Watson resolute amid tension

[husker B-rent]

I can't believe people are sticking up for Watson in this one. I like the guy, but there's no way you can convince me that was the best possible playcalling available Thursday. That gameplan could have been better. I have watched Missouri this season, and prior to playing us their defense looked very, very average. Sure we scored 27 points on them in the fourth, but that was mostly due to our DEFENSE. How do you explain getting shutout--completely, 100% shutout--for three quarters? Are you really going to blame it on a wet ball? You can't be serious.

Cheshire: "Wait until he loses us a game before you start complaining."

Ummm... you remember when we only scored 15 points against Virginia Tech, right? And you remember when we couldn't even pick up a first down to end the game, right? And you know, we LOST that game... right?

Total yards against the great Tiger defense:

Illinois (worst team in the Big 10): 325

Bowling Green: 320

Freaking FURMAN: 398

Nevada: 364

Nebraska: 263 (LESS THAN 200 before we ground out the final drive)

You're really going to try and convince me this was because of the rain? Absolutely not buying it for a second. I didn't see one ball slip out of Lee's hands on a pass. The rain is a bad, bad excuse. We sucked on offense. That's it. Quarterback play was bad, run blocking was mediocre, and playcalling most certainly could have been better.

i can argue with that and quite easily!

your argument is flawed from the start, yes we scored twice because the D stepped up....but we also scored twice because the O stepped up. We drove the length of the field 2 times because the rain let up!

and no offense but it is laughable if you do not think the rain is what caused us to be held under 300 yards! Do you honestly think that our offense is not as good as furman?!

Now keep in mind that we also held MU to 225 yds...which is their absolute lowest total of the season and our best Defensive performance of the season against easily the highest powered offense we faced all season!

That is NOT coincidence! the rain affected both teams and in fact affected MU moreso than it affected us as they were averaging more YPG before our game than we were.

I think it is quite obvious that the rain affected both teams so much more than you believe....

 

[irafreak]

So that begs the answer to my original question....if the rain was a big factor than why not try to run the ball?

 

[bshirt]

So that begs the answer to my original question....if the rain was a big factor than why not try to run the ball?

Run the ball, stop the run......win the game.

TO understood that. B. Switzer understood that. Currently so does P. Johnson. Watson believes NU will become another Miami/FSU/Florida cloned in thier prime by throwing the ball all over the place (just like Callahan). This results in getting our run stuffed every time we play a tough defense. Who cares right? It's just another blowout loss, right??

Sadly, I think odds are overwhelming that it simply will not work.

The upside is that I think Bo knows this or is in the process of learning it.

 

[husker B-rent]

So that begs the answer to my original question....if the rain was a big factor than why not try to run the ball?

im of the opinion that both watson and yost (MUs OC) were trying to outsmart the defenses and work against what the Ds where giving them (or at least what they thought the D would give them).

We knew that MU would load the box so watson thought we should pass the ball despite the rain because he didnt think it would hinder the offense as much as it did.

Same thing with Yost, he tried to pass the ball because he didnt think that we would be able to pressure with just four linemen and he thought we would have to put some of our DBs on the line to stop the run so he would just pass on our depleted secondary. that didnt work...

if you notice it wasnt just watson that passed the ball alot, both teams did and honestly it worked best for the team that won even though both teams did struggle. i just dont think that running the ball would have done any better. the reason we were able to run on the last drive was because they had to start respecting our passing game and they backed off of the line thus opening up the running game....

thats how i saw it, others may have a different point of view on all of it tho...

 

[JTrain]

I can't believe people are sticking up for Watson in this one. I like the guy, but there's no way you can convince me that was the best possible playcalling available Thursday. That gameplan could have been better. I have watched Missouri this season, and prior to playing us their defense looked very, very average. Sure we scored 27 points on them in the fourth, but that was mostly due to our DEFENSE. How do you explain getting shutout--completely, 100% shutout--for three quarters? Are you really going to blame it on a wet ball? You can't be serious.

