For the record, they guys said they didn't know if Watson was allowed to call plays or not at CU. They also said they were NOT counting 2006, and if NU had made it in 2007 they wouldn't have counted it simply because we all know he wasn't calling the plays.
That's good, but where do they get 6 games, then?
If they would not have counted 2007, they should not count any of the 4 CU years. Personally, I don't think I say too much about Watson and 2001 and that CU game. I know very little about that situation other than he was just a name OC, so I don't think it's any evidence. Obviously he had an influence, as well as with the QBs (I think he was QB coach too), but you take it with a grain of salt if he's not calling the plays.
Say what you want about identifying a weakness against Mizzou, I don't think Bo wanting to shut down the O would take away the run game... which is what those 3 big plays came from - basic run plays.
Why not? When you do nothing but run, run, run and the defene knows it, and there's no trickery or out-scheming involved, it can get pretty predictable and simple to stop. Sure the 3 big plays were run plays, but from a point in the game where we had the entire gameplan open to us and were a threat to do multiple things. Take that away and it becomes a grind out yards and field position thing, which is fine because it was basically a race against time for CU after Helu's last score, and we made sure it stayed that way by giving little chance for mistakes.
The fact is, as you said yourself, without Martinez in the game, this offense shuts down. That's not good. Watson has been in his position 4 years, he knows what he has on his team, he should be able to identify his players strengths and manage a little production.
It's really like most teams when losing their starting QB. I don't think the offense shuts down with Lee actually, but he wasn't given much of a chance against Missouri, because Bo likes shutting it down and preserving victory when it's within grasp. But since we lost both the top 2 guys, yeah, we run into a bit of trouble. When we do, I think both Watson and Bo tend to simplify and be conservative, because it isn't about trying to put on a display of offensive fireworks, but to win the game as a team. When the O is a big unknown (as it was with Cody when they showed little faith in him), and the D is one of the better units in the country, the entire gameplan is adjusted to allow the D to carry the weight instead of allowing the O to potentially mess it up for them.
Let me ask this to the pro-Watson guys:
What does he have to do in your eyes, to be in jeopardy of losing his job. Since you obviously believe field goals and rare defensive touchdowns are enough to eventually win a National Championship. A NC is the eventual goal, correct?
He has to get stupider?
Watson is what he is, a pretty good offensive mind who works great with QBs. There are things we can do to help Watson and the offense, and I hope we do them. Change of WR coach is #1 on that list.
With how conservative the staff approaches games, I wonder if the O will ever be unleashed to pick up the slack while the defense is playing at this high a level. We all want gaudy stats right now, but Bo seems to subscribe to a "defense wins games" philosophy, which I can't really argue with. Games against evenly matched teams may quite often be low-scoring affairs, because once we get a lead we will try to hold on to it, rather than give the other side any leeway or opportunity to seize back momentum.
I don't think a lot of people are saying Watson isn't a good QBs coach. I'd say he's pretty good. The problem is him as an OC. A lot of people are blaming Gilmore and/or Cotton... that's also Watson's responsibility; just as a D-back problem needs to be addressed by Carl AND Sanders, a receivers or line problem needs to be addressed by the position coach AND Watson (as well as by Bo). Which reminds me, I don't know what others think, but I'm also putting some of this on Bo. If he sees the offense struggling he needs to address it more so than just saying "don't turn it over, let me win it with my defense"
As far as changing position coaches, I'd put that on Bo. But there's value in staff continuity, too. Still, a couple bad decisions on the side of loyalty can sink a HC (Callahan). Same with calls on QB (Keller), regardless of whether they win the job or not, so hopefully Bo treads this Taylor situation carefully. I guess we can agree to disagree on him as OC. I think he has done well this year (and in '08), excepting for occasions where the OL or WRs are not picking up the slack on the field.
