TA apparently improvised and passed. Receiver was just supposed to be decoy to draw a defender away from LOS.
Post-game presser: Riley says 3rd down was called QB run
- Thread starter dckchusker
- Start date
I don't care. The play should have been nothing more than a simple handoff to Jano or Ozigbo.
Still no excuse for Riley. Armstrong has to be told that you DO NOT pass the ball under any circumstances, let alone that awkward behind and not even close to a sure thing piece of crap he threw at the receiver.
as I said .... you can't count on TA making the simplest of decisions down the stretch
hell you apparently cant even count on him to not throw the ball on a running play
hell you apparently cant even count on him to not throw the ball on a running play
The play-calling was beyond idiotic all day. Whose to blame for that?
Riley needs to take accountability for this abomination of a game - not trash his player.
I will never forget that play. Dumbest thing I have ever seen in sports.
Riley needs to take accountability for this abomination of a game - not trash his player.
I will never forget that play. Dumbest thing I have ever seen in sports.
his player decided to throw the ball when a running play was called ... if you can't trust your QB to not throw the ball when a running play is called then you need a new QB... hell maybe you need a new coach if he hasn't recognized that you have a QB who panics down the stretch to the point of throwing the ball away on a running play when the objective is to run the clock
2 things. 1st. You don't give your QB that option. You don't even let him get it in his head. 2nd. You NEVER throw your QB under the bus.
All that was needed was a simple hand off up the middle. 40 seconds at least go off the clock with a simple play. Instead, the staff got cute as they did all day long and it backfired. Langsdorf channeled his inner Tom Coughlin and called a stupid play on 3rd down when all that was needed was simplicity.
I guess I disagree with everyone on this call. Of all safe calls there are in football, a bootleg run is going to take more seconds off the clock than any you could run. There is also no handoff, which further reduces the risk of a fumble on the exchange. It was the correct call, and Riley didn't throw anyone under the bus. He simply responded to the question by the reporter. "It was a designed run play."
The person we should aim most of our anger at is none other than Mike Cavanaugh. His OLine is atrocious and appears to never get to get beyond the LOS and to the next level of players. Our line play is just awful.
There shouldn't have been, and there wasn't an option to throw the ball. It was supposed to be 100% run.
That still doesn't excuse pass plays whose first option is the deep ball, because we shouldhave kept all passes intermediate and short routes based on the wind, but the bootleg was the correct call, IMO.
I think if we are talking about firing people, Mike Cavanaugh would be at the top of that list.
I don't get where this is throwing TA under the bus. I have said over and over, the coaches put players in the position to make plays and the players have to execute. TA didn't do that on this play. The play had a decoy piece to it and TA took it upon himself to improvise. If he would have connected, he is a hero. However, he made the choice to go outside the call. It happens all of the time given situations. Players hold, push off, let a guy get behind them, whiff on a block, get stood up, it happens. The question I have to ask is are players coached well enough to not get themselves and the team into these situations late in games? Secondly, why does this keep happening? It happens to every team once in a while but it shouldn't happen this regularly.
Tommy gonna Tommy. He should be benched when the game is on the line in favor of Ryker. Yeah I said it.
Langs didn't do him any favors today, I get that, but Tommy eventually did what he usually does, cough up a hairball late when it matters.
Servicable QB at best who simply cannot handle the pressure.
Langs didn't do him any favors today, I get that, but Tommy eventually did what he usually does, cough up a hairball late when it matters.
Servicable QB at best who simply cannot handle the pressure.
I agree with you here. As to the "why" it keeps happening. Well we had 7 years of culture in this program where players had almost no accountability. I mean how often did we see players get pulled in games when they made mistakes the last few years? Almost zero right? No one was getting pulled in games, when they went outside of the play designs, or kept making mental errors. The lack of accountability on the players for the last few years, is something that does not get fixed overnight. Bad habits dont get fixed over night, it is a process and not a quick one most of the time. This lead to us being one of the sloppiest and undisciplined teams that played on Saturdays right? We lost the turnover battle 6 of 7 years under Bo and were in the bottom half in penalties 6 of 7 years under BO as well. Again: lack of accountability.
