Time to Bite the Bullet

[njknightsfan]

It's time for Ash to Bite the Bullet and play Lewis at QB, even if it's the 2nd half. Your playing against Morgan St. and you know what you have with Bolin. It's also time for him to start being more aggressive in his play calling and go for 4th and 1 when you are inside the opponents territory. At this point, playing safe, not to lose may look good on the final score but really doesn't improve the team or gets anyone excited.

Ash has to take a step back and really evaluate the first 2 games and use Morgan St. and play many of the younger players to see what he has. It can't get any worse, open up the play book, give some of your younger guys more prominent roles and let the chips fall where they fall. You have nothing to lose!

 

[rurichdog]

We would have been so much better off if Ash just put Tylin Oden into a starting role last year after that 2nd loss.

 

[mildone]

Ash needs to win as many games as possible this season so what Ash has to do is play whoever he and the rest of his professional coaching staff agree is the best option to help us do that.

Also, using the performance of young players like Lewis against Morgan state, where their surrounding cast (like the OL) can be expected to dominate the game (depressurizing the situation) is not a very good metric to use in judging who should play QB against OSU or our other Big Ten opponents the rest of the year.

 

[njknightsfan]

I'm not saying start Lewis, I'm saying Morgan St. is a perfect opponent to start getting some of our younger guys, like Lewis more playing time.

 

[Knight Shift]

Steve Politi disagrees. . . .

 

[mildone]

I'm not saying start Lewis, I'm saying Morgan St. is a perfect opponent to start getting some of our younger guys, like Lewis more playing time.

I agree. But only if we build a big lead. Love to get our younger players game time experience.

 

[mildone]

Steve Politi disagrees. . . .

He disagrees with... ?

 

[rutgersal]

No problem with playing him a bunch against Morgan State once the game is in hand. But you don't want to throw him out there at Nebraska or Ohio State.

 

[Knight Shift]

He disagrees with... ?

the OP. He has an article up that it is not time to abandon Bolin.

 

[RUChoppin]

Morgan State is not going to be a good barometer for Lewis, or anything else.

Bolin hasn't shown me much so far... he's decent at reading defenses to change plays at the line, but his long ball accuracy is suspect along with his decision making under pressure. 2 TDs, 4 INTs. 1 of the TDs was because the defender fell down, and really was down at the 1 yard line. There were a few "almost picks" out there, too... definitely more than the "almost TDs".

He looked much better at Louisville. Question is, was that due to his OLine and WRs more than it was due to him? Or maybe it's the playcalling that isn't setting him up for success (does Kill really need to be in the box)?

Right now, the jury's out but it's not looking great for the defendant. Morgan St won't tell us anything, but Nebraska definitely will.

I agree with working Lewis in more and more just to get more of a feel for the college game, reading defenses, getting used to the speed of play. But if Bolin isn't hacking it, I could see a switch to Gio as starter while Lewis continues to gradually get up to speed.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Bolin needs all teh reps he can get

 

[Shelby65]

I think the plan is to increase Lewis' PT all year else it was an egregious mistake to burn the redshirt just for a couple of handoffs.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Gio should play.

 

[B0ski]

the OP. He has an article up that it is not time to abandon Bolin.

All the more reason to get Lewis in the game.

 

[mildone]

the OP. He has an article up that it is not time to abandon Bolin.

Gotcha. Hm... My inner child hates that I'm in agreement with anything that guy writes.

 

[RU1977]

Both Gio and Lewis should play in the Morgan State game once we get a decent lead...... Just to see how they play... Get some reps against a team other than our own this season. Both are an injury away from starting....

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Lewis got two snaps which were running plays and made the wrong decision on both. And for that, we want him in there as a true freshman to lead the team as QB? Please. His teammates voted Bolin as captain for a reason. The players know who gives them the best chance to win. Punting from the 37 and misfiring on special teams are not Bolin's fault. Not being able to move the pile is not Bolin's fault.

