Thorson's running

[freewillie07]

For anyone brave enough to rewatch the game, or who was observant on Saturday: why wasn't Clayton Thorson running at all? Or, even just stepping up in the pocket?

As I pointed out elsewhere: I believe this was the first game of Thorson's career in which he didn't have a single positive rushing attempt.

Thorson is supposed to be a threat with his legs and arm. And NU needs every yard it can get. So, what gives? Psychological? Schematic? Something else?

 

[hdhntr1]

For anyone brave enough to rewatch the game, or who was observant on Saturday: why wasn't Clayton Thorson running at all? Or, even just stepping up in the pocket?

As I pointed out elsewhere: I believe this was the first game of Thorson's career in which he didn't have a single positive rushing attempt.

Thorson is supposed to be a threat with his legs and arm. And NU needs every yard it can get. So, what gives? Psychological? Schematic? Something else?

Thought he had one

 

[Deeringfish]

For anyone brave enough to rewatch the game, or who was observant on Saturday: why wasn't Clayton Thorson running at all? Or, even just stepping up in the pocket?

As I pointed out elsewhere: I believe this was the first game of Thorson's career in which he didn't have a single positive rushing attempt.

Thorson is supposed to be a threat with his legs and arm. And NU needs every yard it can get. So, what gives? Psychological? Schematic? Something else?

There was now where for him to go except backward.

 

[ricko654321]

For anyone brave enough to rewatch the game, or who was observant on Saturday: why wasn't Clayton Thorson running at all? Or, even just stepping up in the pocket?

As I pointed out elsewhere: I believe this was the first game of Thorson's career in which he didn't have a single positive rushing attempt.

Thorson is supposed to be a threat with his legs and arm. And NU needs every yard it can get. So, what gives? Psychological? Schematic? Something else?

I actually noticed this too. There were multiple times where lanes opened up to scramble and he didn't take them. Early on I thought it was reflective of the renewed focus on him being a pocket passer. Later on though when we were down I would've thought desperation would override that and make him want to scramble to pick up 3rd downs on a couple occasions. That said, as the game wore on the OL deteriorated further and there were fewer lanes to run into.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

For anyone brave enough to rewatch the game, or who was observant on Saturday: why wasn't Clayton Thorson running at all? Or, even just stepping up in the pocket?

As I pointed out elsewhere: I believe this was the first game of Thorson's career in which he didn't have a single positive rushing attempt.

Thorson is supposed to be a threat with his legs and arm. And NU needs every yard it can get. So, what gives? Psychological? Schematic? Something else?

I was asking myself the same question...was even more frustrated watching Jones run all over our defense from the QB position.

 

[CatsDad]

I personally am glad he didn't run. As painful as the Duke game was we didn't lose anyone to injuries. The Duke game as bad as it was doesn't keep us from winning the West and going to Indy. No one was in the pocket to see what he saw or on the sidelines to hear what he was told. Thorson has no problem doing what he has to to win games for this team. Look at this as a bad scrimmage game. The season starts in Madison. Go Cats!!!!

 

[NJCat]

As painful as the Duke game was we didn't lose anyone to injuries.

Best news I've read in days.

 

[Just Gary]

I was asking myself the same question...was even more frustrated watching Jones run all over our defense from the QB position.

What was really painful in watching Duke play is they looked exactly like we did 8 years ago. It reminded me of when Kafka was our QB. They played with that underdog mentality, took what the defense was giving them, ran the option, had a QB that could run and picked our zone apart, and made our players look lost and depress. It was like we would do to teams coming into Ryan Field when we were 3-4 point underdogs. Jones was not a better passer than Thorson but because he could run the option and because he was mobile, he kept our defense off balance. Our safeties already had to help out the newbie corners, so they were always late on the option play. It was really amazing to me how well Duke executed. We needed the d-line to get off the blocks and they just could not do it. The game was frustrating, but we will do better against some of the B1G teams as they won't be as mobile and our coaches usually find the right players by that time. But starting off with the hardest games first (Wisconsin, Penn State, and Maryland) may see us at 2-4 and having to be nearly perfect in the second half of the season.

