Why Flood made the right decision

[StyleKnight]

99% agree with this. I think absent Laviano playing poorly (which he didn't) that he was going to remain the guy. The play calling, and not pushing at the end of the 1st half, told you all you needed to know about how much of the playbook Rettig has digested. The lack of a 2 minute offense after the penalty told me that they were worried that maybe there would be a pick or some other play that would turn a 21-13 lead into a 21-20 game. I don't think they wanted him to look bad to avoid a QB controversy, I think it was just a lack of comfort with his understanding of the playbook.

I don't want to assume I know what the staff is thinking. If I was in charge I would treat it completely differently. Norfolk State is a preseason game. If I was in charge I would run plays to see if Rettig/Laviano are capable of running those plays and making those throws against a FBS team. Flood seems so risk averse, we should've seen this decision coming. He is making the safe decision and that's fine.

But to me it seems like a wasted opportunity. We will now have to wait until a more crucial situation (either Laviano getting hurt or ineffectiveness) to find out if Rettig can run a 2-minute offense and make difficult throws.

 

[StyleKnight]

9 for 11 to six different recievers without Carroo kinda undercuts that argument.

Undercuts what argument?

 

[KJ_RU]

99% agree with this. I think absent Laviano playing poorly (which he didn't) that he was going to remain the guy. The play calling, and not pushing at the end of the 1st half, told you all you needed to know about how much of the playbook Rettig has digested. The lack of a 2 minute offense after the penalty told me that they were worried that maybe there would be a pick or some other play that would turn a 21-13 lead into a 21-20 game. I don't think they wanted him to look bad to avoid a QB controversy, I think it was just a lack of comfort with his understanding of the playbook.

If that's the case and this was a real competition then they should have ran the 2 minute...the first half was a test for Rettig but they didn't ask any relevant questions. How many two minutes has Laviano been in? If Rettig, or anybody for that matter, doesn't understand the playbook then that's a coaching failure. If Rettig doesn't understand the playbook, then how in the world is he neck and neck with Laviano in this competition?

 

[jmc11201]

Well...I guess I am speculating about Rettig and the playbook, but it seemed like the playcalling was more conservative with Rettig in the game.

Listening to Flood and Rettig and even Carroo after the suspensions when Rettig was named the starter for Norfolk State, it seemed like everyone was tap dancing around the permanence of Rettig as the starter (even Rettig saying he was excited to start the Norfolk State game, and not saying he was excited to be the starter)...which made me think Laviano was the choice, everyone on the team knew it, and that the suspension delayed the decision and cost him the start vs. Norfolk State. If it is true that Laviano would have been the guy absent the suspension, and if I were Flood, I'd basically use Norfolk State as the last test for Laviano, and only if he bombed, name Rettig the starter.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

The decision at the end of the 1st half to let the clock run down told me a lot about what KF thinks right now of HR.

 

[Knight Shift]

The decision at the end of the 1st half to let the clock run down told me a lot about what KF thinks right now of HR.

Really? Isn't that pretty much Flood 101? Or Flood Insurance against making a forced error, no matter who is the QB? I recall him doing this several times over the last few years.

 

[j10oreo]

I doubt that's indicative of how he sees HR, Flood has let the clock run out before the half many times.

 

[NickKnight 1]

Really? Isn't that pretty much Flood 101? Or Flood Insurance against making a forced error, no matter who is the QB? I recall him doing this several times over the last few years.

Yes I agree this is what Flood has been about all along. Letting teams into games
(Penn ST. for example) when we had the game the entire time, until we let them back in.
I think Flood decided to go with Laviano in the spring, because he knew the play book
better. But Hey ofcourse he did, what else would you expect.

 

[G- RUnit]

Undercuts what argument?

" I think it was just a lack of comfort with his understanding of the playbook."

9 for 11 to six different recievers not named Carroo kinda undercuts the argument of playbook difficulty. Spread the wealth around nicely and if that's playbook difficulty, sign me up. It was also in the 1st half before Norfolk was demoralized by the 2nd half kickoff return and the entrance of Lightning Rod Carroo. See what I did there?

 

[DHajekRC84]

But that did not stop Urban Meyer from saying at the half that he wanted to give the other QB a shot in the second half.

