[JPR36]

We already hashed this out in the game thread, but my problem is that Shaw didn't "play the percentages". The percentages say that getting more first downs, or even some points, would've made ASU much less likely to win. Shaw played against the percentages and we didn't get unlucky. That's not a wise course of action.

In general the answer to "Is Shaw too conservative?" is "Yes, but...", with the "but" there because pretty much every football coach is too conservative. They're slowly learning to get better (Doug Peterson winning an Owl is changing things pretty significantly in the NFL) but damn near every one is too conservative.

I guess Leach is the exception that proves the rule there (yes, I realize you said "pretty much").
The Chipster when he was at Oregon might be another example.
Just curious if anyone can come up with an instance where the Pirate played it too conservatively.
He sure didn't on that last drive against the Ducks last Saturday.

[JPR36]

We already hashed this out in the game thread, but my problem is that Shaw didn't "play the percentages". The percentages say that getting more first downs, or even some points, would've made ASU much less likely to win. Shaw played against the percentages and we didn't get unlucky. That's not a wise course of action.

In general the answer to "Is Shaw too conservative?" is "Yes, but...", with the "but" there because pretty much every football coach is too conservative. They're slowly learning to get better (Doug Peterson winning an Owl is changing things pretty significantly in the NFL) but damn near every one is too conservative.

I guess Leach is the exception that proves the rule there (yes, I realize you said "pretty much").
The Chipster when he was at Oregon might be another example.
Just curious if anyone can come up with an instance where the Pirate played it too conservatively.
He sure didn't on that last drive against the Ducks last Saturday.