[BostonCard]

Just curious if Hulk or Yvonne think there has been any change implemented by coaching staff in play calling after the NW game?  Or do you think the staff was just getting over its first-game jitters?

I really don't care what has changed, though I think it's a reasonably safe assumption for last 2 games, given that we have not had to burn TOs like wildfire in recent games.  But again, I don't know.  I'm just a happy camper right now.

It certainly looks like we have been better about not using up our time outs (or times out?) unnecessarily in the last couple games.

We burnt through two of our time outs in the second half of the game against USC, not that it mattered.  Thankfully, when it did matter (the first half), we had them all.  But in the second half, we burned a time out at the with 7:39 left in the third quarter, again with 2:32 left in the third.  We also had a delay of game penalty on a critical third and four from the USC 11 with 13:30 left in the game.  Fortunately, Hogan connected to Hooper for 15 yards and a first and goal, and two plays later, Wright scored a TD.

Against OSU we burnt a time out with 2:08 left in the second quarter facing second and goal.  Not sure if we were running out of time or if the coaches saw something in the OSU defense (Wright scored on the play after the time out. 

In the Arizona game, we burned one time out with 8:04 left in the game, annoyingly, after we got hit with a holding penalty on the previous play.  Not that it mattered; we were up 48-17 by then.

That being said, I don't think the coaching staff has thinned out the playbook at all to make getting the plays into Hogan any easier, nor is Hogan's pre-snap progression any faster.  I think it is just easier when the offense is humming to get the next play called because almost no matter what, you are comfortable it's going to work.  It is possible that the staff came up with some fallback (telling Hogan that if the play doesn't get in time, default to plays A, B, or C depending on what the defense shows).

Ultimately, though, I don't think there have been major changes to the offense since NW.  We run more than we did against NW, but mostly that seems more like returning to our roots rather than some new revelation by the coaching staff.  Mostly, the big thing I've seen is that the offensive line is pushing defenders back when we run and opening holes that they didn't against NW, and giving Hogan time to pass.  Northwestern had 5 QB hurries and 3 sacks against us.  Since then, we've given up 4 QB hurries and 5 sacks, total, in four games.

Mostly, I'm inclined to agree with Shaw.  We just had a bad game against a pretty good oponent.  Maybe that's the coaches fault, maybe it's the 9 am start time, or maybe Northwestern's defense is exceptional, or maybe it's just that every once in a while a good team plays bad, or a combination of the above factors.

BC

[BostonCard]

Just curious if Hulk or Yvonne think there has been any change implemented by coaching staff in play calling after the NW game?  Or do you think the staff was just getting over its first-game jitters?

I really don't care what has changed, though I think it's a reasonably safe assumption for last 2 games, given that we have not had to burn TOs like wildfire in recent games.  But again, I don't know.  I'm just a happy camper right now.

It certainly looks like we have been better about not using up our time outs (or times out?) unnecessarily in the last couple games.

We burnt through two of our time outs in the second half of the game against USC, not that it mattered.  Thankfully, when it did matter (the first half), we had them all.  But in the second half, we burned a time out at the with 7:39 left in the third quarter, again with 2:32 left in the third.  We also had a delay of game penalty on a critical third and four from the USC 11 with 13:30 left in the game.  Fortunately, Hogan connected to Hooper for 15 yards and a first and goal, and two plays later, Wright scored a TD.

Against OSU we burnt a time out with 2:08 left in the second quarter facing second and goal.  Not sure if we were running out of time or if the coaches saw something in the OSU defense (Wright scored on the play after the time out. 

In the Arizona game, we burned one time out with 8:04 left in the game, annoyingly, after we got hit with a holding penalty on the previous play.  Not that it mattered; we were up 48-17 by then.

That being said, I don't think the coaching staff has thinned out the playbook at all to make getting the plays into Hogan any easier, nor is Hogan's pre-snap progression any faster.  I think it is just easier when the offense is humming to get the next play called because almost no matter what, you are comfortable it's going to work.  It is possible that the staff came up with some fallback (telling Hogan that if the play doesn't get in time, default to plays A, B, or C depending on what the defense shows).

Ultimately, though, I don't think there have been major changes to the offense since NW.  We run more than we did against NW, but mostly that seems more like returning to our roots rather than some new revelation by the coaching staff.  Mostly, the big thing I've seen is that the offensive line is pushing defenders back when we run and opening holes that they didn't against NW, and giving Hogan time to pass.  Northwestern had 5 QB hurries and 3 sacks against us.  Since then, we've given up 4 QB hurries and 5 sacks, total, in four games.

Mostly, I'm inclined to agree with Shaw.  We just had a bad game against a pretty good oponent.  Maybe that's the coaches fault, maybe it's the 9 am start time, or maybe Northwestern's defense is exceptional, or maybe it's just that every once in a while a good team plays bad, or a combination of the above factors.

BC