 

[freewillie07]

I personally am glad he didn't run. As painful as the Duke game was we didn't lose anyone to injuries. The Duke game as bad as it was doesn't keep us from winning the West and going to Indy. No one was in the pocket to see what he saw or on the sidelines to hear what he was told. Thorson has no problem doing what he has to to win games for this team. Look at this as a bad scrimmage game. The season starts in Madison. Go Cats!!!!

Maybe the game wouldn't have been as painful if Thorson had made the Duke defense pay with his legs, thereby preventing the game from getting out of hand.

 

[DaCat]

Maybe the game wouldn't have been as painful if Thorson had made the Duke defense pay with his legs, thereby preventing the game from getting out of hand.

So simple!

 

[Deeringfish]

The season starts in Madison. Go Cats!!!!

If the team pulls itself together and even plays respectable games against Wisconsin and PSU and then goes on to having a winning record in the B1G, all this OCC turmoil will make a little sense to me. If Fitz is seeing this year as the year to win the B1G, I could see his strategy being treat the OCC like live scrimmages, win em if you can but learn all you can about yourself without tipping your hand too much. I don't know if I agree with this strategy but I could see Fitz embracing it.

 

[ColumbusCatFan1]

I personally am glad he didn't run

If the Green Bay Packers are okay with their all world quarterback taking off from to time to time, there's no reason Thorson can't do the same.

While McCall will always tailor the playbook to highlight the strengths of his quarterback, his offense tends to operate best when he has a quarterback that is a capable ground threat. We don't need Clayton go full blown Dan Persa on the BIG, but with the current (I'll put it gently) "spotty" play from the offensive line, Thorson's legs need to utilized.

I get the sense Saturday was an aberration (in many ways) and not a signal of a philosophy shift.

 

[FeralFelidae]

They can't all run like Trevor Siemian. :shrugs:

 

[ColumbusCatFan1]

They can't all run like Trevor Siemian. :shrugs:

This post is hilarious and on point.

Even Siemian (who's running ability is clearly not on par with Thorson) could influence games with his legs. The 2014 game in South Bend immediately comes to mind.

 

[DaCat]

This post is hilarious and on point.

Even Siemian (who's running ability is clearly not on par with Thorson) could influence games with his legs. The 2014 game in South Bend immediately comes to mind.

We've seen Thorson do it too, like in his college debut against Stanford, outracing their defense for a TD run. Need a little more of that.

 

[ColumbusCatFan1]

We've seen Thorson do it too, like in his college debut against Stanford, outracing their defense for a TD run. Need a little more of that.

Yep. I think the way the Duke game snowballed threw the entire team (both players and coaches) off.

The play you mentioned in the 2015 Stanford game featured pulling lineman/Dickerson leading the way for Thorson. We've seen that concept here and there over the past two seasons and I imagine we'll see it again going forward. It's a nice way to help to prevent Clayton from being as exposed as he might be on a zone read while also taking advantage of his longer distance speed. CT is fast but doesn't have the acceleration of Persa or Colter.

I wouldn't be in favor of running QB power on every series (for health reasons), but there is a certainly a balance than can be struck.

 

[willycat]

We've seen Thorson do it too, like in his college debut against Stanford, outracing their defense for a TD run. Need a little more of that.

Exactly and he also made some long gains running a few other times. He has never looked comfortable running the option that has been are major part of NU's offense for years. I did notice that he was holding the ball a bit longer on the option pitch during the Nevada game but didn't see much if any of that last Saturday.

 

[hdhntr1]

Exactly and he also made some long gains running a few other times. He has never looked comfortable running the option that has been are major part of NU's offense for years. I did notice that he was holding the ball a bit longer on the option pitch during the Nevada game but didn't see much if any of that last Saturday.

Including, I think, against Duke.

 

[freewillie07]

Glad to see Thorson running this game. It's keeping the defense off balance.

Though the camera caught Fitz screaming "you could have run for 20 yards!" to him after he threw the ball away.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Glad to see Thorson running this game. It's keeping the defense off balance.

