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Post by cardfan on Nov 10, 2022 9:39:50 GMT -6
Well, last year we totally tanked vs. CMU after we blew the NIU game and a chance at winning the division. How will we respond in the same situation vs. OU. I'd imagine our guys are pretty deflated and frustrated, just like we are. Personally I think OU will blow our doors off. The defense did everything it could to keep us in position to win the division and the offense totally failed. I don't see the offense doing any better vs. OU or Miami and I think the OU offense is too good and too diverse for our D to hang on and keep us close. We frankly cannot score enough to win a shootout game at this point. Continuing to play a "game manager" QB and conservative between the tackles offense will not pay off for us now. I truly think Neu totally missed an opportunity with Kelly to create something special by not finding ways to integrate him into the game plans over the course of the season. At minimum he could have made a few plays for us and taken the pressure off the defense to get a stop every single possession. And off of Steele from having to carry the offense. Look at what CMU did last night with their freshman QB who went crazy running the ball. The CMU staff made adjustments that Neu and Co flat cannot. They've shown zero ability to make those kinds of changes based on personnel and situations. I think it's safe to assume, that even though Neu is upset with the lack any semblance of a passing game, and they were gonna "attack" that problem immediately, he'll still roll Paddock out there with no changes to the offense. It'll be the same ol "just need to clean some things up and execute better" rather than working up some surprises for OU and finding a spark for the offense. I still don't know why we recruited Kelly. He's not got prostyle offense skillsets. He's an RPO, open field, playmaking style, which is what most of college football is now. But, we ain't about that I guess. So what we'll see is Steele getting 30 carries for 150 yards and a TD or two, and we'll get about 40 passes from Paddock, completing about half or so, with wildly inaccurate throws and no ability to go downfield, and a waste of our WR and TE talent, and a final score of:
OU 45
BSU 24
I like Mike and think he's a good cheerleader and builds a good locker room culture, but the evidence is pretty clear he is unable to get the program over the top, save the aberration Covid year. (where somehow we kept all our guys healthy while all our opponents were having to sit guys out.) The players seem to love playing for Mike, they seem to respond to him. He seems able to recruit some pretty good talent. What is NOT happening is maximizing that talent, and not being able to win enough 4th quarters to be serious about championships. Maybe, maybe we can get to 6 wins again this year and go to another meh bowl. I'd like to at least see that. But unless we find a transcendent QB who just makes plays and finds ways to win games I can't see the future being any different than what we've seen the last 2 years-- basically winning a couple we maybe didn't think we would, and totally blowing a few that we clearly should have won and ending up around .500 again) I'm excited about Semonza coming. But then, I was really excited about Kelly and he's buried behind an extremely meh Paddock and a true freshman who is most likely just a bigger version of Paddock. It's obvious how Mike/Lynch want to play and that's basically hand the ball off to a stud, stay in the pocket, complete some passes that serve as running plays and hope you keep moving the chains. Guys who can make plays with their feet who maybe could make big things happen but make some mistakes throwing the ball are of no interest to Mike. Even if we recruit them..... I don't quite understand that mindset. (and Paddock isn't currently doing much with passing and adds nothing with his feet, so why not try something else?)
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Post by sdacardinal on Nov 10, 2022 10:58:12 GMT -6
Really agree with all stated cardfan. Our style of play on offense also does nothing to fire up fans. I compare our style to fingernails scraping across a chalkboard. ( Chalkboard? used in classrooms for at least for 186 years)
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Post by cardfan on Nov 10, 2022 11:09:43 GMT -6
Home games tend to turn into quiet little affairs even with a decent crowd because our style of offense just doesn't generate excitement. It's a grinding offense, not quick strike. Our biggest plays are when Steele breaks tackles and runs for 30. Rare are the big passing plays that spark both the crowd and the team.
Only our beloved Cards can both overachieve and underachieve at the same time. But I love our teams and players nonetheless.
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Post by 00hmh on Nov 10, 2022 11:22:05 GMT -6
Home games tend to turn into quiet little affairs even with a decent crowd because our style of offense just doesn't generate excitement. It's a grinding offense, not quick strike. Our biggest plays are when Steele breaks tackles and runs for 30. Rare are the big passing plays that spark both the crowd and the team. Only can our beloved Cards both overachieve and underachieve at the same time. But I love our teams and players nonetheless. I have not thought of the offense as grinding as much as stalling. Grinding I can live with if we complete drives, we stall too often and cannot covert 3rd downs.
Most all the talk about style will disappear if we convert and win. The idea we need more efficient passing and a valid threat to pass is not to please fans who want action, it is to get the frigging ball into the end zone...
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Post by sdacardinal on Nov 10, 2022 11:23:03 GMT -6
I too love the team. Have for 63 years with season tickets and over the years have set through the trifecta of weather of rain, sleet and snow. As most of you I am just frustrated with how things are going. Not the first time this has happened.
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Post by cardfan on Nov 10, 2022 11:31:38 GMT -6
Home games tend to turn into quiet little affairs even with a decent crowd because our style of offense just doesn't generate excitement. It's a grinding offense, not quick strike. Our biggest plays are when Steele breaks tackles and runs for 30. Rare are the big passing plays that spark both the crowd and the team. Only can our beloved Cards both overachieve and underachieve at the same time. But I love our teams and players nonetheless. I have not thought of the offense as grinding as much as stalling. Grinding I can live with if we complete drives, we stall too often and cannot covert 3rd downs.
