Colorado State Post Game wrap-up.
AP Photo David Zalubowski
I seriously don’t know if I am going to be able to take nail biters every Saturday. I loved close games when I was playing, but as a fan I want to see domination and physical play. However, at the same time I have accepted that each game will be close and BYU has the ideal team to win any game that goes down to the wire.
How much confidence do we have in our BYU offense? You can talk about the turnovers or the penalties, but you have to tip your hat to the offense’s ability to win the close games. One thing that was hard for me to swallow with this game was that CSU continually found ways to generate emotional momentum. Until that last drive CSU had a serious answer to every possible momentum swinging BYU play. That’s why this game was so exciting, disappointing, fulfilling, and ulcer causing.
I mentioned last week that I liked the identity our team was developing. The 08′ BYU team is becoming a team that never doubts their abilities to win. Our team could have given into the emotion of CSU’s performance, but we fought tooth and nail for every yard, completion, tackle, and point. After Max threw the ball to CSU’s corner, our team could of cast their gaze towards the heavens and went to the bench defeated. Instead the offense, lead by Hall, stood ready to win the game, taking the field with that specific purpose.
I wouldn’t say we deserved to win the game; in fact we played the most horrifying football BYU has played in 4 years. Yet, when the game came down to the offense needing to score a touchdown, they did. When it came down to the defense needing to knock a ball down to end the game, they did. I am excited about the heart and resiliency of our team and thank goodness we have SDSU at home.
If we take a look at each position you’ll see why we weren’t able to pull away from the Rams earlier in the game.
Offense:
Offensive Line
The line had a rough start. The Rams brought a lot of pressure, especially up the middle and from the edges. A lot of credit needs to go to the Rams defensive coordinator who called great blitzes. One way CSU got to us was by bringing a safety just behind the linebackers. The speed of the safety made it hard for our offensive linemen to switch and communicate who would be blocking who. In addition, when our offensive line would slide to pick up the blitz, the running backs weren’t winning their individual battle against the backside rusher.
The best thing about the offensive line’s performance is that when the game was on the line they were nearly perfect. It helped that during the last drive CSU was only bringing three or four, but they did a good job of creating a pocket.
I hope everyone on the line can heal up in time for the SDSU game. I am sure there are a few banged up bodies on our offensive line.
Last thought- how about Ray Feinga getting a big paw on Harvey’s long touchdown run. It was just what Harvey needed to get him into the open field and touchdown.
Running Backs
How tough is Harvey? How disappointing have Diluigi first carries been? What happened to Fui late in the game?
CSU was stacking the box all night. They also brought a lot of blitzes in order to neutralize the running game. It is tough to establish a running game when there are guys blitzing from everywhere. The Ram safeties were playing very aggressive against the run and I don’t know of a blocking scheme in football that accounts for the safeties.
Harvey did a great job cutting back and fighting for every yard. Fui was running like a man possessed, but he must have gotten hurt because he wasn’t anywhere to be found towards the end of the game.
One thing I am worried about is Harvey’s body. He has taken a lot of punishment during the last few weeks. Without a solid number two back, Harvey has needed to shoulder a lot of the responsibility for our run game. I am hoping that Fui, Latu and Karyia can take some of the pressure off Harvey next week so he can recover for the Air Force and Utah games.
Quarterback
Turnovers and fumbles aside, Max showed a lot of leadership and courage throughout the game. He had great stats and found the match-ups that needed to be exploited. He also scrambled for good yardage, which kept drives alive.
Fans normally have the “what have you done for me lately” attitude, and frankly, Max did the right things very late in the game and pulled out the win. Did you see his eyes as he looked towards the sideline for the next play. You could see the determination and focus in his eyes.
Moments like the CSU game form a players legacy. Throwing up a hope and dream on the final play of the game that drops right into the bread basket for a TD to win the game. That’s why you play the game.
Wide Receivers
All I have to say is Austin better be an All-American. He is consistently playing against double teams and still produces yards and touchdowns. There are only a couple of wide outs in the nation that produce as consistently as Austin has throughout this year. He’s good and would still be good whether playing in the Pac-10, ACC or SEC.
Mike has been a silent partner as of late. He is struggling to get open and hasn’t been able to create open space.
