Cally's strategy for the USC game

BC better not try and just pound the rock this year. I would think USC's D is much better than Wake's, and pounding the rock didn't happen at all. The biggest shock to me was the fact that our run D looked horrible at Wake. In Wake's first game against Boston College, I believe they had like -2 yards rushing. We made them look All American. USC will make our front 4 and LB's look even more foolish than Wake did unless Coz can pull some tricks out of his hat. If I hadn't known the date, I'd have swore Bohl was on the sideline coaching the D.

We're gonna have to pass against USC, that's all there is to it. IMO, we're gonna have to pass in order to open up the run. The OL is going to have to do a better job than they did against Wake. If they can't open up some running lanes and can't protect Keller any better than they did against Wake, it's going to be a mightly long afternoon in Lincoln.

I think we all were looking through rose colored glasses after the Nevada game. We got brought back to reality against Wake playing them with their backup QB with little to no game experience before we came to town. The guys had better buckle down and get focused (Purify) or it will be simply ugly on Saturday. I'm kind of glad we got grounded last Saturday before we played USC. It lets us know exactly where we stand. Marlon Lucky will not win the Heisman, and neither will Keller. They both have a lot of things to work on not only this week but for the remainder of the season. We're not there yet. There are still lots of things to work on. Btw, I thought our secondary played pretty well. Our LB's looked about as lost as they were against CU in 01'. We can still win this game against USC, but we can't win it if we look as dull as we did against Wake. We can't have some guys playing well and others playing poorly to have a chance against USC.

 
StuckNIowa you put me in a tough spot....hanging Callahan on the goal post would make me happy but we would have to lose the game. Hmm, let me think about that one.

I think Callahan will be less conservative but not open it up. He has never done that, but I think if we fall behind he will start to air it out more unlike last year. We can't fall behind early b/c he doesn't adjust well. He sticks with his gameplan wether it's working or not. He was similar to that as an Off Co. in the NFL also.

 
billdozer15 said:
Your right in saying Cally is unpredictable up untill game time. However, one thing i have noticed is he either has a run based game plan or a pass based game plan. I have yet to see one that is supposedly balanced.
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hmm, let's check some stats from last year.

La Tech | Rush 252 | Pass 332

Nicholls State | Rush 261 | Pass 237

Troy | Rush 316 | Pass 281

OK State | Rush 267 | Pass 229

Mizzou | Rush 183 | Pass 236

Auburn | Rush 104 | Pass 126

I'd say we've had a few games where we've been pretty balanced run/pass.

junior4949 said:
BC better not try and just pound the rock this year. I would think USC's D is much better than Wake's, and pounding the rock didn't happen at all. The biggest shock to me was the fact that our run D looked horrible at Wake. In Wake's first game against Boston College, I believe they had like -2 yards rushing. We made them look All American. USC will make our front 4 and LB's look even more foolish than Wake did unless Coz can pull some tricks out of his hat. If I hadn't known the date, I'd have swore Bohl was on the sideline coaching the D.

We're gonna have to pass against USC, that's all there is to it. IMO, we're gonna have to pass in order to open up the run. The OL is going to have to do a better job than they did against Wake. If they can't open up some running lanes and can't protect Keller any better than they did against Wake, it's going to be a mightly long afternoon in Lincoln.
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Our run D against WF was terrible. I have no idea what was up but our linebackers were nowhere to be found when they ran the ball up the middle. How in the heck did our D-Line allow those huge holes to be formed up the middle in the first place anyway?? If our D-Line was getting pushed around that bad by WF.. USC is going to have tons of daylight on saturday.

As far as passing the ball.. I agree. We will have to pass. I do hope BC comes out and tries to pound the rock first.. if by chance we could get the running game established I will feel a whole lot better. BUT most likely we won't get anywhere so we will have to throw. But, I don't think we'll win throwing the ball. Keller looks shaky at best, and our receivers couldn't get open against an inexperienced WF secondary. The only way we're going to move the ball against SC through the air is with short controlled passes and sideline passes.... basically we have to play a 2-minute offense the whole game, and occasionally throw a deep ball.

I can only hope that the past two game have been a ruse and we've been playing like crap to throw USC off our trail. Cause the team I saw the past two weeks... cannot beat USC.. period. I hate to be a downer, but I'm being realistic.. they outmatch us physically, talent-wise and especially on defense have us out-coached. But MAYBE our defense will step up and keep the game close.. and some BC offensive trickery will work for us.. that's the best I can hope for.

At any rate it's going to be a damn fun game to watch... assuming BC doesn't run the ball 70 times even if were not going anywhere like last year.

 
KID, the Auburn game is a very bad example of being balanced. Those stats look awful regardless if they are balanced. They are only balanced b/c nothing worked. The other teams are cupcakes.

I think it's better to say that Callahan doesn't adjust his game plan during games. That will be a concern if we fall behind. If we are winning then keep it up!

 
I Bleed RED said:
KID, the Auburn game is a very bad example of being balanced. Those stats look awful regardless if they are balanced. They are only balanced b/c nothing worked. The other teams are cupcakes.

I think it's better to say that Callahan doesn't adjust his game plan during games. That will be a concern if we fall behind. If we are winning then keep it up!
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Actually in the Nevada game Keller was struggling throwing the ball so we ran it the next 14 cosecutive times.............sounds dangerously like adjustments.

