15 total first downs.
This offense is so bad. So clueless. Zero rhythm. Zero confidence, zero leadership. There must be a couple hundred better offensive coaching staffs in the country when you include all levels of college and high school. At least a hundred coaches who could coordinate this offense better.
3 of 13 on 3rd down vs that defense. As the NB YouTube guy would say, there’s no hope, and there truly isn’t any hope on offense this season. Mark my words.
I think part of the issue of your focus on 3rd down is the how they got there and what they ran. The coaching staff has no ability to scheme something easy and open on our 3rd downs but hopes that the plays they already have adapt (ie running the BSF stick, which was there all night, for 3 yards when you need 5). Only included are drives we had 3rd downs on
Drive 1: in plus territory. Run on 1st and 2nd leads to 3rd and 5. Williams rush fails to convert. Punt
Drive 2: run on 1st and 2nd down at midfield. 3rd and 5 and we ran a swing pass to Taylor he catches needing to go 10 yards and it ends as a gain of 1. Punt
Drive 3: run on 1st and 2nd after penalty and AK hits Williams out of the backfield for a first. Another conversion on 3rd and goal from the 1 with a Taylor TD after running x2
Drive 4: pass on first for nice gain followed by a run then Taylor converting a 3rd and 1 for a chunk gain
Drive 5: run on 1st and 2nd with a false start mixed in. AK scrambles and gets us into FG range which Dragich makes
Drive 6: we open up throwing the ball every play and AK hits the first one, then it’s 3 straight misses and we punt
Drive 7: loss of 4 on 1st, 4 yard stick play to BSF and then a 9 yard pass to Jackson that doesn’t convert. Punt.
Drive 8: run on 1st and 2nd. Taylor doesn’t get the conversion on 3rd and short but makes a hell of a play on 4th for the TD
Drive 9: run, run, pass on 3rd and long is incomplete
Drive 10: run, run, stick play for 3 yards on 3rd and 5 (notice how the route BSF runs is the exact same every single time regardless of down and distance?)
Drive 11: run for loss, pass for 9, run for loss. Punt.
The way this team calls plays is unimaginative and requires you to convert a high percentage of 3rd and mediums, with our team having no go to guy to make those plays happen. You either need a dominant ground game (WI for years) or a stud QB (Drake Maye) to try play this style or you will inevitably stall out most drives. How many plays down the field did we try last night? This offense plays in a phone booth and seems to run about 8 plays. It’s not a hard scheme to defend. Would love it if we’d stop with the charade of how we hire and go get someone who has a track record of moving the ball and paying them accordingly. There are umpteen MAC coordinators and HCs who would love to take a job here and be given the freedom to run their offense but we have a HC who has shown he’s inflexible to change despite our historically best season featuring pushing the ball down the field because he likes to be able to say he had the time of possession advantage that comes by running the ball up the middle on about 40-50% of plays