We all know the QB spot had terrible coaching the last few years, and we also know that TA got into some really bad habits, and along with bad habits plus zero accountability, those habits come up from time to time. Heck we already know TA has had some good QB coaching and yet he still reverts to bad habits. IE Throwing off his back foot, missing short throws, going downfield on his passes and ignoring his check downs (who are open). These are called bad habits, bad habits are tough to break. Lack of accountability on the players is tough to break in a short amount of time. You saw TA's gunslinger mentality coming to form in that last play instead of playing within the system, (not to mention all the downfield throws in the game where he was not throwing to his check downs that were open) bad habits...
1) I don't like a roll out call to begin with. Instinct takes over and your QB ends up going sideline and getting pushed out of bounds. A fullback dive is not going to result in an incomplete pass or end up out of bounds. 2) You're in crunch time and see the tight end is on the wrong side to make the key block. Why not take the TO (either Tommy or the coaches)? 3) Ozigbo thought that he was a receiver, so there was obviously a communication problem (Carter, TA, Ozigbo all running something other than was supposedly called). That's on the coaches.
I don't see anything wrong with telling everyone what play was called. TA had a horrifying game and should be held accountable.
It was really hard to bite my tongue all week in regards to that post. That was some low hanging fruit was staring me right in the face for a week.
Oz was supposed to look like a receiver, that was the play design. With a fullback give you risk the hand off to defensive penetration and obvious fumble. They also wanted to kill more clock and a few seconds on a roll out would accomplish that. The call is a running play that looks like a passing play, not exactly rocket science. The call wasn't the problem but execution was. If they did the FB give and they had fumbled the exchange then someone would have said, why not just roll the QB out and use up more clock time?
Plenty of opportunity to fumble on a QB roll out as well, or to have a lapse and run out of bounds. Oz said he thought they were throwing to him, not that he was running a decoy route. TE fails to go in motion, just too cute and too many moving parts when a simple play is called for.
It needed to be said hurt feelings or not. TA has to quit making these stupid mistakes especially late in games.
Exactly. TA messed up & had a horrible game. Missed wide open receivers all day & then made one heck of a bonehead play when the game was on the line.
I have no problem with a player being held accountable. I wonder if coaches should be held accountable as well.
Bingo!! He's not gonna play on Sunday's even though folks around here think he's the second coming. There's a reason no majors offered him other than to play safety or WR. I get Neb hasnt out a QB in the league in 40 plus years, but dang TA is not the answer. I said it would be 4 rough years just like with Tmart.
"Servicable QB at best who simply cannot handle the pressure."
Led comeback win vs Michigan in Big House in '13, led comeback win vs Iowa last year (yes, DPE was great but he didn't throw the final 3 TD passes), nearly passed NU to win vs MSU last year when running game was stopped cold. Almost brought us back vs USC and Miami when defense collapsed. I'd say he has done well in many pressure situations. Just not yesterday.
Led comeback win vs Michigan in Big House in '13, led comeback win vs Iowa last year (yes, DPE was great but he didn't throw the final 3 TD passes), nearly passed NU to win vs MSU last year when running game was stopped cold. Almost brought us back vs USC and Miami when defense collapsed. I'd say he has done well in many pressure situations. Just not yesterday.
Like I have said a couple times, I have absolutely no problem with the play call. I do have a problem with not calling a timeout to get everyone on the same page. As far as Riley saying what he said in the presser, I have no issue with that either. If Armstrong can't handle it being pointed out he made a mistake, then he shouldn't be a D1 QB. Him denying an interview request tells me he knows he screwed up. He's a captain. He needs to speak after the game, win or lose.
With all due respect, it was a dumb move to throw it 31 times in that weather. And look at the tweet from Callahan on the front page-the call looks like a bootleg run/pass option. Maybe someone told TA not to pass it, maybe TA didn't hear it. But it was a dumb call. That was on the coaches.
