Flood's handling of QB's

[HoosierKnight]

On the handling of quarterbacks, it is often said if you have more than one you have none.
And the backup is the most popular guy around.

But, even our own season last year holds some reasons for those in both camps.

For example, if Flood saw the writing on the wall with say the 3rd pick against PSU, maybe we would have won.
On the other hand, if Nova is not in there in the second half do we win the Maryland game?

Knock Flood for one and credit him for the other?

I hope that it doesn't have to be all or nothing but Flood showed last year that he disagrees. Whatever QB wins the starting job will be ours for the season and maybe the rest of his eligibility.

Honestly, it won't be fair to state your opinion on how to handle the QBs after the games start and we have more data whoever the nominee may be.

Right now, I haven't seen Rettig, Laviano, Dare or Rescignio and truthfully nobody has seen much of them have we? But the good part of that is that it would be hard to develop a favorite or a bias.

So maybe this is the best time to talk about how to handle the QB in general rather than base it on the old Dodd-Nova conundrum.

Personally, Flood's loyalty to Nova was admirable on one hand the unbelievably frustrating on the other. I would think there should be a middle ground. Instead of giving the QB the whole game to prove to the world that you don't have a short hook, how about giving them the first half? If they haven't shown what you want in the first half, maybe they are just having a bad day and give another guy the third quarter. You don't have to alternate series. If the other guy can't show anything the third quarter and its close, then decide whether or not to go back to the starter.

Flood's early talk about the QB having to win the team sounds kind of like a personality contest to me. But I never played so maybe that is legit.

Anyway, the time for theoretical talk is now. Soon enough we will have wins or losses to dissect and the air of objectivity will be lost!

(BTW, I was mostly in the Dodd camp!)

 

[PaKnight]

Bottom line, the coach has to believe that the backup gives the team a better chance to win.

I remember that at least one of the picks against PSU was not Nova's fault, it bounced off Grant's hands.

 

[HoosierKnight]

So you don't buy the having a bad day argument? Sometimes in baseball (on my mind now) a starter is stellar 3 starts in a row and then gets whacked and can't last past the 2nd inning. Is that a bad analogy? Some days you've got it and some you don't. But that does not apply to QB's?

 

[PaKnight]

So you don't buy the having a bad day argument? Sometimes in baseball (on my mind now) a starter is stellar 3 starts in a row and then gets whacked and can't last past the 2nd inning. Is that a bad analogy? Some days you've got it and some you don't. But that does not apply to QB's?

It not that I don't believe the bad day argument, but last year I think that a healthy Nova was our best option, even if he was having a bad day. I did think that KF stayed with Nova too long in 2012.

I don't like the pitcher analogy, other than they are both throw a ball. You have one starting QB, who should be leader of the team, you have five starting pitchers who are not going to finish the game even is they are pitching well many cases. A twelve game season, in college, versus 162 in MLB.

 

[ruready4somefootball]

I'm pretty sure there was more than one post in the past about how bad Greg was in handling QB's. As far as if you have more than one QB, then you have none,try telling that to Ohio St. didn't they have 3 great ones last season?

 

[loyalty_policia]

Flood has stated plenty of times, and wisely I might add, that he will give the QB that he rolls with will get time to grow into the position. I am all for this. One of the biggest factors this coming season isn't the QB play, but rather the fans patience with us growing a QB into the roll and dealing with mistakes and bad games. If our fans do that, we will be flying.

 

[Rufaninga]

My issue in the past was when Nova threw more than 3. If u get to 4, give the backup the reps and sit the starter. What benefit to the starter is there at that point?

I think if Flood limited Nova to <=4 , Nova would have gotten more credit and less grief.

 

[Ru2bnj]

I get a kick out of those that start to make the argument that the HC or the staff plays favorites toward certain players. The bottom line is every HC and coaching staff understands that in the end they are going to be judged on games won and lost. That carries far more weight than anything else. The HC and the OC are going to evaluate and make a decision on which QB they think will help them win the most games. It's not more complicated than that. Of course there are errors in judgement at times but the decisions will be made based on who they think will help them win the most...period.

 

[RUsojo]

So you don't buy the having a bad day argument? Sometimes in baseball (on my mind now) a starter is stellar 3 starts in a row and then gets whacked and can't last past the 2nd inning. Is that a bad analogy? Some days you've got it and some you don't. But that does not apply to QB's?

I think we buy that analogy. The point is though, and I'll continue the analogy, when a pitcher doesn't have his stuff that day, the manager takes that long walk to the mound and yanks him out before he gets any worse. Nova should've came out in the 4th. Run Lav out there to finish the game and nova comes back in next week no questions asked.

 

[drewbagel423]

Bottom line, the coach has to believe that the backup gives the team a better chance to win.

I remember that at least one of the picks against PSU was not Nova's fault, it bounced off Grant's hands.

I think it was more than one. Didn't Burton or someone also not look back for the ball? Or am I thinking of the Kent State fiasco?

 

[jerzey devil]

On one pick, the ball hit Grant in the hands...on another James failed to pick up being the hot read and ran a normal route, so that when Nova had to get rid of it with a guy in his face, James wasn't looking for it...the last one was desperation..Nova was 100% our best option to win period!! Laviano just wsnt ready to be the guy...so really only two picks were directly on Nova against PSU...people easily forget that there's a reason that the #2 QB is "the backup" And it isn't because the coaches are playing favorites...This isn't Pop Warner....Heck in '13 when Flood did replace Nova, it took Dodd a while to find a rhythm...and he was an experienced QB!!

