Rollo83 wrote:It happened on the last play Matt was in for late in the 4th quarter of the WKU game. He got sacked and it happened on that play. He was OK after the game but it started to bother him the next day. All night bus ride probably didn't help.
I know an injury can happen at any time during the game, but we were questioning as to why we had starters out there at that point in the game when we clearly we going to lose. Blowouts and being blown out are perfect times to get your reserves in for snaps and reps. Does anyone know exactly what happened to his hip?
We have a new offense that clearly needed more live practice time. I would have had him in too. Nothing to complain about there for me.
I don't just mean Johnson in that case, I mean ALL your #2's at that point. You'll never get a better time than to give them game experience - in an actual game. And when Knapke did come in, he only handed off, he never attempted a pass. I thought the same thing years ago when Turner had to come in to replace Jacobs. We always let Turner hand off and never pass and when Jacobs went down vs WMU, Turner looked lost.
The information that Johnson was injured in the fourth quarter is incorrect. FWIW.
I remember him getting up slow and being hobbled going to the sidelines. Can't place when it was. The entire game to me is a blur now that I'm trying to forget.
I know exactly what play it was then. It was when a WKU player had wrapped up Johnson by his one leg. Johnson was trying to pull it loose to escape when he got hit by another player up high and brought down. When he got up he was limping and limped off to the sideline.
Also, about our backup situation now, I'm not going to elaborate any further on this but I was informed by someone inside the program (yeah I know - everyone has a "source," right....but it's true whether you want to believe it or not, take it for what it's worth) that if we lost Johnson at his position that we would be very much in "trouble." Now, that doesn't mean that Knapke can't come out and prove himself, but we'd all be kidding ourselves if we didn't think this was a major concern for us right now at the position. All we can do now is let him play, see what he can do, pull for him to do well and hopefully he does.
As for Callaway, I had the opportunity to actually watch him play twice last year in person. He played in a system in high school that is much more suited for what Baber's is running than what Clawson did, that is for sure. He had a very nice arm and I was again informed by that same person that he actually has a better arm than Knapke. That said, he also missed the spring and has zero experience where Knapke at least got a little last year and has basically been our number two in the spring and up until this point. I believe Callaway could have a bright future in this offense but it goes without saying that he just isn't ready as a true frosh who missed the spring and wasn't even taking number two snaps in camp.
I guess the wildcard in this would've been the likelihood of Nolan Dieter entering the mix, but judging by the fact that Callaway has leapfrogged him at this point probably answers where things stand with that.
I'm just hoping that Knapke goes out there and plays his ass off. And while I don't foresee it happening, I would love to be wrong and see him go out and do what Johnson did last year.
Rollo83 wrote:It happened on the last play Matt was in for late in the 4th quarter of the WKU game. He got sacked and it happened on that play. He was OK after the game but it started to bother him the next day. All night bus ride probably didn't help.
I know an injury can happen at any time during the game, but we were questioning as to why we had starters out there at that point in the game when we clearly we going to lose. Blowouts and being blown out are perfect times to get your reserves in for snaps and reps. Does anyone know exactly what happened to his hip?
We have a new offense that clearly needed more live practice time. I would have had him in too. Nothing to complain about there for me.
I don't just mean Johnson in that case, I mean ALL your #2's at that point. You'll never get a better time than to give them game experience - in an actual game. And when Knapke did come in, he only handed off, he never attempted a pass. I thought the same thing years ago when Turner had to come in to replace Jacobs. We always let Turner hand off and never pass and when Jacobs went down vs WMU, Turner looked lost.
A reference to Anthony Turner and no "Macman" piling on with some anti-Turner comment?
If we get the VMI game in hand, is it worth putting Calloway in there in the third or fourth quarter to give him some reps? I would. But there are a number of ways to look at this.
At this point, I don't think if it is realistic to think we are going to get through this season without putting Calloway in there at some point -- even if only when Knapke takes a hard sack and needs to time to get his head together. With that in mind, we might well put him sooner rather than later and start getting him comfortable with the speed of Division I football.
Schadenfreude wrote:If we get the VMI game in hand, is it worth putting Calloway in there in the third or fourth quarter to give him some reps? I would. But there are a number of ways to look at this.
At this point, I don't think if it is realistic to think we are going to get through this season without putting Calloway in there at some point -- even if only when Knapke takes a hard sack and needs to time to get his head together. With that in mind, we might well put him sooner rather than later and start getting him comfortable with the speed of Division I football.
I'd say no because you want to get your starter as much time as possible against a team that he is likely to have success against.
This is Knapke's 3rd year in the program. He's had 3 1/2 less quarters of game experience in this offense as Johnson. He was (and presumably still is) talented enough to be recruited and given a scholarship by the previous staff at the most important position on the team. He also was good enough to at least be mentioned in the quarterback derby before when it was between him, Schilz and Johnson. Those factors have to count for something.
