Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
It was so nice to see us FINALLY pick up the pace again in the 4th quarter that we had in the 1st qtr. When we started playing faster offensively their defense looked silly against us. When we started that stupid huddling and slow down offense we were the ones looking silly.
But hey, at least there was only one or two 3-man rushes by our defense this week. Progress!!!!
PLAY FAST = Win Big (and the inverse is also true).
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
On the drive AFTER the real football drive, my wife asked why we stopped trying.
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
Said it before........ obviously we will say it again.
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
About midway thru the game, I posted this question on our BB&B game thread, "Why are we taking so long to run plays?"......it was really irritating to me, and I honestly believe it took our own crowd out of the game. People were disengaged with all the stoppage of play, and the slow pace.
Unfortunately, the pace of this game was more representative of a Golf match than a good football game, at least until the 4th Qtr.
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
Holtz commented on that too. Said in the 4th qtr we purposely picked up the pace to keep USA from being able to sub their front 7 and they got gassed.
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dawg80
Holtz commented on that too. Said in the 4th qtr we purposely picked up the pace to keep USA from being able to sub their front 7 and they got gassed.
We were an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FOOTBALL TEAM once we picked up the play calling pace in the 4th quarter. We blew them off the field at that point. Focus and execution got exponentially better, our energy went through the roof, and it took no time to get into the end zone and turn this near loss into a blowout victory.
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
Holding teams below 20 points is product of ball control . Like it or not we whined all the time about no defense and 40-50 points given up every game-- now we giving ourselves chance to help defense. My belief is that with such a young team we are winning games while developing young players-- the bend but don't break defense ( 1 TD yesterday and 55 points in last 13 quarters according to paper). As offense develops we will probably play faster- score more points and give up more points-- this ain't rocket science
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DogsWin
We were an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FOOTBALL TEAM once we picked up the play calling pace in the 4th quarter. We blew them off the field at that point. Focus and execution got exponentially better, our energy went through the roof, and it took no time to get into the end zone and turn this near loss into a blowout victory.
OK-- several BBB folks will attest ( Sportsdawg- Russdawg ) heard me say before and during games that it would be close game til second half-- it's called Depth-- we experienced this for years against P5 schools where our guys gust ran out of steam and no backups. You start making mistakes when your are exhausted- 4th quarter they were out of steam and we beat the line (14 points). Our depth has won 3 games for us-- let's see what happens now with real season starts
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dogsince65
OK-- several BBB folks will attest ( Sportsdawg- Russdawg ) heard me say before and during games that it would be close game til second half-- it's called Depth-- we experienced this for years against P5 schools where our guys gust ran out of steam and no backups. You start making mistakes when your are exhausted- 4th quarter they were out of steam and we beat the line (14 points). Our depth has won 3 games for us-- let's see what happens now with real season starts
Exactly.
Things start working and holes start opening up down the stretch for the team with more depth.
(Alley-oop)
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
Well, while all of this stuff is true, fact is, we are not where we've been offensively in recent years. For instance, who wouldn't take the trio of Higgins-Taylor-Henderson over Smith and any two current WRs you choose? You could say, yeah, well, give the current bunch some time to develop. Maybe by December we won't see much of a difference. Certainly by next year, or the year after, Smith would have grown into a mature QB and might be hitting on all cylinders. I hope so! Fact is, nearing the halfway point of the season (can ya believe game 6 is this week at UAB????) we are struggling on offense. Yes, there are reasons, but no sense sugar-coating it.
BTW, one of the key reasons we are struggling on O is the a lack of a "go-to" guy. So far, no one has developed into that Trent Taylor receiver who you can count on to move the chains. That's why we can't sustain drives, even if it just means getting a couple of first downs to improve field position.
What we are seeing is the development of a whole stable of receivers. By the end of the season, provided everyone is healthy, we're going to be rotating WRs in like hockey teams change lines, with no drop-off in ability. And, that is a good thing.
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dawg80
Well, while all of this stuff is true, fact is, we are not where we've been offensively in recent years. For instance, who wouldn't take the trio of Higgins-Taylor-Henderson over Smith and any two current WRs you choose? You could say, yeah, well, give the current bunch some time to develop. Maybe by December we won't see much of a difference. Certainly by next year, or the year after, Smith would have grown into a mature QB and might be hitting on all cylinders. I hope so! Fact is, nearing the halfway point of the season (can ya believe game 6 is this week at UAB????) we are struggling on offense. Yes, there are reasons, but no sense sugar-coating it.
BTW, one of the key reasons we are struggling on O is the a lack of a "go-to" guy. So far, no one has developed into that Trent Taylor receiver who you can count on to move the chains. That's why we can't sustain drives, even if it just means getting a couple of first downs to improve field position.
What we are seeing is the development of a whole stable of receivers. By the end of the season, provided everyone is healthy, we're going to be rotating WRs in like hockey teams change lines, with no drop-off in ability. And, that is a good thing.
I'm pretty sure it's the duo of Taylor and Henderson we are missing moreso than the QB. After all, he was just the latest in a trio of successful QBs who all had Taylor and Henderson to throw to. We aren't nearly as good at receiver this year. Teddy Veal is a playmaker, but we really missed Bonnette yesterday.
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
Quote:
Originally Posted by
theprofessor
I'm pretty sure it's the duo of Taylor and Henderson we are missing moreso than the QB. After all, he was just the latest in a trio of successful QBs who all had Taylor and Henderson to throw to. We aren't nearly as good at receiver this year. Teddy Veal is a playmaker, but we really missed Bonnette yesterday.
There is a drop-off in QB too....
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
True, but at this time last year, a LOT of us weren't Higgins believers yet, either.
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Even though our schedule is supposedly weaker than last year, our team is not much different. Of course we are off a bit at receiver, but if a JMar led team beats USM he will have done something or last two QBs could not do. USM owns us, but apparently not UNT.
Re: Slow It Down Football Almost Bit Us Again
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dawg80
There is a drop-off in QB too....
That may be true, but we aren't comparing in a vacuum. If J'Mar had Trent and 'los to throw to, we may say it was an upgrade in QB play. Higgins through 5 starts last year (which included only one Power 5 school) had thrown for almost 375 yards per game with 17 TDs and 2 INTs. But the team was 2-3 in those starts. J'Mar's individual stats (264 passing yards per game, 7 TDs, 3 INTs) are much worse, but his team is 3-2 and arguably should be 4-1 with one miserable performance against Mississippi State. And that's without a real go-to receiver.