Northwestern: What did we learn?

You know I'm a passing QB at heart, but he did throw more wobblers in the 2nd half.

Maybe NW turned up the heat.

Maybe his hand was bothering a bit.

Maybe the catchable passes that were not caught, forced him to think he had to be perfect.

Maybe he could have used a more consistent running game.

All guesses.

But I do know for sure, when Voke left the game, things changed drastically.  Might have been a little bit fore that too?

I think a more consistent running game would have done a lot for the offense, and also more quick screen passes (he was money on the few they attempted).

And finally, he got rid of it quickly in the first 3 quarters, avoided getting sacked (see previous QBs) and flushed out of the pocket (see previous QBs) by scrambling for little bits of yards.  It was obvious to me, He read the defense, felt the pressure, got rid of it fairly quickly, threw it to the spot.  Awesome stuff.  But, the 4th quarter was not so good for him or the team offensively for sure.  

 
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Dogs In A Pile said:
While not super mobile he appears to be able to be able to move around pretty well. I have to wonder if a lot of his staying put is predicated by the coaching staff.
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I agree that Thompson moves around in the pocket well, and that's a solid skill.  However, he doesn't appear to be a big threat running the ball.  I also agree that it could be driven by the coaching staff.

 
admo said:
You know I'm a passing QB at heart, but he did throw more wobblers in the 2nd half.

Maybe NW turned up the heat.

Maybe his hand was bothering a bit.

Maybe the catchable passes that were not caught, forced him to think he had to be perfect.

Maybe he could have used a more consistent running game.

All guesses.

But I do know for sure, when Voke left the game, things changed drastically.  Might have been a little bit fore that too?

I think a more consistent running game would have done a lot for the offense, and also more quick screen passes (he was money on the few they attempted).

And finally, he got rid of it quickly in the first 3 quarters, avoided getting sacked (see previous QBs) and flushed out of the pocket (see previous QBs) by scrambling for little bits of yards.  It was obvious to me, He read the defense, felt the pressure, got rid of it fairly quickly, threw it to the spot.  Awesome stuff.  But, the 4th quarter was not so good for him or the team offensively for sure.  
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I think NW adjusted well at the half.  

Vokolek getting hurt didn't help.  

I'm a run the ball guy, but we didn't have a running game.  No idea why we didn't try to go wide and make NW spread out the front and cover sideline to sideline.  IMHO, it again seemed as though we were calling plays with no rhyme or reason and no ebb and flow.  Just going through the playbook to see what worked.  Try to get everyone involved.  

I like CT.  Quick reads and release.  Keeps looking down field.  Appeared to go through progressions and not stare guys down.  I mentioned him running more.  Not like AM, but design plays similar to Trevor Lawrence when he was at Clemson.  He wasn't a "runner", but he could "run".  Just enough to make the DC's account for him.  Someone had mentioned him shaking his hand at one point.  Maybe tweaked the thumb?  Maybe he was on a strict pass count dudinr the fall to allow his hand to heal and the arm was getting tired.  We looked similar on O as we have all previous years under Frost.  Stop the QB when the game.  Keep it close make NU lose the game.

 
I’m not sure if Frost was the one who searched for and hired Whipple but presumably so.  The reason Frost did so was the powers above suggested the Frost offense of years 1 thru 4 was getting the desired results on the scoreboard.  Frost must have begrudgingly agreed. He presumably was told to fix STs.  He must have been told, the Defense was the least of his troubles.  So, he chose to eliminate a defense coach and assign STs to that guy.  We sacrificed defensive staffing to get STs.  Offense remained fully staffed except to the extent that Frost is much less directly coaching.  
 

But Whipple, it seems after just one game, was chosen to essentially run Frost’s offense. Frost has said as much saying his scheme was fine, just needed a few tweets.  Game one mostly suggests that.  I still like Whip ‘s offensive play calls but I’m very concerned we did nothing to install some run in the offense.  We will see today.  I hope we rush for 250 to 300 yards and 5 TDs usuing a variety of plays and formations, inside and out.  That’d fix a lot of the teams problem.   I want to see:

45 plus points scored by NU

10 or less by ND

Strong effective run plays by NU

A couple big plays and a lot of good ones.

5 sacks. 7 TFLs. 
A diverse offense not one dimensional.

Aggressive defense and STs. 
 

This will suggest the team is headed in the right direction imo.  Just ND but it can be a good practice game. 

 
Frost's comments about the offensive line not firing off the ball like when he played here didn't make much sense to me unless he planned on running the ball 60+ times a game like when he played here.

When running the ball is a secondary component to your offense you're never going to get that good at it and your offensive linemen are never going to get into much of a rhythm when it comes to run blocking.

And it should be clear to everyone now that Whipple intends to be a pass-first coordinator.   60/40 pass/run should satisfy anyone's definition of "pass-first".

 
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ColoradoHusk said:
Is anyone else concerned about Thompson's conditioning?  His 2nd half passing was not accurate, especially after he had the scrambling play early in the 3rd quarter.  I wasn't expecting Thompson to be anywhere near the runner that Adrian was, but he's basically a short, statue back there.
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I thought Thompson played really well in a pocket that was usually collapsing within 2 seconds. He managed to get himself some space, plant his feet and make a quick decision. That's a good mobile quarterback, even if he's not taking off for runs. 

The second half breakdown kinda looked mental to me. I don't think he was gassed, he was just pressing. 

 
The Dude said:
Frost's comments about the offensive line not firing off the ball like when he played here didn't make much sense to me unless he planned on running the ball 60+ times a game like when he played here.

When running the ball is a secondary component to your offense you're never going to get that good at it and your offensive linemen are never going to get into much of a rhythm when it comes to run blocking.

And it should be clear to everyone now that Whipple intends to be a pass-first coordinator.   60/40 pass/run should satisfy anyone's definition of "pass-first".
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Whipple is a passing coach, for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls it back a few notches today. They need to show that they can run in order to set up the pass, and most teams that play from ahead (please tell me we are ahead all day) will run the ball more. 

 
The Dude said:
Frost's comments about the offensive line not firing off the ball like when he played here didn't make much sense to me unless he planned on running the ball 60+ times a game like when he played here.

When running the ball is a secondary component to your offense you're never going to get that good at it and your offensive linemen are never going to get into much of a rhythm when it comes to run blocking.

And it should be clear to everyone now that Whipple intends to be a pass-first coordinator.   60/40 pass/run should satisfy anyone's definition of "pass-first".
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Correct.  No one is "firing off the ball" when pass protecting. Rarely do you have lines that are really good at both run blocking or pass protection. One or other normally just becomes much easier when you excel at one and the defense isn't keying on the other.   It is an issue if you struggle with both of course. 

 
Word is the reason Liewer was in at the end of the game is because that was supposed to be Vokolek's spot in a package of hurry-up plays that they had repped in practice.  Liewer was the #2 guy repping that spot so he was the next man up with Vokolek out.

 
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