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A couple observations from yesterday

ahoelsken

Well-Known Member
None of this has anything to do with lack of talent-
1. Why was Tony Jones not put back in the game quicker after his first two touches? I didn't see him until at least after halftime.....and don't give me rb by committee as an excuse.
2. It wouldn't have made a difference yesterday, but the officiating was bad. I felt like the referees were trying to send MM a message after he came after the crew for OSU two weeks ago.
3. Why did we punt on 4th and 3ish down three scores with 9 minutes left in the half after the turnover? What exactly was there to lose if we go for it and don't convert?
4. The defensive gameplan was bad-You don't sell out against the run against a team like USC unless you have a stud secondary. We have two average CBs and we were playing a guy at safety who saw little to no action in the first half of the season.
 
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I'm worried about this teams psyche right now... They were so close and just got clobbered. They need a win against UCLA not just for the program, but the mental state of the kids.
 
I criticized the defensive game plan.

After reading the OP, I finally made the connection between that game plan and how those early penalties ****ed us dry.

Dots have connected.

If you're going to sell out and leave your CBs on islands... you have to be able to get a good bump at the LOS to disrupt patterns and screw up the timing between QBs and WRs so that the pass rush has a chance to get there and accuracy is off.

On the first defensive series, the refs sent the message loud and clear that they would not let our CBs play physically with USC's WRs in a press coverage scheme.

Game plan was shot at that point. Two weeks of planning and prep in the garbage. Team was unable to adjust.
 
I understand the running back rotation because none of the running backs are anything special. But there are 4 in the rotation, which is a lot, especially when one rb is running well. So TJ starts out the game great with 3 plays. 3 plays! Then he is out the next 3 series. Really need a fresh rb after 3 plays and a break? What happened to staying with the hot hand? Then we see tiny Lindsay on 4th and 3
 
The bad officiating excuse is getting old.

I tend to agree its a bit much to blame the outcome yesterday on the officiating. That said, the roughing the punter play that was a result of the USC blocker tossing our player into the punter like a sack of potatoes was a straight up bad call that directly resulted in 7 additional points to USC. However, I think that's likely also the type of call that's a lot easier to see in replay than in real time and was likely just a miss rather than any nefarious conspiracy...and if our player followed the instructions to not attempt to block the punt likely wouldn't have happened.
 
Poor officiating is a big problem in college football for about every conference this year. Not sure why?
 
The bad officiating excuse is getting old.

I didn't think the officiating was bad against USC. I just think it was called in a way that didn't fit the CU gameplan. Kind of like if a baseball ump calls a wide strike zone consistently. It's not bad umpiring. But if you've got a team of sluggers and the other team has a Greg Maddux type on the hill, you're screwed. With all of CU's defensive limitations, if we can't play press coverage we don't have a lot of options against a team like USC.

(And I do think that's more of a coach/coordinator problem than a personnel problem.)
 
i don't blame it for losses. I blame it for making football less enjoyable to watch. I actually think offenses are starting to scheme for PI calls.

Baltimore Ravens.
 
The bad officiating excuse is getting old.

How do you meaningfully discuss bad officiating without making it sound whiny?

For instance, I missed the first couple of plays, and walked in to see Tedric Thompson's arms being pinned to his sides by a receiver from behind, and as I remember it, the ball bounced off of his chest. One or two plays later we were flagged for defensive holding.

How do you discuss that, without it sounding like sour grapes?
 
When you appear to believe all bad calls are only going against the Buffs and the same discussion occurs every week, it is not a meaningful discussion, is it?
 
When you appear to believe all bad calls are only going against the Buffs and the same discussion occurs every week, it is not a meaningful discussion, is it?

Has anyone said this? I think people are hating officiating in general but notice more when it happens to the team they follow.
 
Has anyone said this? I think people are hating officiating in general but notice more when it happens to the team they follow.

You don't complain about calls against your team if you think it had no effect on the outcome of the game. What would be the point?
 
You don't complain about calls against your team if you think it had no effect on the outcome of the game. What would be the point?

I am starting to sense you just hate when people discuss anything you don't agree with.
 
I am starting to sense you just hate when people discuss anything you don't agree with.

Just a general pet peeve in regards to officiating more than anything.

I hope our DBs continue to be physical. Our only hope really, just have to take the bad with the good.
 