 

[miketd1]

He looked much better at Louisville. Question is, was that due to his OLine and WRs more than it was due to him? Or maybe it's the playcalling that isn't setting him up for success (does Kill really need to be in the box)?

When he was at Louisville, he was in Bobby Petrino's system. Petrino's system tends to throw in between the hashes off of play-action. In fact, here's his preferred play, the shallow-cross:

(Smartfootball does an excellent write-up and should be mandatory reading if you're an Xs & Os nut.)

A is the primary read and you hit Y if the second level defenders key on A or get sucked up by the run fake.

This is a relatively "easy" throw for a college QB of even marginal arm strength to complete. Petrino would run this out of multiple formations, personnel groupings, and protection schemes over and over and over changing it up with draws and actual runs as necessary.

Contrast that with some of the throws Kill is asking Bolin to complete:


If you watch the first series, you'll see strictly 3-step drops primarily of the stick and spacing variety:

That tells me Kill wants the ball out fast, but you'll notice two things about this type of passing game:

1. The routes tend to break outside, which is a much tougher throw for a QB of limited arm strength
2. These are timing throws -- 1-2-throw. But if you hold onto the ball, that's it -- nowhere to go. The pass-blocking is set up for the quick throw, so you need to get rid of it or scramble. If you throw it late, it's probably picked (as we have seen) because teams are sitting on these sorts of short routes.

Long story short, I think Ville had a better O-line that could protect him and allow longer passing routes to develop. He also had a good running game to lean on that sucked up second level defenders on the play-action.

Interestingly enough, I think Gary Nova could have thrived under Kill...

 

[Knight Shift]

When he was at Louisville, he was in Bobby Petrino's system. Petrino's system tends to throw in between the hashes off of play-action. In fact, here's his preferred play, the shallow-cross:

(Smartfootball does an excellent write-up and should be mandatory reading if you're an Xs & Os nut.)

A is the primary read and you hit Y if the second level defenders key on A or get sucked up by the run fake.

This is a relatively "easy" throw for a college QB of even marginal arm strength to complete. Petrino would run this out of multiple formations, personnel groupings, and protection schemes over and over and over changing it up with draws and actual runs as necessary.

Contrast that with some of the throws Kill is asking Bolin to complete:

View embedded media

If you watch the first series, you'll see strictly 3-step drops primarily of the stick and spacing variety:

That tells me Kill wants the ball out fast, but you'll notice two things about this type of passing game:

1. The routes tend to break outside, which is a much tougher throw for a QB of limited arm strength
2. These are timing throws -- 1-2-throw. But if you hold onto the ball, that's it -- nowhere to go. The pass-blocking is set up for the quick throw, so you need to get rid of it or scramble. If you throw it late, it's probably picked (as we have seen) because teams are sitting on these sorts of short routes.

Long story short, I think Ville had a better O-line that could protect him and allow longer passing routes to develop. He also had a good running game to lean on that sucked up second level defenders on the play-action.

Interestingly enough, I think Gary Nova could have thrived under Kill...

We should put you in the both. Always like your analysis. Thank you.

That said, thought some Louisville posters posted that Louisville had bad OLs.

 

[76Scarlet]

The problem is consistency with OL and D performance................not the QB. Once those 2 factors improve the QB will suddenly miraculously become better.

 

[T2Kplus10]

When he was at Louisville, he was in Bobby Petrino's system. Petrino's system tends to throw in between the hashes off of play-action. In fact, here's his preferred play, the shallow-cross:

(Smartfootball does an excellent write-up and should be mandatory reading if you're an Xs & Os nut.)

A is the primary read and you hit Y if the second level defenders key on A or get sucked up by the run fake.

This is a relatively "easy" throw for a college QB of even marginal arm strength to complete. Petrino would run this out of multiple formations, personnel groupings, and protection schemes over and over and over changing it up with draws and actual runs as necessary.

