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I agree with johnnylightnin. I still think J'Mar's got the goods at this point. I've seen bad, and he's not bad. In fact, I think he has the mind and talent to be good. Definitely has to improve ball security. I think he's sorting out what routes work with which specific players. There was alot of flukish stuff that happened in last night's game. Normally, mistakes aren't magnified to that degree. Seemed like every miscue was catastrophic. He's not that bad.
We are very limited at QB and WR from what we have seen......I hope Miss St is REAL good, and that is why we were so inept!!
The point is not whether J'Mar has talent. The problem is that he is very very sloppy securing the football and hesitant. He doesn't know whether to throw the ball, dump it off, or run.
The bottom line is HE MUST STOP FUMBLING THE BALL AWAY. A punt after an incompletion is much better than all of these QB fumbles!
Glad I'm not the only one that noticed this. Those were the slowest handoffs I think I'd ever seen. Hold it out, wait a few minutes for the RB to grab it, then pull away. It's a miracle THAT wasn't a tackle/fumble/TD at some point.Quote:
Originally Posted by HogDawg
Westin Elliot (?) is much snappier at least in that aspect. Slap it into the chest and release.
Turnovers are killers.
A very successful coach once said, every drive needs to end in some kind of kick. An extra point would be the first choice, of course, a FG ain't bad either. And a PUNT! is much better than a turnover!
I noticed the slow handoffs too but didn't know if it was meant to be that way or not. It was like Jmar followed the rb up to the los then let go of the ball. Regardless, I didn't like it. Give it to the rb and let him do what he does best.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Dawg
Keep in mind these are option plays. The QB is reading a defensive player, usually the d end, as to whether he is going to hand it off, run it himself, or in some cases throw it. Because of the situation late in the 4th quarter we didn't run any when Elliot was in the game. J'Mar has a lot of issues he has to correct, but this doesn't appear to be one of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Dawg
It's by design. It will look slower if the hole the RB is supposed to hit isn't there.Quote:
Originally Posted by rabiddawg
That makes sense then.
I thought I saw Elliot run a few option tosses but by that point I wasn't really invested, just waiting for the clock to run out so the misery would be over.
Yes their DBs were much better than our receivers. Which reminds us how good Carlos and Trent where in college. They played six DBs (3) safeties on most downs and were able to handle our running game.Quote:
Originally Posted by luckydawg
Our O line is not small - we avg 300+ at every position but I thought they did not do a good job of getting to the second level of blocking for run game. Up until MSU quit respecting our run game (second qtr forward) our line did a good job of pass protection, not so much afterwards.
Our D line is avg. Our tackles other than Wallace are undersized a bit and not necessarily athletic - just avg. Our d-ends I thought played the run well but still no consistent pass rush from either. Ferguson is MIA.
Our DBs miss to many tackles, not nearly as physical as MSU dbs.
Receivers - we have no legit deep threat and no legit "go to" possession receiver. Certainly a work in progress.
Their kickers were better than ours. We never returned a kickoff -all kicked deep. However I though our kick coverages were good.
I think the preseason hype was misguided. I think with all the inexperience on offense we probably should have all expected growing pains, sharp pains so far, in the passing game which is making us one dimensional and very predictable. I think Skip needs to use Smith more in running game, make it a true spread "option" not just an occasional QB pull and run. I think Skip needs to mix up Smith's drops and roll him out more and if his receivers are covered then let him use his legs to cause the defense to make choices.
Until Smith matures as a drop back QB, Holtz needs to use him much like MSU uses Fitzgerald. We all saw how avg if not below avg. Fitzgerald is as a drop back passer but he killed us with his legs. LET SMITH RUN.
Lastly, if Smith continues to not take care of the ball I think we have no choice but to play Elliot. If he can protect the ball it would give us a better chance to win. Turnovers distort a game more than anything.
I agree he hasn't looked stellar the first two games and he needs to protect the football. He also needs help from a few people. He hit a few receivers in the numbers only to have the ball dropped or popped up and intercepted. His line was also completely outmatched. He didn't have much time back there. Snaps were still not where they need to be including our most famous play ever unfortunately. There were a few times that (in hindsight) he should have secured the football and just run the ball for whatever he could get. If he had we would probably be talking about how he should have been looking down field instead of always just tucking an running and opening himself up to getting injured.
The reason he looked so good last year in his limited playing time was the people around him allowed him to be better. JMar is trying to do too much right now. He extended plays by escaping the pocket and was trying to go downfield. Many times he simply extended it too long. I will guarantee you Higgins wouldn't look the same with this group as he did last year. That being said, he probably would have kept the game closer by taking some sacks and not turning the ball over. The coaches have to figure out how to sort out the issues around him and a lot of the problems we have with JMar will go away. They also need to coach him up on when to get rid of the football, when to tuck and run and when to take the sack. Hopefully they can shore it up enough that by the end of the year we can't believe people were calling for JMars head after two games.
The Higgins that finished the season last year would have. But Ryan struggled against South Carolina State and MTSU. He really started playing better football by the time the UTEP game came around. I am hoping J'Mar can make as much progress in the next month given who we play and his supporting cast compared to what Ryan had to work with.Quote:
Originally Posted by detltu
I believe USCar will have a better D, I agree on the scheme, I'm not sure I agree on the D Athletes. That's Muschamp's one skill. Though I think our Defense may have a good shot against their Offense.Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
I think if we return Reed to the right side (Tackle or Guard), and have someone else as Center, it may solve many problems. He had many low snaps against NWST, and he was the culprit center for "our most infamous play ever" (3rd & 93). Reed was a Freshman All-American last year, and our right side OL has had issues blocking.Quote:
Originally Posted by detltu
If you take that lose out of the stats we had 402 yards offense, the issue is J'Mar making the right reads and being willing to quickly makings the outlet throws. He does not make the decision and get rid of the ball quick enough, and STOP TURNINING THE BALL OVER!