IF we are up solid on another team it would be foolish (IMHO) NOT to put Rettig . Keeps him fresh, helps reduce potential late game injury to Chris, gives you a good reason to keep playing and not go into a shell. (i.e. allowed Ohio State to keep the foot on the gas and not appear to be running up the score by keeping Jones in there throwing those passes.."hey we put our back up in" ). As long as Rettig doesn't go in there to just hand off (which we have seen in the past)

 

[StyleKnight]

" I think it was just a lack of comfort with his understanding of the playbook."

9 for 11 to six different recievers not named Carroo kinda undercuts the argument of playbook difficulty. Spread the wealth around nicely and if that's playbook difficulty, sign me up. It was also in the 1st half before Norfolk was demoralized by the 2nd half kickoff return and the entrance of Lightning Rod Carroo. See what I did there?

I don't disagree that Rettig played well. Most of those 11 pass plays were very obvious passing situations and Rettig did well.

In a pro-style offense we should be throwing the ball 50% of the time on first down and keep the defense guessing. We didn't do that. So I'm left guessing as to why the staff called the game the way they did.

 

[willisneverrana43]

. . . CL did have the advantage of Leonte and I wish we could have seen him throw a little more. But in the limited action we saw, you had to be impressed. The one throw across his body to Carroo was a high level throw. . . .

I'm not going to comment on the other reasons for which you prefer Laviano, but I will on this one. To me, none of Laviano's TD passes were impressive, and one was bad. On the first one, Carroo had a step on the DB and Laviano significantly underthrew him. It became a TD because Carroo is so damned good. On the second one, which you reference, Carroo was unbelievably open and Laviano lobbed it in there, and yes across his body. But it was the easiest across the body throw you can have, because Carroo was all alone and Laviano didn't have to be incredibly accurate. Carroo then did something really good and scored. The third TD was thrown about 7 yards into the flat to a wide open Carroo with two blockers in front of him and then a lot of really bad defensive backs. Carroo's great, and he scored. None of these passes were impressive, and one was bad. Laviano had one more throw, which I frankly don't remember. This is not to say that Laviano isn't the right choice (though I have my doubts). But Laviano didn't have any impressive throws Saturday. Rettig did.

 

[coldsprings]

He IS a fast learner (from spring to 1st game as a example.) But how is he going to
learn from here on in if he is on the bench.

Exactly; you learn more rapidly from experience not from watching.

--------------------
I guess he will learn in practice between games, and on the sideline observing... You don't have to be in a game to learn the plays...of course it would help speed it up, if he was....he made tremendous strides from spring camp up to the Norfolk game, this without being in an actual game.
-

"All this has happened before and will happen again."--" --Battlestar Galactica

Prediction: Rettig sits and as a consequence learns much less than Laviano. If Rettig gets in the game, he is only allowed to hand off or throw a third down pass. Flood supporters say: "See, Flood was right all along. Laviano is by far the best choice."

 

[PaKnight]

Great post. One questions though, Laviano only threw it 4 times how confident are you that he was going through his progressions properly? Not much to go by from this game. He came out looking for Carroo all the way.

It is very hard for fans to take a lot from the game for either, especially Laviano with only four throws, two which were short quick passes.

On the first one, if he saw one on one coverage on Carroo, it is hard to blame him for looking that way from the start. On the second it looked like the WR who lined up on the left was covered and Carroo was free crossing from the right.

It just seems to me that Laviano would have started except for the suspension and played well enough to keep the job for WSU.

 

[BaseballFan913]

I'm not going to comment on the other reasons for which you prefer Laviano, but I will on this one. To me, none of Laviano's TD passes were impressive, and one was bad. On the first one, Carroo had a step on the DB and Laviano significantly underthrew him. It became a TD because Carroo is so damned good. On the second one, which you reference, Carroo was unbelievably open and Laviano lobbed it in there, and yes across his body. But it was the easiest across the body throw you can have, because Carroo was all alone and Laviano didn't have to be incredibly accurate. Carroo then did something really good and scored. The third TD was thrown about 7 yards into the flat to a wide open Carroo with two blockers in front of him and then a lot of really bad defensive backs. Carroo's great, and he scored. None of these passes were impressive, and one was bad. Laviano had one more throw, which I frankly don't remember. This is not to say that Laviano isn't the right choice (though I have my doubts). But Laviano didn't have any impressive throws Saturday. Rettig did.

Do you realize how strange you sound?

"It was the easiest across the body throw of all time"

I like guys who make throws look easy. We haven't had that at Rutgers in a very long time.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

I think either QB would have been the right choice.

