So, I stayed up and rewatched the game.
A few thoughts-
1. Man the refs were really, really bad. They didn't review the Bradley catch and it pretty clearly was a catch. They missed the review on the fumble on the return. They missed the call on the 4th and 1 West Virginia QB keeper (we stopped them). The holding call on Baskerville was bogus, and so on.
2. We made some really costly penalties.
3. Morton is going to be good. He was too hyped up and missed some pivotal throws, but he also threw some dimes that were just flat dropped, and he has touch on the deep balls that Shough just doesn't. Once he gets some experience, and calms down a bit, I think he will be really good.
4. I, for the life of me, do not know what the hell Zach Kittley is doing. He tends to want to take his deep shots on first down. These are almost never completed. Our receivers are not getting separation on deeper routes (especially the sideline fades). We just lack the speed. This leaves us at 2nd and 10 and then he decides to run it. Leaving us at 3rd and 6 or 7 or worse.
He starts us behind the 8 ball almost every series.
I know people were very frustrated by the four straight passes on the last drive, but what was more egregious, in my mind, was that he basically did the same thing on the previous drive.
We were in the red zone with plenty of time on the clock and Tahj was eating yardage. So, Kittley decides to try a deep shot on 1st and 10, with the same result as always. Then we try two more passes before settling for the FG. If we get the TD there, and we absolutely should have, then you only need to be in FG range on the last drive (which we easily were).
The other thing about this offense is we are not using the middle of the field enough on our throws. We are not utilizing short passes enough. We are not utilizing the tight ends well (we try to use them on too deep of routes, imo).
It's exhaustingly frustrating to me to see Kittley try to go to the same dry well of a fade down the sidelines on 1st and ten 8 times a game and start almost every drive with a wasted down and only two plays to get ten yards. Stop. It. Get yardage on first. If you get enough yardage on first, THEN take your deep shot on second down. If it doesn't work, then you're 3rd and 3 or 2 or whatever and no harm done.
Anyways, these are my unsolicited thoughts after I rewatched.
*edit* Also, don't ever, ever throw a fade on 3rd and 2 to a 5'9" running back, or anybody else really. Maybe the worst call I have ever seen.
A few thoughts-
1. Man the refs were really, really bad. They didn't review the Bradley catch and it pretty clearly was a catch. They missed the review on the fumble on the return. They missed the call on the 4th and 1 West Virginia QB keeper (we stopped them). The holding call on Baskerville was bogus, and so on.
2. We made some really costly penalties.
3. Morton is going to be good. He was too hyped up and missed some pivotal throws, but he also threw some dimes that were just flat dropped, and he has touch on the deep balls that Shough just doesn't. Once he gets some experience, and calms down a bit, I think he will be really good.
4. I, for the life of me, do not know what the hell Zach Kittley is doing. He tends to want to take his deep shots on first down. These are almost never completed. Our receivers are not getting separation on deeper routes (especially the sideline fades). We just lack the speed. This leaves us at 2nd and 10 and then he decides to run it. Leaving us at 3rd and 6 or 7 or worse.
He starts us behind the 8 ball almost every series.
I know people were very frustrated by the four straight passes on the last drive, but what was more egregious, in my mind, was that he basically did the same thing on the previous drive.
We were in the red zone with plenty of time on the clock and Tahj was eating yardage. So, Kittley decides to try a deep shot on 1st and 10, with the same result as always. Then we try two more passes before settling for the FG. If we get the TD there, and we absolutely should have, then you only need to be in FG range on the last drive (which we easily were).
The other thing about this offense is we are not using the middle of the field enough on our throws. We are not utilizing short passes enough. We are not utilizing the tight ends well (we try to use them on too deep of routes, imo).
It's exhaustingly frustrating to me to see Kittley try to go to the same dry well of a fade down the sidelines on 1st and ten 8 times a game and start almost every drive with a wasted down and only two plays to get ten yards. Stop. It. Get yardage on first. If you get enough yardage on first, THEN take your deep shot on second down. If it doesn't work, then you're 3rd and 3 or 2 or whatever and no harm done.
Anyways, these are my unsolicited thoughts after I rewatched.
*edit* Also, don't ever, ever throw a fade on 3rd and 2 to a 5'9" running back, or anybody else really. Maybe the worst call I have ever seen.
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