Tight Ends
Our offense basically put the game in Dennis’ hands and he didn’t disappoint. He made numerous catches in crucial situations to insure that BYU left Fort Collins with a win.
Defense:
My personal feeling is that our defense’s problems hinge on the defensive front’s inability to put pressure on quarterback, and our developing inability to stop the run. We aren’t helping ourselves in coverage, but there are numerous other problems that compound our coverage mistakes.
What good came out of the game? We won, our secondary got their hands on a few balls, and once again when it came down to someone making a play to win the game….they did.
Defensive Line
The biggest problem is our defensive front’s inability to put pressure on the quarterback. We are bringing some pressure but no one is winning their match-ups and getting to the quarterback. Jan is getting continually doubled. Even Russel is also occasionally working against double teams. This leaves a tackle and a defensive end one on one. Additionally, our Will linebacker has a one on one with a tackle, but I’ll address that later. I understand that we don’t have the optimal pass rushing defensive linemen, but when we are stunting and blitzing, someone has to get in the quarterback’s face. Farris had plenty of time but was still getting the ball of quickly, which only made or defensive situation worse.
Until someone other then Jan or Nixon can consistently show they are capable of putting pressure on the quarterback, our passing defense will continue to struggle.
Our defense’s run defense is somewhat of a mystery. To date our defense has done a decent job of stopping the run. Saturday we just didn’t match CSU’s intensity in the trenches. Stopping the run boils down to who can play more physical. Scheme and zone blitzes play a role, but the biggest contributor to stopping the run are players that physically beat on the person in front of them.
There isn’t a secret formula. We have to be more physical up front. Our linebackers need to play down hill and our D-linemen need to play gap heavy and occupy the offensive linemen. It sounds simple, but it’s hard and we aren’t doing it right.
Linebackers
This is the first game where we really missed a weak side linebacker’s presence. Clawson has played well until Saturday’s game. Our weak side consistently surrendered the edge to the Rams and allowed the running back to get loose up the sideline. This forced Kellen to make a lot of tackles from his deep coverage and made our defense more susceptible to deep pass routes and trick plays.
Give some credit to the Rams because they played a good game, but we made them look a lot better then they really are. I still believe that our linebackers aren’t playing down hill fast enough. They are letting the linemen get too close – and when a linemen gets some cloth to hold onto, you are not getting away. We missed Vic Soto’s physical presence against the Rams. We need those backside players to hold up against the run and to play very physical.
We also need a linebacker to come free on a blitz. I understand that teams in our league have seen us enough times that they know what blitzes are coming. If Baumann, Doman, Ah you, Clawson and Co. want to be remembered they need to develop the kind of techniques and attitudes that make them unstoppable.
I am still waiting for a big hit from this years linebacking core -and when I say big I mean lights out.
Secondary
Howard knocked down a ball and was very close on a few others. He also withstood a couple of deep shots, which CSU took in the first half. I think his play has improved since last week.
On a negative note, we lost Scottie Johnson and Brandon Bradley to injury. I know I saw Bradley hobble off and Scottie played the first half and then wasn’t seen after the intermission. Bradley was playing well and I hope he isn’t hurt too badly and can come back and play the final two games.
Until then Steven Thomas has to fill the role of boundary corner. He is a RS freshmen from California who is a solid tackler and has decent speed. He is a young version of Scottie Johnson and Ben Criddle. He climbed the ladder to make a play on the final CSU drive and will have to continue making plays as teams are going to test him early and often.
CSU ran some tough routes to cover. 15-yard comebacks are very difficult to cover and CSU throws them very well. As I mentioned before, the main problem we are having is that our defensive backs are forced to cover these difficult route combinations for a long time due to the lack of pressure. The best way we could help our secondary is to come up with some blitzes that teams haven’t seen and will get some pressure on the quarterback.
Defense is a very team oriented and interconnected. If one group struggles, it is difficult to compensate with a different position on the field. Everyone has to do their job in order to be successful.
Our defensive front couldn’t control the running game, which forced our safeties to get involved. That opened up the play action passes and trick plays, which were difficult for our defense to cover the whole night.
I am still impressed with the character of our team. They understand that one play can win or lose the game and until now our team has made enough plays to win games. I don’t know how long it will last, but you can’t say it’s luck. We’ve done it too many times.
