I now believe the silence...
- Thread starter stpaulcat
- Start date
I do think that for stretches of time with Sullivan on the field the offense begin to approximate what I might be happy to see it look like schematically. It did an underwhelming job threatening over the top and with the pass portion of the RPO, but that was indeed driven as much by WR play more than anything else.
HOWEVER, then we’d move the ball a little bit and go wildcat for literally like three plays in a row and stall out. Terrible!
Sullivan throws a good enough deep ball for what we need. He perfectly placed one sometime late in the season. More RPO would be well suited to Sullivan and our RBs. I think part of the context of Fitz’s “RPO is the purest form of communism” comment is that he felt it sort of bent the rules of illegal lineman downfield, and refs were not being strict about calling it.
I’m not sure what he meant at the time, although it was kinda funny, but we run enough RPO now that I don’t work myself up about that comment.
I’m still not sure if Jake is the guy I want running that offense for me, but regardless, I didn’t worry myself about that comment.
Turns out the long wait WAS because our new DC had a game to coach yesterday!
Could he have gotten the SDS DC? NDS did have a good season. and it appears they are pretty balanced on Offense and defense. NU's gonna need to do the same.
I just had to bump this post, given that we're apparently hiring a guy whose defense gave up 45 points, although it was yesterday, not today.
Are we really judging a guy off of one game?
How foolish would that be?
North Dakota State's PFF defensive ranks under Braun (among FBS and FCS teams):
2019: 2nd
2020: 4th
2021: 12th
2022: 39th
Braun was the 2021 FCS Coordinator of the Year as NDSU held opponents to only 11.1 PPG that season. He's also won two national titles.
But yeah, they gave up 45 points on Saturday in the National Championship game.
I can't resist restating - I'd be ok if we gave up 45 points in the national championship game. Bring on the runner-up trophy
Talk to corbi about that. He was complaining about Chris Hampton, whose team gave up 45 pts in a win. Fitz is hiring a guy whose team gave up 45 in a loss. I agree, judging a guy on the basis of one game is ridiculous.
I’m sure @corbi296 is thrilled with this hire. Not sure why you needed to bring him into this absurdity.
Not sure what you mean by that comment. I'm agreeing with you, in case you missed it.
Damn, wished I hadn't seen this.... I still have PTSD from watching JON's defenses.
I’ve long found it an incredible arrangement. I honestly can’t think of a better cover of any song.
Now I know what the Bison fans were bitching about with regards to a declining defense.
However, the scoring defense ranks are better and in my mind more important:
2019: 1
2020: 20
2021: 1
2022: 9
Hank like for FCS. Needs to prove he can do a turnaround and at this level. But, otherwise I’ll take it.
Frankly, any defense (and offense) that can get you to the National Championship game, I’ll take. Even TCU’s.
A lot of the yardage stuff at the FCS level is also quite driven by things like do you play a P5 matchup (NDSU did for the first time in years in 2022), who else in on your schedule, etc.
There was a lot of conversation in fall 2021 - and not just by fans or media, but people people including coaches within the NDSU program - that that defense was the best or one of the best in NDSU history, which is pretty impressive when you’ve won 9 nattties in 11 years mostly on the strength of your defense.
Ohio State, 2002, did not have what I'd call a high-powered offense. They won because they were junkyard dogs on the line in that game.
I've never seen a more fired up team than OSU in the first quarter of that game. If you ever see a replay of that game, watch the linemen. Nasty.
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Fitz needs to settle on an offensive philosophy. Personally, I think they need to go dual-threat at QB and run more option. You might not always get the best pure passers that way, but if you get the right guy at QB it makes your offenses harder to prepare for. If you look at the best offenses NU has had over the past couple of decades, it usually involved QBs who had some running ability. Even Thorson, who wasn't a great option QB, had some wheels and broke off some key runs on occasion. The ideal NU QB was probably Dan Persa, whose freak injury unfortunately crippled his career.
I just don't see a future for NU slogging it out in a ball-control offense in the B1G. That might work in the West IF you get a defense of the type they had with Hank for a couple of years, and that is probably the exception rather than the rule. I just don't think Northwestern makes a living trying to run over Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State (or even Wisconsin and Iowa) year after year. And USC and UCLA coming in plus a complete realignment or even elimination of divisions isn't going to help. If you're going ball control, you'd better start recruiting a significantly higher level of RB talent.
I just don't see a future for NU slogging it out in a ball-control offense in the B1G. That might work in the West IF you get a defense of the type they had with Hank for a couple of years, and that is probably the exception rather than the rule. I just don't think Northwestern makes a living trying to run over Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State (or even Wisconsin and Iowa) year after year. And USC and UCLA coming in plus a complete realignment or even elimination of divisions isn't going to help. If you're going ball control, you'd better start recruiting a significantly higher level of RB talent.
Yeah, like Parker Jenkins...
.... oh, damn. My bad. Great move making him the ONE RB we decided to recruit last year. No, I will not let it go.
Given that we successfully pivoted to a good late bloomer recruit, which we’ve done successfully before with RBs, you should definitely let that one go.
Agre 💯 . I do think we’ve had good RB recruiting but have had bad luck with injuries aside from JJTBC. Larkin, Bowser, Porter, etc.
Persa senior year without the injury would’ve been a great sight to see. Agree he was probably the best prototype for an NU QB from a running, accuracy and decisionmaking standpoint. Don’t recall how strong his arm was.
Ball control offense is not inherently bad but you need to be able to score and you need to be able to take advantage of a strong running game by using it to set up occasional big chunk pass plays. That’s what we are missing. Can’t rely on 12 play drives to score TDs because there is more opportunity for drive killing mistakes or simply running out of time.
