Omar: personal improvement plan

[Schadenfreude]

We just saw what was arguably the worst game of Omar's career (the only argument being Northern Illinois, 2004).

One thing that jumps out at me is Omar's reluctance to run the ball. There was more than one occasion last night where he could have easily run for a first down and instead elected to throw (and, too often, his throws were off; I'll let others debate how much of this was Omar just having a bad night or the fact that Boise knocked off his timing with their rush.)

In the pregame show, Gregg Brandon said Ball State dropped nine people into coverage multiple times, and that Omar is going to have to learn when to run with it.

I see the point.

Those who know football better than I do say the spread works best when you have a quarterback who is a threat to run the ball.

Omar, right now, is not a threat. He seems to have the tools to run, but he just doesn't seem to in situations where it could help.

It may be that Omar is so busy paying attention to the defenders immediately around him and looking downfield that he just doesn't see when a lane is open immediately in front of him.

And it is hurting our offense.

We may have another argument for Omar to stay in school another year. This running thing, in my mind, is something he need to work on.

And he sure will have the chance this season. Teams are going to continue to drop eight or nine people into coverage and challenge Omar to throw.

I didn't start this thread to bash on Omar, because that would be silly. He's a fantastic quarterback.

But I think this is a part of his game that needs work.

[hammb]

I agree with you Schad. Omar is not yet ready to go to the NFL, IMO.

I don't want to bash Omar either, but he still does not display the "it" factor of Josh Harris either. He really needs to step up and show some leadership during a game like last night's. It's great that he's such a quiet, humble guy, but on the field, I would prefer him to take command. You like your QB to get in some people's faces when things start to go poorly, I didn't see that last night.

Certainly Omar is a fantastic QB...one of the best college QBs I've seen. He definitely is not immune from criticism, however.

[Dayons_Den]

Not sure if this is the thread to do it or not, but I haven't heard many people's thoughts on Anthony Turner under center?

We used him like PJ at Toledo last year, but should he have played more? Will he be more in the mold of Harris- burn you with his feet then catch the open guy when Defenses try to stop the run?

Maybe Omar needs Turner to play a few series like Omar did at Ball State Josh's senior year. . .

[rocketfootball]

Don't take this the wrong way, but as an outsider I wonder if Omar not running the ball when no one is open is because he is a little hesitant of the possibility of getting hurt and ruining his NFL career. Does anyone know if he took insurance out? If not, that could be in the back of his mind.

[Flipper]

They were dropping seven and eight into coverage a ton last night. A more instinctive runner like Turner would have taken advantage of that.

Omar shares a charateristic Brian McClure had. McClure believed he could complete every throw he saw, so he used to force a lot of balls. He didn't have Omar's arm, so his gambling usually resulted in an INT.

I got the sense last night that Omar refused to believe that BSU could actually stop him.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

I felt the same way Flip. Did you notice that when he had the 15 yard scramble on 2nd and a mile? He looked faaaast. Maybe they should lock him in a room with clips of Zabransky from last year.

Even for a less mobile QB, the line of thinking in our O should be #1 rec, #2 rec, #3 rec, Get the hell outta dodge.

[rocketfootball]

Omar has 9 yards rushing on 15 attempts (6 were sacks though so really 9 attempts and a few more yards rushing when you take out the sack yardage) through 3 games this year. Last year he had 300 yards rushing on 95 attempts......well he was sacked 13 times so on 82 attempts.

Something is different this year. Last year he was willing to run. This year he is not.

[hammb]

He forced a LOT of balls last night, Flip. In my mind he threw about 3-4 INTs, but was totally bailed out by Boise's dropsies.

I'm not going to totally discount your theory rocketfootball. It is a distinct possibility, I hope he took out an insurance policy, but even those don't do a good job helping a player recoup what he lost, it just lessens the financial blow a touch.

[edr4225]

Omar, right now, is not a threat. He seems to have the tools to run, but he just doesn't seem to in situations where it could help.

It may be that Omar is so busy paying attention to the defenders immediately around him and looking downfield that he just doesn't see when a lane is open immediately in front of him.

And it is hurting our offense.
.

I agree with this point, Omar has all the tools to be an excellent dual threat QB because the first thing that i noticed about him when he came to bg was that he was faster than Josh harris. Omar has good speed for a QB and can really hurt defenses by using his feeet. And like Schadenfreude said, the defense are respecting his ability to throw the football and are dropping back more defenders, which means that he needs to see the open lanes and run. There were a few occassions last night were he decided to throw, but had open field in front of him. For example, take a look at vince young, i know omar isnt as fast as vince and vince doesnt throw as good as omar, but vince does a great job of knowing when to run to get the first down. Once, Omar realizes that he needs to use his athletic ability more, then i think we will be more effective because these defenses have made an adjustment.

go falcons

[Schadenfreude]

I hope he took out an insurance policy, but even those don't do a good job helping a player recoup what he lost, it just lessens the financial blow a touch.

I see where you are going, and it crossed my mind before I posted, too. But I don't want to go here, speaking for myself. It seems completely unfair based on what we know.

[1987alum]

I don't want to bash Omar either, but he still does not display the "it" factor of Josh Harris either. He really needs to step up and show some leadership during a game like last night's. It's great that he's such a quiet, humble guy, but on the field, I would prefer him to take command. You like your QB to get in some people's faces when things start to go poorly, I didn't see that last night.

You know, I don't recall Josh being an in-your-face guy or being incredibly animated. I only got to see him play twice in person, though. Yet, I always got the sense, if that's possible, that he was grabbing the offense or the team by the scruff of its neck and bringing it to its feet, then pushing it toward the finish line.

[BelieveNBG]

Josh would just start running the ball and the momentum would carry over. I think there are times when Omar needs to let his feet do the work and get the chains moving. I think the rest of the offense will feed off of his momentum. Instead, Omar looked uncomfortable and unsure. The offense can see this in their leader and then they too become uncomfortable and unsure. I saw very little fire out of any of the offense last night, except for glimpses from Chuck and Steve.

[FalconFanKM]

I agree... I did see him hesitate a couple times. I think i saw one time he pumped faked 2 times in a row... he knows he can make the throws... he just needs to execute

[kdog27]

Not sure if this is the thread to do it or not, but I haven't heard many people's thoughts on Anthony Turner under center?

We used him like PJ at Toledo last year, but should he have played more? Will he be more in the mold of Harris- burn you with his feet then catch the open guy when Defenses try to stop the run?

Maybe Omar needs Turner to play a few series like Omar did at Ball State Josh's senior year. . .

Anybody else notice that it looked like BJ lane/PJ Pope moved in slow motion compared to Anthony Turner/Bobby Thomas. They actually exploded through the holes instead of waiting for one to develop. Maybe it was just the lack of competitiion out there at that point but those two actually played fast. BJ Lane and PJ Pope are fast but they are not playing like it. Just look at Lane's kickoff returns. Thomas has a little of that Rashaun Stover explosiveness we saw glimpses of.

[always a falcon]

Don't take this the wrong way, but as an outsider I wonder if Omar not running the ball when no one is open is because he is a little hesitant of the possibility of getting hurt and ruining his NFL career. Does anyone know if he took insurance out? If not, that could be in the back of his mind.

He's got insurance. I was told on Tuesday evening during a wide ranging discussion amongst the faithful at Boise.