Play Calling

BarnBurner

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
22,354
Reaction score
5,986
Points
113
First and goal on the 6, after a great, great catch by B Green.

Up the gut for one.

A reverse!!!! Wow.

Then, after pissing away the opportunity, throw on third and goal from the 9.

Interception.

PATHETIC PLAY CALLING.
 

The reverse was the only play I didn't agree with...
 

First and goal on the 6, after a great, great catch by B Green.

Up the gut for one.

A reverse!!!! Wow.

Then, after pissing away the opportunity, throw on third and goal from the 9.

Interception.

PATHETIC PLAY CALLING.
After watching that pass(?) I'd say it's more the execution!
 

Our red zone play calling is so pathetically predictable that it makes it very hard to score. They know we are going to run on the first two plays and when we are third and long we have to throw. So what do they do? They drop back for the pass. I knew whether each play was going to be a run or pass when in the red zone. Absolutely pathetic.
 



Our red zone play calling is so pathetically predictable that it makes it very hard to score. They know we are going to run on the first two plays and when we are third and long we have to throw. So what do they do? They drop back for the pass. I knew whether each play was going to be a run or pass when in the red zone. Absolutely pathetic.

I didn't agree with the reverse call, but you'd be hard pressed to call that predictable.

My only issue with our RZ play calling is that we went an entire series without Gray running the ball. That's what I would have done, but that would have been predictable.
 

Armchair coordinators are my favorite. What did you draw up, Belichick?

I wouldn't run it on the first two downs when we have shown we can't run the ball in the red zone. How about mixing it up with a pass. Maybe there is a reason we are the worst red zone team in the big 10..our play calling is horrible.
 

I didn't agree with the reverse call, but you'd be hard pressed to call that predictable.

It is a running play and NW was bringing everyone up into the box because they know we are afraid to throw in the red zone, so it is going to be extremely difficult to run the ball down there, even if it is an unpredictable reverse.
 

The reverse a bad call. i would pull Gray every time there the pass that needs to be anything but a lob. He can't throw anything with zip accurate at all.

He is the main reason we have such a poor passing offense especially on 3rd down (worst in the conference I believe)
 




The reverse a bad call. i would pull Gray every time there the pass that needs to be anything but a lob. He can't throw anything with zip accurate at all.

He is the main reason we have such a poor passing offense especially on 3rd down (worst in the conference I believe)

It is pretty safe to assume that we are worst in almost every category in the big 10.
 


The reverse a bad call. i would pull Gray every time there the pass that needs to be anything but a lob. He can't throw anything with zip accurate at all.

He is the main reason we have such a poor passing offense especially on 3rd down (worst in the conference I believe)

What about the throw to Moulton that was perfect - and dropped. zip and accurate to boot.
 



First and goal on the 6, after a great, great catch by B Green.

Up the gut for one.

A reverse!!!! Wow.

Then, after pissing away the opportunity, throw on third and goal from the 9.

Interception.

PATHETIC PLAY CALLING.

Why not get Gray out on a run pass option on first down from the six, spread the field and give him the option to run first and pass if they come up hard. Up the gut with those splits on the goal line is impossible.
 

If we run the end around and score, everyone would be saying what a great call it was. It's easy to say something was a great or terrible call after the fact. I'm not a big fan of it in that situation, but it's not the worse call I've ever seen. I think if Rabe gets the block, Crawford-Tufts out runs the other defender and gets to the edge.
 

Why not get Gray out on a run pass option on first down from the six, spread the field and give him the option to run first and pass if they come up hard. Up the gut with those splits on the goal line is impossible.

I, too, keep waiting for this and wonder why it's not our bread and butter down there with Gray.
 

You would pull gray?

Lay off the crack.

I am talking about on obvious passing plays--on that 3rd and goal there was no way there were running it--he only can throw that fade. His passing needs to improve for our passing offense to even be average. His running is great but if the defense knows it is a passing down there are too many throws he cannot make.
 


Yes I am sure putting in a cold qb in passing situations would be very effective. Espeically when that cold qb is a sub 50% passer this year. Especially when putting in that cold qb would eliminate the possibility of doing anything beside a 5 step or 7 step drop.


Anyone who suggests Shortell should be in the game after watching him play against purdue and Michigan is one of a few things:
1. Not knowledgeable on football
2. Living in an era where mobility is not valued and college qbs have to be great dropback Passers and have somehow come to the (terrible) conclusion that Shortell is even an above average dropback passer.
3. Racist

I am guessing you are number 2.
 

Yes I am sure putting in a cold qb in passing situations would be very effective. Espeically when that cold qb is a sub 50% passer this year. Especially when putting in that cold qb would eliminate the possibility of doing anything beside a 5 step or 7 step drop.