Mizzo and Okie State cupcakes?........wow........not quite. <_<

 
He didn't adjust. We ran the ball the entire game. Keller wasn't struggling we never needed to pass and so we didn't. An adjustment is when something isn't working and we never struggled passing or had success passing. BC did the right thing..the running game was working and he stuck with it. No adjustments necessary.

I was overstating Mizzou and OK St. but they lost 5 and 6 games each last year. Not tough competition either.

 
I think it's more important in this game than in any other game we'll play this season to SCORE ON OUR FIRST POSSESSION, and hopefully just SCORE FIRST. I think Callahan and Watson have been keeping the intense passing attacks hidden, for the most part (exceptions being a drive against Nevada and a drive against Wake Forest) and they need to break it out early and show USC that USC doesn't intimidate them.

After that, who knows. Feel it out.

 
BIGREDIOWAN said:
The funny thing is that it seems teams all across the country are using that play more than ever before and we were the first ones to start using it last season???
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We didn't use the halfback pass until the Texas game...I am pretty sure someone else used it before the midway point of the season.

 
I Bleed RED said:
KID, the Auburn game is a very bad example of being balanced. Those stats look awful regardless if they are balanced. They are only balanced b/c nothing worked. The other teams are cupcakes.

I think it's better to say that Callahan doesn't adjust his game plan during games. That will be a concern if we fall behind. If we are winning then keep it up!
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My point is that BC intends to be balanced and has shown that he can be. I agree that there is a problem with adjustments. But usually when we see us passing 80% of the time it's because we couldn't establish the run.. therefore; instead of keep banging our heads against the wall trying to go anywhere on the ground we rely on the pass and vice versa for running the ball.

One of the great things about the offense we're running here is that, while it aims to be a balanced attack, it has the versatility to work if we run or throw 80% of the time.

That said, there have been times when BC has stuck with the pass when I thought we should have put more emphasis on the running game.. and times when I thought we should be passing more.. where it didn't appear to me that passing/rushing game had stalled out yet we abandoned it.

It is kinda funny now though that I think about it. Like you pointed out our most balanced games have (mostly) been against weaker teams. Makes me think of the old BC quote "we take what we want.. not what they give us"... I guess I'll have to make an addendum to that.. what is actually happening is "we take what we want if they suck, and if they are decent we'll try and take what they give us but sometimes we won't even be able to do that". :bang

 
How can you not be sold on Lucky. He has had 2 very good games. to get the yardage he did against WF is more impressive than the Nevada game because WF was manhandling our line. Those were hard fought yards and still over 4 yds per carry. He was our best back to start the season and he has solidified that to this point. Castille is a nice compliment and will be his entire career. You can expect Gray or Wilson or another RB to be in the lineup a lot along with Castille. I dont believe he will ever be a 30 carry a game guy here.

Lucky is very very good.

 
Silent Commit said:
I would like to see some more creativity in the running game, as well. I hope that we use all our backs in one capacity or another - because I'm not sold that Lucky is our best back.
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Who's played better this year? Everyone questioned whether he was a 25-30 carry back and he's done that (close to) in both games this year. Then there was he could not take a hit and keep going cause he got tackled to easy, and again, in both games he showed some power and kept hisd feet moving. Everyone has bitched about something since this guy got here, and now when he's plays his butt off and performs, people still aren't happy. What does he need to do to prove he's the featured back here?????

 
I think I'd open up with a couple fake hand-offs to Lucky into some play action. Hit the tight end a few times to make the linebackers play off the line and loosen up the running lanes. Then we run 8 consecutive times with Lucky/Castille and make a statement TD on the first drive.

Next drive, hit Purify. Over and over again. Get a quick score to demoralize the sons of bitches. I'm seeing a diving grab by Nunn in the corner of the end zone on a fade route.

Next possession, start pounding away with Castille on 2 or 3 consecutive downs and then run a sweep to Lucky on the outside and watch him take it to the house.

USC gets on a plane and goes home at half time.

 
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zoogies said:
If so, I'd hope it gives us more momentum than our successful 4th down fake punt last year.
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I am still confused about that play. the rest of the game plan seemed to be "don't get blown out". But that play was about as "we're going all out for the win" as you can get.

Sure was a misleading sign as to how the rest of the game would be played.

 
QUOTE(Silent Commit @ Sep 9 2007, 05:57 PM)
I would like to see some more creativity in the running game, as well. I hope that we use all our backs in one capacity or another - because I'm not sold that Lucky is our best back.

Who's played better this year? Everyone questioned whether he was a 25-30 carry back and he's done that (close to) in both games this year. Then there was he could not take a hit and keep going cause he got tackled to easy, and again, in both games he showed some power and kept hisd feet moving. Everyone has bitched about something since this guy got here, and now when he's plays his butt off and performs, people still aren't happy. What does he need to do to prove he's the featured back here?????
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Well, for one, I think don't think that Nevada was a great testament to Lucky's ability to run the ball. The holes were huge. Lucky is quick, but I don't see the same ability to get that extra yard or two as, let's say, as BJax, who, if you remember, took over the starting spot from Lucky. Lucky is getting the bulk of the carries, but I"M NOT SOLD that the bulk of the carries should not be given to Castille, who is QUICK and can break tackles for extra yards. I'm not putting Lucky down. I think that he is more than a capable back for the WCO that Cally runs. He has great hands and, when he gets past the line of scrimmage into some open field, he has a great burst of speed. He has improved in that he waits for his blocks (he's running smarter these days).

I would like Cally to use some creativity in the running game....I would like for him to use Castille or Glenn on third and two. They are the best backs to grind for those yards...not Lucky, IMO.

 
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