vs. South Alabama

[roguewarrior]

We do have explosive receivers to run the spread. You just have only watched them run long developing routes, that lead to a sack or jail break….. have we seen a bubble screen or 3 step slant in the last two years? They practiced it in spring, threatening to move the ball around…. But that is shelved.

[BGSU33]

Loeffler said in his press conference the spread out offense we ran with success against TN is not the main way forward but rather the only way of success against that defense. So for this game I'm looking forward to a) will we see more power sets than spread sets and b) will it work when not going up against an SEC size and caliber defensive front seven.

I'm sorry but this is quite possibly the stupidest thing I've heard a coach say in quite awhile.

We did this one thing and actually resulted in some success. But we won't do that against other teams, because they're not as good as our opponent last week.

WTF?

POWER FOOTBALL IS DEAD. Get the eff over it coach, and move on. IF you can't move on in your philosophy then please move the hell on in your career. This is simply ridiculous.

For a couple drives there in the 2nd quarter I ALMOST thought we had an offensive coach on staff that had seen offensive football in the past decade. Guess not.

I agree with you man. Your entire post sums up my exact thoughts too after I heard that. Just baffling…

[jpfalcon09]

Jags message board for anyone interested:

https://247sports.com/college/south-ala ... 45/?page=1

[roguewarrior]

Jags message board for anyone interested:

https://247sports.com/college/south-ala ... 45/?page=1

Embarrassing we are indeed.

The question was posed “ when will we know” re the Loeffler reign.

When he said we will not run what worked against Tennessee was my last straw. Behind the scenes, they are a decent staff. On the field, the offense will never work. He may have some ego issue to prove how smart he is…. The wait will be somewhere between 2 years and forever until you have the right players in place to run this steam engine offense.

[Flipper]

One of the early criticisms of a spread offense was that it was too simple and "schoolyard" to be successful long term. The flip side to that is it's an offense you can run to hide issues with the line....initially it was viewed as a gimmick offense... a quick fix. We haven't won a game in a really long time. Give me a quick fix....

[mbenecke]

One of the early criticisms of a spread offense was that it was too simple and "schoolyard" to be successful long term. The flip side to that is it's an offense you can run to hide issues with the line....initially it was viewed as a gimmick offense... a quick fix. We haven't won a game in a really long time. Give me a quick fix....

The next win will be the first since November 2, 2019 against Akron.

[jpfalcon09]

Jags message board for anyone interested:

https://247sports.com/college/south-ala ... 45/?page=1

Embarrassing we are indeed.

The question was posed “ when will we know” re the Loeffler reign.

When he said we will not run what worked against Tennessee was my last straw. Behind the scenes, they are a decent staff. On the field, the offense will never work. He may have some ego issue to prove how smart he is…. The wait will be somewhere between 2 years and forever until you have the right players in place to run this steam engine offense.

We'll see how long he sticks to that theory. If the O-line can't block on Saturday he'll have no choice but to revert back to what did work at UT.

I thought it was interesting too that Scot said he relinquished playcalling duties this year to Terry Malone, but the TV broadcast showed him consistently calling in plays to McDonald. So which is it? Does he not trust Terry enough to run the offense? I agree, sounds like an ego play.

I guess we'll see what happens this weekend, but the square peg, round hole theory is starting to gain some traction with me.

[pdt1081]

Jags message board for anyone interested:

https://247sports.com/college/south-ala ... 45/?page=1

Embarrassing we are indeed.

The question was posed “ when will we know” re the Loeffler reign.

When he said we will not run what worked against Tennessee was my last straw. Behind the scenes, they are a decent staff. On the field, the offense will never work. He may have some ego issue to prove how smart he is…. The wait will be somewhere between 2 years and forever until you have the right players in place to run this steam engine offense.

Could also be coach's speak. Let's face it, the out of conference games mean diddly this season. So you throw out this "that's not the offense we're gonna run," and do something different against a so-called "lower" non-conference team. Do you really want your opponent to know exactly what you're going to do? You always have that other offense to fall back on at certain times.

[MarkL]

Just curious for anyone who has been to fall practices. What did the offense look like? Was it the multiple look offense that Loeffler has talked about? Or more the pass happy outside attacking offense against Tennessee? And was it efficient, explosive, or what? Just wondering if we're all getting worked up over ... nothing at all. Or if the panic is rather justified.

Regardless I'll see it in a few days.

[jpfalcon09]

Just curious for anyone who has been to fall practices. What did the offense look like? Was it the multiple look offense that Loeffler has talked about? Or more the pass happy outside attacking offense against Tennessee? And was it efficient, explosive, or what? Just wondering if we're all getting worked up over ... nothing at all. Or if the panic is rather justified.

Regardless I'll see it in a few days.

At the season ticket holder scrimmage, the offense was pretty pedestrian. I think there were a total of two passes thrown over 15 yards simply because the offensive line couldn't sustain blocks. 11 and 12 personnel most of the time, only recall seeing 4 WR sets maybe once or twice? There were moments where the offense clicked in the passing game with the TEs, but like I said not much of a downfield effort was made. Bear in mind this was really the first live action practice the team had this fall.

[hammb]

Jags message board for anyone interested:

https://247sports.com/college/south-ala ... 45/?page=1

Embarrassing we are indeed.