 

[LotusAggressor]

Part of the problem seemed to be that none of the OCs before Friedgen taught Gary Nova how to read a defense. http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post...ks-one-more-strong-ending-to-turbulent-career An excerpt:

In their first meeting, Friedgen told Nova he knew all about his reputation for inconsistency. He told the senior he didn’t care, that he wanted to give him a clean slate. They started with basics, learning about defensive coverages rather than Rutgers’ playbook. Friedgen preached about fundamental ways to read a defense that he assumed someone had already taught Nova. No one had, and Nova started to see the field more clearly.

Hopefully, this won't be a problem with future RU QBs.

 

[saran]

Look at Urban Meyer. He doesn't regard even his 3rd string QB (12 rated by Rivals) with terror and suspicion. When back-ups get in the game for OSU they shine better than top recuits around the nation. They feel they can win. I don't see Meyer keeping a QB in to throw 3,4,5 INTs with regularity - all while dreading back-ups. Schiano also seemed to often radiate FUD about his young players and back-ups. OSU was full of soph starters last year. Schiano would have been biting his nails

 

[LotusAggressor]

I'm pretty sure there was more than one post in the past about how bad Greg was in handling QB's. As far as if you have more than one QB, then you have none,try telling that to Ohio St. didn't they have 3 great ones last season?

Ohio State played 3 QBs out of necessity. No one was yanked because they had a bad game. If Miller doesn't get hurt, no one would have known how good Barrett was. If he doesn't get hurt, no one would have known how good Jones was. It wasn't discovered how good these guys were until Meyer was forced to play them.

 

[Caliknight]

I think Flood learned. As a senior, Nova showed he could work through the picks. As a junior, he went in one direction. That VT bowl game was a travesty. Flood left Nova out to dry in that game, and got an L he shouldn't have because of it. I'm guessing if he has to make that choice again, he manages the situation differently.

 

[RU62]

The big difference is/was Fridge. Having an excellent qb coach to work with players is a major plus. GS didn't have this or didn't want to listen or share. His handling of qb's was below par.....even at Tampa. Having Fridge available in a limited consulting tole this year is big as Kyle and Fridge have an excellent working relationship as Fridge does with the entire staff. The respect goes both ways. Net result....a win win for Rutgers and the entire team.

 

[yesrutgers01]

Comparing to OSU is crazy but hindsight is amazing. OSU lost Miller and the whole colkege football world rejoiced. Hell, I remember our own board talking how they were now a toss up game.
And they lost their first game with Barrett. Maybe you forgot that...

 

[yesrutgers01]

As for the OP...I think we all agree that Nova should have been given a break in a couple of games. KS/Vt but not PSU.
The biggest problem we have had is as much as I admired Dodds efforts, his best day would be equal to an average day for Nova. Plus the base offense Flood was running just didn't suit Dodd's game at all.

 

[Ole Cabbagehead]

I kind of compare the PSU game to a bad betting streak at a casino. Most people have done it at least once in their lifetime, whether it be playing black jack, or even buying a stock or something along those lines. You are doing well but then you start to lose. So you bet more, trying to get back up to where you were. Then you go down, so you bet a little more to try to at least break even. Now you aren't even going for profit, just hoping to get your money back so you can go home. You lose again. Now instead of being up a little, you are down a lot. When you finally tap out, its all a blur. What the heck happened there? Why was I making those decisions? Fact of the matter is that the decisions were all made without any perspective. You wanted to win so badly, that you didn't really recognize what was going on.

I think in the PSU game, Flood kept deciding to leave in Nova because we had to get back on top in the game. And Nova was the best shot to "win back what we had lost." I don't think there is anything more to it then that. I would be amazed if we ever saw Flood do the same thing again. I think he learned a tough lesson there.

 

[PaKnight]

I think Flood learned. As a senior, Nova showed he could work through the picks. As a junior, he went in one direction. That VT bowl game was a travesty. Flood left Nova out to dry in that game, and got an L he shouldn't have because of it. I'm guessing if he has to make that choice again, he manages the situation differently.

Dodd was as bad the next year against ND.

 

[PaKnight]

I kind of compare the PSU game to a bad betting streak at a casino. Most people have done it at least once in their lifetime, whether it be playing black jack, or even buying a stock or something along those lines. You are doing well but then you start to lose. So you bet more, trying to get back up to where you were. Then you go down, so you bet a little more to try to at least break even. Now you aren't even going for profit, just hoping to get your money back so you can go home. You lose again. Now instead of being up a little, you are down a lot. When you finally tap out, its all a blur. What the heck happened there? Why was I making those decisions? Fact of the matter is that the decisions were all made without any perspective. You wanted to win so badly, that you didn't really recognize what was going on.

I think in the PSU game, Flood kept deciding to leave in Nova because we had to get back on top in the game. And Nova was the best shot to "win back what we had lost." I don't think there is anything more to it then that. I would be amazed if we ever saw Flood do the same thing again. I think he learned a tough lesson there.

I think Nova was the best option against PSU.

 

[RUInsanity]

On one pick, the ball hit Grant in the hands...on another James failed to pick up being the hot read and ran a normal route, so that when Nova had to get rid of it with a guy in his face, James wasn't looking for it...the last one was desperation..Nova was 100% our best option to win period!! Laviano just wsnt ready to be the guy...so really only two picks were directly on Nova against PSU...people easily forget that there's a reason that the #2 QB is "the backup" And it isn't because the coaches are playing favorites...This isn't Pop Warner....Heck in '13 when Flood did replace Nova, it took Dodd a while to find a rhythm...and he was an experienced QB!!

People seem to not realize that not every interception is the QB's fault. It is not the number of interceptions that should dictate the decision to pull a QB or not. It is the quality of QB play (or lack of), the quality and preparedness of the backup, the game situation etc. Coaches stick with a guy they think can win it on future plays....not because of past plays.