The important thing this week will be getting the defense to respond to adversity. Our coaching staff needs to make enough adjustments to clean up the communication and assignment errors, but they can’t do too many new things. We are going to have some young players on the field and the best thing to do is let them play. Give them enough schemes to make them successful, but ultimately players are going to need to make that one play to secure the victory.
Go Cougars.
I know we may disagree on the ability of our ILB’s, but I do think it would be wise to make some changes in our front seven alignment. While over the past couple of years our LB’s have been studs, I just feel that the depth we have on the line would help the team more than what our ILB’s are providing. I actually called Bronco during the Wednesday call in show and he said that he believes there is merit in going to a 4 man front and that it was something that he was looking at. My thoughts are with, Dulan, Tialavea, Jorgensen, Denny, Putnam, Foketi and Wolfley, that the dept is there and would allow us to put more pressure on the QB. The lack of pressure on the QB (as you have stated) is causing a lot of issues. Putnam seems to be a real stud coming from around the end, but gets very little playing time. Denney also seems to be strong from the DE position. Is it too late to make changes? Do you see merit in making this type of change now and with most of these players returning, something to look at for next year. Also, with Afutiti coming in next year, our depth will even be better at the DL.
OK, I’m hearing grumblings that Chambers may get a shot at corner. He played DB in high school and could get more PT on defense. Whaddya’ think?
You really think this is the worst football BYU has played in 4 years? Did you miss the TCU game? SDSU 2006? Tulsa?
I appreciate you trying to cover for the db’s by saying their poor play is because of the lack of pressure- but Fowler is simply killing BYU right now. On both of the trick plays, he ran right by the receiver- thinking he was somehow going to make the play on the RB/WR in the backfield.
I bet O’neil would make a good corner. I don’t know how hard it is for a wideout to transition to corner though. Gooch can let us know.
With these kind of problems, I’m getting concerned for the Holy War. Gooch, What do you think happened to our defense that made them play so well against UCLA to be at the point we are at now? I realize that they are young and inexperienced, but what gave them the confidence that allowed them to play so well against UCLA? Is there anyway to harness that energy and put it back into our game? Anyway, good call to all you guys who said this would be a close one. I really thought we would dominate but it looks like dominating days are over.
Quinn
Nice post game wrap up. Your analyssi was excellent. Can you comment on the lack of speed we have on the defensive side of the ball. Also, we just look slow againt mediocre offenses. We just don’t seem to have the emotion or hunger on the D side of the ball like last year or the year before. Is this coaching or do we just not have the personnel?
Thanks
George
Excellent analysis. Just one question: WHY can’t the defense stop the non-QB who “weddles” with a direct snap? They always seem to get 10 yards. It’s obvious who the runner is and he’s back 5 yards. It always seems like a surprise to the defense.
I yelled long and loud watching the game at home – really, the first time this season I’ve done it. They fought through some adversity last night- congrats, boys!
Mistakes happen and are part of the game. I don’t fault the special teams for their untimely punt penalty and I don’t fault George and Hall for the interception – Hall was trying to make a play as was George. I’m starting to get nervous though, when the ball isn’t kicked out the end zone.
If we can’t have a bye week, then SDSU is almost as good. I hope our banged up secondary can get some rest. Hopefully, the replacements can show up with enough passion and energy to at least keep the ‘Tecs from going deep.
I love the grit shown by the big four on offense. Harvey is big and keeps banging and banging – will he be our fullback his senior year?
I noticed that Max likes to stare down Collie and Pitta before he throws to them. Not to fix something that ain’t broke, but I remember Beck saying during his senior year that he began using his eyes more to freeze the defenders. – it would be good to see Max tear a page out of Beck’s book. I tell ya, I could do a waayy better job at QB coach then Doman. (j/k)
Great wrap up!
Quinn,
Thanks for the blog. I just have a question regarding Vic Soto. I know he broke his foot, but is he done for the season? Just like you said, I think that we are missing his physicality. Also, is Hooks back to full health? He seemed to be making a lot plays during spring ball and it would be great to have him back 100%.
