The lack of fundamentals continue to frustrate
- Thread starter MacNit07
- Start date
A lot of the mistakes came from freshmen.
They can be corrected -- they should be corrected, and it is upon the coaching staff to correct the freshman mistakes, which included ball security, jumping offsides, other penalties, and failure to handle individual responsibilities on some plays.
But -- that is generally part of the growing process for young players. Honestly, I was more upset with some of the throws Clifford made -- an interception, what should have been an interception, and missing some open receivers. Bad weather was a factor in the game, but these were bad mistakes by a 6th year player.
I don’t take it in game five against an inferior opponent. It’s standard Franklion when we get to October and the weather turns. It was Illinois all over again. Three RBs now that Ford is off the team and Allen was in the doghouse for the first half. Four fumbles by RBs. My god.
I think we should fire Franklin for planning to fumble 5 times. I'm sure he planned to not lose all 5. So his plan must have been flawed. Rick Nuheseil is available.
I hate having a coach who works all week on having his players fumble and jump offsides. I’m sure Fitz worked on taking care of the ball since they only had 3 turnovers.
The fumbles are concerning, but to not have them lead to any points with a decent QB on the other side is pretty impressive.
My main concern today was Clifford's play. He didn't look right most of the day. Hopefully it was just the weather.
I don't think Franklin told Cliff to play awful. Cliff has been doing that all by himself. A six year veteran should have a better command of the game. And yet another mon-game experience for our Five Star freshman QB.
Also, I was not that surprised to see the freshmen fumble due to carrying the ball with one hand. But then Lee did it. That was frustrating as he should know better. This was a Northwestern kind of game, playing to their strengths. Definitely a lot to clean up in two weeks, but plenty to build off of.
Ummm......, I was being sarcastic and saying it tongue-in-cheek (just like the prior poster I was responding to).
Clifford has been hot and cold this year. I think having Allar looking over his shoulder might be affecting him.
Do you watch football on Sundays?
Ford’s hitting the portal. Not sure about Allen but he’s usually in on the third possession but sat out the first half.
This is who Cliff is.He has been inconsistent for 6 years. I just hope he is consistent enough to win the big ones. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Could have been 5 fumbles…Singleton lucky that one in 1H was whistled dead for forward progress.
How many pases were thrown on first down? 1 maybe. I realize it was raining but they needed to mix the pass run on first down a bit more.
No one is saying that…but after 8 years the pattern is clear…the mental preparation is bad…We have what we have and it seems clear playing sound football is not what is included in “what we have”…the offense epitomized that today.
I think everyone is reading too much into this game. We were never in doubt of losing and Franklin wasn't going to show anything to give Michigan more quality film on us. The kids have to hold onto the ball, Clifford has to play better and we have to limit the offsides. Other than that--this was just a vanilla game that we wanted to survive. It wasn't impressive but we knew that when we knew the weather forecast.
If you're complaining about the past 2 year then this game I get it--I just think this game is ht eworst game to pick to complain about this year.
If you're complaining about the past 2 year then this game I get it--I just think this game is ht eworst game to pick to complain about this year.
Wow snappy…that is great…some bright spots for sure…but the scarcity of smart football by Franklin teams should be apparent now by year 8…today’s game stood as another shining example.
This should have been a 35-0 type of a game. The disparity in talent was very apparent. But we were 0-3 with RBs practicing basic ball security. How do you get that level of consistency? You tell me?
Also starting to look like #13>#10…he probably would be RB#1 if he would have held onto the ball. He had to know it was being spotlighted late…but he was as mentally sloppy as the other RBs (and Cliffy)
But didn't it feel like a 35-0 game? Did you ever feel like we were in danger of losing? Yeah, we probably win by 5+ scores if we hold onto the ball and Clifford plays even average football but they won comfortably--primarily due to the D--but still comfortably.
Without the fumbles, who knows what the score would have been. And I’m quite sure Franklin and the coaches work on ball security all the time. These are 18-22 year olds with two of the RB’s being 18….they’re going to make mistakes. When you find a coach who gets their players to play perfect football, let me know. That goes for NFL coaches as well. I see a ton of mistakes in NFL games as well….I guess those coaches all suck too.
The only thing that is regrettable about this game is that the offense couldn't find a way to get a ball in the end zone the entire half which would have absolutely put the game away.
Five turnovers makes it a bit tough for any team to cover a 25 point spread. Maybe we should get Kirby Smart to coach….oh wait, he must have forgotten how to coach these last two weeks.
We were 2nd in the country in turnover margin until Freshman mistakes in a monsoon game. Tons of em. Frustrating but you learn and move on.
Nice to run for +200 on a day when it was needed. Couldn’t have done that last year. It’s progress.
Only complaint is not playing more conservative on D. Blitzes don’t get home on a crappy field. Freshman LBers can’t cover downfield on a crappy field. NW offense was stuck in the mud. No need to play risky D.
Nice to run for +200 on a day when it was needed. Couldn’t have done that last year. It’s progress.
Only complaint is not playing more conservative on D. Blitzes don’t get home on a crappy field. Freshman LBers can’t cover downfield on a crappy field. NW offense was stuck in the mud. No need to play risky D.
And NW had three. Don't care what Kirby is doing.
Polls set bowls, and this 'effort' was awful.
We all saw the problem the running backs had with ball control. I would think that they have and will work on that issue. The one fumble would have happened to most backs when the kid led helmet first and hit ball directly. The other ones were on running backs.
My issue is the decisions and lack of fundamentals of our 6 year quarterback. The throwing off his back foot is a constant. Rolling out right with no pressure on him and retreating 10 plus yards is glaring. The decision to throw ball away late in game instead of downing himself before going out of bounds is just stupid.
Franklin yanked the freshman running backs for mistakes but didn't have the guts to put Clifford on the sidelines for a series or two.
The offensive game plan even changed because of Clifford decisions. We played on our heals way to much.
My issue is the decisions and lack of fundamentals of our 6 year quarterback. The throwing off his back foot is a constant. Rolling out right with no pressure on him and retreating 10 plus yards is glaring. The decision to throw ball away late in game instead of downing himself before going out of bounds is just stupid.
Franklin yanked the freshman running backs for mistakes but didn't have the guts to put Clifford on the sidelines for a series or two.
The offensive game plan even changed because of Clifford decisions. We played on our heals way to much.
Last edited:
Please show me all these coaches that are yanking their starting QB’s in games they are winning because of mistakes….I don’t see it.
I'm still confused why anyone cares about Bowls. The worst thing today's game could do is allow Ole Miss to jump us anyways. We'll be ahead of Kentucky so we're either 10 or 11. Maybe 9 if NCSU loses.
Unfortunately, IMO, it wasn't the weather, it was vintage Clifford. James is kidding himself if he thinks Cliff is any better than he ever was...streaky/maddeningly inconsistent.
I agree it's more than the weather BUT the weather and the opponent did dictate the conservative game plan we all saw
Similar threads
