Toledo is a 4th down team

BGSU33 · Post by **BGSU33** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 8:04 pm

One thing I have noticed, and hopefully our coaching staff has as well, is in Toledo's last two games (against Miami and Northern Illinois), the Rockets were going for it on fourth down.....A LOT! I'm talking about fourth downs time and time again from all over the field, no matter the time of game or yard line! It was fourth down and deep in their own end, and not late in the game, and those guys were going for it. It was fourth down deep in their opponents end, and they were going for it. Our defensive philosophy of "bending but not breaking" might be useful for three downs, but the way UT goes for it on fourth down lately, we might have to make a little adjustment.

BG must be ready and prepared for Toledo's offense on any and every possession no matter what the down and distance is. Because fourth down for them no matter where they might be could mean they are going for it. FYI, they also made most of those fourth down attempts.

rc_ziggy84 · Post by **rc_ziggy84** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 8:16 pm

Marshall tried on 4th down against us and did not have much success.

***edit they were 0/3***

orangeandbrown · Post by **orangeandbrown** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:09 pm

On the NIU game, they said Stutz doesn't trust his kicking game, and thinks it puts psychological pressure on the D, since they are conditioned to 3 and out. They will go for it a lot Tuesday, is my guess. Our job is to stop them, and make them pay.

redhawkforlife · Post by **redhawkforlife** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:16 pm

They did go for a lot of 4th downs against us. I wonder if it is due to a lack of good special teams as a unit or a bad punter? At first I thought it might have been b/c we have a good return man in Ryne, but like you said, they do this to everyone regardless of field position.

Some of it may be psychological too. If they are successful (60-75%) on their first couple drives w/o giving up points in return, Tom I. Amfatz may use it his advantage. Expect a lot conversion attempts coupled with the fact they are at home, have their "astroturf", and are attempting to win the MAC West. All I know is, it will be a great game on Tuesday and I can't wait to watch. I expect a score of about 45-35 BGSU. It should be a barn-burner.

redhawkforlife · Post by **redhawkforlife** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:17 pm

Orangeand Brown, you wrote exactly what I was thinking (and consequently wrote). Seperated at birth? Probably not.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 8:33 am

Actually, Toledo's punter got hurt and they do not have a decent backup. The couple times they did punt against NIU, they used their kicker, with not very good results. So given the choices of punting for maybe a net gain of 20 yards and going for it on fourth down with their offense, letting the offense try to pick it up has been the correct choice.