[Goose]

The other thing to keep in mind is that every offense is going to appear more "fragile" against good defenses.

Reading this discussion I'm wondering whether fragility is just a symptom of subpar QB play.

I tend to agree, but I would extend it further. Every team is "fragile" when the other team is playing better than the "fragile" team.  :) USC looked very "fragile" against WSU. If your game plan isn't working, either because your QB can't execute it, the defense is stopping it, or the OL can't block it, you will look "fragile". Most "multiple" offenses, like USC and Stanford (but unlike WSU) have in their game plan a diverse set of plays that theoretically counteract the fragility. However, in our case, when the defense contained our running offense, we couldn't execute our passing offense. KJ has significantly reduced that problem, and should reduce it even further next year. However, if any part of your offense is just losing the battle physically, you are going to have a difficult time executing your game plan. You can try to minimize the problem by avoiding some part of your offense, but that may just not be possible. When we have OL issues, even at just one position, we see this effect and become "fragile". We can't suddenly go "air raid" (for example) because we don't have the personnel and haven't practiced it. So, if the defense is beating you in your areas of strength, you just aren't going to look good, period. Sometimes, you simply have to play better.

[Goose]

The other thing to keep in mind is that every offense is going to appear more "fragile" against good defenses.

Reading this discussion I'm wondering whether fragility is just a symptom of subpar QB play.

I tend to agree, but I would extend it further. Every team is "fragile" when the other team is playing better than the "fragile" team.  :) USC looked very "fragile" against WSU. If your game plan isn't working, either because your QB can't execute it, the defense is stopping it, or the OL can't block it, you will look "fragile". Most "multiple" offenses, like USC and Stanford (but unlike WSU) have in their game plan a diverse set of plays that theoretically counteract the fragility. However, in our case, when the defense contained our running offense, we couldn't execute our passing offense. KJ has significantly reduced that problem, and should reduce it even further next year. However, if any part of your offense is just losing the battle physically, you are going to have a difficult time executing your game plan. You can try to minimize the problem by avoiding some part of your offense, but that may just not be possible. When we have OL issues, even at just one position, we see this effect and become "fragile". We can't suddenly go "air raid" (for example) because we don't have the personnel and haven't practiced it. So, if the defense is beating you in your areas of strength, you just aren't going to look good, period. Sometimes, you simply have to play better.