Rewatching the Game

[bball_backer]

I do have one question though; do you think he was told not to run from the pocket? It seems like Ganz in his first year and even Zac Lee last year were very hesitant to run when they had no options left and I can't help but wonder if Watson coaches them to stay with the pass at all cost. There's been times with all three (Taylor, Zac, Ganz) where they have no one open and some green in front of them, but they don't tuck it and go. It's just strange to me that they would all have the same habit (granted Taylor may not be confident in his feet at the moment).

I don't know if that's the million dollar question, but it's at least the $100,000 question... I really really really want to know what is being coached there.

 

[houseofspears]

Has NU even called a screen this year? It's been mysteriously missing from the game this year. Maybe it's because we ran it heavily over the past 2 years or so?

We called a screen right at the beginning of the game yesterday and the defensive end almost intercepted it...

i don't remember there being any blockers out in front. i think that may have just been a swing pass... not sure though.

 

[zoogs]

Wasn't T-Mart's fault for... sucking. It was Wats' fault for not a) trying Cody, B) relying more on Rex (and even Helu) and c) calling more appropriate plays for the way OU was playing us (screens, draws, etc.)

A) Bo's call, Bo's fault. B) I agree on Rex. Helu got dinged up again, I think. C) I can't argue with this in the second half. We started out fine.

It is Taylor's responsibility for all of the things he did out there, but the only other person to put it on was the one who decided to go in that direction.

To add to the post above, it was a swing pass that was just too low.

 

[houseofspears]

I do have one question though; do you think he was told not to run from the pocket? It seems like Ganz in his first year and even Zac Lee last year were very hesitant to run when they had no options left and I can't help but wonder if Watson coaches them to stay with the pass at all cost. There's been times with all three (Taylor, Zac, Ganz) where they have no one open and some green in front of them, but they don't tuck it and go. It's just strange to me that they would all have the same habit (granted Taylor may not be confident in his feet at the moment).

I don't know if that's the million dollar question, but it's at least the $100,000 question... I really really really want to know what is being coached there.

I was thinking the same thing. Even when he was healthy, I don't recall many times that taylor ran the entire year when it wasn't a designed run. Seems odd not seeing more scrambles from a player with that kind of speed.

 

[Danimal]

There were a few 3rd downs where he clearly hit the panic button and obviously couldn't decide what to do. That was the hardest thing to watch. The kid just stood there a few times as if he didn't understand what to do next. Maybe he's thinking to much. just pull it down and take off.

This

Wasn't hitting his hot-route, panicked when his first read wasn't open, wouldn't bolt, and wouldn't ditch the ball. Effort wasn't the problem, kid cared, he was just floundering. I think Wats would've pulled TM if it was up to him. Could've went with Cody and the CU gameplan. No Wats didn't call a good second-half by any means but it makes it harder when the qb can't execute and takes stupid sacks. This one falls on Bo. TM is still injured and it wasn't his day. Not a shot at the kid to try somebody else.

 

[zoogs]

I just rewatched the game's first half. A couple things struck me.

1) Was Taylor that injured? By the end he was limping around. But at first he had some shake to him and had some speed. Disappointing that he did not make more hay with his feet.

2) Roy Helu got dinged up very early on when he slipped in the backfield, before his big run. His touchdown was on a handoff up the middle from the shotgun. That's probably why we didn't see more of him. On the fumble he lost, it was another shotgun handoff that was getting good yardage. Helu wasn't exposing the ball really either, he was just running upfield with some space. OU defender took a great angle and got a hat on it. This wasn't a ball security problem with Roy or a miscue, in my books. OU was riding high and they got a takeaway.

3) I formation! Saw a user or two comment on how it was missing all game. Just a note that it was there. Also a few formations with Legate, or was it Cotton. Cotton seemed to be used quite a lot in a FBish role while we are in a shotgun (H-back?), so while it isn't a straight I, the principles may be similar. I also saw a straightforward vanilla hand-off to Rex Burkhead between the tackles get stuffed, turning 2nd and 4 into 3rd and 5. So maybe we did between the tackles until it stopped working (OU really loaded up on that play) but honestly I don't know how many of those kinds of straightforward runs we had in all, and if the others were working very well. Helu's runs are a little different in nature IMO. We are talking under center, HB dive versus shotgun handoff.