 

[PaKnight]

I don't disagree that Rettig played well. Most of those 11 pass plays were very obvious passing situations and Rettig did well.

In a pro-style offense we should be throwing the ball 50% of the time on first down and keep the defense guessing. We didn't do that. So I'm left guessing as to why the staff called the game the way they did.

It was NSU, we are usually very vanila when we play FCS teams. I doubt we have too many games where we are 50/50 on first down.

It still gets back to why would Flood and the staff stack the deck against Rettig, if their jobs would be on the line if the season goes poorly?
Which does not mean that they made the correct decision.

 

[willisneverrana43]

Do you realize how strange you sound?

"It was the easiest across the body throw of all time"

I like guys who make throws look easy. We haven't had that at Rutgers in a very long time.

How strange I sound? Based on Laviano's throw to a receiver standing all alone against Norfolk State, a team that is considered bad even by FCS standards, you've determined that Laviano is something that RU hasn't had in a very long time.

 

[scarletrat]

Hope I'm wrong, but I can't get out of my head how Laviano was last year, which was Laviano = Jabu Lovelace
I agree with Willis regarding Laviano's performance against NSU.
Fear is it costs us the WSU game.
But again, this is so typical Flood.

 

[ruready07]

Hope I'm wrong, but I can't get out of my head how Laviano was last year, which was Laviano = Jabu Lovelace
I agree with Willis regarding Laviano's performance against NSU.
Fear is it costs us the WSU game.
But again, this is so typical Flood.

laviano and lovelace are in different quarterbacking universes. Comments like yours will destroy your credibility around here, especially with people who know anything about this beautiful game.
Laviano can play. He has a good arm, good athleticism, good command, takes care of the ball and allows us to use a deeper playbook. Why in the world would an OC not want that guy? Who throws harder is not and should never be a decider between two QBs, especially two guys who can both throw above average to begin with. Throwing is not in the top few things that make a good QB - it goes way beyond that.

 

[willisneverrana43]

RUready, have you paid attention to Laviano's performances in games against teams not named Norfolk State.

 

[BaseballFan913]

RUready, have you paid attention to Laviano's performances in games against teams not named Norfolk State.

Wait, so Laviano gets no credit for this week because NSU gave up already, but apparently because he came into huge blowouts when Rutgers had already given up against Wisconsin and Nebraska, he should have never been given a chance to compete for the job? Sounds hypocritical.

 

[willisneverrana43]

Wait, so Laviano gets no credit for this week because NSU gave up already, but apparently because he came into huge blowouts when Rutgers had already given up against Wisconsin and Nebraska, he should have never been given a chance to compete for the job? Sounds hypocritical.

Laviano gets limited credit for lobbing, and at least once undrethrowing, balls to a wide open Carroo and watching him do his amazing thing. Laviano also gets no credit for throwing a myriad of passes last year that looked liked they had nothing to do with any receivers on the field.

This isn't a family argument where you start shouting hypocrisy and meanie. Laviano's performances are things that happened, and we all saw them. Now, maybe Flood has seen something in practice that makes him feel comfortable choosing Laviano. Maybe he's seen serious downsides in practice to Rettig that makes him not ready. That's his call, and he'll be judged by its outcome.

But as for Laviano's performances in games -- it hasn't been good. And Saturday's "watch Carroo run" performance didn't change that.

 

[RU-05]

We should not really put much into Laviano's performance from last year. If he has been better in Spring(by all accounts he was) and Summer(by all accounts very close), then he deserved the job. But mop up duty from a year ago? Hardly relevant.

 

[BaseballFan913]

Agreed. Last years blowout appearances are so meaningless.

 

[RUMBA-JK]

Really? Isn't that pretty much Flood 101? Or Flood Insurance against making a forced error, no matter who is the QB? I recall him doing this several times over the last few years.

Yes - Saw it simply as Flood sensing that things were under control & that RU was to become monumentally stronger at the beginning of the 2nd half - so take what you have don't press & end up with some fluky bizarre mistake - just come back in the 2nd half and methodically pound it out - and then in just the first few minutes it instantly turned into a blow out.

 

[RU-05]

Yes - Saw it simply as Flood sensing that things were under control & that RU was to become monumentally stronger at the beginning of the 2nd half - so take what you have don't press & end up with some fluky bizarre mistake - just come back in the 2nd half and methodically pound it out - and then in just the first few minutes it instantly turned into a blow out.