The biggest problem with Northwestern's ball control offense is the inability to control the ball. Too many 3-5 play drives means that the other team is getting too many opportunities (and ends up really controlling the ball.)
I always found it funny that our defensive philosophy under Hank was to make the opposing offense rely on 12 play drives to score TDS because it maximized the chances for the offense to make a mistake. And at the same time our own offensive philosophy was to rely on 12 play drives to score TDs.
Or, as corbi would call it, complementary football!
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The biggest problem with Northwestern's ball control offense is it's shit in every way nearly every year.
I think the point of the approach is to do that better than your opponent. Good Northwestern teams have typically converted on third down at a higher percentage than opponents, won the turnover battle, and avoided costly penalties so that they limit the span of outcomes and emerge on top by virtue of being better at winning those elements.
It might not be what I'd favor, but it's not an outrageous concept. It's just that Northwestern hasn't done well at the things you have to do well to succeed at it.
This is like how the Twins played offense in their 2000-2018 stretch. They prioritized pitchers who, above all else, threw strikes. They were best in the league in fewest walks every year. Even as strikeouts ticked up and up and up, they prioritized soft tossing guys who threw strikes because they recognized walks were very very bad. “Pitch to contact” was the mantra, throw strikes, let them put it in play, never walk anybody, and go from there.
On offense, they actively discouraged guys from drawing deep counts. They taught guys, including obvious sluggers like David Ortiz, that they had to take the first pitch away they got and take it smoothly the other way. Stroke a little single, run, and keep things moving. Don’t worry about drawing deep counts (much less driving the ball).
The obvious cognitive dissonance is mind boggling.
Penalties have no correlation to wins.
The third key, beyond turnovers and conversions (3rd + 4th combined) is ‘chunk plays’, however you like to define it.
As someone else pointed out here or in a different thread, there’s great irony in running a defense predicated on forcing long drives because eventually the offense will screw up, while operating on an offensive philosophy of grinding out long drives. Oh well.
Yeah that 2 star RB with limited and low P5 offers that was primarily being recruited for defense is that upgrade at RB talent that is so needed.
Frankly, I think the RB room is the least of our problems and has been a strength. The OL worries me more especially with Skoronski moving on and the lack of any passing threat makes it difficult to run the ball when the defenses can cheat and stack the box because you have no threat to go over the top on them.
Hence the “late bloomer” aspect. We know for a fact his recruiting on the offensive side picked up rapidly during his senior season, during which he developed significantly, but he never even got to the point of accepting visits elsewhere because NU had got in at the right moment. Not every player is an obvious 4 star as a sophomore and junior in HS, some develop at a different time. Given that Ayeni very recently did the EXACT same thing in landing Hull, we should recognize it’s a strength of ours.
Well, this was supposed to be the big transfer visit that would lead to a waterfall of solid players. Nobody has announced. More of the silence.
Which team will have a higher percentage of scholarships not used, disregarding the throw walk on rewards given away because there were schollies left over?
Which team will have a higher percentage of scholarships not used, disregarding the throw walk on rewards given away because there were schollies left over?
How are you going to get through 2023 without getting the Bends from decompressing too rapidly while posting ?
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You want a top running game you need to get multiple 4-5 star offensive linemen. No matter the realignment, NU is going to have a real tough time making the title game. No divisions means back to old school meaning U of M vs OSU most of the time. Divisions mean stay in the West with USC and UCLA or more likely get moved to the East with the big 3. Fitz really dropped the 🏈 these past 4 years.
Never understood Fitz's continued insistence on a ball control O, when that requires at a minimum, an average O-line, if not above average.
It's one thing for Wisky to play that kind of game w/ the O-line that they usually have and playing less talented B1GW teams, but even then, they inevitably lose (if not get beat soundly) by the team coming out of the B1GE, which also has a talented O-line and more firepower all around.
Hank's D and better QB play (then Wisky or Iowa) from time to time (not to mention JJtBC, who make defenders miss in the backfield) covered up for the all too often inept scheme.
And so much for "ball control" - when the Cats fall behind big early, that's when Fitz loosens his reigns on the O, but usually too little, too late.
Like had stated for so long, if the Cats had a better scheme on O to go w/ Hank's D for all those years, the Cats would have won more B1G W titles and would have started winning them earlier (also would have happened if he had been able to improve the O-line, but after so many years, aside from getting 2 guys into the 1st round, not much in the way of improvement).
Look at how long we had to endure Fitz insisting on handing the ball off to the RB deep behind the LoS on 3rd/4th and short w/ predictable results.
Thought we had seen the end of that, but saw it rear its ugly head again this past season in key spots w/ the same predictable results.
It's one thing for Wisky to play that kind of game w/ the O-line that they usually have and playing less talented B1GW teams, but even then, they inevitably lose (if not get beat soundly) by the team coming out of the B1GE, which also has a talented O-line and more firepower all around.
Hank's D and better QB play (then Wisky or Iowa) from time to time (not to mention JJtBC, who make defenders miss in the backfield) covered up for the all too often inept scheme.
And so much for "ball control" - when the Cats fall behind big early, that's when Fitz loosens his reigns on the O, but usually too little, too late.
Like had stated for so long, if the Cats had a better scheme on O to go w/ Hank's D for all those years, the Cats would have won more B1G W titles and would have started winning them earlier (also would have happened if he had been able to improve the O-line, but after so many years, aside from getting 2 guys into the 1st round, not much in the way of improvement).
Look at how long we had to endure Fitz insisting on handing the ball off to the RB deep behind the LoS on 3rd/4th and short w/ predictable results.
Thought we had seen the end of that, but saw it rear its ugly head again this past season in key spots w/ the same predictable results.
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That's why the smart posters have DAN insurance, which I raved about in the Dook vs. NU pissing contest thread.
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