TOM,
There is some credit to what you are saying. Let me give you this thought. Our ILBs finally live up to my exoectations, but only on the first two drives. Bauman made a great play in the backfield and jumped up with all sorts of emotion. It was great! But then it died and it was back to the same ol’ same. They are capable, right now it is a mind-set. When they have it, they play great. But right now they don’t have it very much.
As for the D Line…I don’t entirely disagree…it would be a good change up during the games, but I don’t think we will switch entirely to a 4-3, that would take a lot of time. Also keep in mind that a couple of the guys you listed were guys Kelly and I had to tap on the butt before plays last year and tell them their job. They can’t be completely trusted yet.
Trace,
Unfortunately I have to disagree with you completely on the Kellen Fowler analysis. I have never thought that Kellen was a physical player, definitely not like Quinn, but this game I thought he really played tough football. He was “tricked” on those plays because he really was the guys making the stops on the run. Really the only one. I can take it if he got beat twice, when he helped stop the run that our front 7 could not. At least someone wanted to be physical after Scotty left.
Aside from the trick plays I also thought that Kellen played the pass really well, especially the last play of the game.
Trey,
First and foremost, UCLA’s offense is by far the worse offense we have faced this year. I was not impressed with them against Tenn, nor since. Second we caused turnovers – mostly because their offense was not good. Third, when things are going your way all the time it is easy to feed off the emotion. We are not emotional anymore. Someone has to start having fun playing the game again. These guys are a bunch of zombies out there.
I’ll tell you who is having fun, Pitta and Collie. You can see it on all their catches. They are enjoying the game.
Quinn,
I want to ask you about Harvey. What is going on with him this year? I feel like he is about 2 steps slower than last year. He looks heavier. He was hurt a little last year. I can only imagine that he is banged up from this year. I remember Fui telling me after his first year back from the mission that he was not going to run like that anymore because it is so hard on your body to take shot after shot for just an extra half yard. Is that what is slowing Harvey down and making him more tentative in the hole? Thoughts please.
I was just watcing KSL 5 and since the Dolphins were in Denver this week, John Beck went up and watched Cougars in Fort Collins. They did a quick interview with him. I wonder if any other former cougars were in Fort Collins. I wonder what John thought of the game, being there in person. Great comments Quinn and Markell! I love this site!!!!!!!
Three man front, four man front, I think for this next game we ought to use the 3-3-5. Sure would throw AF and the pukes into a frizzy! Lets give them something else to worry about—–
Put Chambers in at Corner—–
1) Chamber’s played saftey in HS not corner
2) Why stunt his progress at WR when he could probably only offer us minimal help at CB, especially considering he’s never played the position before? Look how long it took Bradley to gain coaches trust. You think Chambers can do it in one week?
Great wrap – up. Aside from the trick plays I also thought that Kellen played the pass really well, especially the last play of the game.
Quinn,
I re-watched the game and have to say our defense was a lot better than we are giving them credit. 21 of CSU’s points were off of our offense. And we gave them some great field position a few times. I saw more pass break-ups than I’ve ever seen and we made the qb hurry on more plays. Howard is gaining confidence and Nixon is all over the place.
I was glad to see Jorgensen get those two big plays, man he crunched Farris.
I can’t say enough about our offense. DiLuigi got a hat on the ball and I think only experience can help him. Max’s interception was a miscommunication because White thought he was going to run.
It’s much more fun watching the game after you know you won in the end.
Our defense is decent and I think Air Force will be a good prep for Utah. Can’t stand those Utes, we must beat them!
Markell,
I don’t think we can say that Harvey has been ineffective. I think it’s simple why Harvey has to bang through 3 or 4 guys to get his yardage. Our offensive run package is simple, and we run the ball in the same situations throughout the game. Add the fact that we follow our fullback and those aspects allow defenses safeties to be very involved in the run game.
I do believe that we need to give the ball to Fui and ?? a few more times in the next three games. Harvey has been taking a beating and his body needs to rest.
I think Harvey is still running very hard, but the lack of a variety of runs and no back-up RB is killing his body. We miss Manase Tonga a lot. He would be the second and third guy that we need. Let’s hope everything is going well for his return next year.