Cheshire: "Wait until he loses us a game before you start complaining."

Ummm... you remember when we only scored 15 points against Virginia Tech, right? And you remember when we couldn't even pick up a first down to end the game, right? And you know, we LOST that game... right?

Total yards against the great Tiger defense:

Illinois (worst team in the Big 10): 325

Bowling Green: 320

Freaking FURMAN: 398

Nevada: 364

Nebraska: 263 (LESS THAN 200 before we ground out the final drive)

You're really going to try and convince me this was because of the rain? Absolutely not buying it for a second. I didn't see one ball slip out of Lee's hands on a pass. The rain is a bad, bad excuse. We sucked on offense. That's it. Quarterback play was bad, run blocking was mediocre, and playcalling most certainly could have been better.

i can argue with that and quite easily!

your argument is flawed from the start, yes we scored twice because the D stepped up....but we also scored twice because the O stepped up. We drove the length of the field 2 times because the rain let up!

and no offense but it is laughable if you do not think the rain is what caused us to be held under 300 yards! Do you honestly think that our offense is not as good as furman?!

Now keep in mind that we also held MU to 225 yds...which is their absolute lowest total of the season and our best Defensive performance of the season against easily the highest powered offense we faced all season!

That is NOT coincidence! the rain affected both teams and in fact affected MU moreso than it affected us as they were averaging more YPG before our game than we were.

I think it is quite obvious that the rain affected both teams so much more than you believe....

We drove the length of the field twice because the rain let up? No, actually, it was pouring when Lee hit one long pass to Paul on the first TD. Go back and watch it yourself. We only really "drove the length of the field" on the final drive against a defeated Missouri team. Our other TDs came on very short fields because of the defense, and even then we barely scored. Yes, Furman had a better offense on the day they played Mizzou. Our offense sucked. The rain had very little to do with it. I'm sorry. That's just how it is. We held Mizzou to 225 yards because WE HAVE A GREAT DEFENSE. We have proven that game in and game out. Mizzou DOESN'T. They have proven that game in and game out. Lee looked very similar to the VT game, when the weather was fine. And Watson's gameplan was at least as bad as the VT game.

The rain had very little to do with anything. I can't remember a single player falling down or a single pass slipping out of Lee's hand as he passed it. He was just way off, just like he was against VT.

And please explain how the rain made the playcalling under center so predictable. 15 of 16 under center plays with a running back were runs. Think about that. They were run blitzing almost every time Lee went under center because we were so damn predictable. Tell me what the rain had to do with that?

If the rain affected anything, it was our special teams. That's about it.

 

[JTrain]

see i dont think he needed to do anything different.

MUs defense was thinking exactly like you are.....they were thinking that conventional wisdom says to run the ball in those conditions and they were defending us running the ball but they were leaving passing lanes open, just like Lee said, mostly on the outside although they did occasionally leave the middle open as well.

Yeah, we really fooled them, didn't we? We hit all those open passing lanes to the tune of 85 TOTAL YARDS and 0 POINTS in the first three quarters. Great gameplanning!

 

[husker B-rent]

I can't believe people are sticking up for Watson in this one. I like the guy, but there's no way you can convince me that was the best possible playcalling available Thursday. That gameplan could have been better. I have watched Missouri this season, and prior to playing us their defense looked very, very average. Sure we scored 27 points on them in the fourth, but that was mostly due to our DEFENSE. How do you explain getting shutout--completely, 100% shutout--for three quarters? Are you really going to blame it on a wet ball? You can't be serious.

Cheshire: "Wait until he loses us a game before you start complaining."

Ummm... you remember when we only scored 15 points against Virginia Tech, right? And you remember when we couldn't even pick up a first down to end the game, right? And you know, we LOST that game... right?

