Grossly missused. This O-line has talent and lots of it. It also has three guys starting who are first year starters and only one who is even a junior.
What are their strengths, big, strong, mobile, weaknesses, inexperienced lacking in the coordination that comes from playing a lot together.
What does Hawk do? He tries to run a bunch of stuff that requires them to string out and coordinate, he doesn't run straight ahead taking advantage of their strengths and instead highlights their deficiencies. Add to this a bunch of slow developing plays with the slowest of all our backs and the line is bound to look bad.
Passing game same thing, highly predictable make it easy for CSU to take advantage of the lines inexperience.
Coaching screwed this one up bad.
I was so so so so hoping we would RUN 75% of the time, control the clock.I don't know that I can judge the offensive line based on tonight. We threw the ball like 75% of the time.
I don't know that I can judge the offensive line based on tonight. We threw the ball like 75% of the time.
The FREAK of nature solder gave up a sack and miller and givens did NOTHING. As usual, all talk no action from CU.
Adkins gave up at least two sacks. CSU's miller was making him look like a pop warner player.
You know... Now that I think about it, the O-line being bad shouldn't surprise us. I mean look back last year before the injuries, we were just average, didn't dominate anyone or create any big wholes for the Running Backs. Stewart usually had to shake a guy to get free and Scott just got stuck at the LOS. I don't know why I got so excited for this year's O-line, they're the same guys from last year, and those(these) guys don't look so good.
What are their strengths, big, strong, mobile, weaknesses, inexperienced lacking in the coordination that comes from playing a lot together.
I don't know that I can judge the offensive line based on tonight. We threw the ball like 75% of the time.
Can you tell/show me what you saw that leads you to believe they were big, strong, and mobile? Did they pop up off the ground really quickly after getting road-graded? Our O line is an example of being over hyped leading into the season..just like pre-season rankings...it's all hype.
I don't know that I can judge the offensive line based on tonight. We threw the ball like 75% of the time.
This was absolutely the most dissapointing part of the game to me. I thought we would line up and run it. I know they are young, but my god I felt we would be able to at least push the d-line around some. Where was the 2 back set as well.
sad that this had to be a negative post, cause the quality is top notch. Love this place during football season! RepI tend to focus on the O-line, that's where I played mostly until my knees wouldn't hold up. It is easy to criticize the O-line play last night because like virtually every other aspect of the game it stunk. That said in watching individual players each of our starters is very mobile as O-linemen go with good straight ahead speed and better than average lateral movement. All have big frames although clearly Solder, Daniels, and especially Givens need to put on some more weight, muscle would be best but even some fat would help just to make them heavier loads.
Hawkings put the O-line in a near impossible position last night. The running game was almost all based on running laterally before turning up meaning that the O-line had to get off the ball, move laterally, then turn up and try to create space against a D-line that was quicker on the ends and very experienced in the middle. He insisted on doing this with the tailback who is least able at this type of running and was constantly late to the hole or running into guys because thats where the hole was supposed to be. Hawk played to CSU's strength. Later in the game when we were way behind it was a clear passrush situation, the D-linemen knew what was coming every play and didn't even respect the run, an almost impossible situation even for an experienced line. It doesn't help that because of his lack of height and arm strength Cody requires a bigger pocket as he doesn't pass well with guys near him.
The constant changing of personel was also a factor, you have a young O-line that is basically playing together for real for the first time and they are constantly having to adapt to different personel around them along with a game plan that had no continuity. They could never get a rythum the entire night.
The other big factor was that the biggest advantage that an O-linemen has other than knowing the play (already negated by Hawk) is knowing the snap count. This gives an O-lineman a half step advantage on a guy who may be quicker like the CSU ends or bigger like the CSU tackles and is much more free to use his hands to grab and hold. Because of the Chinese fire drill going on every play with changing personel and the seeming lack of ability to call a play it seemed like every snap was coming with zero on the play clock. It was clear that CSU picked up on that and knew that the snap had to come on the count and thus they had the half step advantage not the Buff O-linemen.
Simply put, Hawk put them in a position where they had no chance to succeed.
I tend to focus on the O-line, that's where I played mostly until my knees wouldn't hold up. It is easy to criticize the O-line play last night because like virtually every other aspect of the game it stunk. That said in watching individual players each of our starters is very mobile as O-linemen go with good straight ahead speed and better than average lateral movement. All have big frames although clearly Solder, Daniels, and especially Givens need to put on some more weight, muscle would be best but even some fat would help just to make them heavier loads.
Hawkings put the O-line in a near impossible position last night. The running game was almost all based on running laterally before turning up meaning that the O-line had to get off the ball, move laterally, then turn up and try to create space against a D-line that was quicker on the ends and very experienced in the middle. He insisted on doing this with the tailback who is least able at this type of running and was constantly late to the hole or running into guys because thats where the hole was supposed to be. Hawk played to CSU's strength. Later in the game when we were way behind it was a clear passrush situation, the D-linemen knew what was coming every play and didn't even respect the run, an almost impossible situation even for an experienced line. It doesn't help that because of his lack of height and arm strength Cody requires a bigger pocket as he doesn't pass well with guys near him.
The constant changing of personel was also a factor, you have a young O-line that is basically playing together for real for the first time and they are constantly having to adapt to different personel around them along with a game plan that had no continuity. They could never get a rythum the entire night.
The other big factor was that the biggest advantage that an O-linemen has other than knowing the play (already negated by Hawk) is knowing the snap count. This gives an O-lineman a half step advantage on a guy who may be quicker like the CSU ends or bigger like the CSU tackles and is much more free to use his hands to grab and hold. Because of the Chinese fire drill going on every play with changing personel and the seeming lack of ability to call a play it seemed like every snap was coming with zero on the play clock. It was clear that CSU picked up on that and knew that the snap had to come on the count and thus they had the half step advantage not the Buff O-linemen.
Simply put, Hawk put them in a position where they had no chance to succeed.