3rd and 7.

[Stumpy1]

I didn't know where else to put this but I have seen people mentioning that we shouldn't have been passing much because of the weather. I went through and looked at the other B1G games in the same region to see what they had done offensively and I can say, we weren't that different then others.

Team Pass Rush

NU 31 34

Mich 33 40

NW 19 51

IA 21 40

Wisc 38 34

Ind 36 55

tOSU 27 34

Do you not understand math? All of those teams have a higher % of running the ball except for Wisconsin, and Wisky was down the entire 2nd half so they had to throw the ball around late in the game.

Also, it was the long passes that were thrown that made most everyone crazy. It was TA was throwing 500 out there. There were 9 passes over 25 yards in the air thrown. That's just foolish.

I understand math just fine but apparently you don't. They have a higher % because they ran more plays then we did except for OSU and NW.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

I didn't know where else to put this but I have seen people mentioning that we shouldn't have been passing much because of the weather. I went through and looked at the other B1G games in the same region to see what they had done offensively and I can say, we weren't that different then others.

Team Pass Rush

NU 31 34

Mich 33 40

NW 19 51

IA 21 40

Wisc 38 34

Ind 36 55

tOSU 27 34

Do you not understand math? All of those teams have a higher % of running the ball except for Wisconsin, and Wisky was down the entire 2nd half so they had to throw the ball around late in the game.

Also, it was the long passes that were thrown that made most everyone crazy. It was TA was throwing 500 out there. There were 9 passes over 25 yards in the air thrown. That's just foolish.

Wisconsin was never down by more than 10, so the idea thry had to chuck it around to make up major ground is a little misleading.

Regardless, I agree with your point. It wasn't so much that we were throwing it as it was that we were throwing it deep consistently and ineffectively. Your chances of completing a deep pass are slim, and that's without considering the effect of a 40mph wind.

It really was bizarre. Ozigbo had 7 attempts for 70 yards, Janovich was running well, and Illinois had no timeouts. Regardless of whether or not you get the first, running the ball in that situation all but wraps up the game. You don't call a play to give put your player in a position to fail.

Hell, we could've just kneeled and punted...

 

[Stumpy1]

I didn't know where else to put this but I have seen people mentioning that we shouldn't have been passing much because of the weather. I went through and looked at the other B1G games in the same region to see what they had done offensively and I can say, we weren't that different then others.

Team Pass Rush

NU 31 34

Mich 33 40

NW 19 51

IA 21 40

Wisc 38 34

Ind 36 55

tOSU 27 34

Do you not understand math? All of those teams have a higher % of running the ball except for Wisconsin, and Wisky was down the entire 2nd half so they had to throw the ball around late in the game.

Also, it was the long passes that were thrown that made most everyone crazy. It was TA was throwing 500 out there. There were 9 passes over 25 yards in the air thrown. That's just foolish.

Wisconsin was never down by more than 10, so the idea thry had to chuck it around to make up major ground is a little misleading.

Regardless, I agree with your point. It wasn't so much that we were throwing it as it was that we were throwing it deep consistently and ineffectively. Your chances of completing a deep pass are slim, and that's without considering the effect of a 40mph wind.

It really was bizarre. Ozigbo had 7 attempts for 70 yards, Janovich was running well, and Illinois had no timeouts. Regardless of whether or not you get the first, running the ball in that situation all but wraps up the game. You don't call a play to give put your player in a position to fail.

Hell, we could've just kneeled and punted...

Yep...I have no idea why we went deep so many times when they are proven to be low % passes. It really was stupid. I have no idea if it was Armstrong making that decision or just that we kept running nothing but deep routes. My point was that we weren't the only ones to pass 30 some times in crappy weather.

 

[GBRedneck]

I didn't know where else to put this but I have seen people mentioning that we shouldn't have been passing much because of the weather. I went through and looked at the other B1G games in the same region to see what they had done offensively and I can say, we weren't that different then others.

Team Pass Rush

NU 31 34

Mich 33 40

NW 19 51

IA 21 40

Wisc 38 34

Ind 36 55

tOSU 27 34

Do you not understand math? All of those teams have a higher % of running the ball except for Wisconsin, and Wisky was down the entire 2nd half so they had to throw the ball around late in the game.

Also, it was the long passes that were thrown that made most everyone crazy. It was TA was throwing 500 out there. There were 9 passes over 25 yards in the air thrown. That's just foolish.

Wisconsin was never down by more than 10, so the idea thry had to chuck it around to make up major ground is a little misleading.

Regardless, I agree with your point. It wasn't so much that we were throwing it as it was that we were throwing it deep consistently and ineffectively. Your chances of completing a deep pass are slim, and that's without considering the effect of a 40mph wind.

It really was bizarre. Ozigbo had 7 attempts for 70 yards, Janovich was running well, and Illinois had no timeouts. Regardless of whether or not you get the first, running the ball in that situation all but wraps up the game. You don't call a play to give put your player in a position to fail.

