[81alum]

There are some parallels between Shaw and Tedford for sure, but David Shaw has really grown as a head coach this season, and the things I was worried about don't seem to have manifested.  None other than Tara Vanderveer has pointed out Shaw's growth as a head coach this year.  Tedford never grew, just became more paranoid.  I was concerned (as were others at the time that post was written) that Shaw wasn't growing as a head coach after that Northwestern debacle, but clearly he has.

I agree, to an extent.  I think Shaw has become a more effective playcaller, and he has gotten his team to execute better.  Both these two things were required to move away from the malaise that started the season to the success that really began against SC.  Any why not?  Any coach can have better and worse game plans, any player can have better or worse days.

One response to the fan reaction to Northwestern is that we overreacted.  Another response is that we didn't overreact at all--it was an absolute stinker of a game--but that all the criticism was part of the solution, helping to inspire some changes.  The truth?  Probably something in the middle.  The basic scheme remained, but Shaw changed up some personnel and emphases.  And of course execution was a major part of it.  Against Northwestern Kevin Hogan had a QBR of 24.8.  Against SC it was up to 97.7.  Part of that may have been better play calling, but part of it had to be Kevin just throwing more accurate passes and making better decisions about who to throw them to.

By the way, I would like to see another couple of nights of 97.7!

[81alum]

There are some parallels between Shaw and Tedford for sure, but David Shaw has really grown as a head coach this season, and the things I was worried about don't seem to have manifested.  None other than Tara Vanderveer has pointed out Shaw's growth as a head coach this year.  Tedford never grew, just became more paranoid.  I was concerned (as were others at the time that post was written) that Shaw wasn't growing as a head coach after that Northwestern debacle, but clearly he has.

I agree, to an extent.  I think Shaw has become a more effective playcaller, and he has gotten his team to execute better.  Both these two things were required to move away from the malaise that started the season to the success that really began against SC.  Any why not?  Any coach can have better and worse game plans, any player can have better or worse days.

One response to the fan reaction to Northwestern is that we overreacted.  Another response is that we didn't overreact at all--it was an absolute stinker of a game--but that all the criticism was part of the solution, helping to inspire some changes.  The truth?  Probably something in the middle.  The basic scheme remained, but Shaw changed up some personnel and emphases.  And of course execution was a major part of it.  Against Northwestern Kevin Hogan had a QBR of 24.8.  Against SC it was up to 97.7.  Part of that may have been better play calling, but part of it had to be Kevin just throwing more accurate passes and making better decisions about who to throw them to.

By the way, I would like to see another couple of nights of 97.7!