Game Plan

[njknightsfan]

My assumption is that the coaches know what Laviano's strength and weaknesses are compared to Rettig. That's why they run on 1st and 2nd down, trying to get into 3rd and short and hoping Laviano can either scramble or get a short pass for a 1st down. From what I saw last week, that seems to be the offensive game plan in a nut shell. Run on 1st, get 3 yards, run on 2nd, get 2-3 more yards and short 5 yards or less pass on 3rd down and move the chains. The problem with this is the other team has also figured this out and are stacking the box but we refuse to change from our game plan.

It's just mind boggling that our coaching staff can't see this and refuse to make changes during the game. I would like to see some imagination, 4 wide outs, empty backfield sets, try something different! Please start Rettig, not knowing the playbook at this point is a BS excuse. What does he have to learn, hand-off on 1st & 2nd down, short pass on 3rd.

 

[superfan01]

There strategy is to try and kill clock so the score isn't a blowout. They are not playing to win. It's keep it close against the better teams and try and sneak out 5 wins against the bad teams and get another year of pay 5 times higher then you otherwise would be getting.

 

[geurdsy]

I would start Rettig, use the tight ends and full back to provide protection, and let him air it out the entire first half. He hits guys in stride, and we pull some big plays. Then mix in the run later.

 

[RobertG]

The game plan worked at the beginning of the Wisconsin game for one series. but then the other team adjusted but McD continued to do the same thing. Looking at the play by play we didn't try a pass on first down until 6 min to go in the 3rd. And the majority of passes (all but one I believe) which were thrown on second down were all on 2nd and long.

In the OSU game in the first half things were mixed a little more and we had decent offensive production when not beset by dumb plays (penalties, etc.) OSU just rolled our D.

 

[RUich]

You are assuming that the coaches believe they have the option to do something different. Laviano's arm strength appears to be very limited as his longer passes are all high arcs that float. His receivers seem to be constantly coming back for them. We want to be a running team and the hell with the results.
Apparently, Rettig is not considered to be as good as Laviano even though he does show a stronger arm with crisper throws. So, it has to be something else they don't like about him.
Flood certainly has shown a stubborn streak in the time he has been at the helm. Right or wrong, he makes decisions that seem to never waver. Not a sign of a person who ends up being successful in anything.

 

[njknightsfan]

You are assuming that the coaches believe they have the option to do something different. Laviano's arm strength appears to be very limited as his longer passes are all high arcs that float. His receivers seem to be constantly coming back for them. We want to be a running team and the hell with the results.
Apparently, Rettig is not considered to be as good as Laviano even though he does show a stronger arm with crisper throws. So, it has to be something else they don't like about him.
Flood certainly has shown a stubborn streak in the time he has been at the helm. Right or wrong, he makes decisions that seem to never waver. Not a sign of a person who ends up being successful in anything.

What I don't like about Flood is his how stubborn he seems to be and also seems to show favoritism to some of the players ( Laviano, James, ....). This is only going to bring his own demise, stubborn on the game plan, defensive schemes, the inability of the staff to make changes during the game, he's just an ineffective leader at this point.

At this point it's probably going to be another blowout against Michigan unless Flood comes up with an innovative game plan ( empty backfield, Air Raid Offense, mixed with traditional 2-back offense, 2 TE, show some looks that we haven't showed before, mix it up, throw on 1st, throw on 2nd, run on 3rd,...... ).

On defense, aggressive defense, if we get beat deep, we get beat deep, stack the box, blitz and hope the young corners can do their job. At this point, the world is expecting us to get blown out, try something new and throw the "Not to Lose" game plan out the window. Bring back some life into the team, give them a chance, I really feel bad for the kids, the coaches are not giving them a chance to win.

 

[REDRICH65]

No punts on 3rd downs. Use all 4 downs. If we've going to get blown out what the hell.

 

[zappaa]

We want to dominate them in the trenches, over power them.
That's our offense.
I don't really think we have a plan on defense.

 

[LC-88]

Just asking a question: Is Laviano a stellar practice player that can't get it done in a real game? Maybe Flood is one of those coaches that believes performance in practice equates to performance in a real game. I had a few of these coaches prior to, and in high school sports. I'll take the guy that practices like $hit, but wins games, any day. Is this possibly the situation with Flood/Laviano/Rettig? Laviano does better in practice so he plays.

 

[Knight Shift]

Just asking a question: Is Laviano a stellar practice player that can't get it done in a real game? Maybe Flood is one of those coaches that believes performance in practice equates to performance in a real game. I had a few of these coaches prior to, and in high school sports. I'll take the guy that practices like $hit, but wins games, any day. Is this possibly the situation with Flood/Laviano/Rettig? Laviano does better in practice so he plays.

Did you see Joey Bosa and others in the OSU game living in our backfield? Did you see Laviano under constant pressure last weekend? I watched pretty closely, and I did not see many receivers that were open. If Tom Brady was QB, I don't think we would have put up many more points. Game plan:

1. Protect the QB--Hello running backs and tight ends?
2. If #1 fails, roll out and look for quick completions.
3. Both #1 and #2 require receivers to get open. Not sure why this is such a problem for everyone not named Carroo.
4. Use Agudosi's height advantage.
5. If 1-4 fail, put Grant in the Wild Knight. :flush:

 

[RUtrumpet92]

No punts on 3rd downs. Use all 4 downs. If we've going to get blown out what the hell.

You know, when you look it how bad our punting has been at times combined with the study that showed always going for it is better, it's not a bad idea. But I think the other post about Flood trying to keep the scores of games that are mismatches on paper as close as possible rather than trying to win those games is also close to the truth. Based on that, expect lots of runs on 1st and 2nd to try to keep the clock moving this weekend, followed by "safer" pass plays on 3rd down to minimize the risk of turnovers.

 

[HoosierKnight]

If they are going to stack the box, the QB has to be prepared to burn them. Burn them enough times and they will quit stacking the box. If you can't pass on them repeatedly, there is no reason for them to quit stacking the box. And that stops the run and also puts pressure on the QB to make quick decisions.

Sort of like a full court press knowing that a team cannot handle the pressure. If you break the press for easy baskets a couple of times, the opponent will stop pressing.

 

[RobertG]

If they are going to stack the box, the QB has to be prepared to burn them. Burn them enough times and they will quit stacking the box. If you can't pass on them repeatedly, there is no reason for them to quit stacking the box. And that stops the run and also puts pressure on the QB to make quick decisions.

Sort of like a full court press knowing that a team cannot handle the pressure. If you break the press for easy baskets a couple of times, the opponent will stop pressing.

This requires that the receivers get open and the OL to block long enough for the receivers to get open. OSU gambled that their CBs could hang with our WRs one on one and the DL could penetrate our line. They were right on both accounts. Wisc did the same thing and they were right. While I don't believe that Laviano is good QB we have to recognize the fact that our OL, TE's and WRs not named Carroo are not enough to beat teams like OSU and Wisc straight up. There needs to be some schemes to help loosen things up. It seems while OSU played an entirely different defensive game plan our OC used the exact same game plan he used thought out the year, which is really a nice gift to give a guy like Urban Meyer who really doesn't need it: 5 game tapes of your playbook.