You'd also think the rest of the offense will see the need to elevate their level of play and not rely exclusively on Johnson to bail them out and do something spectacular.
Having VMI at home next is probably about the best thing we could have for Knapke this weekend. Let him make his first start, let him play a full game and let him get comfortable. We will all get a chance to see what he can do.
If he can go out the next two weeks against a pair of Big Ten teams, especially Wisconsin on the road, and hang in there and do a good job it would be a huge shot in the arm for this team. Win or lose in those games, if he can go out there and execute and we avoid a severe drop off at the position, if would be huge.
I also expect to see us trying to run the ball more now. We have a stable of running backs and we obviously aren't going to put the entire offense on Knapke's shoulders. I expect to see our running game a bigger part now and the rest of the season.
Knapke has a cannon and we have guys like Lewis, Dieter and Moore who can get open deep..Lewis and Dieter are size mismatches for most DB's....let's not play it conservative and power it downfield.
It's not the fall that hurts...it's when you hit the ground.
Flipper wrote:Knapke has a cannon and we have guys like Lewis, Dieter and Moore who can get open deep..Lewis and Dieter are size mismatches for most DB's....let's not play it conservative and power it downfield.
I agree. Knapke will be very hard pressed to replace the "magic" that Matt Johnson brought to the table when given his shot last year, but he does have some physical traits that set him above the rest. I hope they're prepared to use those traits and tailor some things to his skillset. He's got big time arm, I hope we see it on display Saturday...especially against an opponent that we should be able to handle.
BGSU33 wrote:I know exactly what play it was then. It was when a WKU player had wrapped up Johnson by his one leg. Johnson was trying to pull it loose to escape when he got hit by another player up high and brought down. When he got up he was limping and limped off to the sideline.
Also, about our backup situation now, I'm not going to elaborate any further on this but I was informed by someone inside the program (yeah I know - everyone has a "source," right....but it's true whether you want to believe it or not, take it for what it's worth) that if we lost Johnson at his position that we would be very much in "trouble." Now, that doesn't mean that Knapke can't come out and prove himself, but we'd all be kidding ourselves if we didn't think this was a major concern for us right now at the position. All we can do now is let him play, see what he can do, pull for him to do well and hopefully he does.
As for Callaway, I had the opportunity to actually watch him play twice last year in person. He played in a system in high school that is much more suited for what Baber's is running than what Clawson did, that is for sure. He had a very nice arm and I was again informed by that same person that he actually has a better arm than Knapke. That said, he also missed the spring and has zero experience where Knapke at least got a little last year and has basically been our number two in the spring and up until this point. I believe Callaway could have a bright future in this offense but it goes without saying that he just isn't ready as a true frosh who missed the spring and wasn't even taking number two snaps in camp.
I guess the wildcard in this would've been the likelihood of Nolan Dieter entering the mix, but judging by the fact that Callaway has leapfrogged him at this point probably answers where things stand with that.
I'm just hoping that Knapke goes out there and plays his ass off. And while I don't foresee it happening, I would love to be wrong and see him go out and do what Johnson did last year.
Nolan Dieter didn't even make the trip to KY so I don't think he is going to be out there anytime soon.
kdog27 wrote:I remember him getting up slow and being hobbled going to the sidelines. Can't place when it was. The entire game to me is a blur now that I'm trying to forget.
I mentioned this play on the other Johnson thread..didn't look good but he came back in so I kind of forgot about it....obviously shows what a tough kid he is....as I said in other thread, Mr. Knapke you've some big shoes to fill.
One other thing that annoyed me was putting Knapke in to only hand off in late moments of game.. Same thing happened last yr. IIRC. Seems like " ok, we give in" instead of letting him throw the ball.
Education our Challenge, Excellence our goal. (look it up)
kdog27 wrote:I remember him getting up slow and being hobbled going to the sidelines. Can't place when it was. The entire game to me is a blur now that I'm trying to forget.
I mentioned this play on the other Johnson thread..didn't look good but he came back in so I kind of forgot about it....obviously shows what a tough kid he is....as I said in other thread, Mr. Knapke you've some big shoes to fill.
One other thing that annoyed me was putting Knapke in to only hand off in late moments of game.. Same thing happened last yr. IIRC. Seems like " ok, we give in" instead of letting him throw the ball.
No doubt, I was thinking the same thing. Johnson played the majority of that game with a hip fracture. That's a warrior and a kid that has a real passion to compete. He not only played, but played well. His numbers were good, but would have been a lot bit better if not for some drops by receivers. I just hope he can fully heal and come back as good or better than ever. We are very fotunate to have him. I can't recall him playing a truly bad game since he has been given the job. Even when his numbers have not been spectacular, he is still a leader on the field and does a great job of running the offense. He seems to be the kind of guy that makes players around him want to play better. Hopefully, we will see that same trait from Knapke.
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