Chambers at DB is crazy talk, he is going to be a go to WR for us in the up coming seasons. We have capable players at DB they simple need to grow-up a lot quicker. Don’t forget that Coach Hill beat Utah, and UCLA with a defensive secondary that consisted of 4 walk-ons. The only difference is our back-ups this year are puppies.
I agree with you Quinn, we have to get pressure on the Quarterback, corners just can’t keep wideouts covered for too long. Some different blitz packages should work but we have to win the fight on the line.
Where is the JJ we all thought we were getting he has been 0 effective this year?
It sounds like Bradley may be out with a broken leg and Johnson with a pulled groin.
Gooch,
Are you sure you don’t have any eligibilty left? Just strap on a helmet with someone else’s number. I won’t tell if you won’t tell.
Young guys will get the chance. It’s time to find out if your worth your scholarhip. I am excited for the young guys who are going to get to play. The coaches have a tough job in front of them because defending against AF is no small task. The option will eat you up if your not looking in the right places.
Oh yeah we play SDSU this week and make no mistake your nails might need to grow the whole week so they are game ready on Saturday.
2 Things:
1) The only change up we can make is a 4-3 AT TIMES, not consistently. Running the 3-3-5 puts even more stress on a secondary that is learning. Remember the 5 means MORE DB’s. We are already thin after last games injuries.
2) We will see SDSU’s best game of the season. This is their BYU v Utah game and they will look to avenge some blow out losses at LES in their last two trips. That being said, I don’t think this one will be close. SDSU’s offense is at the same level as UCLA’s and our Defense should have a much needed confidence building day.
What is the reason that Putman is not getting more time? He seems to make something happen whenever he is in. As for the bilizing, it appears to me that whenever our middle backers blitz they run straight into a big guard. What different blitz packages could we implement? Can we blitz a safety or a corner?
I am sure Putnum is heavly involved in the Dline rotation. He does well in passing situations, but he isn’t the best against a physical running team. He is tall and light, both things aren’t the best when you need to stop the run.
As far as blitzes go we do need to switch it up some. There are limitless possibilities when drawing up blitzes. It is just figuring out what will work best against your opponent.
Let’s keep our DB’s in coverage. We don’t want them mixing it up with the big boys up front. We need them health down the stretch.
Once again, I’ll point out just what the D did on Saturday.
4 3&outs (1 of which was turned into a TD by the RTK)
2 stalled drives (one turnover on downs)
1 turnover
2 end-of-half drives resulting in no points.
That’s 9/13 drives that should be considered a DEFENSIVE SUCCESS. 70% of drives.
CSU’s scoring drives:
74 yards (extended by RTK penalty)
47 yards (trick play for TD)
67 yards
28 yards
55 yards.
Basically put, the D played WELL, when CSU was forced to drive the length of the field to score.
It IS disappointing that when a team gets a short field, I have absolutely ZERO confidence in their ability to get a stop, but you’ve got to at least put part of the blame for the D’s showing Saturday on the O & special teams not helping them out very much in terms of field position.
I’m in agreement with Bronco – the D played better v CSU than it did v UNLV or TCU. And it was GREAT to see Howard make some plays – we’re going to need that from him if the D is going to improve in the next three games.
First game I have watched on TV in a couple years. I probably should have gone to Ft. Collins instead of Fort Worth. Who knew? It is harder to watch on TV, but I thought our team played tough. This team is just what it is, and hopefully they can find that extra gear or motivation when we play Air Force and especially Utah.
Our offense when Max is playing great can blow people out, but our defense will allow other teams to keep our offense off the field, slow down the game, and allow them to be in the game until the end.
I did not see Bronco shake hands with Coach Fairchild after the game. I did see Bronco go up to and shake the hand of a CSU assistant. I looked to me, if it were possible to read thoughts, that the CSU assistant said something like, “Fairchild is too yewt pissed to shake your hand, so I’m all that your going to get.”
Did it appear that Fairchild was as childish after the game as durring?
It was an exciting game and BYU managed to find a way to win it. I knew that Hall had plenty of time to pull it out with just under 2:00 left in the game.
Thanks again, Quinn, for this great wrap up. I also learn from all the “informed” comments. It is interesting to me that re-watching a game can make one more aware of the overall picture of the game, like the things the D did right. Bronco saw it in “real time.” I was also fascinated by the CSU coach being a hissy fitter during the game and a no-show for Bronce’s handshake. Good grief.
