NamelessHusker
Banned
[SIZE=14pt]Can’t pass up being QB consultant[/SIZE]
I’m going to play Tuesday Morning Quarterback for our college teams the rest of the season. Gary Pinkel, Bill Snyder and Mark Mangino need my help. Let’s start with Missouri
[SIZE=14pt]Missouri[/SIZE]
As one of Gary Pinkel’s harshest critics, let me be the first to say that he really can’t make a mistake no matter how he handles Missouri’s quarterback situation the rest of the year.
Any decision from here on out is defensible. He can stick with Brad Smith and play freshman Chase Daniel only when Smith is injured. Pinkel can spot play Daniel and try to spark Mizzou’s downfield passing attack. Or Pinkel could go as far as building a game plan that involves Daniel taking a significant percentage of snaps.
Pandora’s box was opened on Saturday when Daniel led two fourth-quarter scoring drives that allowed the Tigers to knock off Iowa State and climb into the race for the Big 12 North title. Pinkel couldn’t close the box now even if he wanted to.
It’s not that Daniel looked like the next Tom Brady. Daniel just made it painfully obvious that teams know how to defense Brad Smith — clog the short passing lanes with multiple defenders and leave a couple of linebackers to shadow Smith in case he runs. Daniel’s superior passing arm can make teams pay for stacking coverage.
Smith, as Pinkel has stated, should remain the starter, but Pinkel should play both quarterbacks and ride whichever one has success moving the football. He can do this without “selling out” Brad Smith.
The experiment of turning Smith into an NFL quarterback has failed. It’s been five years, it’s not going to happen. If Smith wants to play in the pros, he’ll have to convert to receiver.
Smith is an awesome running quarterback. Pinkel and his coaching staff should make the most of Smith’s running ability from the QB position. Smith’s running game should be complemented by whatever Daniel brings to the table as a passer.
Rotating quarterbacks should not undermine Smith’s effectiveness as MU’s starter. Smith will never lose confidence as a runner, and he’s never developed consistent confidence as a passer.
You follow? Passing is like being a jump shooter in basketball. You need lots of confidence. Running is like being Shaquille O’Neal. You can’t shake the confidence of someone who bowls you over and dunks all the time.
The Big 12 North is so mediocre that the Tigers could actually win the whole thing if Pinkel gets the most out of Smith and Daniel and Mizzou’s defense makes one stop a half.
[SIZE=14pt]Kansas State[/SIZE]
OK, Kansas State lost by 39 points to Texas Tech, and I was actually encouraged by what I saw from the Wildcats, particularly redshirt freshman QB Allan Evridge.
Stick with me. The K-State-Texas Tech game would have been completely different if not for two bad officiating decisions on the same second-quarter drive.
The Wildcats led 6-3 when the refs wiped out a perfectly executed blocked punt by K-State. If not for the “holding penalty,” K-State would have had the ball in Tech territory with a chance to go up 10 points. Had K-State ever led by two scores and was able to stay with the running game it had established, the game wouldn’t have been settled until late in the fourth quarter.
Instead, Texas Tech got the ball back and marched downfield for a go-ahead touchdown. The 4-yard TD play came after the refs failed to realize that Tech should have been flagged for delay of game.
K-State is a better team with Evridge at quarterback. He makes the Wildcats’ running game more effective by offering a legitimate passing threat. Plus, K-State’s offensive and defensive lines were more physical Saturday than I’ve seen in the last couple of years.
[SIZE=14pt]Kansas[/SIZE]
After Kansas’ 19-3 loss to Oklahoma, Mark Mangino perfectly articulated what he and his coaching staff need to master the rest of the football season.
Kansas needs an offensive game plan that fits its quarterback, Mangino explained.
No one — including yours truly — has ever believed or stated that Brian Luke could be an average Big 12 quarterback. KU’s QB situation is bad. Mangino’s abrasive, negative coaching style has made the QB situation worse. Luke is the best KU has for this season, but Mangino’s staff doesn’t know how to “Trent Dilfer” Luke.
Remember how the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl by preventing Dilfer from screwing up Ray Lewis and the Baltimore defense? An offensive possession that ended in a punt was viewed as a successful drive.
Against Oklahoma, Mangino too often asked Luke to be a playmaker. On Kansas’ first four offensive plays, Luke threw three times and ran once. Oklahoma intercepted two of the passes and jumped to a 10-0 lead before Mangino handed the ball to running backs Clark Green and Jon Cornish.
Later in the first half, faced with third and 1 at the Oklahoma 23, the Jayhawks threw the ball rather than run. Of course, Luke’s pass fell incomplete, and Kansas settled for a 40-yard field-goal attempt, which missed.
Stubborn and foolish, Mangino opened KU’s second-half offense with a Luke pass, which Oklahoma promptly intercepted. That interception ruined a KU drive that started at the Oklahoma 25.
KU’s game plan should be very simple: Run the football; punt for field position; kick field goals; and let Charles Gordon, Nick Reid, Charlton Keith, Kevin Kane and Banks Floodman made big plays on special teams and/or defense.
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