DiNucci's fumble not DiNucci's fault? Also, DiNucci is still clearly the better runner and doesn't that add value when you're playing with a line that isnt blocking well? He would have gotten much more yardage on some of Johnson's runs.

I think either QB would be serviceable if we didn't have blocking issues and if we had an explosive running game. Unfortunately that's not the case and we are asking BOTH QBs to play outside of their skillsets and we are expecting them to win the games for us. It's not going to happen.

I personally think getting Jackson back to bring some much needed stability to the line and giving Percy carries would actually have a bigger impact on the offense than who is playing QB. I honestly believe Percy has the speed and explosiveness to go the distance any time he touches the ball. He and Marshall should be splitting carries, if Marshall can return from injury that is.

That's my two cents worth. I hope we figure out a way to turn things around, but I don't feel great about these last two games now.

I agree with everything you said. I didn't mean to insinuate that putting Cole in would fix everything. And yes, the 398 were mostly just a factor of being down and throwing into a prevent defense. I couldn't care less if a QB throws for 98 or 398. It doesn't matter when you turn the ball over.

The announcers kept talking about total yardage and I was shaking my head. I say let's start Percy and Cole next week and see what we can do. Give them a chance playing a 0-0 game.

(11-03-2018 09:40 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote:  How has DJ Daniels been playing in minor league baseball?

Been in Rookie ball for 3 years, struggling.

How many more games before Johnson burns his red shirt? If it is questionable to Cole is good enough at this point to lead the team through the playoffs and a full week of practice and a home game I'd say consider starting Maloney but to hop around QBs like that mid season is a little unusual- i.e. desperate- not sure how the players respond to all those changes.

Yesterday was CJs 4th, I believe. So if he appears in any other game he is not RS eligible.

There should be no controversy at all. Johnson improved the offense. One of his picks was essentially a Hail Mary toward the end of the first half. His fumble was brought about due to the O line yet again completely failing to stop the UNH from getting to the QB, as a result of which Cole was hit from behind.

Cole should absolutely start this Saturday, and I will be shocked if he doesn't.

(11-04-2018 12:15 PM)Madison 91 Forever Wrote:  There should be no controversy at all. Johnson improved the offense. One of his picks was essentially a Hail Mary toward the end of the first half. His fumble was brought about due to the O line yet again completely failing to stop the UNH from getting to the QB, as a result of which Cole was hit from behind.

Cole should absolutely start this Saturday, and will be shocked if he doesn't.

Johnson’s pick six INT was a horrible throw, and IMO his play yesterday did not earn him the starting role. So, in that regard it will be an interesting decision that rests with MH. I think the season, indeed the potential to make the playoffs, rests with MH making the right call as to who starts at QB. As of now I have little confidence in the OL and OC, and JMU has zero margin of error left to keep JMU playoff bound.

(11-04-2018 12:23 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(11-04-2018 12:15 PM)Madison 91 Forever Wrote:  There should be no controversy at all. Johnson improved the offense. One of his picks was essentially a Hail Mary toward the end of the first half. His fumble was brought about due to the O line yet again completely failing to stop the UNH from getting to the QB, as a result of which Cole was hit from behind.

Cole should absolutely start this Saturday, and will be shocked if he doesn't.

Johnson’s pick six INT was a horrible throw, and IMO his play yesterday did not earn him the starting role. So, in that regard it will be an interesting decision that rests with MH. I think the season, indeed the potential to make the playoffs, rests with MH making the right call as to who starts at QB. As of now I have little confidence in the OL and OC, and JMU has zero margin of error left to keep JMU playoff bound.

I agree with you and think DiNucci should start.

Performance and even more important, attitude and demeanor shown in practice this week will help Houston make that call.

Remember the Pitt fans who remarked that DiNucci sulked when benched?

How did he react yesterday? MH won’t put up with someone who isn’t a good teammate.

(11-04-2018 12:15 PM)Madison 91 Forever Wrote:  There should be no controversy at all. Johnson improved the offense. One of his picks was essentially a Hail Mary toward the end of the first half. His fumble was brought about due to the O line yet again completely failing to stop the UNH from getting to the QB, as a result of which Cole was hit from behind.

Cole should absolutely start this Saturday, and I will be shocked if he doesn't.

Agree with most of what you said here with the exception of the fumble. The OL stunk all day ... well, all season ... but that was Cole's fault. He held onto that ball for 7 minutes and was not aware of what was going on around him. That guy got pushed down field and then on second effort got up and came back and hit him from behind. That's pocket presence and understanding everything that's going on around you. From what I've seen of Cole, he doesn't have that instinct. I hope it's just lack of experience but that is exactly the type of thing that happens when you put in a QB who hasn't had much live game action. In practice they just blow the whistle. You can't wear a red jersey on game day.