The Mismanagement of Hunter Johnson
- Thread starter freewillie07
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Never mind everyone! Nothing to worry about. OL providing ample time to get plays off. Clearly it was a mcCall the Wrong Play issue and not the OL in that Q1 series at the goal line.
Jane watched it twice and says so, so there’s that.
I mean it’s football and it’s a conference game. We were still in it at that point. Pulling him is bullshit and just plays mind games. It’s football. Getting hurt is always a risk. It’s something Paul Stevens would have done to mentally break one of us on the diamond.
Weren't we up on MSU of all teams 31 to 3 vs. in the 4th quarter and ended up losing that one? You'd think Fitz would remember that one.
It wasn’t a benefit. It created issues with the team and caused people to not play to their ability.
The coach thinks it will toughen the player up and create a more competitive situation. When in reality it causes you to play tight and never really feel comfortable. It also creates issues internally with the team.
Hunter made a terrible, terrrible decision to throw off his back foot into the wind to a covered receiver 25 yards down the field instead of an open receiver 15 yards down the field, that completely changed the momentum of the game. College football is an EXTREMELY momentum oriented game, you simply can't do things like that. How was that on the coaches exactly? The staff actually showed tremendous patience with him today-- if I had been the head coach, HJ would have been firmly glued to the bench in the second half after that. Just a ridiculous, ridiculous play.
We lost today because of plays like that in critical situations (a completely whiffed block on that crucial first series prevented a walk-in touchdown that also was a huge momentum killer) similarly bad execution by the defense (MSU scored on 5 of their first 9 drives today, and it should have been 6-- anyone see that coming?). As in the Stanford game, we missed Trae bigly- there is a reason why he is a captain.
If you wanted to see bad coaching, check out Lovie again today. Coacking was fairly low on the totem pole of the reasons we lost this game, imo. We couldn't block, couldn't tackle (lol that goal line play on the first times) and we continue to make idiotic, undisciplined mistakes. That is going to cut it against a team like MSU. Fortunately, this staff has shown an unprecedented ability to turn things around, and I expect improvement next week.
We lost today because of plays like that in critical situations (a completely whiffed block on that crucial first series prevented a walk-in touchdown that also was a huge momentum killer) similarly bad execution by the defense (MSU scored on 5 of their first 9 drives today, and it should have been 6-- anyone see that coming?). As in the Stanford game, we missed Trae bigly- there is a reason why he is a captain.
If you wanted to see bad coaching, check out Lovie again today. Coacking was fairly low on the totem pole of the reasons we lost this game, imo. We couldn't block, couldn't tackle (lol that goal line play on the first times) and we continue to make idiotic, undisciplined mistakes. That is going to cut it against a team like MSU. Fortunately, this staff has shown an unprecedented ability to turn things around, and I expect improvement next week.
Didn’t NU have MSU at 3rd and 16 or something like that and then give up a first down on that final drive of the half?
Yeah, the interception sucked but it wasn’t a game killer.
Fitz and co are old fashioned. LB play has been horrendous and I have a hard time believing that we don't have another better LB than Chris Bergin. Even Gallagher needs to be re-evaluated since he's disappeared from the stat sheet. Is a rotation gonna hurt their poor ass tacking egos?
3rd and 18. I mentioned that play in another thread-- I thought our defense was a bad as our offense today
This is a great post.
Hunter is very talented. (He is not Trevor Lawrence or Tua or the guy in Oregon, who I’ve never actually watched but I assume it’s be good, but he’s very talented.)
Hunter has not been told it’s his team. He’s been told that he’s going to split reps with a walk-on, and he’s been told that he’s the starter only because that walk-on got hurt.
When you’re still new — remember, he’s not played much football, Fitz’ll tell you — that vote of confidence matters.
He’s been told that there’s no way his offense can score on three straight possessions. And he’s been told he’s not tough enough to run a qb sneak.
(On the other hand, he was asked to make a play on that 3rd and long, and he made a catastrophic mistake.)
There was no reason to pretend it was a qb competition. And there’s no reason that NU should be running an offense that hasn’t evolved since 2009. Also, his receivers and line should be better.
What a bad bad bad bad loss. MSU fans are tired of Dantonio, but boys just abused ours today. Argh.
Lol. You seem to be of the viewpoint “we can’t block or we would have won.” Maybe, just maybe, a good OC would say “hey, we can’t block, let’s try something different than run it with a goal line set.”