4) Zone read! Worked pretty well on a couple occasions early in Q1/Q2. Wildcat! First showing was probably around the 6 minute mark or so. Burkhead ran it with both Helu and Marlowe on occasion. Burkhead looks very different than Taylor running the zone read and I think it's this: he sticks the ball into the mesh point and kind of side-hops along with the RB for a while before deciding to pull it out or not, and he keeps his head up. In other words, he's reading the free DL. With Taylor, I don't think he even pretends to read anyone. Just a quick hand-off or a quick fake handoff and run, although the latter we probably saw once in the first half. Not sure I am totally accurate on this assessment, so please correct me if I'm worng! Burkhead's zone reads take longer to develop, but since there are actually two threats and he is reading the DL, it works a lot better.

5) Fumbles. We had our problems but man, OU had a few, too, didn't they? If not for some lucky bounces, it could be OU fans melting down about coordinator-instilled discipline right now. OU got really lucky a few times. Imagine if Broyles' muffed punt were with Paul, what we'd be saying. Just a thought. Big game like this, mistakes happen. OU managed to survive theirs, though. Pity.

6) The play-calling on Taylor's interception. I saw someone criticize this playcall and I disagreed; then I went back and saw it and REALLY disagree now. It was 3rd and goal, from the 10. Obvious, obvious passing down unless you concede you don't even want to try for the touchdown. Taylor showed some nice moves, but the pass was awful. It sucks, because the play before could have been a touchdown but Taylor's pass sailed a yard or so high for McNeil, who was one-on-one in open space in the end zone with excellent positioning on his man. Game could have been 24-7 at that point. Damn. Our TEs (counting McNeil as one here) really gave them problems, throughout I thought.

7) Cassidy's big play allowed. Looks like we had 3 deep on that play. Or maybe Cassidy's job was to cover short zone. Looked like it was deep though, I guess we'd have to wait for more expert commentary. If it was deep, Herbstreit is right and Cassidy should not have let anyone get past him. Then again, Herbstreit was an idiot at times, acting surprised OU had a free DL in the backfield and saying one of our guards was slow to get to his block. It's a zone read, Herbie...

8) HOLY TWO MINUTE DRILL. Since when has that been in Taylor's arsenal? Since we run a zone read with Taylor that attacks the sidelines instead of between the tackles, and he hands it off to Burkhead for nearly a 25-yard gain. This was just an epic drive. OU had just gotten the 17-17 tie, we were pinned deep, there was 1:30 to go, 1 timeout. Taylor was money on this drive as well. 3rd-and-5, completion. A corner route where Taylor puts it up beautifully to McNeil, who misses his foot in bounds by probably a few inches. Then a 3rd-and-10 where we attack the middle of the field with Reed, and Taylor zings a 20-yard strike in there. We spike it and gets Alex a 42-yard field goal attempt that he makes with 6 seconds to spare...EPIC. It was a tremendous performance by the offense overall in the first half; 213 yards and 20 points. It just makes me really sad, what happened in the second half.

9) Seeing the first few minutes of Q3 now. Ah, I see where the zone read starts failing. Looks like we are getting Helu out wide and Taylor is taking time to make reads. Bad ones that result in 3 guys around Helu 4 yards in the backfield. There was a good pass to McNeil early on. I am loving how well McNeil/Reed could attack the defense. But then Taylor had the fumble where he panicked and didn't protect the ball. Instead of tucking it down to take the sack, he just stood there and waited for it to come. They went for the strip and got it. Can't do that

I figure the rest of the game will be too upsetting to watch so I'm going to stop there and just think about that first half.

