EXACTLY Why Shoelace Stayed In

[Michchamp]

biggunsbob[/color]]

Bob, putting in Devin with 9 minutes go to, and having him hand it off a handful of times against Eastern is not real game experience. Devin will get real game experience if Denard goes down, and he's thrown in against Nebraska, or any good Big 10 team.

That is a silly statement... Hand offs in practice and hand offs in a real game are totally different. Devin could use game experience any chance he can get some...

true, but looking at our slow starts, missed throws, missed reads, so does Denard, and given that he's going to be our starter for the next 2 years... that's probably more important.

If we see some improvement, of course it's impossible to say what it's due to, but there's no question that last drive would be valuable from a film standpoint. Borges has more to look at with Denard: how they managed time, the reads, the play calls, the coverage, etc. They had the game in the bag, so they could try the things they WANTED to try, instead of doing what they had to do to win. Now they have that to build on.

 

[Guest]

biggunsbob[/color]]

Bob, putting in Devin with 9 minutes go to, and having him hand it off a handful of times against Eastern is not real game experience. Devin will get real game experience if Denard goes down, and he's thrown in against Nebraska, or any good Big 10 team.

That is a silly statement... Hand offs in practice and hand offs in a real game are totally different. Devin could use game experience any chance he can get some...

And that's a different thing than worrying players will get hurt and taking them out or completely and totally changing your play calling because of the score.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

biggunsbob[/color]]

Bob, putting in Devin with 9 minutes go to, and having him hand it off a handful of times against Eastern is not real game experience. Devin will get real game experience if Denard goes down, and he's thrown in against Nebraska, or any good Big 10 team.

That is a silly statement... Hand offs in practice and hand offs in a real game are totally different. Devin could use game experience any chance he can get some...

No they aren't. The game was won. Maybe if it was even close it would be different. The only difference in the EMU game on that 4th quarter drive and practice is that there was another team on the other end looking specifically to injure your QB.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

biggunsbob[/color]]


That is a silly statement... Hand offs in practice and hand offs in a real game are totally different. Devin could use game experience any chance he can get some...

And that's a different thing than worrying players will get hurt and taking them out or completely and totally changing your play calling because of the score.

Every single coach on the planet changes their play calling in a blowout - and if not the play calling they change the players on the field.

 

[dubbsco]

Maybe I'm being too short-sighted, but I cannot imagine handing the ball off to a running back to be incredibly difficult. Doing it in a practice or doing it in a game really doesn't make you better at it. He's done it 4 years in HS, he probably does it to death in practice. If Devin gets real, important experience, it's going to be throwing the ball, finding the spots he needs to put the ball, and understanding his WRs. Until he's put into a tough spot, he won't get IMPORTANT game experience. Playing Eastern with 5-10 mins to go in the game is not good experience.

 

[Michchamp]

I agree with you, however, I understand there are different types of handoffs and different footwork on different play calls... counters, dives, etc. E.g. faking a handoff to the FB, then flipping it out for a toss sweep... you might need to practice those in game conditions to get better at them, especially in a large stadium with fans screaming, the coaches/signals coming in from the sidelines might be difficult to hear.

 

[redandguilty]

I wish the offense was to the point where Denard could sit and Devin could get some snaps, but if they're not there yet, then so be it. I'm just glad we're 2nd guessing our coaches for this rather than 2nd guessing Fickle's non-use of his time outs.

 

[dubbsco]

Right, but practicing against an Eastern Michigan squad that has all but given up, and defensively is worse than Michigan's defense, I'm not sure how positive it would be. Like I said, I think they are just token reps, and something tells me DG is not trying his hardest out there with the game in hand. Plus, I would imagine the handoffs would be standard fare. They probably wouldn't want to risk turnovers with sweeps and the like.

 

[Guest]

I wish the offense was to the point where Denard could sit and Devin could get some snaps, but if they're not there yet, then so be it. I'm just glad we're 2nd guessing our coaches for this rather than 2nd guessing Fickle's non-use of his time outs.

I was going to smite Slick after he smites me this hour, but I'll use my power for good. Because yours was a good post.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Maybe I'm being too short-sighted, but I cannot imagine handing the ball off to a running back to be incredibly difficult. Doing it in a practice or doing it in a game really doesn't make you better at it. He's done it 4 years in HS, he probably does it to death in practice. If Devin gets real, important experience, it's going to be throwing the ball, finding the spots he needs to put the ball, and understanding his WRs. Until he's put into a tough spot, he won't get IMPORTANT game experience. Playing Eastern with 5-10 mins to go in the game is not good experience.

Tell that to the Michigan team in 2008 who constantly fumbled the handoffs. Handoffs are actually a pretty difficult thing and need a ton of practice to get the rhythm down. It's just like the center/QB exchange. Any time you're changing the hands of the ball it requires a ton of practice. Denard just doing runs up the middle require almost 0 practice. I don't care about getting anyone experience (that was never my argument) my argument is simply don't run him when the game is over just to try and get more points against EMU. Hand it off, kill off the clock and call it a day.

 

[Guest]

So, for the record, you take issue with TWO plays on the 6:10 drive?

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

So, for the record, you take issue with TWO plays on the 6:10 drive?

Yes

 

[Guest]

12 plays ...

--- Handoff to Shaw, no hit - 181yds total for DRob rushing at this time
---Pass to Jackson on play action, no hit
--- QB designed draw, gain of 5, low impact hit
--- Handoff to Fitz, DRob nowhere near play...
--- Pitch to Vinny, long gain, DRob nowhere near play ...
--- Shotgun spread formation, handoff to Vinny, huge gain, no hit
--- I Formation, play action pass INC to Roundtree ... No hit
--- QB designed draw, gain of 4, runs out of bounds
--- Shotgun, 5-step drop, bullet to Gallon, no hit
--- Spread formation, inside handoff to Fitz, no hit
--- Shotgun, scramble ahead for 3, minimal hit
--- I Formation, play action pass, overthrown, no hit

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

12 plays ...

--- Handoff to Shaw, no hit - 181yds total for DRob rushing at this time
---Pass to Jackson on play action, no hit
--- QB designed draw, gain of 5, low impact hit
--- Handoff to Fitz, DRob nowhere near play...
--- Pitch to Vinny, long gain, DRob nowhere near play ...
--- Shotgun spread formation, handoff to Vinny, huge gain, no hit
--- I Formation, play action pass INC to Roundtree ... No hit
--- QB designed draw, gain of 4, runs out of bounds
--- Shotgun, 5-step drop, bullet to Gallon, no hit
--- Spread formation, inside handoff to Fitz, no hit
--- Shotgun, scramble ahead for 3, minimal hit
--- I Formation, play action pass, overthrown, no hit

I'm mad about the decision not about what actually happened because it shows they could do it again in the future and the result could be extremely different.