Hell, we could've just kneeled and punted...

Yep...I have no idea why we went deep so many times when they are proven to be low % passes. It really was stupid. I have no idea if it was Armstrong making that decision or just that we kept running nothing but deep routes. My point was that we weren't the only ones to pass 30 some times in crappy weather.

It wasn't nearly as windy at these other games as it was in Champaign. Apples and oranges.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

I didn't know where else to put this but I have seen people mentioning that we shouldn't have been passing much because of the weather. I went through and looked at the other B1G games in the same region to see what they had done offensively and I can say, we weren't that different then others.

Team Pass Rush

NU 31 34

Mich 33 40

NW 19 51

IA 21 40

Wisc 38 34

Ind 36 55

tOSU 27 34

Do you not understand math? All of those teams have a higher % of running the ball except for Wisconsin, and Wisky was down the entire 2nd half so they had to throw the ball around late in the game.

Also, it was the long passes that were thrown that made most everyone crazy. It was TA was throwing 500 out there. There were 9 passes over 25 yards in the air thrown. That's just foolish.

Wisconsin was never down by more than 10, so the idea thry had to chuck it around to make up major ground is a little misleading.

Regardless, I agree with your point. It wasn't so much that we were throwing it as it was that we were throwing it deep consistently and ineffectively. Your chances of completing a deep pass are slim, and that's without considering the effect of a 40mph wind.

It really was bizarre. Ozigbo had 7 attempts for 70 yards, Janovich was running well, and Illinois had no timeouts. Regardless of whether or not you get the first, running the ball in that situation all but wraps up the game. You don't call a play to give put your player in a position to fail.

Hell, we could've just kneeled and punted...

Yep...I have no idea why we went deep so many times when they are proven to be low % passes. It really was stupid. I have no idea if it was Armstrong making that decision or just that we kept running nothing but deep routes. My point was that we weren't the only ones to pass 30 some times in crappy weather.

And that's an excellent point as well. I'd be curious to see how many times Tommy went deep when there was an open man closer. If that's the case, then Tommy has to be held accountable for not checking down and going through his progression.

Still, to throw 31 times and be successful 33% of the time is abysmal, especially in the face of the running game success.

It's one of the most bizarre games I've watched in some time.

 

[Scratchtown]

None of it matters till we figure how to be EFFECTIVE in the running game vs quality defenses. Which we will see a lot of.

 

[GBRedneck]

I didn't know where else to put this but I have seen people mentioning that we shouldn't have been passing much because of the weather. I went through and looked at the other B1G games in the same region to see what they had done offensively and I can say, we weren't that different then others.

Team Pass Rush

NU 31 34

Mich 33 40

NW 19 51

IA 21 40

Wisc 38 34

Ind 36 55

tOSU 27 34

Do you not understand math? All of those teams have a higher % of running the ball except for Wisconsin, and Wisky was down the entire 2nd half so they had to throw the ball around late in the game.

Also, it was the long passes that were thrown that made most everyone crazy. It was TA was throwing 500 out there. There were 9 passes over 25 yards in the air thrown. That's just foolish.

Wisconsin was never down by more than 10, so the idea thry had to chuck it around to make up major ground is a little misleading.

Regardless, I agree with your point. It wasn't so much that we were throwing it as it was that we were throwing it deep consistently and ineffectively. Your chances of completing a deep pass are slim, and that's without considering the effect of a 40mph wind.

It really was bizarre. Ozigbo had 7 attempts for 70 yards, Janovich was running well, and Illinois had no timeouts. Regardless of whether or not you get the first, running the ball in that situation all but wraps up the game. You don't call a play to give put your player in a position to fail.

Hell, we could've just kneeled and punted...

Yep...I have no idea why we went deep so many times when they are proven to be low % passes. It really was stupid. I have no idea if it was Armstrong making that decision or just that we kept running nothing but deep routes. My point was that we weren't the only ones to pass 30 some times in crappy weather.

And that's an excellent point as well. I'd be curious to see how many times Tommy went deep when there was an open man closer. If that's the case, then Tommy has to be held accountable for not checking down and going through his progression.

Still, to throw 31 times and be successful 33% of the time is abysmal, especially in the face of the running game success.

It's one of the most bizarre games I've watched in some time.

Go listen to Riley explain it in the postgame presser. That makes it even more baffling.

Asked what made them think they could throw deep: After listing off several deep plays that failed but he thought they were close to working -- "I didn't think it was that impossible to do better than we did. . . .And I think the coverage lent itself to try some of that."

Reporter: "What was the coverage?"

Riley(confused):"What was that?" <--- (HAHAHA - got caught spitballing some coachspeak)

Reporter: "What coverage were they in that made you think you could go deep?"

Riley: "A variety, they play some cover 3 , ya know, cover 3 zone and some quarters and some pressure". (How does that make you want to go deep all the time???)

