Pretty good analysis of our offense from the CAL SB Nation site
- Thread starter ttowncoug
- Start date
That's a great piece. Wish more sites would incorporate video to illustrate their points. I've noticed a couple of things throughout the season that showed up on these video clips.
- Our WR's haven't blocked worth a damn thus far. In the 2nd video clip on the bubble screen, Marks completely whiffed on his block. He was trying to seal the DB to the outside, but Good God, what kind of technique (or effort) was that? Back in the day, Levy would have ripped him to pieces for that. All of our WR's have blocked poorly to this point, leading me to question if (and why) Graham Harrell (a QB) is coaching our outside WR's. If you pass the ball 70+% of the time (and throw a lot of underneath stuff), your WR's need to be great blockers.
- The video also shows something we've all noticed with Falk. On some of our routes, there is a TON of open space for him to run. As he gains experience, I hope that he's able to regularly pull the ball down and take the easy 5-10 yards the defense is giving him. Start doing that on a somewhat regular basis, and defenses will have to think twice about dropping their LB's 10 yards back.
- Also related to Falk's inexperience is the fact that he's frequently either missed or hasn't seen wide open RBs in the flat.
I've re-watched all the Coug games and yes, there are tons of yds to be got with the simple pass to the RB in the flats.... all day long....
Let me ask a few dumb questions: since we've seen this kind of strategy employed many times before, why don't we run when they dare us to run? What am I missing here? Run until they respect that option and then pass. Am I insane to suggest this? Seems like the QB can read what the defense is doing in terms of alignment and adjust as needed to maximize the potential gain (assuming everyone executes).
It's not a dumb question at all. I've said before that I think a mobile QB would really take this offense to the next level and address all of those who criticize the fact that we don't run enough. I'm not talking about a running QB, but rather a pocket passer who can run. Are there any more Marcus Mariotta's out there?
It seems to me that five in the box is not daring the Cougs to run. Doesn't every team playing WSU, who has no tight end and throws up to 80 times a game, put 3 or 4 in the box? I guess another dumb question.
We have been running a lot more. We have double the rushing yards / game as last year. And double the yards / carry.
No disparagement of Falk intended, but I'm guessing he's a big step down from Halliday, no? Replacing a QB like Halliday is no mean feat. What year is Falk?
Halliday was a 5th year senior and Falk is a 3rd year sophomore. At a similar stage in their development, Falk is more advanced than Halliday. So, yeah he is a step down right now. But, he should become better as the season goes along.
Don't forget that Falk passed for 600 yards against ASU last season. He does have it in him to be very good. Will he tomorrow? We will have to watch and find out.