Most all the talk about style will disappear if we convert and win. The idea we need more efficient passing and a valid threat to pass is not to please fans who want action, it is to get the frigging ball into the end zone...
Well yes, grinding as in grinding to a halt. And getting points, getting into the end zone by any means necessary is what we want. I don't care how we get there, just get there. And we can't seem to do it more than 2-3 times a game. The lack of big plays is part of the problem. Opponents seem to have no problem hitting 40 yard pass plays on us. They are able to convert long down and distance situations on us, usually via the pass. We just do not have that. |
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Post by redbirdman on Nov 10, 2022 11:49:47 GMT -6
Neu needs to change or add ofensive plays with different players. That is apparent to all of us. But do any of us think he will?
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Post by cardfan on Nov 10, 2022 12:55:53 GMT -6
Realistically, I understand big changes to anything we're doing can't be made at this point. My biggest gripe is we've seen the passing game go into a shell for weeks now. It would seem a coach would maybe insert a backup (not Blazek at the time, to preserve his RS) but Kelly, with a limited package of plays, like 5 or 6, maybe a goal line package, and work him in there here and there just to see how it went and see if a spark could be generated. Didn't have to be wholesale, just, see what we've got in case we need it. The Tenn and Murry games woulda been prime chances to do that but we gave Paddock every snap no matter what. Just as we did with Plitt, even in blow out losses. That doesn't seem very imaginative and we don't learn what we really have in players. Too late in the game to do anything drastic now, so we'll have to ride it out with Paddock and watch with our teeth grinding.
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Post by cardfan on Nov 10, 2022 14:33:06 GMT -6
Not that he could really say anything different but Neu did give it the ol "just clean some things up" spiel and follow the process. And WR's need to win on contested catches. Stuff like that.
Ou offense is really good. Really really good, and their QB is playing lights out, both passing and running. Plus they have a really good RB. This game might be quite a bit more difficult than Toledo was. Gabbert was able to throw a little bit on OU but they were not successful running the ball.
Oddities of MACTION. We win at Kent, who turns around and blows out BG. You just never know.
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Post by frozenbaugh on Nov 10, 2022 15:01:17 GMT -6
Realistically, I understand big changes to anything we're doing can't be made at this point. My biggest gripe is we've seen the passing game go into a shell for weeks now. It would seem a coach would maybe insert a backup (not Blazek at the time, to preserve his RS) but Kelly, with a limited package of plays, like 5 or 6, maybe a goal line package, and work him in there here and there just to see how it went and see if a spark could be generated. Didn't have to be wholesale, just, see what we've got in case we need it. The Tenn and Murry games woulda been prime chances to do that but we gave Paddock every snap no matter what. Just as we did with Plitt, even in blow out losses. That doesn't seem very imaginative and we don't learn what we really have in players. Too late in the game to do anything drastic now, so we'll have to ride it out with Paddock and watch with our teeth grinding. I mean, I can’t imagine many coaches thinking “We need 1 more game for bowl eligibility (2 to feel good about it), I want to put it into the hands of someone who’s never taken a meaningful snap”. We’re 10 games in. Those opportunities are in the past. |
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OU Game
Nov 10, 2022 15:28:43 GMT -6
Post by cardfan on Nov 10, 2022 15:28:43 GMT -6
Realistically, I understand big changes to anything we're doing can't be made at this point. My biggest gripe is we've seen the passing game go into a shell for weeks now. It would seem a coach would maybe insert a backup (not Blazek at the time, to preserve his RS) but Kelly, with a limited package of plays, like 5 or 6, maybe a goal line package, and work him in there here and there just to see how it went and see if a spark could be generated. Didn't have to be wholesale, just, see what we've got in case we need it. The Tenn and Murry games woulda been prime chances to do that but we gave Paddock every snap no matter what. Just as we did with Plitt, even in blow out losses. That doesn't seem very imaginative and we don't learn what we really have in players. Too late in the game to do anything drastic now, so we'll have to ride it out with Paddock and watch with our teeth grinding. I mean, I can’t imagine many coaches thinking “We need 1 more game for bowl eligibility (2 to feel good about it), I want to put it into the hands of someone who’s never taken a meaningful snap”. We’re 10 games in. Those opportunities are in the past. Right. There's no way at this point. Way too late to try anything different. |
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OU Game
Nov 10, 2022 15:49:34 GMT -6
Post by 00hmh on Nov 10, 2022 15:49:34 GMT -6
Could maybe put in a wildcat package with Kelly or long pass threat package with Blazek. Either case we could run the regular offense but maybe have the defense guessing and out smarting themselves.
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Post by coastalcard on Nov 10, 2022 16:19:58 GMT -6
Don’t want to mess with 100 people going to a big bowl game at the school’s expense
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OU Game
Nov 10, 2022 16:51:07 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by 00hmh on Nov 10, 2022 16:51:07 GMT -6
Don’t want to mess with 100 people going to a big bowl game at the school’s expense We must have a dozen threads here about the pluses and minuses of these insignificant bowls. |
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Post by villagepub on Nov 10, 2022 17:30:06 GMT -6
Don’t want to mess with 100 people going to a big bowl game at the school’s expense We must have a dozen threads here about the pluses and minuses of these insignificant bowls. Stay home. You'd be a downer. |
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