Total yards against the great Tiger defense:

Illinois (worst team in the Big 10): 325

Bowling Green: 320

Freaking FURMAN: 398

Nevada: 364

Nebraska: 263 (LESS THAN 200 before we ground out the final drive)

You're really going to try and convince me this was because of the rain? Absolutely not buying it for a second. I didn't see one ball slip out of Lee's hands on a pass. The rain is a bad, bad excuse. We sucked on offense. That's it. Quarterback play was bad, run blocking was mediocre, and playcalling most certainly could have been better.

i can argue with that and quite easily!

your argument is flawed from the start, yes we scored twice because the D stepped up....but we also scored twice because the O stepped up. We drove the length of the field 2 times because the rain let up!

and no offense but it is laughable if you do not think the rain is what caused us to be held under 300 yards! Do you honestly think that our offense is not as good as furman?!

Now keep in mind that we also held MU to 225 yds...which is their absolute lowest total of the season and our best Defensive performance of the season against easily the highest powered offense we faced all season!

That is NOT coincidence! the rain affected both teams and in fact affected MU moreso than it affected us as they were averaging more YPG before our game than we were.

I think it is quite obvious that the rain affected both teams so much more than you believe....

We drove the length of the field twice because the rain let up? No, actually, it was pouring when Lee hit one long pass to Paul on the first TD. Go back and watch it yourself. We only really "drove the length of the field" on the final drive against a defeated Missouri team. Our other TDs came on very short fields because of the defense, and even then we barely scored. Yes, Furman had a better offense on the day they played Mizzou. Our offense sucked. The rain had very little to do with it. I'm sorry. That's just how it is. We held Mizzou to 225 yards because WE HAVE A GREAT DEFENSE. We have proven that game in and game out. Mizzou DOESN'T. They have proven that game in and game out. Lee looked very similar to the VT game, when the weather was fine. And Watson's gameplan was at least as bad as the VT game.

The rain had very little to do with anything. I can't remember a single player falling down or a single pass slipping out of Lee's hand as he passed it. He was just way off, just like he was against VT.

And please explain how the rain made the playcalling under center so predictable. 15 of 16 under center plays with a running back were runs. Think about that. They were run blitzing almost every time Lee went under center because we were so damn predictable. Tell me what the rain had to do with that?

If the rain affected anything, it was our special teams. That's about it.

ha ha!

A. I WAS THERE! the rain DID let up in the 4th quarter and we did drive the field.

B. I also DVRd the game and have rewatched it twice!

C. You are naive if you do not think that the rain caused both offenses to look worse than they are and the defenses to look better than they are!

D. Im sorry to inform you but we do not have a great defense! we have a good defense and if it had not been raining MU would have put up more points than they did, as we would have also.

E. Go back and watch, i can think of 3 times just off the top of my head where the ball CLEARLY slipped in Lees hand while he was throwing it.

F. Yes that was predictable to run every time Lee went under center, my thoughts are that they may have (just a guess) been trying to set up for a big play because like you said MU was blitzing every time Lee was under center and all we would have had to do is throw the long ball for a good gain. im not gonna go back and watch again right now but the 1 pass you say that we did under center, how far was the ball thrown?

G. Columbia MO recorder 6 inches of rain in 6 hours on october 8, im going to assume that you never played football in college and probably not in high school if you dont think that rain affects the game of football. IT DOES!

anything else?

 

[JTrain]

I appreciate your optimism. But the rain had a minimal effect on most aspects of the game on Thursday. And even if you were right, and the rain was such a big obstacle, 85 yards and 0 points through three quarters is far, FAR from acceptable. You should be able to get more than that if the players are floating in six feet of water. We need to step it up in all phases of the offenses if we want a chance to run the table. Period. Not in a million years will you convince me the rain is a viable excuse to why our offense sucked. I don't care if you played 50 years in the NFL.

