Mid 4th quarter ETSU rant

[LetsGoRoMo]

Just frustrated, so ignore if you would like. I can't understand why they can not get the o going. Is it all because of they young online?

Bryant, new coach and they put up points. Ccsu puts up points. Just year after year, can't score. Get down by by more than 10 and seems like it's over. ETSU is pretty good, but not great, have to be able get yards and points against a team like this.

Also, under banny penalties are a disaster. Game after game.

Hope they make a come back, but doubting it. ETSU is not much better than Duquesne or SFU.

Way too much talent on this team to be putting up these awful numbers on o.

 

[irish_buffalo]

Jimmy Walker has taken a beaten. I'm unsure how me walks to on Monday.

 

[irish_buffalo]

ETSU has given up 10, 52, 31, 23, & 56 points all year. Today they obviously held RMU to 3.

The 10 point game was against a 3-2 Division 2 Limestone.

Jimmy Walker was sacked 8 times. That is partially due to a young offensive line and the inability to establish any kind of run game so the defense can pin their ears back.

 

[jnbxu]

You can't run pro style offenses with college players. Hicks had more success with freshman and sophomore linemen in 2015. We have had only had 12 offensive touchdowns in 16 games running a pro style offense the last two years. Eastern Tennessee was no where near NDSU, yet no offense to speak of. The only offense was near the end of the game against a prevent defense. The offense needs to change or the result, will be no different the rest of the season.

 

[irish_buffalo]

A very successful coach years ago, when taking a new gig, said we cannot line-up in I-formation and beat people. We are out manned so we must get creative.

 

[LetsGoRoMo]

Something needs to change. The d played great and had some short fields to work with.

I know the line is young, and it was last year, and will be next year. Everyone knows that.

Just to me, seems like there is a ton of talent at the "skill" positions, too much to not be able to put up more points then we have been. Something needs to change. The other NEC teams (for the most part), are putting up points.

 

[jnbxu]

I agree with both irish_buffalo and LetsGoRoMo. It is not the talent level, it is the offensive(excuse the pun) schemes. The tight ends were not kept in until the last couple minutes of the game. This despite North Dakato State and ETSU blitzing the back side and continually sacking Jimmy. Two weeks to prepare and we were totally unprepared on offense. The offense really makes the defense stay on the field far to long, but they still have played extremely well given the turnovers of the offense and the short field position given the opponents.

 

[M4Fam]

Honestly I totally disagree with the scheme issue. It's experience and understanding which is self inflicted.

Last year you recruit OL that "started because they had too" they suffered growing pains and got better, not great but better, as the year progressed with no QB. This year you redshirt no one and start the next wave of Freshmen OL "because their that good" now we have a group of linemen all learning with no gap and plan for future growth, (again in my opinion this group hasn't set themselves apart from last year other than the Dayton win which was largely because of a QB with skills and a great defense)...see post on how SFU got there.
Couple that with backs missing blitz pickups because they are new to their roles as well...we got problems. Cole Blakes limited time in my opinion let's him get no game rhythm and settle in...that hurts. Dreher should be the change of pace and work into the starters role in the future, he has a lot to learn but is tremendously gifted.

Most times we got sacked was 4 on 5 or 5 on 5 there where only a few blitz packages. We have to win 1 on 1 up front. In the pass and running games. We don't move the line of scrimmage very well...that hurts

Catch the ball!!...THAT HURTS!

We run multiple defensive schemes with multiple blitzs, much the issue with 3-4 force defense is the long crossing routes, RB on late releases and WR/TE out routes because of soft coverage to prevent over the top. We have to stop these because we will see them again and again this year. It has exposed us.

Finally the penalties. OMG...the have killed drives on offense and extended defensive series beyond any words I could use to explain it.

We got a lot to clean up before we worry about the finite details of the game plan and offensive play calling/scheme... in my opinion.

 

[irish_buffalo]

I believe you are spot on when it comes to the offensive line. If I read you right, at some point, the youth movement needs to end.

Backs missing blitz pick-ups? Eh? not so sure. It really has more to do with not being able to establish ANY sort of run game. We tend to give up sacks more as the game goes on because we slowly move away from the run game (out of force) and Jimmy becomes a sitting duck to a defense pinning their ears back.

Catch the ball? How many drops did we have? I saw Tim miss one?

Here are three things I see. 1). We do not have the personnel to run a Pro-Style offense. I think we would struggle regardless but I think we could get slightly more creative playing to our talent. And beyond that few college teams CAN run Pro-Style offenses because they can recruit the 6'6 315 linemen, 6'5 260 TE, 6' 225 RB, 6'2+ WRs, and 6'5 QBs (Wisconsin, Stanford, Michigan). Personally I think our offense makes it very easy on a defense. We do not run any jet sweeps and bubbles or counters and zone read. Throwing downfield to 5'8 & 5'9 WRs is tough, no matter how good they are. 2). We go extremely slow. We run in plays (I think, if we signal it is slow), huddle up, and then rattle off a long cadence. From the time the play is called to the actual snap the defense can change their call 3 times. We do not tempo and there never seems to be sense of urgency. And 3). As OriginalRMC noted, our offense does not seem to be having ANY fun. It just looks like the kids are miserable.

