And all 3 plays called was the very predictable run up the middle. No first downs made...one of the many many issues of our offensive play calling...
We had at least three situations where it was 3rd and 2
- Thread starter grinagrin
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Yeah. That was disappointing that PSU could not execute at least one of those. I won't speculate as to what they should have called, but tOSU was primed for Barkley to get the ball and they stuffed him twice.
PSU: 1-11 in 3rd down conversions / 0-2 in 4th down conversions.
No team has a chance to win a game with those numbers.
No team has a chance to win a game with those numbers.
I don't have a problem with this at all. Right now, as hard as it is to believe, with Barkley in there the running game is much better then the passing game. If I had to place my entire savings on getting 2 yards and a first down, by having Barkley run or Hack pass, I'm picking Barkley. the passing game is way to erratic, due to various reasons. I think the calls were right. If we would have passed, people would be complaining that we didn't run with how well Barkley ran. Of all calls to complain about, these would rank low on my scale.
Really?? Continue to run up the middle where the D is stacking itself??....I'm not saying, don't run with Barkley, I'm saying be a little creative and have the D guessing. Misdirection, toss sweep, off tackle where we were having success...
Hack getting dinged up really hurt the options. I hope he's OK today. He took a beating last night
The frustrating thing is that most of Barkley's big runs were the result of going off-tackle, yet when we needed two yards we ran plays designed to keep Barkley between the tackles with the box stacked. And we did it over and over again. It's these kinds of crazy tendencies that have the fan base frustrated.
But, why run up the gut? Barkley must have had at least 150 of his rushing yards last night running outside the tackles so why not run outside in those situations?
Do you ever notice that nobody ever complains or criticizes the plays that work but would have been labeld the wrong plays if they didn't work. If pass plays had been called in those 3 situations and an interception resulted, then guess what; Franklin hears the same thing that Pete Carroll did not too long ago.
It's not ideal. I'm not disputing that. Here's how I see it. Are you going to run outside against a super fast OSU defense? maybe, but why go against what was working. We had other 2nd and short situations where they stacked the box and PSU managed to run for a first down. So it is a bit misleading because we did manage to get first down in similar yardage by running. no way I am throwing the ball on 3rd and short, given what we have seen so far. Like I said, the only thing that worked was running between the tackles. Go with what is working.
Now, I agree it would be great to change things up, but do you think we would be any more successful? That's my point, there isn't any consistency in anything else. Heck even a bubble screen is a 50/50 toss up. I would just play the odds and go with what was working.
No he didn't. Most of his yardage was between the tackles. Look again, a lot of times he ended up outside, but most of the runs were inside.
I actually thought Hack's pocket presence and ability to sense and avoid pressure was very good last night until he was injured. His mobility absolutely took a hit in the second half, but in the first half his pocket awareness was quite good.
IMO his pocket presence was fantastic on the gesicki drop. I did not see it after that.
I was waiting for them to call that play Paterno liked with a play action fake and then hit the fullback in the flat. The completion rate on that had to be about 95% and it usually went for about 7-10 yards.
No doubt if we had run anything but Barkley and failed all the armchair experts would be screaming why didn't we utilize our best weapon on third and short..
It's not the running, it's the type of run called. Why run up the middle when that is the spot that OSU's defense had been blowing up all night? Why not go off-tackle where Barkley has had the most success?
3rd down conversions have been a big problem all season. I don't remember the numbers from the temple loss, but they were awful. I think it all stems from the inconsistency issues we have on offense. We haven't been able to control the ball, time of possession, or sustain drives at any point all season.
Agree. A Barkley run is usually better than a Hack pass, but not after you've run Barkley 3 straight times and 9+ defenders are lined up waiting for the Barkley to run and only 2 are back defending the pass.
Temple 2-13 / 0-1
Buffalo 5-16 / 2-3
Rutgers 5-15 / 0-1
SDS 5-17 / 0-1
Army 5-10 / 0-1
IU 3-16 / 0-1
tOSU 1-11 / 0-2
SEASON: 26-98 on third down / 2-10 on fourth down
Awful.....just awful.....and in our two losses, we were a combined 3-27 on third and fourth down conversions.
Those numbers are pathetic and does not build confidence for those future situations. The QB has to lead when the chips are down. PSU's QB is hobbled and there is still a lot of football to play.
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