[stupac2]

I can't help but wonder if losing this was better than narrowly escaping with a win. Would a narrow escape have left us with a sense of complacency, while the loss lights a fire under our asses? Hard to say, obviously, but I think there's a case to be made.

That said it's clear that it would've been better to win 28-13 like we should've.

[stupac2]

I can't help but wonder if losing this was better than narrowly escaping with a win. Would a narrow escape have left us with a sense of complacency, while the loss lights a fire under our asses? Hard to say, obviously, but I think there's a case to be made.

That said it's clear that it would've been better to win 28-13 like we should've.

[OutsiderFan]

I can't help but wonder if losing this was better than narrowly escaping with a win. Would a narrow escape have left us with a sense of complacency, while the loss lights a fire under our asses? Hard to say, obviously, but I think there's a case to be made.

That said it's clear that it would've been better to win 28-13 like we should've.

How he handles this truly bizarre game outcome is the biggest test of David Shaw's head coaching career.  Growth is painful and sometimes uncomfortable, but only those willing to go outside their comfort zone when faced with challenges, ultimately will succeed.  It's a fine line between maintaining your principles, and making changes.

Shaw is clearly struggling with the overload at the RB spot.  He's even putting Ty Montgomery out as a RB.  When so many guys have different skill sets and the plays have to be tailored to so many guys, execution is going to suffer.  He needs to give each RB a role and be done with it.

How about:

1. Wright is the starter (he looks the best based on his touches yesterday)
2. Sanders is a 3rd down guy who is dangerous on screens and draws, and as an outlet receiver
3. Young backs up Wright

Is Marx the best short yardage runner?  Give him that role.  But it sure looked like Skov was effective on the TD run, so why not let him carry it again?  And if you do have Skov in on that 4th down, why not fake the run to him and boot the QB on a pass?  That's what the good college offenses do - they keep defenses off balance, take risks at the right times, and place a premium on execution over complexity.

[OutsiderFan]

I can't help but wonder if losing this was better than narrowly escaping with a win. Would a narrow escape have left us with a sense of complacency, while the loss lights a fire under our asses? Hard to say, obviously, but I think there's a case to be made.

That said it's clear that it would've been better to win 28-13 like we should've.

How he handles this truly bizarre game outcome is the biggest test of David Shaw's head coaching career.  Growth is painful and sometimes uncomfortable, but only those willing to go outside their comfort zone when faced with challenges, ultimately will succeed.  It's a fine line between maintaining your principles, and making changes.

Shaw is clearly struggling with the overload at the RB spot.  He's even putting Ty Montgomery out as a RB.  When so many guys have different skill sets and the plays have to be tailored to so many guys, execution is going to suffer.  He needs to give each RB a role and be done with it.

How about:

1. Wright is the starter (he looks the best based on his touches yesterday)
2. Sanders is a 3rd down guy who is dangerous on screens and draws, and as an outlet receiver
3. Young backs up Wright

Is Marx the best short yardage runner?  Give him that role.  But it sure looked like Skov was effective on the TD run, so why not let him carry it again?  And if you do have Skov in on that 4th down, why not fake the run to him and boot the QB on a pass?  That's what the good college offenses do - they keep defenses off balance, take risks at the right times, and place a premium on execution over complexity.

[French Rage]

I too am optimistic.  The play calling and execution between the 20s was fantastic.  Good mix of run and pass, inside and outside, power vs. play-action vs. screens and trickery. The defense adjusted well to USCs wide splits and played well despite some areas for improvement (if we tackle like that on the perimeter against Oregon we'll get slaughtered).

I don't think we need to install more special red zone offense.  We just need to execute our regular offense better.

Our drives ended with:
-Multiple penalties leading to missed long field goal. This has been a pattern in the first two weeks, I think we'll clean this up.
-High snap fumble. We have a new center, hopefully will be sorted out as the year goes on)
-Stopped on fourth and 1 that should have been converted. I dislike the play call here.  Sure Marx is bigger then our RBs, but give the ball to the guy whose used to carrying it. Or better yet give Hogan a bootleg option if they crowd the line.
T-D called back for drive killing 15yd penalty on a terrible call.
-Hand-off fumble between Hogan and wright.  One of the downsides of having so many RBs is the potential for this, though IMO it looked like a bad handoff by Hogan (couldn't decide if he was going to hand off or pass until too late).

Bottom line: We hurt ourselves with a serious mix of bad luck and mental mistakes.  All of these are correctable, and I have enough faith in Shaw as a coach to get that done. Our Defense looked fantastic. Our offense showed that it is dynamic and dangerous, Shaw just needs to get out of his own head during red zone play calling. I could see us running the table, but our margin for error just got awfully small.

- Penalties were the biggest killer.  Hard to execute when you need to go 20 or 30 rather than 10.
- The high snap, it should also be noted, was to Ty in the wildcat.  Listen, I understand the wildcat is supposed to be a way to mix it up and confuse the other side, but a) it has never done that and b) you put your best people where they operate the best.  Ty shouldn't be taking snaps, he's not used to it and it doesn't put him in the open field where he can do what he does best.  Find a play to mix it up and confuse the opponent that has Hogan taking the snaps like he should and Ty out where he should be.
- Anyone else think he got a shitty spot on the 4th and 1 run?

[French Rage]

I too am optimistic.  The play calling and execution between the 20s was fantastic.  Good mix of run and pass, inside and outside, power vs. play-action vs. screens and trickery. The defense adjusted well to USCs wide splits and played well despite some areas for improvement (if we tackle like that on the perimeter against Oregon we'll get slaughtered).