Lastly, so you "totally disagree with the scheme issue" yet you are critiquing the defensive scheme? I just believe our defense is the least of our worries.

 

[M4Fam]

Drops-I'll go back and look but we dropped one down the sidelines in the second half. Dropped two to TE, one out of the backfield and Vecchio had 1. But he came back with a few catches.

The kids are miserable because we aren't being successful. Their athletes they want to succeed. Winning cures everything!!

Hard to run counters if you can't set them up between the tackles. Thought we tried jet sweeps and reverses at NDSU. We ran a Bone formation from the gun at NDSU that's not a pro scheme. Bubbles only work when you can set them up with down field plays pulling the DBs off the line and we can't protect long enough right now.

Three times we slid the line to protect and the back went with the slide and exposed the backside twice it resulted in sacks once Jimmy got rid of it but was nailed.

Size is relative to the Division you play in plenty of schools run pro style against like opponents. IUP, Edinboro and Slippery Rock run it in D2. We just have to move the line of scrimmage better.

I agree our tempo is lacking and not running well especially inside to set up things like counters is an issue I've had for sometime this season.

 

[M4Fam]

Missed the defense thing. I love the 3-4 and especially the way Farison runs it. Just stating the weakness of it and seeing that it's hitting us a few times to often right now.

Due no doubt to the amount of time and short fields the D has to play with almost all game.

 

[Original_RMC]

Great talking point by everyone. And as I read through the comments I started thinking..."hell, maybe it is the offense strategy?" "or maybe its our youth?" "Or maybe we are rushing the RMU youth movement too fast and expect too much."

Offensively I think what we are running is fine. We have a mix of old pro-style, west coast and spread attack. I think something that is missing is our home-run threat. The Dukes have it with AJ Hines and now QB Tommy Stuart. SFU has Kamron Lewis. CCSU even has Cameron Nash. RMU right now doesn't have a Tim Hall or Myles Russ or Rob Frazier or JT Kirk...etc. There is no true #1 guy that moves the offense along. And in time, perhaps someone will develop into that. I think the thought was that Dreher would walk onto the field and it would just happen. It hasn't but it might.
I know we have Walker and he is a good QB but any QB is only has good as his OL. If he doesn't have time to go through his progressions then the offense will not move the chains.
I agree that there needs to be more focus on getting the running game establish.

There is not much time to come up with something new. Its now time for the NEC season and it will start Saturday night with the Dukes. It will be a tough battle.

 

[irish_buffalo]

M4Fam, all great points. And I'm not saying we can't run a pro-style offense, but rather it is tougher than most when you do not have "the dudes" (especially upfront). Look, if everyone sticks around, and we build depth, yes, in two to three years we can run this offense. It will just be painful until that point.

Again, it is really tough to line up with double TE and run zone with 4 freshman and a sophomore on the line. And I understand it would be tough in any scheme as well. I also think Blake and Dreher are very good. They have eased a lot of the pain we saw last year.

Bottom line, as LetsGoRMU pointed out, we had two weeks of practice to prepare and came up with 3 points against a defense that gives up points. That is tough to swallow regardless the reason. We live in an offensive era. Everyone scores points.

 

[LetsGoRoMo]

As mentioned great convo. I would say I think it is fair for us to expect more. It has been years since the O has even been close to the level of the D. I won't say anymore right now about it, but there are lots of examples with new coaching teams turn things around quickly.

I like ormc find myself going back and forth, the o would probably work great if the execution was better, but leads me to the thought is using your system and forcing players into it, or having your players dictate what system you run.

Hell Bill Walsh ran the wing t one half of one game (strike year) because he had a QB that could run it.

 

[jnbxu]

I guess it is obvious that it is both our offense and our youth. We do not have the experience or the personnel at this point in time to run a pro style offense. It was the same problem last year and now has carried over to this year. You can take skilled players and they can be very successful as freshman, even if they are not red shirted. Offensive lineman take much longer to develop. There is a tremendous difference in offensive lineman physically from freshman year to senior year. Several of the FBS colleges take detailed photographs of all their freshman and then again when they are seniors. They then show the players how much they have developed in four or five years. The difference is really startling.

 

[GoRMU]

Congrats to Mike Lamb on being special teams player of the week.

Could someone please explain to me why our most experienced offensive lineman is playing defense and special teams when we could so desperately use an experienced, physically mature player on the OL? If Ty Blake or someone else answered this weeks ago, I apologize, but moving Mike to DL when the need is so great at OL is hard for me to understand.

 

[jnbxu]

Great point! That defies explanation. My guess is he wasn't going to start on offense, and coach Farison went to either coach Banazak or coach Miller and said he would take Lamb if they weren't going to start him on offense, and he is now playing and happy, which he wasn't previously. We need a left tackle of his size to protect the blind side of the quarterback, which certainly has been lacking. Where are all the talented freshman wide receiver's that were recruited? We would have been much better to bring in more offensive lineman as the last two years we could not have a spring game because too many offensive lineman were injured. I would bet we will see the same offense against Duquesne, we have had the last two years, i.e not much. 12 offensive touchdowns in the last 17 games would put us at the bottom of all FCS teams.