My sense was that of enormous patience and support for Hugh from our fan base and rightly so with recruiting and the large task ahead with a brand new roster.
I’m in it for the long haul, and excited to see AU contending maybe as early as 2024. Gotta suffer the short term sorrows.
But this staff needs to do all they can to look “competent” and that mission was failed offensively Sat night. Some of it was a talent issue, especially at QB, but there were some coaching blunders in the game planning and in-game management.
I didn’t see any of the offensive woes and QB mismanagement coming Saturday night. They’ll get that fixed I do believe, but the first 3 quarters nearly harkened back to Nallsminger.
PM and Hugh evidently had the same flawed assumption I did and most of us did - that we could mitigate risk on road and run the ball at will with our Oline and elite backs. Cal blew that up.
AU had just 230 yards of offense, which was its lowest amount in a win away from home since a Cotton Bowl victory at the end of the 2006 season. We averaged 4.2 yards per play and only got 12 first downs.
Is what it is, get back to work, trash that abomination that you nonetheless escaped with the dub thanks to our defense.
What tweaks or major adjustments do you want to see, that will create polish and confidence heading to College Station?
Cap’n Obvious thoughts:
- Deep six any notion of rotating Bob Ashford willy-nilly because he’s got to “get his touches”. Robby has neither a talent nor ‘fairness’ entitlement to X number of game touches.
- Commit 100% to Payton running the offense without disruption of RA subbing, except maybe in a series with purpose and intention. Like a 2013 style read option package with tempo. All run, maybe 1-2 scripted quick throws over the 8-9 man box.
- Tell Thorne it’s his show, period, to extract the snakes of fear from his brain.
- Commit to TEMPO. Practice it, demand it, keep personnel on the field to rip off 10-12 plays at 25+ seconds on play clock. We had next to no tempo at Cal. Too bungling with fumbles and lost yards on early downs.
- Commit to a minimum targeting of Fair, Var, and Fairweather of 4-5 throws each. With our run heavy looks / formations, it is a lock you’ll get man coverage a bunch on one or more of these WRs. Challenge Thorne to deliver on 50/50 targets, like on the fade that won the Cal game.
- Hugh needs to be clear to PM to call the game aggressive, and taking what the defense gives. We let Cal’s defense dictate us into low probability plays. Then you get behind the chains and have an abysmal 4 of 14 on 3rd down conversions. (Luckily, AU is 5th in the nation itself on 3rd down conversion defense).
What say ye?
I’m in it for the long haul, and excited to see AU contending maybe as early as 2024. Gotta suffer the short term sorrows.
But this staff needs to do all they can to look “competent” and that mission was failed offensively Sat night. Some of it was a talent issue, especially at QB, but there were some coaching blunders in the game planning and in-game management.
I didn’t see any of the offensive woes and QB mismanagement coming Saturday night. They’ll get that fixed I do believe, but the first 3 quarters nearly harkened back to Nallsminger.
PM and Hugh evidently had the same flawed assumption I did and most of us did - that we could mitigate risk on road and run the ball at will with our Oline and elite backs. Cal blew that up.
AU had just 230 yards of offense, which was its lowest amount in a win away from home since a Cotton Bowl victory at the end of the 2006 season. We averaged 4.2 yards per play and only got 12 first downs.
Is what it is, get back to work, trash that abomination that you nonetheless escaped with the dub thanks to our defense.
What tweaks or major adjustments do you want to see, that will create polish and confidence heading to College Station?
Cap’n Obvious thoughts:
- Deep six any notion of rotating Bob Ashford willy-nilly because he’s got to “get his touches”. Robby has neither a talent nor ‘fairness’ entitlement to X number of game touches.
- Commit 100% to Payton running the offense without disruption of RA subbing, except maybe in a series with purpose and intention. Like a 2013 style read option package with tempo. All run, maybe 1-2 scripted quick throws over the 8-9 man box.
- Tell Thorne it’s his show, period, to extract the snakes of fear from his brain.
- Commit to TEMPO. Practice it, demand it, keep personnel on the field to rip off 10-12 plays at 25+ seconds on play clock. We had next to no tempo at Cal. Too bungling with fumbles and lost yards on early downs.
- Commit to a minimum targeting of Fair, Var, and Fairweather of 4-5 throws each. With our run heavy looks / formations, it is a lock you’ll get man coverage a bunch on one or more of these WRs. Challenge Thorne to deliver on 50/50 targets, like on the fade that won the Cal game.
- Hugh needs to be clear to PM to call the game aggressive, and taking what the defense gives. We let Cal’s defense dictate us into low probability plays. Then you get behind the chains and have an abysmal 4 of 14 on 3rd down conversions. (Luckily, AU is 5th in the nation itself on 3rd down conversion defense).
What say ye?
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