What disapoints me most about the BC game

[JoeFalcon]

The only think I am worried about is all the stupid penalties. We have seen some dumb penalties in each game this season and in my mind those need to stop for us to be successful in the MAC. We are 1-0 in the MAC and in the drivers seat in the east.

That's one bad trait Brandon inherited from Meyer.

Florida was 104th nationally in penalties last year and 103rd this year

[hammb]

We can come out of this ok if we run our O the way it needs to be run.

Yeah, that was definitely not our offense out there.

There was no running and no deep passing (until the 3rd quarter), which meant all the defenders were concentrated in the middle of the field to stop the short and intermediate passes. It's pretty easy to gameplan when you only attack such a narrow area.

That has been our offense all season long. We don't throw downfield, and we don't run the ball...it's all short crossing patterns and quick hitters. The only way we get big pass plays is by piling up yards after the catch, and when your QB isn't hitting your guys in stride you won't get those yards either.

The offensive gameplan was the same as what it has been all season. It's not what I would do, but it's what we've been running all season. The gameplan was also not the problem...we had guys open and missed them a LOT today. Execution was very poor.

I was thinking more along the lines of our offense since Brandon got here in 2001. From 2001-2005 there was some semblance of balance to keep defenses off-balance and guessing.

2006 was all running and 2007 is all passing. The former didn't work and I don't think the latter will in the long run. We need to loosen up the defense and not get the middle as clogged up as it was today.

In that regard I agree. I'm big on balance. Brandon doesn't agree with me (us?)

[Schadenfreude]

It almost seemed like we were in "conservative keep everyone healthy" mode. I don't think they wanted to open the play book very much.

I agree that the playbook didn't seem much expanded today. But I don't mean that as a criticism. I think, offensively, they stuck to a game plan that could have worked. Then -- I'm not going to sugar coat it -- Sheehan melted down, and it very quickly reached the point at which there was no point in trying much new.

We can only speculate, but if Bowling Green was hanging around at the end of two or three quarters, I wonder if Brandon would have tried a couple of new things.

I guess this works out pretty well. We might be able to surprise Miami a bit this weekend with a few new wrinkles.

Finally: I'm tired of hearing everyone insist we need to run the ball. Why?

If our players executed today, and with some defense, we could have won that game throwing all day. Passing, generally, has been working for us. And I've seen very little evidence this season that we can pound the ball, particularly out of the formations that, presumably, make our passing attack so effective.

Sisyphus, if he had a choice, wouldn't have kept pushing that boulder up the hill. Running, for us, is pushing the boulder up hill. So why mess with it? Especially against a Top 10 team?

[MACMAN]

of course. I know it doesn't matter, all that matters is winning the MAC, but today that feels like saying we can still win the JV, because clearly this team can't play with the varsity team.

All in all, I'm not too worried about this team going forward. More than anything, we beat ourselves with unnecessary penalties and offensive mistakes. We went up against a good team, got smacked in the mouth, and thats that. We were all hoping for a better showing, but we got what we got, and the coaches got some valuable film to illustrate some of the finer points that need to be worked on going into conference play.

Biggest positive note - the team never laid down, on either side of the ball. That made me happy.

Personally i knew we were in trouble when the anouncers stated the GB wanted our o to keep the BC o off the field...that is not BG football and trying to constrain the passing to the shorts when the deep was open is just as bad for us as trying to play clock controll.

Back off for a day..regroup and get back at it...for CHRIST sake play the rapid fire style O that we do so well with..no more of this..."oh your 320lb gaurd is tired..here enjoy us using the whole play clock so his fat ass can crawl off the field..there are ou ready now to get after us again" NO MORE!!!!!

[hammb]

Finally: I'm tired of hearing everyone insist we need to run the ball. Why?

1. A balanced attack keeps the defense off guard. The DL can no longer pin their ears back and rush the passer every play. Having a running game allows the use of playaction which can open things up downfield and buy extra time for the QB in the pocket. When you pass (or run) such a large percentage of the time you take away your chance at deceiving the defense and just rely on the scheme & execution.

2. Runs are never errant passes.
3. Runs never result in dropped passes. Yes these things are both discussed in execution, but there has never been a player that made every throw perfect, nor a receiver that caught every ball thrown his way.

4. Running allows you to shorten the game and keep your defense off the field. If it is a weak unit why make them defend more plays than necessary?

5. Running the ball with a lead allows you to milk the clock and hold onto that lead.

6. Running the ball is MUCH less risky on short yardage situations.

7. Running the ball can also help protect a young QB if he gets rattled.

If we cannot run the ball out of the formations that we are throwing from then Gregg Brandon's staff has screwed something up. When Meyer got here one of the things he stretched was how you could run from these formations because you had already stretched the defense thin horizontally. The Lanes should open up for the running game. I do believe that the offense is better suited to a more mobile QB, but still PJ had no problems running from these formations in '04 with a less than mobile Jacobs at QB.

Running the ball would likely not have helped today, but today was a good taste of what happens when you depend on perfection from your QB. Most teams would come out and take some pressure of their QB by running the ball after he throws a pick 6.

I still think this team will need to develop a running game if they're going to go as far as we hope they are.

[Schadenfreude]

Having a running game

Here's the thing: We don't seem to have a running game.

So, if we don't have a running game, I say don't run (much).

[zeket10]

hammb and many others including myself have been saying this since the Michigan State game, and looks like Brandon and McCall don't read the message boards