[MV72018]

That's pretty funny, Goose. You took strong exception when I posted that given they'd already thrown to Ayom at least twice on the drive, TT went to the well too often on that last play, and that the play called was ridiculous and poorly executed. Now you seem to recognize that it wasn't a smart call after all, given the situation, and that they should have tried to hit someone else, which I also stated (someone who was open b/c of the multiple defenders on Ayom or at least someone who'd be single-coverage). Curious.

It seems I still haven't communicated. TT wasn't "going to the well once to often". Like most pass plays there is more than one option. The target of the play is not totally predetermined and immutable. If for some reason the double move DID fool WF (or WF just made a mistake), by all means throw it to Ayomanor. Granted, given the fact they had seen that pattern from Ayomanor several times in the recent past, they probably would cover it well. They did. The "under" defender knocked Ayomanor off this route and the safety rapidly came over to assist.

You and I agree that the play was poorly executed. You believe the play call was ridiculous. I did not and do not. There were other options on that play. There were two relatively short receivers open. Daniels should have checked down. The call "worked" fine. The QB did not read the field well and throw to the "correct" receiver. He was not pressured and had time to pump-fake. He had the opportunity to see the coverage and act accordingly. He did not. That isn't the play call. That is the execution of the call.

I get the impression from your "going to the well once to often" comment that you believe Daniels for some reason had no option other than Ayomanor. I simply don't believe TT runs an offense where the QB has to throw to a predetermined receiver. Even high schools don't do that. Like most passing offenses there is undoubtedly a "primary" receiver. Oftentimes that is Ayomanor, because he is our most athletically gifted receiver. That doesn't mean there are no secondary ones. Yes, Daniels should have tried to hit someone else. However that option was an integral part of the play that was called. There were at least four other receivers on the play. One was fairly well covered. Two were open and "available". The other one was off the screen so I don't know.

Do you know of times this year where Daniels successfully checked off his primary receiver and threw the ball to his second or third option for a completion? I don't. (I do remember the dismal Clemson game in this regard, where he threw once into triple coverage at around Clemson's 30 and another time chucked it up in the endzone for an INT. If TT didn't have good evidence that Daniels can do the checkoff successfully, then he was calling that play intending to get the ball to Ayomanor, just like the times he did before that during the closing drive. Thus my "went to the well once too often." 

In any event, thanks for a good exchange. I respect your knowledge of football and your impressive knowledgeability about the war in Ukraine. Let's hope for a better outcome this Saturday. I shocked myself by picking us to beat NC State this week, mostly because the Tarheels' starting quarterback quit for health reasons and the replacement qb is a freshman.

[MV72018]

That's pretty funny, Goose. You took strong exception when I posted that given they'd already thrown to Ayom at least twice on the drive, TT went to the well too often on that last play, and that the play called was ridiculous and poorly executed. Now you seem to recognize that it wasn't a smart call after all, given the situation, and that they should have tried to hit someone else, which I also stated (someone who was open b/c of the multiple defenders on Ayom or at least someone who'd be single-coverage). Curious.

It seems I still haven't communicated. TT wasn't "going to the well once to often". Like most pass plays there is more than one option. The target of the play is not totally predetermined and immutable. If for some reason the double move DID fool WF (or WF just made a mistake), by all means throw it to Ayomanor. Granted, given the fact they had seen that pattern from Ayomanor several times in the recent past, they probably would cover it well. They did. The "under" defender knocked Ayomanor off this route and the safety rapidly came over to assist.

You and I agree that the play was poorly executed. You believe the play call was ridiculous. I did not and do not. There were other options on that play. There were two relatively short receivers open. Daniels should have checked down. The call "worked" fine. The QB did not read the field well and throw to the "correct" receiver. He was not pressured and had time to pump-fake. He had the opportunity to see the coverage and act accordingly. He did not. That isn't the play call. That is the execution of the call.

I get the impression from your "going to the well once to often" comment that you believe Daniels for some reason had no option other than Ayomanor. I simply don't believe TT runs an offense where the QB has to throw to a predetermined receiver. Even high schools don't do that. Like most passing offenses there is undoubtedly a "primary" receiver. Oftentimes that is Ayomanor, because he is our most athletically gifted receiver. That doesn't mean there are no secondary ones. Yes, Daniels should have tried to hit someone else. However that option was an integral part of the play that was called. There were at least four other receivers on the play. One was fairly well covered. Two were open and "available". The other one was off the screen so I don't know.

Do you know of times this year where Daniels successfully checked off his primary receiver and threw the ball to his second or third option for a completion? I don't. (I do remember the dismal Clemson game in this regard, where he threw once into triple coverage at around Clemson's 30 and another time chucked it up in the endzone for an INT. If TT didn't have good evidence that Daniels can do the checkoff successfully, then he was calling that play intending to get the ball to Ayomanor, just like the times he did before that during the closing drive. Thus my "went to the well once too often." 

In any event, thanks for a good exchange. I respect your knowledge of football and your impressive knowledgeability about the war in Ukraine. Let's hope for a better outcome this Saturday. I shocked myself by picking us to beat NC State this week, mostly because the Tarheels' starting quarterback quit for health reasons and the replacement qb is a freshman.