Anyone who suggests Shortell should be in the game after watching him play against purdue and Michigan is one of a few things:
1. Not knowledgeable on football
2. Living in an era where mobility is not valued and college qbs have to be great dropback Passers and have somehow come to the (terrible) conclusion that Shortell is even an above average dropback passer.
3. Racist

I am guessing you are number 2.

The master of hyperbole strikes again...
 


Coaches must have seen something

They ran the reverse twice and faked it another 2-3 times, so the coaches must have seen something that led them to believe that DCT could get to the edge. It didn't work out well, obviously. Would I have called it inside the 10? Probably not. But I wouldn't have called the other plays that got them down there either. Not to mention the thousands of calls they have made on their successful (so far)way up the coaching ladder. The reverse call is one very small link in the chain of why we lost.

3 of the last 4 games I felt the OC has really put our players in a position to maximize their talents, which is a positive trend.
 

I would like to see some stats on what percentage of first downs, second downs and third downs we ran on. I felt like for the most part we ran on first and second and passed on third. In that sense, I think we were fairly predictable. Run, run, pass, punt is not a winning formula.

On the subject of predictable, in the bar I was sitting in, when NU scored on the option to the left for the second time, it seemed like everyone in the bar had predicted what play Northwestern was going to run before they even lined up.
 

I didn't agree with the reverse call, but you'd be hard pressed to call that predictable.

My only issue with our RZ play calling is that we went an entire series without Gray running the ball. That's what I would have done, but that would have been predictable.

The reverse failed because (1) the defender properly stayed home, and (2) D C-T started running too far backward instead of laterally. By the time he reached the outside tackle, he was still not heading forward. The execution was poor. On the interception, that was Gray's worst pass of the day, he was way off. Perhaps nerves.
 

IMHO this staff's playcalling has been a huge improvement over previous regimes.
 

That's not hyperbole.

There might be more than 3 reasons why someone might be saying Shortell should be playing, but none of them are any better reasons than the three I just listed.
 

That's not hyperbole.

There might be more than 3 reasons why someone might be saying Shortell should be playing, but none of them are any better reasons than the three I just listed.

There is no way that being a racist is one of the three most likely reasons for thinking Shortell should start. Calling people who disagree with you racists is one of the cheapest ways to end an argument because people are so afraid of that moniker that they will stop talking. I would submit that another valid reason for thinking Shortell should start (which I don't) is that Gray only has one year left and does not seem to have the football IQ to be a quarterback. Against MSU, on fourth and long late in the game against MSU, he threw the ball away out of bounds. That was an absurd decision. If you throw it in bounds up for grabs, maybe one of our receivers comes down with it, maybe we get a cheap pass interference call, and maybe Northwestern intercepts it downfield and it works out like a short punt (actually better than some of our punts in recent weeks). I still think that Gray's mobility makes him a better option, but it is not unreasonable to suggest that on a team that isn't going anywhere this year, the playing time might be better spent on our future than on a player who only has one year left and still makes that bad of decisions.
 

I wish that people would stop saying that the Gophers ran a reverse inside the 10, because they didn't. The Crawford-Tufts play was an end-around.

If you have first-and-goal from the 6 yard line, you should be able to line up in power I and run it right up the center's ass (4 times if you have to) and get 6 yards. If you can't run up the gut and get 6 yards in 4 plays, even if the defense knows it's coming, you don't deserve to win the game. Coaches often try to get cute and make it seem like they're smarter than everyone else, instead of just keeping it simple, stupid. Our coaches are no exception.
 

That's not hyperbole.

There might be more than 3 reasons why someone might be saying Shortell should be playing, but none of them are any better reasons than the three I just listed.

No doubt about it, I think anybody who thinks Shortell should be seeing significant minutes right now is high on crack. Gray has really stepped up his play over the last month and it's been awesome to see. The way he's been playing is essentially what this offense needs from that position in order to be successful. He's looked like the QB we all hoped he would be.

That doesn't change the fact that Gray was a dumpster fire in the first 4-6 weeks of the season. At that point, yes, I have no problem admitting I'm one who thought Shortell should be playing as much as, if not more than, Gray. I still think he's a better passer/thrower than Gray ever will be and he's not nearly as limited running the football as some people seem to think. For a true freshman, he showed great poise, vision of the field, and good movement and footwork in the pocket to extend the play.

That being said, Shortell may never be a good fit for this offense. His strengths, at least in my opinion, may not fit the needs of the offense. It's quite possible that he doesn't ever play significant minutes for the Gophers again. That's unfortunate because I saw some things from him that lead me to believe that he could be really good.

Bottom line, the way Gray is playing he should get all the snaps this Saturday as well as all next year. He's stepped up his game tremendously and he deserves to be the Man. By far, he gives the Gophers the best chance to win and they need to keep feeding him. Here's hoping he continues to grow and develop through the offseason and into next year.
 

it was an end around, but they ran it to the short side of the field and DCT got boxed in. That is what is perplexing.
 




Top Bottom