The passing game
- Thread starter DocCat2
- Start date
Ummmm. Practice?!?
Is this a trick question? lol
At least there are five to six days each week this season when that guy with the ball can try throwing to all those guys running down field. Maybe they can even develop some chemistry since the season just started. Once they figure out who is good at running downfield and catching the ball, maybe the coaches can tell the guy throwing to ball to look for said player during a game?!? Seems like it is worth a shot. Dunno - what else can they do???
Yes for now that may be true, however we are dealing with a QB who just played his first college game against what has been a stout defense over the past 6 or 7 years. He will improve and more than likely fast, plus he can run which adds another threat.
For a first game QB, I thought Thorson showed some great skills, and I can see why the coaches picked him as the starter. He throws a very nice ball, and can zip it on a straight line to his WR. The ball to Shuler was beautiful and the type of throw that many of our QB's in the past could not make. I feel a TON better with Thorson at QB than I ever did with Kain Colter. And that is NOW. This kid is only going to get better as the year goes on. He needs to make his reads better and shore up his decision making, but that can naturally come with experience. He has all the tools.
Let's not forget that this D we played against was a top 10 D last year. Sure, they lost some players, but it was supposed to be a strength for the team again. And overall, it played quite well. It will be interesting to see what we can do next week against much inferior competition. If we can't move the ball in the air next week, then I'd be worried.
I might amend that to say, "If we NEED to move the ball in the air, then I'd be worried".
People keep saying that. It is WRONG! It should not be repeated ever again. I believe they mentioned on TV something about losing the starting defensive line and someone with bad ears thought they said starting defense. It is simply not true. And, on the Defensive Line, Shittu was the starter last year before he was injured.
They lost all of the D Line starters. They returned 2 starters at LB and experienced players at most positions.
That's already proven to be BS. They didn't return any DL starters, only if you don't count Shittu who was a starter before he was injured (would we have considered McEvilly, had he not retired, or Kuhar as non-starters?). Heck, you could argue that our DL (which dominated their experienced OL) was less experienced than Stanford's. I'm not sure they really even lost a majority of their D - they still returned a CB and three LB's who all had starting experience and had all-conference consideration. The other corner was their starting nickelback, so had plenty of playing time. They also brought in an experienced 5th year graduate transfer from Cal, so between him and Shittu, it's not like the DL was completely inexperienced either. The other new starter on the DL were supposedly the caliber of athlete recruited by dOSU and Alabama (4 and 5 stars) and was projected to be their best DE prospect ever. The biggest question mark was going to be the safeties, both of whom were new.
I would say it would be unfair to classify the D as the same as last year's 2nd ranked defense in the country, but they weren't completely bereft of talent and experience either.
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If they stack the box, doesn't that open things up a little down field? Maybe Thorson will have fewer defenders to worry about. He throws a bullet but had a litle trouble with the crowds
"I feel a TON better with Thorson at QB than I ever did with Kain Colter." That's not a fair comparison for you to make since you felt Wally the Walrus was a better passer than Colter, which he wasn't. Good poise though for first college game against what was at least supposed to be a staunch opponent. You're right--tremendous upside. Let's pray for and injury free year and career. Problem is that NU tends to put QB's under a lot of pressure (O-Line, needing to run and pass to succeed, unwillingness to play backups, etc.) and so the injury risk is greater.
Please! We play a VERY strong game and the QB Flat out did the job and we still have to find a fault. I WAS at the game and this kid will have some bumps in the road, but the talent is clearly there. We likely won't be the San Diego Chargers of the Dan Fouts era this year, but this kid will improve and Thorson will keep defenses honest with both his legs and his arm.
Phil Steele had Stanford's DL rated #35 (we were #43), Stanford's LB rated #7 (we weren't top 50), and Stanford's secondary #23 (We were #32). They may have returned only 4 "starters" but they had plenty of talent and experience in their defense.
He wasn't wrong about Stanford. Their defense was solid. Going into the game, if anyone told me Stanford would give up only 16 points I'd about guarantee they would win.
My concern with the passing game is just a continuation of problems from last year. Either our schemes or poor route running do not open separation for our QBs to exploit. C. Jones runs good routes with crisp cuts but our other receivers never seem to be "open"
Our defense excelled against a terrible Stanford performance but I hope we have enough offense to outscore a few teams this year
Our defense excelled against a terrible Stanford performance but I hope we have enough offense to outscore a few teams this year
Let 'em!!
We will torch teams that stack the box on us. Thorson can throw it deep and we've got enough speed and solid route runners to make people look silly trying to guard us one on one.
My biggest issue with the passing game is over-reliance on one receiver. We're much more effective when we move the ball around. We need to get more guys open and hit them. It can't always be C Jones on every 3rd down...I'm just going to chalk that up to a first time QB.
Geez, one of the reasons their performance was "terrible" was that we kicked their ass! How about giving our kids a little credit?
In addition to the big first down pass to Shuler, Thorson threw a very nice ball that Shuler nearly grabbed (against very tight coverage) for a TD right before the 49 yd FG. He should see the field better each week that he plays.
Agree. It was right on his hands. Can't fault Shuler for not catching it, the DB was all over him.
They didn't lose All of Them. One starter started last year but was lost due to injury. They also played a graduate transfer form Cal who was All Pac-12.
Coaches say the biggest improvement is from week 1 to week 2. That goes triple for a freshman QBs seeing his first action. We got game 1 under Thorson's belt with a win over a ranked team. Was he consistently great? Nope. He was good enough to win and showed flashes of what he will in the future. He'll be better this week and a lot better when we play Duke.
I haven't had the chance to watch the game yet, but I'll take any freshman who can put it up 24 times against a (conservatively) top 30 defense and never find the other teams' hands.
I hope he gets 30 attempts or more this weekend.
He actually found their hands several times. A clear case of kids playing DB because they can't catch!
I stand corrected. I'm still happy he didn't find the other team's hands that *many* times, then...He actually found their hands several times. A clear case of kids playing DB because they can't catch!