 

[Count 'Bility]

I said all along we would know early in the game the status of Taylor's mentality, whether he's playing or not. Our questions have been answered. The only issue now is that like so many in the Callahan era (which is still not 100% over) he is just getting plain jipped in the coaching portion. it's obvious now that this kid who had that IT factor everyone talked about earlier in the year-lesser competition or not- has had it coached out of him. He has shown the scrambling ability time and time again and the ability to gash a defense when the pocket closes in, but saturday we saw none of that, so I ask what the hell is going on?

 

[zoogs]

That's easy actually, it's not that Taylor got anything coached out of him, it's that he hasn't gotten enough coached into him yet. Taylor is on a very steep curve and we have to be extremely patient with the kid and let him time to develop while realizing what a project he is. Or we will start running him out soon enough like many who have completely given up on the Green experiment.

Taylor can't handle defenses. Running, he can do, when 100%. He looked like he did against Kansas to start the game, and got worse, so I wouldn't say 100% by any means, but I wonder if someone can describe how bad he was really hurt.

But that's just running. QB is a complex position and has to do a lot more than that. Taylor can't see blitzes coming, and can't make good decisions a lot of times. He (and SW) got straight owned by Venables, a top DC, in the second half. Which is sad considering the impressive first half as a whole that we saw out of the O.

By the way the Callahan era is 100% over. It just is. I don't know why some people won't be happy until everyone who worked under Callahan is gone. It's not like this is Kevin Cosgrove or Phil Elmassian here. Shawn was here for a couple years under Callahan, and now he's been here for three and going into four under Bo. He was a TEs coach and nominal OC with Callahan, while he has three years of being his own man at OC with Bo. He is more Bo's guy than Callahan's at this point. Bo is in charge and these are now his guys, the same way that Suh and Prince and all the others are Bo's players, not Callahan's.

 

[Saz]

We could have put <insert your fav qb here> in at QB and still had a horrible day on offense because our O'line decided to quit playing after the helu td run. They flat out forgot how to block, which made every play blow up before it even started. I dont think fumbling the ball is part of the play calling process so I dont know how that can be on the coaches.

 

[hdomn8]

Wasn't T-Mart's fault for... sucking. It was Wats' fault for not a) trying Cody, B) relying more on Rex (and even Helu) and c) calling more appropriate plays for the way OU was playing us (screens, draws, etc.)

+1

 

[holvy83]

The only thing that still stood out to me while watching the replay last night, was how bad our O line STILL is! Put all the blame on whoever you want, but the boys in the trenches flat out got their butts handed to them once again!!! I will carry this statement over from last year, this offense will not be close to any good unless the boys upfront start taking care of business!

 

[HuskerNative]

Has NU even called a screen this year? It's been mysteriously missing from the game this year. Maybe it's because we ran it heavily over the past 2 years or so?

We called a screen right at the beginning of the game yesterday and the defensive end almost intercepted it...

He's not tall for a QB and had several of those kinds of passes batted down through the year. Maybe that's why we don't call them.

 

[CFHusker]

I just rewatched the game's first half. A couple things struck me.

1) Was Taylor that injured? By the end he was limping around. But at first he had some shake to him and had some speed. Disappointing that he did not make more hay with his feet.

2) Roy Helu got dinged up very early on when he slipped in the backfield, before his big run. His touchdown was on a handoff up the middle from the shotgun. That's probably why we didn't see more of him. On the fumble he lost, it was another shotgun handoff that was getting good yardage. Helu wasn't exposing the ball really either, he was just running upfield with some space. OU defender took a great angle and got a hat on it. This wasn't a ball security problem with Roy or a miscue, in my books. OU was riding high and they got a takeaway.

3) I formation! Saw a user or two comment on how it was missing all game. Just a note that it was there. Also a few formations with Legate, or was it Cotton. Cotton seemed to be used quite a lot in a FBish role while we are in a shotgun (H-back?), so while it isn't a straight I, the principles may be similar. I also saw a straightforward vanilla hand-off to Rex Burkhead between the tackles get stuffed, turning 2nd and 4 into 3rd and 5. So maybe we did between the tackles until it stopped working (OU really loaded up on that play) but honestly I don't know how many of those kinds of straightforward runs we had in all, and if the others were working very well. Helu's runs are a little different in nature IMO. We are talking under center, HB dive versus shotgun handoff.