 

[Danny Bateman]

If anybody heard the post-game presser, Riley's explanation of why the boot was called anyway had to do with zone coverages Illinois was mixing. He then kind of just trailed off mid-answer until prompted with another question after some awkward silence.

I've been a Riley guy. But man, as someone who has coaching aspirations someday... this is SUCH a disheartening loss. I can't defend this one. They got away from doing the smart thing, playing the percentages.. got cute, and we lost.

Nobody's immune from having egg on their face. It could happen to Belichick, or Urb, or Saban, or any other coach. This staff, for all their expirence, definitely has some on there right now. Eager to see how they respond.

Edit: GBRed pretty much transcribed it.

 

[Scratchtown]

We could run it 60 times next week and it won't matter. Our run scheme is not good.

Also, it looks like this staff probably looks at what areas the opposing defense struggles with.

Don't be surprised to see us air it out 40+ times next week

 

[Danny Bateman]

We could run it 60 times next week and it won't matter. Our run scheme is not good.

Also, it looks like this staff probably looks at what areas the opposing defense struggles with.

Don't be surprised to see us air it out 40+ times next week

Belichick is well known to game plan week to week based on opposing D weaknesses. It stands to reason any good coach should look to do that or at least consider chinks in the armor of the D.

However, good coaches also consider what the team they have currently can actually do. Play to their strengths. This was supposed to be an upgrade we made when we hitched our wagon to Riles.

The best coaches also take stock of what their team is doing well during games themselves, and adjusts game plan accordingly.

I think we got away from numbers 2 and 3 in favor of 1 on Saturday.

 

[onlyHskrfaninIL]

Didnt Langsdorf's former pupil Eli make the very same mistake on a very similar play the first week of the season?

 

[ColoradoHusk]

We could run it 60 times next week and it won't matter. Our run scheme is not good.

Also, it looks like this staff probably looks at what areas the opposing defense struggles with.

Don't be surprised to see us air it out 40+ times next week

Yes, the staff probably thought they could throw the ball against Illinois, and there were open receivers deep. However, they also need to be able to adjust the game plan when things aren't working and the weather doesn't cooperate.

All week prior to the Illinois game, Benning and Severe both said "North Carolina and Middle Tennessee state have killed Illinois on the QB run game and zone reads. Will NU run enough of that to burn Illinois on those plays." Of course that didn't happen.

 

[NUance]

I didn't know where else to put this but I have seen people mentioning that we shouldn't have been passing much because of the weather. I went through and looked at the other B1G games in the same region to see what they had done offensively and I can say, we weren't that different then others.

Team Pass Rush

NU 31 34

Mich 33 40

NW 19 51

IA 21 40

Wisc 38 34

Ind 36 55

tOSU 27 34

Just a nit pick here, but Indiana did not have 91 plays from scrimmage. lol. Indy passed 27 times and rushed 36 times. Carry on. LINK

 

[Scratchtown]

We could run it 60 times next week and it won't matter. Our run scheme is not good.

Also, it looks like this staff probably looks at what areas the opposing defense struggles with.

Don't be surprised to see us air it out 40+ times next week

Belichick is well known to game plan week to week based on opposing D weaknesses. It stands to reason any good coach should look to do that or at least consider chinks in the armor of the D.
However, good coaches also consider what the team they have currently can actually do. Play to their strengths. This was supposed to be an upgrade we made when we hitched our wagon to Riles.

The best coaches also take stock of what their team is doing well during games themselves, and adjusts game plan accordingly.

I think we got away from numbers 2 and 3 in favor of 1 on Saturday.

Yes any good coach would. I know I stated the obvious, but as you said the coaches have to take their own team into account AND conditions such as a slippery windy game.

Regardless, when playing a team like Illinois, NU should be able to dictate rather than play percentages.

 

[cg_8]

We could run it 60 times next week and it won't matter. Our run scheme is not good.

Also, it looks like this staff probably looks at what areas the opposing defense struggles with.

Don't be surprised to see us air it out 40+ times next week

This is outside the "3rd and 7" discussion... So don't think this is attached.

I think our run scheme is better than we think. There are plenty that has surprised me on certain plays. The first week, we saw zero pulling lineman. The next week, I saw a pulling C. Then there was the FB trap. I really like that QB sweep play if we had a leading RB blocker who didn't lead Tommy outside like he runs the ball. I think it's better than we think. I think the real problem is the players showing more consistency well enough to adhere it to a game plan. Call me wrong on that, but there's still some good things. We just haven't seen it. And that right there is the problem. We need to see more of it.

Either way, something could be said about how much we've aired it out. I watched the FAU-Miami game and while watching FAU run at will against Miami's 3-4 front, the whole time I'm thinking "we should have a hey day if we run it down their throat..." We didn't do that. We ended up dropping 3rd down passes. I think we could've controlled Miami with a running attack game plan. Similar to 2014. But that wasn't the game plan, and IMHO, it should have been. I mean FAU... C'mon...