The question was posed “ when will we know” re the Loeffler reign.

When he said we will not run what worked against Tennessee was my last straw. Behind the scenes, they are a decent staff. On the field, the offense will never work. He may have some ego issue to prove how smart he is…. The wait will be somewhere between 2 years and forever until you have the right players in place to run this steam engine offense.

It's the greatest fear when hiring guys that have been around forever like Loeffler & Co. I'm merely a fan, but I long ago realized that there is an old school "good ol' boys" segment of coaching. These are NOT forward thinking guys that are willing to observe and learn from modern trends. These are the types of guys who got into coaching right after their playing days (usually given a role by a coach they played for), they then "grow up" under the wing of those coaches and keep trying to do whatever that mentor coach had success with no matter how long ago it was. Rather than adapt (either to current trends in the game, or even to the strengths of their current roster) they are constantly of the belief that the way they experienced success as players is still the right (if not the ONLY) way to play football. They constantly try to shoehorn the game into that mold.

The rules have changed tremendously over the past 20 years.
The athletes have gotten far better than they were the past 20 years.
Practice time has changed tremendously over the past 20 years.

The way football games were won 20 years ago is NOT the way football games are won now. To try to do so is simply being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn.

You say we don't have the WRs to put 3-4 of them on the field at the same time? (Not you, specifically Rogue, but others). Well I easily counter with the fact that we're playing a True FR walkon at the pivot and that makes it nearly impossible to run an offense leaning on the OL (as any power scheme will do). This isn't even intuitive in the least. If you're running 12 personnel you actually now need BETTER WRs than you do by running 11 or 10. Yeah, maybe you don't need as many of them, but now you're tasking the only 2 WRs on the field to go out and beat the best CBs the other defense has, and you can almost guarantee there will be safety help deep as well. Because you've needlessly narrowed the field and there isn't a defense in the country afraid of our TE talent. They'll let us complete 5 yard hitches to our TEs all day if we want, they'll throw their LBs on them and call it a day. You've basically just made our WRs irrelevant, because none of them are good enough to create separation downfield against good CBs with Safeties. IT's a tall task.

OR, you can put more WRs on the field. You can force teams to bring their 3rd & 4th DBs in. You can move the WRs around to ensure you get your better WRs matched up on lesser CBs. You spread the field horizontally and make the defense defend the entire width of the field. You can run shorter routes that allow the ball to get out of the QBs hands quickly in the hopes of creating yards after the catch opportunities. It allows you to move the pocket and get McDonald off the spot with multiple level options in the route combos.

I've had zero confidence in Loeffler since the day he was hired. I don't like old school coaches, because comparatively few of them are willing/able to absorb how football has changed and adapt accordingly. What we've watched since his hire has been disgusting. Then I was surprised to see a quarter of football that was actually competitive against an SEC team, and the first presser he has for the next week he makes a point to say that is NOT how we want to play football? I don't give a s**t how you WANT to play football coach, I want to see wins. If that doesn't coincide with your grandiose vision of how football should be played, get the eff out.

[roguewarrior]

I see lots of film. Labronz Davis has a superior arm, is smart and can run. He (apparently) faulters in executing THIS offense…..What he can do is sling a 5-10-15 yard out to the boundary, on a rope, better than any of them…he also is a real run threat. I suspect with a modern offense, he would be the starter.

[hammb]

I see lots of film. Labronz Davis has a superior arm, is smart and can run. He (apparently) faulters in executing THIS offense…..What he can do is sling a 5-10-15 yard out to the boundary, on a rope, better than any of them…he also is a real run threat. I suspect with a modern offense, he would be the starter.

Ironically, I don't think McDonald is any good in this offense either. Going back to last season, the only time I've ever seen him do things I like it's when he's running boots, etc. I'm not sure I've ever seen him make downfield throws that really impress. Which really is another thing for me, beyond simply our Offensive scheme. This is the guy Loeffler recruited for 2 schools, threw away a season waiting for his eligibility, then when we see him I see nothing. A non-athlete no run threat QB with a weird release and no downfield passing threat. He looks OK on boots throwing accurately to the sideline, but THIS is what we're pinning our season(s) on? Sorry, he may be a tremendous leader and locker room guy, but I don't see any tools to really shine in this, or any other, scheme.


I have no problem running boots, moving pockets, etc. I don't even have a problem with 12 personnel if you've got TEs that are good athletes capable of being legit pass catching threats. Hell, I'm a Browns fan and they run more 12 personnel than anybody in the league, and run the ball as often as anybody. But they A) have legit pass catching TE threats, B) have one of the best OLs in the NFL, and C) still combine it with smart things like motions and using the TEs & WRs to ensure you're attacking the defense the entire width of the field.

But as good as that Cleveland offense is I'm not certain it's wise to run it at the collegiate level. It's so predicated on precise OL play, and not simply power, more movement as they run so much zone running. There's no way THIS BG team is replicating that sort of offense with their lack of OL.

Honestly with this OL I don't think we have any hope of developing any sort of run game without a QB that is also a run threat. Having a QB run threat would put defenses in a bind that might open things up despite having a weak OL.

[roguewarrior]

I saw his weird motion return later in the Tenn game, under duress.

[Flipper]

If we don't start winning some games...Loeffler may be on that Mike Jinks express out of town by the end of November