And HJ didn’t chance the momentum of the game. Being unable to score from the 1 yard line did. We lost the game there. Lets not get cute.
LOL, what a genius. Why don't you go find the section of the playbook that has the plays that should be called when your OL can't block. Get back to me when you find it. Troll.
Hey genius, I may not have tried a goal line set and running it up their throat if your OL can’t block. But it’s always easy for a guy like you of course, if the play doesn’t work just say “hard to win when you can execute.”
How many teams get stopped the way we do with goal line sets? Even you must agree that it’s not great right? Can I even get that out of you? Or you still digging into the sand?
And you seem to be the type of guy to argue “Fitz is the best coach we’ve ever had because he’s won more games than anyone else” even if we go winless for the next 16 years.
So you think that an offense with a young QB and an OL that is struggling, particularly with pass blocking, has a better chance of scoring on the goal line calling a pass play where 22 players are compressed in a tight area vs. finding a running play that get's you 1-2 yards? Even if all the OL does is execute their assignments and hold their blocks for ONE second, a decent RB has a good chance with running momentum of falling forward for a TD. A team that can't get a yard or two on a running play even when the defense knows what is coming does not deserve to win.
I think Fitz is a great coach because his track record at NU speaks for itself. Everyone, outside of some delusional no nothing curmudgeon NU fans, realizes that Fitz is one of the best coaches in college football and how remarkable his track record at NU really is. You are the outlier.
I think a team with a bad OL like we have, should not try what we tried on the goal line. And you can argue the opposite all you want, but I’m right because we came away with 0 points. It’s easy to justify away the failures, it’s something else to come up with solutions.
Like I said Troll, let me know when you find the section of the playbook that contains the TD plays which you call when your OL is blocking like a turnstile. I'll be waiting.
Such a convenient answer. It’s almost as if they pay hundreds, if not millions, of dollars to figure out a solution. But we can’t.
I’m not a genius like you, but with a weak OL, against the nations top run D, I may not have tried that strategy. Just maybe I would have drawn up something. Just maybe.
What's convenient for Monday Morning QBs like you is to criticize the play calling with the benefit of hindsight. Like I said Troll, I am still waiting to hear the brilliant play call you would have used from the section of the play book which contains the TD plays you call when your OL isn't blocking anyone. My limited football experience and knowledge has taught me there aren't any plays that work when your OL is functioning as a turnstile.
That’s the problem. We don’t have a playbook for this. And I’m not paid to come up with solutions, Mick is. And he hasn’t.
There is so much wrong with this post I don’t know where to start. The coaches lost this game by not having these guys ready to play. That’s the bottom line. The okay calling ducked also.
And if you think the defense is the big problem, we watched different games. The d wasn’t great but the offense was putrid
Dude. Are you kidding?
So Coach Mike’s formula to win, after being down 14-3 at the half, would have been to play Aiden Smith SOONER?
No one has come up with a playbook that works for a bad OL. Line play is by far the most important factor in the outcome of a football game. If your OL can't block, you can't accurately evaluate if your QB is any good, if your RB can run, if your WRs can play or if your OC can call a game.
Come on.... everyone and their sister knows you try a play action fake and then hit the barely used tight end. Even if it doesn't work, it slows down the all out rush to the line that the whole MSU defensive backfield was doing on every play down there. Why they didn't do that on 3rd down when they already knew they were going to go for it on 4th blows my mind.
That said, I agree with you that the oL was such a problem that even if we scored a TD there, we still would have gotten beat badly in the game.
This. It was so glaringly obvious that this should have been the play that I almost thought there had been a timeout called when Johnson started running.
Do you know how easy it is for a young QB to turn the ball over passing the ball in such a compressed space? The play action pass is actually the obvious play call in that situation and it doesn't slow down the pass rush at all when you call it on the goal line. It's obvious to me that they felt that repeatedly trying to pound the ball in was the higher probability play than trusting their QB to not make a mistake in that situation. Even with a bad OL, If they execute correctly for one play and hold their blocks for just a second or two, a decent RB with momentum should be able to fall forward for a yard or two. A team that can't execute that type of goal line play for at least a yard, does not deserve to win.
Still waiting troll. The Monday Morning QB is taking a long time going through his play book to find that play you call when your OL is giving up defensive penetration at the snap of the ball.
Don't engage this poster. Just started pisted yesterday, likely a troll account...