I don't think we need to install more special red zone offense.  We just need to execute our regular offense better.

Our drives ended with:
-Multiple penalties leading to missed long field goal. This has been a pattern in the first two weeks, I think we'll clean this up.
-High snap fumble. We have a new center, hopefully will be sorted out as the year goes on)
-Stopped on fourth and 1 that should have been converted. I dislike the play call here.  Sure Marx is bigger then our RBs, but give the ball to the guy whose used to carrying it. Or better yet give Hogan a bootleg option if they crowd the line.
T-D called back for drive killing 15yd penalty on a terrible call.
-Hand-off fumble between Hogan and wright.  One of the downsides of having so many RBs is the potential for this, though IMO it looked like a bad handoff by Hogan (couldn't decide if he was going to hand off or pass until too late).

Bottom line: We hurt ourselves with a serious mix of bad luck and mental mistakes.  All of these are correctable, and I have enough faith in Shaw as a coach to get that done. Our Defense looked fantastic. Our offense showed that it is dynamic and dangerous, Shaw just needs to get out of his own head during red zone play calling. I could see us running the table, but our margin for error just got awfully small.

- Penalties were the biggest killer.  Hard to execute when you need to go 20 or 30 rather than 10.
- The high snap, it should also be noted, was to Ty in the wildcat.  Listen, I understand the wildcat is supposed to be a way to mix it up and confuse the other side, but a) it has never done that and b) you put your best people where they operate the best.  Ty shouldn't be taking snaps, he's not used to it and it doesn't put him in the open field where he can do what he does best.  Find a play to mix it up and confuse the opponent that has Hogan taking the snaps like he should and Ty out where he should be.
- Anyone else think he got a shitty spot on the 4th and 1 run?

[StanFan88]

How he handles this truly bizarre game outcome is the biggest test of David Shaw's head coaching career. 

This game is not bizarre from a coaching perspective - it is the continuing downward spiral of Shaw's conservative playcalling when the game is close and they are in the Red Zone.

[StanFan88]

How he handles this truly bizarre game outcome is the biggest test of David Shaw's head coaching career. 

This game is not bizarre from a coaching perspective - it is the continuing downward spiral of Shaw's conservative playcalling when the game is close and they are in the Red Zone.

[GoodGrief]

[quote author=fullmetal link=topic=10564.msg97234#msg97234 date=1410105490]
When you've got four team captains...you have don't have a team captain.

So...we had zero team captains last year? And the year before that?

Virtually every team has multiple captains.
[/quote]

pretty sure that was a joke

[GoodGrief]

[quote author=fullmetal link=topic=10564.msg97234#msg97234 date=1410105490]
When you've got four team captains...you have don't have a team captain.

So...we had zero team captains last year? And the year before that?

Virtually every team has multiple captains.
[/quote]

pretty sure that was a joke

[Gauss]

I'm also pretty optimistic going forward. For me, this game was an important litmus test for the quality of the team, and I'm encouraged by much of what I saw.

- After all the defensive losses, it was not clear to me that we'd still have an elite defense, but we do.
- The special teams are still very good (well, let's exclude FG kicking from this. But kickoff/punt return, and kick-off/punting are excellent)
- The receivers/TEs are indeed pretty good.
- The Oline can be very good.

What I saw where many mistakes whose importance shouldn't be minimized, because they won't go overnight and can cost games. But still, they're easier to fix than, say, lack of talent. Given Washington woes, we have until ND (about 4 weeks) to reduce the number of holding, illegal formation, and delay of game calls, and find a more stable solution for 3rd/4th and short.

If we do improve these things, the team can indeed go the distance, and that was something that I learned yesterday. So it was not all bad! :)

[Gauss]

I'm also pretty optimistic going forward. For me, this game was an important litmus test for the quality of the team, and I'm encouraged by much of what I saw.

- After all the defensive losses, it was not clear to me that we'd still have an elite defense, but we do.
- The special teams are still very good (well, let's exclude FG kicking from this. But kickoff/punt return, and kick-off/punting are excellent)
- The receivers/TEs are indeed pretty good.
- The Oline can be very good.

What I saw where many mistakes whose importance shouldn't be minimized, because they won't go overnight and can cost games. But still, they're easier to fix than, say, lack of talent. Given Washington woes, we have until ND (about 4 weeks) to reduce the number of holding, illegal formation, and delay of game calls, and find a more stable solution for 3rd/4th and short.

If we do improve these things, the team can indeed go the distance, and that was something that I learned yesterday. So it was not all bad! :)

[fullmetal]

[quote author=washingtonismoney link=topic=10564.msg97240#msg97240 date=1410106454]
[quote author=fullmetal link=topic=10564.msg97234#msg97234 date=1410105490]
When you've got four team captains...you have don't have a team captain.

So...we had zero team captains last year? And the year before that?

Virtually every team has multiple captains.
[/quote]

pretty sure that was a joke
[/quote]

GoodGrief to my rescue...thanks!  /facepalm  Clearly I'm not winning any Cards Against Humanity or Apples to Apples games with y'all...

[fullmetal]

[quote author=washingtonismoney link=topic=10564.msg97240#msg97240 date=1410106454]
[quote author=fullmetal link=topic=10564.msg97234#msg97234 date=1410105490]
When you've got four team captains...you have don't have a team captain.

So...we had zero team captains last year? And the year before that?

Virtually every team has multiple captains.
[/quote]

pretty sure that was a joke
[/quote]

GoodGrief to my rescue...thanks!  /facepalm  Clearly I'm not winning any Cards Against Humanity or Apples to Apples games with y'all...