 

[REDSTEEL]

We won didn't we? You guys are complaining about someone who called plays which enabled us to score 27 in the 4th quarter and win by 15 points. If you don't think that the rain had a huge effect on the playcalling, not to mention Helu being sick, then you're a moron. Wait until he loses us a game before you start complaining about Watson. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. :bang

You mean like the V Tech game where they only scored 15 points? <_<

 

[Danimal]

Seems like Lee wants to chuck the ball too often. At Mizzou he was frequently checking to passes and too often he passes on some sure yards by tucking it in and running to throw a pass that isn't likely to connect or do much. I'd like to see Lee be a decisive, strong runner, if he get a good hole he bolts. I'm not saying he should be a run-first guy by any means just saying he should use all his abilities and take what the D gives him.

 

[Pedro Guerrero]

Run the ball, stop the run......win the game.

Currently so does P. Johnson.

Like when they rushed 39 times for 95 yards and gave up 184 yards rushing against Miami? Did they line-up run the ball, stop the run and win that day? Just saying. Now if GT comes out on Saturday, runs the ball, stop the run and wins against Va-Tech I’ll buy into them. That being said this year they have beat a bunch of below average teams (14-15 combined records with Jacksonville State having 4 of those wins). They are 5-1 this year and were 9-4 last year just like the Big Red. So you could say that Watson’s offense gets you just as many wins as Paul Johnson’s.

All the people saying that the defense won us the game against Mizzou, were you saying last year that Bo/Carl’s defense got bailed out because the offense was so good and won/kept us in games? It’s a team game and getting turnovers by the defense is part of the game. The offense capitalized on those turnovers. You don’t think that back in the “Glory Days” there were games that the defense played well and the offense did just enough to win?

Why is nobody questioning the Special Teams coach for the crappy play? Didn’t his units have just as much to do with Mizzou hanging around and having a chance to win?

 

[Vince from ShamWOW]

We won didn't we? You guys are complaining about someone who called plays which enabled us to score 27 in the 4th quarter and win by 15 points. If you don't think that the rain had a huge effect on the playcalling, not to mention Helu being sick, then you're a moron. Wait until he loses us a game before you start complaining about Watson. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. :bang

You mean like the V Tech game where they only scored 15 points? <_<

On three field goals......Grant it one TD was taken away via a bad call and another one was dropped.

 

[bshirt]

Run the ball, stop the run......win the game.

Currently so does P. Johnson.

Like when they rushed 39 times for 95 yards and gave up 184 yards rushing against Miami? Did they line-up run the ball, stop the run and win that day? Just saying. Now if GT comes out on Saturday, runs the ball, stop the run and wins against Va-Tech I’ll buy into them. That being said this year they have beat a bunch of below average teams (14-15 combined records with Jacksonville State having 4 of those wins). They are 5-1 this year and were 9-4 last year just like the Big Red. So you could say that Watson’s offense gets you just as many wins as Paul Johnson’s.

All the people saying that the defense won us the game against Mizzou, were you saying last year that Bo/Carl’s defense got bailed out because the offense was so good and won/kept us in games? It’s a team game and getting turnovers by the defense is part of the game. The offense capitalized on those turnovers. You don’t think that back in the “Glory Days” there were games that the defense played well and the offense did just enough to win?

Why is nobody questioning the Special Teams coach for the crappy play? Didn’t his units have just as much to do with Mizzou hanging around and having a chance to win?

Last year was P. Johnson's first year at GT where he won the ACC "coach of the year". In his previous six years as Navy's HC he took them to five bowls (we're talking "Navy"!) and in 2004 was awarded 2004 B. Dodd national coach of the year. So yeah, I'd say he's had some real deal success running the option for years and hardly needs your approval or even recent awareness of who he is.

How about his 1st yeat at GT beating Miami, Boston College, Clemson, Florida State and Georgia?? Not enough for you to "buy into"? Well.....who cares.

I'd take his offense with Bo's defense 10,000 times over the current status. Bo has to carry our offense now. He wouldn't have to with a TO or PJ as the OC.

 

[irafreak]

I have questioned the special teams playcalling....after a two punt returns I was calling for us to just go for the block!

 

[Vince from ShamWOW]

I have questioned the special teams playcalling....after a two punt returns I was calling for us to just go for the block!

I agree. Against MU it looked as though they brought back Santino Panico.