[BostonCard]

I am not convinced at this stage that he sees that the game has changed fundamentally, and that what worked five years ago isn’t going to deliver PAC 12 Championships anymore.

That's an odd quote, because we are not doing what worked 5 years ago. I posted earlier that we never run power. Today we had 23 rushes and 49 passing attempts. Now you might say that we were down early. But our first drive was two passes and one rush. Our second drive was three passes. Our third drive was 1 rush and two passes. Our touchdown drive was three passes and three rushes. In 2014 we had 381 pass attempts and 477 rushes.

And maybe, as Lex points out, that's the problem. We had a formula that worked for us. It gave us an identity. It allowed us to recruit players who might not be valued by schools focused on tempo or air raids who might be a good fit for our system. It allowed us to chew up clock and keep our defense rested. Maybe it wasn't fun, but it seemed to work for many years.

What I'm not sure of is whether our move away from that is a cause or effect of our declining offense. Last year, it seemed like Shaw still wanted to run the ball, until it became clear that not only were we not good at it, but we were actually terrible at running the football, and decent at throwing the ball. So I think Shaw was adapting to the circumstances and changing our character out of necessity. The problem is that we aren't a great passing team either. So we seem to be throwing a bunch of crap up to see if anything sticks.

I really wish I had an answer here. Unlike the Teevens/Harris days, when the talent was so bad that it didn't matter what the hell we did, we would suck at it (for all the complaints of "shotgun draw", I don't think much else would have worked any better), I do think we have the talent on offense to be better. Costello has been talked about as an NFL quality player (even if he didn't show it today). Parkinson is an NFL quality player. We have receivers who I think could be good; they show flashes. The offensive line is a mess physically, but as others point out, it was serviceable today, considering. So, I think the pieces are there for success on offense, but I think we are going to need to find our way. The efficiency just isn't there, and I don't know if it is scheme (but if not this, what?) or coaching the players to play as a unit (the old whole < sum of its parts) or player development or what.

But I think it is facile to say Shaw hasn't changed his approach from 5 years ago, because what we actually see on the field is like night and day from 5 years ago. I just don't know if that is part of the problem, or a futile attempt at a solution.

BC

[BostonCard]

I am not convinced at this stage that he sees that the game has changed fundamentally, and that what worked five years ago isn’t going to deliver PAC 12 Championships anymore.

That's an odd quote, because we are not doing what worked 5 years ago. I posted earlier that we never run power. Today we had 23 rushes and 49 passing attempts. Now you might say that we were down early. But our first drive was two passes and one rush. Our second drive was three passes. Our third drive was 1 rush and two passes. Our touchdown drive was three passes and three rushes. In 2014 we had 381 pass attempts and 477 rushes.

And maybe, as Lex points out, that's the problem. We had a formula that worked for us. It gave us an identity. It allowed us to recruit players who might not be valued by schools focused on tempo or air raids who might be a good fit for our system. It allowed us to chew up clock and keep our defense rested. Maybe it wasn't fun, but it seemed to work for many years.

What I'm not sure of is whether our move away from that is a cause or effect of our declining offense. Last year, it seemed like Shaw still wanted to run the ball, until it became clear that not only were we not good at it, but we were actually terrible at running the football, and decent at throwing the ball. So I think Shaw was adapting to the circumstances and changing our character out of necessity. The problem is that we aren't a great passing team either. So we seem to be throwing a bunch of crap up to see if anything sticks.

I really wish I had an answer here. Unlike the Teevens/Harris days, when the talent was so bad that it didn't matter what the hell we did, we would suck at it (for all the complaints of "shotgun draw", I don't think much else would have worked any better), I do think we have the talent on offense to be better. Costello has been talked about as an NFL quality player (even if he didn't show it today). Parkinson is an NFL quality player. We have receivers who I think could be good; they show flashes. The offensive line is a mess physically, but as others point out, it was serviceable today, considering. So, I think the pieces are there for success on offense, but I think we are going to need to find our way. The efficiency just isn't there, and I don't know if it is scheme (but if not this, what?) or coaching the players to play as a unit (the old whole < sum of its parts) or player development or what.

But I think it is facile to say Shaw hasn't changed his approach from 5 years ago, because what we actually see on the field is like night and day from 5 years ago. I just don't know if that is part of the problem, or a futile attempt at a solution.

BC