4) Zone read! Worked pretty well on a couple occasions early in Q1/Q2. Wildcat! First showing was probably around the 6 minute mark or so. Burkhead ran it with both Helu and Marlowe on occasion. Burkhead looks very different than Taylor running the zone read and I think it's this: he sticks the ball into the mesh point and kind of side-hops along with the RB for a while before deciding to pull it out or not, and he keeps his head up. In other words, he's reading the free DL. With Taylor, I don't think he even pretends to read anyone. Just a quick hand-off or a quick fake handoff and run, although the latter we probably saw once in the first half. Not sure I am totally accurate on this assessment, so please correct me if I'm worng! Burkhead's zone reads take longer to develop, but since there are actually two threats and he is reading the DL, it works a lot better.

5) Fumbles. We had our problems but man, OU had a few, too, didn't they? If not for some lucky bounces, it could be OU fans melting down about coordinator-instilled discipline right now. OU got really lucky a few times. Imagine if Broyles' muffed punt were with Paul, what we'd be saying. Just a thought. Big game like this, mistakes happen. OU managed to survive theirs, though. Pity.

6) The play-calling on Taylor's interception. I saw someone criticize this playcall and I disagreed; then I went back and saw it and REALLY disagree now. It was 3rd and goal, from the 10. Obvious, obvious passing down unless you concede you don't even want to try for the touchdown. Taylor showed some nice moves, but the pass was awful. It sucks, because the play before could have been a touchdown but Taylor's pass sailed a yard or so high for McNeil, who was one-on-one in open space in the end zone with excellent positioning on his man. Game could have been 24-7 at that point. Damn. Our TEs (counting McNeil as one here) really gave them problems, throughout I thought.

7) Cassidy's big play allowed. Looks like we had 3 deep on that play. Or maybe Cassidy's job was to cover short zone. Looked like it was deep though, I guess we'd have to wait for more expert commentary. If it was deep, Herbstreit is right and Cassidy should not have let anyone get past him. Then again, Herbstreit was an idiot at times, acting surprised OU had a free DL in the backfield and saying one of our guards was slow to get to his block. It's a zone read, Herbie...

8) HOLY TWO MINUTE DRILL. Since when has that been in Taylor's arsenal? Since we run a zone read with Taylor that attacks the sidelines instead of between the tackles, and he hands it off to Burkhead for nearly a 25-yard gain. This was just an epic drive. OU had just gotten the 17-17 tie, we were pinned deep, there was 1:30 to go, 1 timeout. Taylor was money on this drive as well. 3rd-and-5, completion. A corner route where Taylor puts it up beautifully to McNeil, who misses his foot in bounds by probably a few inches. Then a 3rd-and-10 where we attack the middle of the field with Reed, and Taylor zings a 20-yard strike in there. We spike it and gets Alex a 42-yard field goal attempt that he makes with 6 seconds to spare...EPIC. It was a tremendous performance by the offense overall in the first half; 213 yards and 20 points. It just makes me really sad, what happened in the second half.

9) Seeing the first few minutes of Q3 now. Ah, I see where the zone read starts failing. Looks like we are getting Helu out wide and Taylor is taking time to make reads. Bad ones that result in 3 guys around Helu 4 yards in the backfield. There was a good pass to McNeil early on. I am loving how well McNeil/Reed could attack the defense. But then Taylor had the fumble where he panicked and didn't protect the ball. Instead of tucking it down to take the sack, he just stood there and waited for it to come. They went for the strip and got it. Can't do that

I figure the rest of the game will be too upsetting to watch so I'm going to stop there and just think about that first half.

Please finish breaking down the second half. This is great stuff. I think the players were in a position to win. I also have sympathy for Martinez. Those injuries set him back on his learning curve. He probably missed so many reps in practice and he had to have the worry in the back of his mind.