Football VIDEO: Every throw from Athan Kaliakmanis versus Akron Football
- Thread starter Richie O
- Start date
Great to see QB getting the ball to the receivers in stride. Few bad throws under duress that needs to be cleaned up, but overall it's a big upgrade from prior seasons.
1- bad throw to Miller, low
2-Good throw to Strong
3-Hit while throwing, but he threw into double coverage- bad throw
4-Good throw to Monangai-the type that would not have been made last year.
5-Hit while throwing-
6-Another good throw
7-On the money, dropped by long, good play by DB
8-Another good short throw
9-Another good short throw
10-Bad throw into tight coverage
11-Incomplete in tight coverage
12-Close deep throw in double coverage, possible PI not called
13-Nice pass to Long for TD
14-Throwaway, man did #21 RB get knocked back on that pass block
15-Bad pass-Lucky break on TD deflected by Akron
16-Nice short pass
17-Tough pass tight coverage #9 did not help him out
18-One of his best passes of day to Miller
19-Pass on money for TD, but handfighting by WR adn DB
20-Nice pass
21-Nice pass
22-Nice pass, PI called
23-Nice pass
24- Pass of the day to Long for TD
25-Nice intermediate pass to tall Duff
26-Nice short pass to Kenny Fletcher
Counted 4 "bad" passes (subjective) plus two into tight coverage. Overall, excellent work
Edited to change #15 to bad pass.
2-Good throw to Strong
3-Hit while throwing, but he threw into double coverage- bad throw
4-Good throw to Monangai-the type that would not have been made last year.
5-Hit while throwing-
6-Another good throw
7-On the money, dropped by long, good play by DB
8-Another good short throw
9-Another good short throw
10-Bad throw into tight coverage
11-Incomplete in tight coverage
12-Close deep throw in double coverage, possible PI not called
13-Nice pass to Long for TD
14-Throwaway, man did #21 RB get knocked back on that pass block
15-Bad pass-Lucky break on TD deflected by Akron
16-Nice short pass
17-Tough pass tight coverage #9 did not help him out
18-One of his best passes of day to Miller
19-Pass on money for TD, but handfighting by WR adn DB
20-Nice pass
21-Nice pass
22-Nice pass, PI called
23-Nice pass
24- Pass of the day to Long for TD
25-Nice intermediate pass to tall Duff
26-Nice short pass to Kenny Fletcher
Counted 4 "bad" passes (subjective) plus two into tight coverage. Overall, excellent work
Edited to change #15 to bad pass.
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Why did you write this as if he was using it as an excuse? It's just a notation of each throw.
Sorry - but your nuts. Execution of the shorts is a massive difference and has nothing to do with our receivers. For whatever reason, Gavin was just incapable of placing the ball properly on those consistently (the Benjamin touchdown was one of the few exceptions all season). That and hitting receivers in stride on completions are by far the biggest differences so far.
In terms of hit while throwing - yes, context matters. On the pick, we had the ball outside of FG range and he had a defender charging towards him in a way where holding onto the football on a hit may have been difficult. So instead he instinctively gets rid of the ball by throwing long down the sideline where a pick 6 was basically impossible and the ball placement on the turnover around the 10 yard line is probably more favorable than a punt ultimately would’ve been (we no longer have an MVPpunter). It was 1st down not 3rd down so obviously not great to give them the ball there (if it was 3rd and 10 I’d go as far as to say that was clearly the right play though).
He made some nice plays in half 1:
The throw before the interception was a very nice pass to Strong.
On the first TD drive he competed two second down completions for 12 yards that were both well thrown passes.
The 9 yard pass to Ben Black on the drive we started at the 1 yard line was a great pass even though that drive stalled.
While the TD pass to Duff was luck, the prior TD pass to Long on the same drive that was erased was a great pass and the penalty had nothing to do with AK or the actual play.
In the last TD drive of the first half - AK had 5 great throws to lead us down the field.
That’s 10 very good first half throws (two of them erased from his stats - one for PI and the other for a penalty). There was nothing wrong with the throw in the flats to Kyle either for 3 yard pick up on the second drive of the game - the defense just read it so it only went for 3 yards. Yes - he threw a pick and we got lucky with the Duff TD but other than that he didn’t play a “really bad” half.
Yeah - clearly his second half was indesputably “really good” by any metric. He was 4 for 4 with the throws going 22, 23 and 58 and then the 9 yard TD so it’s pretty hard to do better than that (he was pulled from the game immediately after the TD).
No I wasn't. See:
"3-Hit while throwing, but he threw into double coverage- bad throw"
#5-Hit while throwing- here is is cued up. He actually almost hit the receiver, but he first shielded himself before he was taken down and chucked it to where the receiver was wide open. THAT is why I did not label it a bad throw.
Would you rather he take the sack or not even try to hit the receiver on that play? Cued up, watch it on 0.25 speed.
@gef21 , what do you think?
Agreed. First half he was making bad decisions and was missing some open receivers. Second half he settled down. He really can't have halves like that and expect to beat too many big ten teams IMO.
If you are going to make the throw you have to stand in and take the hit. Fading away leads to interceptions. The simple answer is stand tall, take the hit, complete the pass and if you can't do that than throw the ball away.
NIU won against ND because their QB stood in the pocket and completed a slant for a TD while getting destroyed.
Exactly - it’s like this. Compare his stat line to the OSU QB. Similar lines with AK having a pick and the OSU QB fumbling. I didn’t watch that game, so I didn’t see the fumble but as a general rule, if a defender is running at you full speed ahead and you don’t have the ball tucked and protected (your holding it with one hand scanning the field) the right play is to get rid of it even if that means an errant throw. Sometimes you can argue that a QB waits to long to throw it away, but that was in no way the case on the pick. It was one of the few plays where our pass blocking just failed and AK had a defender running at him right after the snap before he could’ve had time to tuck it and scramble.
no way. QB by a mile.