Though the camera caught Fitz screaming "you could have run for 20 yards!" to him after he threw the ball away.

Counterpoint: he also took some scary shots, including getting wrenched down on his throwing shoulder.

 

[freewillie07]

I still can't believe Alviti had a 68-yard run.

 

[EvanstonCat]

This post is hilarious and on point.

Even Siemian (who's running ability is clearly not on par with Thorson) could influence games with his legs. The 2014 game in South Bend immediately comes to mind.

You missed the Joey Bosa juke.

 

[mikewebb68]

I still can't believe Alviti had a 68-yard run.

This. Did that really happen? He outran nearly the entire BGSU team....

 

[ColumbusCatFan1]

You missed the Joey Bosa juke.

Juke joke.

 

[ColumbusCatFan1]

This. Did that really happen? He outran nearly the entire BGSU team....

It's really great to see a healthy Alviti doing his thing, even if it's only in mop up duty. Love that he stuck with the program after being dealt a tough hand.

 

[SmellyCat]

It's really great to see a healthy Alviti doing his thing, even if it's only in mop up duty. Love that he stuck with the program after being dealt a tough hand.

I like the 2017 version of Alviti. Sure, it's two games of mop-up duty, but we can see What Might Have Been.

 

[pawildcat]

Counterpoint: he also took some scary shots, including getting wrenched down on his throwing shoulder.

Penn State runs their QB a lot, and I'm sure they wouldn't like to lose him. Sometimes you just have to let your guys play and have the chips fall where they may. We'll definitely have to use the option of the QB run to keep Wisconsin and Penn State off balance if we're to have any chance of beating them.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Penn State runs their QB a lot, and I'm sure they wouldn't like to lose him. Sometimes you just have to let your guys play and have the chips fall where they may. We'll definitely have to use the option of the QB run to keep Wisconsin and Penn State off balance if we're to have any chance of beating them.

Time and place. Liked Thorson pulling the ball early against BG; up 3-4 scores, not so much. Competitive games against Wisconsin and PSU, run the hell out of it.

 

[pawildcat]

Time and place. Liked Thorson pulling the ball early against BG; up 3-4 scores, not so much. Competitive games against Wisconsin and PSU, run the hell out of it.

And also tell Thorson to SLIDE when necessary, not stand up and take the hit. McSorley is clever about doing that.

 

[freewillie07]

And also tell Thorson to SLIDE when necessary, not stand up and take the hit. McSorley is clever about doing that.

Has he ever slid while running? I genuinely can't picture him doing it.

 

[willycat]

Time and place. Liked Thorson pulling the ball early against BG; up 3-4 scores, not so much. Competitive games against Wisconsin and PSU, run the hell out of it.

That's exactly what Long was saying on the broadcast. Ditto for Jackson.

 

[ricko654321]

That's exactly what Long was saying on the broadcast. Ditto for Jackson.

we did a good job of limiting JJ's carries this game I thought - believe it was only 18.

 

[willycat]

we did a good job of limiting JJ's carries this game I thought - believe it was only 18.

Do seem to remember that Jackson and Thorson were in well into the 3rd quarter. That's when Long made his comment.

 

[hdhntr1]

Counterpoint: he also took some scary shots, including getting wrenched down on his throwing shoulder.

That was my concern as well. Wanted to see him hit the deck before those hits as he already had first down.

 

[d'son d]

Penn State runs their QB a lot, and I'm sure they wouldn't like to lose him. Sometimes you just have to let your guys play and have the chips fall where they may. We'll definitely have to use the option of the QB run to keep Wisconsin and Penn State off balance if we're to have any chance of beating them.

With teams that run the option, the key is to hit the QB as hard and as frequently as possible until the option is no longer optional/. Of course, that means that the followers keying on the recipient of the pitch are also in place. Watching these QB's getting up as if nothing matters is just their act but, in reality, it all adds up. Watching the PSU replay today brought that home. The QB is the easy target. Smash mouth football is from the Woody Hayes era but still works.