Brandon, Can’t argue the stats. This is what they tell me though.
Any drive over 45/50 yds is due to lack of execution. So we had 3 of those, where we just did not execute down the field.
Every drive that resulted in a score resulted in a TD…that is not good.
Long drives are OK if you can hold a team to FGs. Right now, I am going to guess we have one of the worst Blue Zone Defenses in the country.
Staff,
I would consider it a defensive success when a team gets the ball anywhere beyond their own 40, and the drive ends in a FG or less.
And yes, as I said, the D’s inability to stop the short drives is very much disappointing.
Surprisingly, BYU is actually 19th nationally in red zone Defense, at 73%. In 26 Red-Zone opportunities, BYU has given up 11 Rushing TDs, 4 passing TDs, & 4 FG’s.
Of note is that BYU is actually 3rd in the MWC in Red Zone D to TCU (60% with 8 TDs & 1 FG) and Air Force (68% with 11 & 2).
My guess is BYU’s Red-zone D has really taken a hit in the last three weeks. I’ll cobble some stats together to see how we’ve been recently.
Last three games for BYU Red-zone D:
14 opportunities
11 TD’s (8 rushing)
2 FG
That’s 92%.
Previous 6 games:
12 opportunities
3 TD’s (3 rushing)
2 FG
That’s 42% (and yes, that would currently be leading the nation).
I agree with Quinn that the offense has become predictable, especially with the running packages, and that is why Harvey has not been as productive. Throwing in a shifty slot reciever, 4 WR sets, some screen passes and misdirection runs out of different formations would open things up more for our offense.
I think that our defense is encountering similar problems. The execution is not great, but teams also know exactly what to expect. This was never more evident than against TCU. They knew exactly what we would do on offense and defense and they put in a game plan to counter that. I rarely see that kind of scheming for an opponent from the BYU coaches. Our defensive blitzes are getting old and tired. We need to show teams a different look.
IMO, we aren’t good enough to basically tell the opposing team our play and then simply out execute them. Even mediocre football minds know exactly what BYU is going to run just given our formation. Simply out executing the opposition seems to be Bronco’s philosophy and opposing coaches seem to have figured out how to gameplan to make our predictable schemes ineffective. As much as I respect Bronco and company as mentors and teachers to these young men, I feel that we are being out coached as much or more than we are being out played.
FUI needs to have more touches. If we look at his record I am sure that his average yards is very good and he brings intensity to the game that I see lacking in some of our players when the playing gets tough. FUI has heart, power and desire and that can feed the lack of of the same found in others as the game get close and tough. Why can’t we see other be the lead blocker for FUI and let him cause damage and gain needed yardage on first downs?
MattC and Quinn,
In 2006 my 2nd favorite thing about our offense was that on 3rd/4th and short everyone in the universe knew that we would run a lead with Manase blocking and Curtis following. I bet we were about 100% on 4th down and 99% on 3rd down. We were so automatic.
Why can’t we be that this year? Our back is supposed to be bigger/tougher, our line more experienced, and I am not going to let anyone tell me FUI is not clearing the hole as well as Manase, because on those plays he is.
PS my first favorite thing was Beck to Allen on the 12 yd out/comeback
Oberon…agreed!
Did you see Pitta at the goalline on his lead block? Devastating. He is really making some money for himself this year! He can do it all, Run, Catch, Block!
Brandon,
Good stats. Here is the problem. First 6 games 25% of tries resulted in TD’s…Last 3 games 75% have resulted in TDs…Coach Mendenhall always told our D if we kept the other team to FGs they could not win the game. That is so true (See 2007 Vegas Bowl). Our offense is so potent that we can hold teams to FGs on EVERY drive and still win, because our O gets TDs instead of FGs.
More stats:
How good are the Offenses we are facing in the Red Zone. The rankings are based off of scoring in the red zone, I don’t like that, so I have also shown % of TDs which I think is a better indicator of how good a team is in the Red Zone.