The penalty, the TO's used, and the receiving of kick in 2nd half all added up to that being the right choice.

 

[Caliknight]

At least one if not both t.o.'s were on the staff for not getting the play in. I'm sure this was discussed at the half, hence the urgency in play calling the second half.mBased on what I saw in the first half, Rettig makes those throws that Lavisno did in his sleep. That wasn't Laviano. That was Carroo making plays.

 

[scarletrat]

it was all Caroo.
watch the highlights again on RVision and tell me who did better
Again, I can't shake what I saw from Laviano when he came in against Nebraska, etc...while they were blowouts, all he did was run.
To me, he looked like a career backup
I hope this isn't Flood promising the job to Laviano and now costing us...
When you factor in our O, and that throwing deep is a big part, this makes even less sense. If our O philosophy was similar to Cincinnati, then maybe Laviano fits better...

Rettig has only played 1 game, so my sense is that he can only get better with reps and experience.

 

[RUforester72]

Confidence in the coaching staff, especially with the Fridge consulting on this.

 

[ru-baby]

But as for Laviano's performances in games -- it hasn't been good. And Saturday's "watch Carroo run" performance didn't change that.

Hard to argue with that.

Flood's decision is not correct. Doesn't mean that Laviano can not win some games. He can. He's just not the best choice. Retting needs to play AND make errors to grow. He hasn't played in years save last half.

And wasn't that argument always that Dodd could manage the game better but Nova had more upside-that's why he did and should have received the nod.

Flood-in changing the parameters-comes off looking less than fair- then and now. Not a good thing perception wise, much less results wise.

 

[BaseballFan913]

Confidence in the coaching staff, especially with the Fridge consulting on this.

This +1000

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

The players will decide if it was the correct decision or not.
But, let's give Chris a chance and stand 100% behind him.

If he does not play well I have confidence that the coaching staff will bring in Hayden.

 

[coldsprings]

Confidence in the coaching staff, especially with the Fridge consulting on this.

The HC makes the final call. We have no idea what Fridge's view is.

 

[JPhoboken]

The players will decide if it was the correct decision or not.
But, let's give Chris a chance and stand 100% behind him.

If he does not play well I have confidence that the coaching staff will bring in Hayden.

I hope you are right, but I do not share your confidence. As much as I like Flood, there is a history here

 

[IL Lusciato]

I just think the excuses for Lavianos good play are silly. If the stats were exactly reversed and I cluded Carroo w Rettig, you same guys would definitely, definitely be constantly pointing out the near INT if Laviano had thrown it (big LB would have picked it every time) and you would downplay Rettigs playing w Carroo. It is just how you have been spinning things since the vastly unequal performance at the spring game even. Just give it a rest.

 

[RU-05]

I hope you are right, but I do not share your confidence. As much as I like Flood, there is a history here

But that history included Flood eventually pulling Nova and inserting Dodd, who was also very unimpressive.

So I think Flood did indeed learn from the Kent State and Va Tech games. And given that Rettig looks to be significantly better then Dodd, I suspect he'll be more willing to make a move if the situation arises.

 

[RU-05]

Hard to argue with that.

Flood's decision is not correct. Doesn't mean that Laviano can not win some games. He can. He's just not the best choice. Retting needs to play AND make errors to grow. He hasn't played in years save last half.

And wasn't that argument always that Dodd could manage the game better but Nova had more upside-that's why he did and should have received the nod.

Flood-in changing the parameters-comes off looking less than fair- then and now. Not a good thing perception wise, much less results wise.

And were you in favor of going with Nova because of that upside? Or did you prefer Dodd(who I don't think gave the team a better "now" player anyways).

 

[NewJerseyGuy]

And were you in favor of going with Nova because of that upside? Or did you prefer Dodd(who I don't think gave the team a better "now" player anyways).

I am part of the Dodd/Rettig group.

How many one game picks will it take before we see Rettig again?

 

[NewJerseyGuy]

Exactly; you learn more rapidly from experience not from watching.

"All this has happened before and will happen again."--" --Battlestar Galactica

Prediction: Rettig sits and as a consequence learns much less than Laviano. If Rettig gets in the game, he is only allowed to hand off or throw a third down pass. Flood supporters say: "See, Flood was right all along. Laviano is by far the best choice."

Unfortunately I think you nailed it. I hope Laviano is as good as Flood believes he is.