Contrast that with some of the throws Kill is asking Bolin to complete:

View embedded media

If you watch the first series, you'll see strictly 3-step drops primarily of the stick and spacing variety:

That tells me Kill wants the ball out fast, but you'll notice two things about this type of passing game:

1. The routes tend to break outside, which is a much tougher throw for a QB of limited arm strength
2. These are timing throws -- 1-2-throw. But if you hold onto the ball, that's it -- nowhere to go. The pass-blocking is set up for the quick throw, so you need to get rid of it or scramble. If you throw it late, it's probably picked (as we have seen) because teams are sitting on these sorts of short routes.

Long story short, I think Ville had a better O-line that could protect him and allow longer passing routes to develop. He also had a good running game to lean on that sucked up second level defenders on the play-action.

Interestingly enough, I think Gary Nova could have thrived under Kill...

Excellent post, thanks.

 

[D1ESEL44]

When he was at Louisville, he was in Bobby Petrino's system. Petrino's system tends to throw in between the hashes off of play-action. In fact, here's his preferred play, the shallow-cross:

(Smartfootball does an excellent write-up and should be mandatory reading if you're an Xs & Os nut.)

A is the primary read and you hit Y if the second level defenders key on A or get sucked up by the run fake.

This is a relatively "easy" throw for a college QB of even marginal arm strength to complete. Petrino would run this out of multiple formations, personnel groupings, and protection schemes over and over and over changing it up with draws and actual runs as necessary.

Contrast that with some of the throws Kill is asking Bolin to complete:

View embedded media

If you watch the first series, you'll see strictly 3-step drops primarily of the stick and spacing variety:

That tells me Kill wants the ball out fast, but you'll notice two things about this type of passing game:

1. The routes tend to break outside, which is a much tougher throw for a QB of limited arm strength
2. These are timing throws -- 1-2-throw. But if you hold onto the ball, that's it -- nowhere to go. The pass-blocking is set up for the quick throw, so you need to get rid of it or scramble. If you throw it late, it's probably picked (as we have seen) because teams are sitting on these sorts of short routes.

Long story short, I think Ville had a better O-line that could protect him and allow longer passing routes to develop. He also had a good running game to lean on that sucked up second level defenders on the play-action.

Interestingly enough, I think Gary Nova could have thrived under Kill...

Great post.

You're right about Petrino's o-line. I love his offensive system, because of it's simplicity. It doesn't seem to matter who he plugs in at QB - his offense always lights up the scoreboard.

This also explains why Bolin is actually a solid passer when throwing between the hash marks. He is used to making those throws.

However - it's the o-line that makes that system go. Petrino doesn't get enough credit for finding and developing o-lineman to run that system.

 

[D1ESEL44]

We should put you in the both. Always like your analysis. Thank you.

That said, thought some Louisville posters posted that Louisville had bad OLs.

They thought they had bad o-lineman? Really? I haven't watched them this year, so maybe they were talking about this years o-line, but they just hung 44 points on North Carolina. You don't do that with a bad o-line.

I guess they want to see Dallas Cowboys type size and execution on the o-line. I would love to have some of the o-linemen Petrino had at Arkansas.

 

[miketd1]

If you click the link I shared, you can see the clever way Petrino protects his passing concept when he goes into spread sets (ie: 5-man protection).

Not to steal smartfootball.com's thunder, but receivers have hot routes "built-into" their normal routes. Basically, if you're a receiver and the guy guarding you blitzes, you cut your route short and simply turn and look for the ball. If you guess wrong, just continue on your route as normal.

This is such a boon for the offense since everything is nice and simple. Not only that, but you don't "waste" receivers by keeping them in to block if no one actually comes.

The main issue arises when teams start sitting on those routes or run a fire zone blitz, but that's when you hit 'em with a well timed draw.

Now is should be said that if a receiver breaks their route incorrectly, you're risking an INT. And if the QB can't "see" the blitz, he's going to get rocked (remember -- only 5 man protection!). Accordingly, this type of thing -- like the "run and shoot" -- is probably a nightmare to install, requiring lots of practice time/reps, which is why either you're "all-in" on this type of thing like Petrino is or you're out (like everyone else).

But when properly run under a master conductor like Petrino, it becomes a well oiled, points scoring machine.