You don't complain about calls against your team if you think it had no effect on the outcome of the game. What would be the point?
Many times, I've seen a horrible call against the other team and said to myself, "That was an awful call. But I'll take it." But I wouldn't post it on the internet unless it were an extraordinary thing. We, generally, only bitch about the calls that go against us. Human nature.
 
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Many times, I've seen a horrible call against the other team and said to myself, "That was an awful call. But I'll take it." But I wouldn't post it on the internet unless it were an extraordinary thing. We, generally, only bitch about the calls that go against us. Human nature.

Very true. The penalty stats for all the conference teams are pretty ugly (every team but ASU is averaging over 50 yards a game). Refs need to stop being such a big part of the game.
 
The officiating is especially noticeable since we are desperate for a win. We had two games in a row in which officials decisions had a direct outcome on the game.

If we were winning some, losing some because of the officials it would be easier to live with but we aren't good enough to be in that position right now.

Saturdays game we can get mad but frankly the officials calls didn't make any difference in winning or losing and truthfully they didn't even impact the score that much. USC could have scored what they wanted on us, take away one TD from them and they just would have played aggressively a little longer and added another one. Same thing with our scores, add one early and they just play more aggressively on defense longer and take away a later one.

The talent differential was significant enough that with them playing focused they could name the score and did so. It was just a matter of how they got there and the officials didn't change that.
 
But back to the OP, can anyone explain the RB rotation?

It looked to me that the RBs were each assigned a 1st half series. Each one played the full three downs, be it run, passing routs or pass protection. My guess is see which two are doing the best overall and lean towards their skills. I don't know why TJ did not get the work load after the first series production but I think we saw all four before anybody repeated a series. I dont think we sub the RB too much mid series either not too sure why.
 
They want to make sure none of them get tired... seems like an over-rotation; especially when one back isn't matched up well to the opponent (see Powell not getting started due to lacking that first step quickness to get past the DL). TJ and Lindsay were effective, they should have been the primaries.

Speaking of RB rotation... why in God's green earth do we continue to use Lindsay in short yardage... seems like he gets bottled up every time (said "seems like" since I am sure there have been times he hasn't).
 
They want to make sure none of them get tired... seems like an over-rotation; especially when one back isn't matched up well to the opponent (see Powell not getting started due to lacking that first step quickness to get past the DL). TJ and Lindsay were effective, they should have been the primaries.

Speaking of RB rotation... why in God's green earth do we continue to use Lindsay in short yardage... seems like he gets bottled up every time (said "seems like" since I am sure there have been times he hasn't).

I really do not think fatigue is the reson. To see all 4 on distinct series with no subs appears more like a see which back is ready to play. It gives the impression there is a) a greater lack of or indecisive offensive game plan or b) the running backs are not being properly prepared mid week. Isn't LaRussa the position coach and dosent he have a multitude of other responsibilities as well?
 
I really do not think fatigue is the reson. To see all 4 on distinct series with no subs appears more like a see which back is ready to play. It gives the impression there is a) a greater lack of or indecisive offensive game plan or b) the running backs are not being properly prepared mid week. Isn't LaRussa the position coach and dosent he have a multitude of other responsibilities as well?

Very well could be... HCMM always 'coach-speaks' about having guys fresh and ready to go. Be great if one of the backs became a featured back - thought Powell was going to be the guy, but does seem like he can separate from the group.
 
This is OT but in the second series it seemed to me that Lindgren threw in the towel. It was a crappy series. 2 penalties resulted in 2nd and 20. Lindgren runs up the gut twice. Perhaps he was trying for field position but, I would have liked to see the team at least have a chance to make a first down.

The speed of USC was overwhelming. Perhaps the staff didn't want to put Sefo in the position to throw another int.

As to officiating, the rules favor offense now. Just look at the scores across the board. If I was an OC I would throw it almost every down.
 
They want to make sure none of them get tired... seems like an over-rotation; especially when one back isn't matched up well to the opponent (see Powell not getting started due to lacking that first step quickness to get past the DL). TJ and Lindsay were effective, they should have been the primaries.

Speaking of RB rotation... why in God's green earth do we continue to use Lindsay in short yardage... seems like he gets bottled up every time (said "seems like" since I am sure there have been times he hasn't).


Love Lindsay, but so agree with this misuse of talent. Wrong guy with our run blocking in that situation. Hell probably wrong play call also.
 
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