He only attempted 4 second half passes in total.
In half 1 - he attempted 21 passes ( 11 completions with only the Duff TD not being a well executed play. Long TD was erased). In terms of the other 10 throws - he threw the ball away 3 times under pressure which is what your supposed to do. In none of those cases did he simply miss a wide open receiver with time. He took 2 shots down field that weren’t caught but again - nothing wrong with those throws / attempts. So really - he threw the pick, missed one open receiver low on the first pass of the game, and threw couple incompletions into tight coverage (he also hit receivers in tight coverage on some of the completions). I’m not saying he was “great” in the first half but to say he was “awful” as some folks have said (not you) is a major stretch.
It's unclear if he shied away from the contact or was actually hit while throwing. It's a bang-bang play. The DT made a great play, and it's no surprise that AK was caught off guard. Plays like the DT made often result in bad plays for the QB. So you have to give som allowance to the QB for that. But still, ideally AK doesn't make that throw once he sees the DT in his face. That's a timing and experience and judgement issue. So it's a bad play, but an understandable one so it's not THAT bad.
Based on the video, it seemed like the DT
came at him from his blind side catching AK by surprise just as he started his motion to throw. Realistically, if he tried to secure the ball there instead and take the sack, the risk of a fumble was quite high which could easily be a TD the other way in that situation. Getting rid of the ball is the right decision there - he just needs to make sure he throws it out of bounds and not try to be a hero and make a circus play.
Overall, he had what looked like 4 bad plays. the first throw was just an underthrown miss. Throw 10 could have been picked, never should have been thrown. Same with throw 17. both passes to the sideline with the DB waiting to jump the route. Danger of a pick 6. The TD pass to Duff, never should have been thrown into such tight coverage. So that's not good.
The flip is that we used the passing game as a weapon and almost all of his other passes were on time, accurate, and went for nice gains - hitting several receivers in stride, got nice YAC. The staff clearly have confidence in him that they can call a pass as part of the regular offense and not just when they need to out of desperation.
So looking at the Wimsatt bar, AK's bad plays were fewer and not nearly as bad as GW's. But AK's good plays were much much better - an actual threat.
Overall a thumbs up from me, and the tape looked better than I thought it did watching the game in person.
The flip is that we used the passing game as a weapon and almost all of his other passes were on time, accurate, and went for nice gains - hitting several receivers in stride, got nice YAC. The staff clearly have confidence in him that they can call a pass as part of the regular offense and not just when they need to out of desperation.
So looking at the Wimsatt bar, AK's bad plays were fewer and not nearly as bad as GW's. But AK's good plays were much much better - an actual threat.
Overall a thumbs up from me, and the tape looked better than I thought it did watching the game in person.
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On the pick, I wouldn’t describe it as AK throwing into double coverage.
He did stare down the receiver which allowed the safety to get a jump on it, but he also was unable to completely follow through, and threw off his back leg which made the ball float a little.
Our receiver had his man beat, and if Athan was able to step into the throw properly, good chance it would be completed, imo.
He did stare down the receiver which allowed the safety to get a jump on it, but he also was unable to completely follow through, and threw off his back leg which made the ball float a little.
Our receiver had his man beat, and if Athan was able to step into the throw properly, good chance it would be completed, imo.
The DT was right in his face not blind side. Looks to me like had AK been perfect in his assessment of the situation, he had enough time to see the DT coming and avoid the rush or tuck before getting hit. It looks like AK just mistimed the rush relative to how long it would take him to throw. But I don't think "ideal" is the expectation. The DT made a great play, Asemoah made a horrible play, and the very best QBs would have had to be perfect to make the perfect play there. I don't put this on AK.
AK has thrown 6 TDs in 2 games this season. 3 more TDs, and he matches GW's TD total in 13 games last season.
#15 should have been intercepted by Akron. The poor pass well behind the Receiver (#12 ???). The football gods were watching when it resulted in our TD.
Agreed - number 15 should have been picked. While there were a couple other dangerous throws into tight space that “could have” been picked, who the opponent is dictates the play calls at least in part. For this reason, it seems like a very big stretch to me for anyone to say he’s lucky he didn’t have 4+ interceptions in this game - it would’ve taken several incredible plays by the Akron defenders for that to happen.
You are correct. I edited my post, 4 bad passes.
See above. And agree some passes could have been picked. That's where the receivers can help out the QB, and did not and will not Zapruder the film to rip on the receivers. There was one that was high and in the hands of our receiver, and he dropped it. Stuff happens. Nobody is perfect.
My point is that could have and should have are not the same thing. Two should’ve been picked (one actually was). Strong is a lot bigger than the Akron defender so that one could've also been a reception . Strong had a couple circus receptions last year that were in no way well placed passes.
None of the passes were wild way over the head of receivers. Ability to hit receivers in stride is big. Of course, receiver improvement deserves some of the credit. Some pre season questioned whether MiIler would be able to step up to Power 5 play. I think he has answered that. Kyle would like to thank AK , the receivers and the O line for the passing game so the D cannot focus on him as much. And when we add in Brantley, the receiving group gets even better. And lastly, how about the 2 minute drill- which we haven't seen be successful in quite a while.
BTW - once the game got flowing- Miller and Long started to look dynamic.
Fletcher may be the biggest difference maker though.
KS- If you are going to identify 21 getting knocked back on 14- you have to be fair and give him props on his block on 24 :)
Fletcher may be the biggest difference maker though.
KS- If you are going to identify 21 getting knocked back on 14- you have to be fair and give him props on his block on 24 :)
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