Fisch

[GoldenBoy13]

I know that you typically have to give an OC two years to get an offense really moving (for instance how Dunbar struggled big time the 1st year) however do you see that Fisch is making more progress than Dunbar made? I think that is our biggest area of concern. Everyone calls for Brew's head but he is a manager and recruiter, it comes down to our OC to get our team to score. And today he did not give me the most confidence in him. Please give me your insight.

 

[gophergrad]

To me it looked like the players weren't passing, running, blocking, catching etc. today. Not Fisch.

 

[EG#9]

Personally, I like some of what Fisch has done. I have hated certain playcalls (the first and goal from the 3 inch line fade to Decker against Wisconsin comes to mind), but I have liked the multiple looks the offense can give.

What seems strange is the number of gimmick plays the offense seems to run. They are not really trick plays (like a flea flicker or halfback pass), but gimmick plays that have only one option. An example is the wildcat handoff to Weber who then throws to pre-determined receiver.

We are better than average talent wise in the Big Ten at WR and TE

We are below average talent wise in the Big Ten at OL and RB

I think we realized the above talent gaps prior to the season beginning. I think most of us thought we would be above average at QB this year and that has not been the case. I think that's one of the reasons Weber get so much heat. We've been significantly worse than (most of us) expected at 2 positions this year: QB and CB. I think most of us expected a little more from the Dline (especially in regards to pass rush) and have been pleasantly surprised by the LB's.

 

[JPIIGopher]

The offense struggled today because the Front 7 of Penn St. was head and shoulders more talented than our O line/RB/QB. No secrets there. It's up to Brew to upgrade the Oline and T Davis to teach them how to block.

 

[cwilson21]

Personally, I like some of what Fisch has done. I have hated certain playcalls (the first and goal from the 3 inch line fade to Decker against Wisconsin comes to mind), but I have liked the multiple looks the offense can give.

What seems strange is the number of gimmick plays the offense seems to run. They are not really trick plays (like a flea flicker or halfback pass), but gimmick plays that have only one option. An example is the wildcat handoff to Weber who then throws to pre-determined receiver.

We are better than average talent wise in the Big Ten at WR and TE

We are below average talent wise in the Big Ten at OL and RB

I think we realized the above talent gaps prior to the season beginning. I think most of us thought we would be above average at QB this year and that has not been the case. I think that's one of the reasons Weber get so much heat. We've been significantly worse than (most of us) expected at 2 positions this year: QB and CB. I think most of us expected a little more from the Dline (especially in regards to pass rush) and have been pleasantly surprised by the LB's.

Agree with everything you said. I have been frustrated with Fisch as well this year in certain situations, most of them occuring in the goal-line/red zone area but I do like the inventiveness he brings as well. There's plays like today when Fisch will call for a pitch to the wide part of the field against a team that has vastly superior athletes and we don't get the TD but then there are plays like the end around pitch to Decker and TD pass to Gray against Cal. Having a running game that's now ranked in the 100's in the nation obviously doesn't help and it's not as if we're not trying to run the ball. Whaley has shown some good things but the line has been inferior against every D-line it has faced so far this year. When we start to get more chemisty and talent among the OL and RB's that are patient in finding a hole, Fisch will start to look like a genius.

As harsh as I'd like to be on the offense and everyone involved in that cluster**** of a showing today, this is just Fisch's 7th game as OC for us and everybody is learning an entirely new system. Weber had to re-do his throwing motion (would really like to see how much success he'd have had if he didn't change it), Bennett has looked slow in his first year back off the knee injury, our line looks lost 90% of the time, and now our best weapon is nationally known and is commanding double teams galore. I believe in the pro-style offense and as Fisch gets more experience calling games he'll make better play calls than what we've seen so far. I'm glad Gray is just a freshman and is growing up with Fisch rather than him being in the situation Weber is in which is learning and playing a spread offense for 2 years and then hitting the brakes to learn something entirely new. I think Fisch and this offense has potential to become a formidable unit but only time will tell how long that will take. Getting a certain cornerstone LT would really help that .

 

[LloydChristmas]

I have hated certain playcalls (the first and goal from the 3 inch line fade to Decker against Wisconsin comes to mind), but I have liked the multiple looks the offense can give.

That was an audible by Weber, so we can't put that one on Fisch.

 

[LloydChristmas]

The more I think about Fisch, the more I believe he's only going to be as good as Weber executes. He doesn't have an NFL caliber pro-style quarterback as he had in Denver and doesn't seem to dumb down the playcalling to Weber's level. He also doesn't seem to adapt some playcalls but I think until he gets a gifted QB behind center much of what he is trying to do with trickeration and deception is being lost by poor execution and penalties.