Rank. Team – Scores/RZ Chances (% of Chances resulting in TD)
8. UNLV – 27/29 (83% TDs) Makes our D look good
14. Utah St – 20/22 (59%) Can you believe the Aggies are up this high? D look avg.
17. TCU – 47/52 (73%) and a lot of chances. Shows their offense is the best we have faced
20. AFA – 33/37 (54%) I expect the same results as Utah State, although the cadets get there more often…long drives when teams don’t execute
20. Utah – 32/36 (69%)
70. BYU – 38/47 (70%) Cougs O looking good inside 20
70. UCLA – 35/31 (48%) You telling me they are tied with us when we get TDs 38% more of the time? Example of skewed stats. TDs should carry more weight.
76. CSU – 24/30 (53%) This offenses proves they can get in the Red Zone, but we let them score 6 TDs on how many trips to the Red Zone? Bad execution when it mattered for the Boys in Blue (pants that is).
89. WYO – 13/17 (59%) 5 of those drives came last week against SDSU. See why we blew out the Pokes? They’re terrible!
92. UNM – 27/36 (50%) Average O = D Plays well
92. SDSU – 15/20 (55%) No reason we should let them in the Blue Zone if we didn’t let WYO in.
110. Washington – 13/19 (63%) 1/3 of their TDs came against us this year. Not good. Stats show they are not better than SDSU or WYO.
It’s fair that Quinn points out the play of the D-line. The secondary draws the obvious criticism, but to be honest, the D-line hasn’t had the presence that I expected it have. Jan came up big at a critical moment against CSU (and at other times this year), but I really expected more production out of him and the others and I think much of it has to do with LB play. I have sympathy for the LBs – they’re trying to lend a hand to the secondary in coverage while also trying to generate a decent pass rush, so we get little result either way. No LB can serve two masters like that, IMHO.
I’m still trying to understand defensive strategy (and this blog really, really helps), but it seems to this armchair athlete that all three defensive units are completely out of sync with each other as we enter the home stretch of the season. I’m surprised and not a little frustrated by that.
Brandon…
PS I hope you realize that I love your stats and appreciate the time you put into tracking them all down. I only try to view them from all angles, but they definitely give me lots to think about. I hope you don’t feel like I try and discount them every time. I am only trying to take them to the next step in analysis.
Keep ‘em coming.
Dave,
You bring up a good point in your final paragraph. One thing that made Quinn and I’s relationship on the field so productive is that I would constantly ask him how he was going to play things so that we would be on the same page, and not in the same spot. This helped a lot in pass coverage and run gaps.
The problem is that Quinn and I both prided ourselves in knowing the D inside and out, and then we could take start learning how the other played. Right now I think guys still need to become comfortable with the overall scheme of the D.
Quinn,
Thanks for the website. I love the opportunity to get a real insight to the game. It seems like the offense is diversifying a bit more since the early season and TCU loss, but it still seems somewhat predictable. One thing I would love to see more of is using the backs in the passing game. It seems if you can get the ball to Fui in the open field, he’s good for 7 or 8 because it’s at least 3-5 yards after the first hit, and I’ve yet to see him taken down solo. Also, I’d love to see Chambers get the ball thrown his way more. I know he’s a freshman, but why wouldn’t they use him more?
Favorite plays from the CSU game:
Chambers laying out the CSU guy on the punt reception
Collie’s one hand grab for the long TD,
Pitta’s amazing catch and hold, getting crunched between two defenders.
thanks again for providing my cougar football fix
Ok this is for all football players that know defense. I’m pretty much full of crap being an Armchair champ and not having played a single game of football in my life. If it wasn’t for BYU, I probably still wouldn’t like football to this day. So here’s the question:
I have a play in NCAA 2007 for playstation that seems beautiful every time I want to put pressure on the QB. Of course I’m playing the Cougs! The defense says it’s a 4-4 and the play is called “Mad Robber.” I can’t describe it very well but it is almost a medium blitz with corners spying the outside lanes. Is this a legitimate play and could it work with our defense? Or this totally stupid to mix video games with the real thing? Anyway, I think I know the answer but I thought that I would give it a shot. Thanks.
Sorry, BUT…
Our D-line would be very good playing on a team with a good secondary. Maybe even a decent secondary.
It’s impossible to hurry or sack a QB that can make a 2-second throw every play for 15 yards. Jan is no different than last year, but the supporting cast sure is.
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