• The KillerFrogs

Friday afternoon musings, now with less rage.

H0RNEDFR0G

Full Member
I'm firmly in the camp that SR is forcing it too much, but I don't blame him. The guy wants to make a play. But the pass protection is horrible. When QB gets in trouble, the receivers aren't coming back to the ball. SR's throws at receiver's feet last night indicates that they have been coached to come back to the ball when the QB is flushed from the pocket, but they aren't doing it. That's correctable. RB's are fumbling the ball, this is correctable.

But the biggest issue, that isn't a quick fix is that the o-line is killing us. I think we overestimated the o-line's potential in the off season and have had some injuries that have exacerbated the problem. We lost 4 lineman to the NFL last year. This was a known issue, but we bought Gary's quote about how good the new line was going to be. I didn't see the urgency to go back to the drawing board on our entire offensive scheme until last night.

After last night it seems clear that we need to adjust the offensive scheme. Cumbie had to have done the risk benefit analysis of a total offensive overhaul after losses to OSU and UT. He clearly determined that it would be best to stay with what we've worked on since spring camp. He couldn't have known for sure that an overhaul was needed until last night. The pocket doesn't hold up long enough for the types of plays we're attempting to develop. With the current state of our o-line, this is time we don't have. Tech has historically corrected this pocket integrity issue with a dink and dunk attack. But switching to this type of offense changes everything. You run a completely different set of plays. The routes and the rushing attack look completely different.

I trust that Cumbie will figure this out.

When coming up with this year's tweak on the base scheme, Cumbie set it up to take advantage of SR's arm strength. This is something we didn't have in 2017. Last year the scheme was adjusted to run the ball more and allow for easier throws for Kenny Hill; we threw the deep ball just enough to keep a defense honest. Succesfully throwing the deep ball opens up a lot of opportunities. We were all licking our chops at the possibilities. But the biggest difference between 2017 and 2018 offense is that we had an incredible o-line last year. Give Cumbie the '17 o-line for '18, and we'd 6-0.
 
The O line is without question the biggest issue with the team. Lest years real good O line wins at least 2 more games this year. With that being said, the O line has zero to do with the failure to secure the football as well as making poor decisions. The reality is that even the best O line is not always going to give the QB adequate protection when the defense dials up a blitz or pass protection breaks down. With that being said, it is up to the QB to secure the ball or get rid of it to where there is not a play that results in a turnover.
 

Horny4TCU

Active Member
I think it’s just a bad mixture with SR and the OL. There were times where the protection wasn’t as bad as what SR thought it was. Him panicking made the issues worse than what they were at times.
SR is starting to make everything worse...
 

H0RNEDFR0G

Full Member
I think it’s just a bad mixture with SR and the OL. There were times where the protection wasn’t as bad as what SR thought it was. Him panicking made the issues worse than what they were at times.

That's a good point, I did see a lot of back foot throws when they didn't seem necessary. Confidence in the pocket has decreased dramatically since week 3. Throwing bad picks has made him more indecisive with the football. He appears to be holding it longer.
 

puckster59

Active Member
I still see a 7-5 season more likely than not. It would be one thing if they just weren't competing week in and week out. But they're beating themselves, often with turnovers on the opponents' side of the field. They've been in position to win in each of the losses.

I don't think they'll beat OU or WVa. But the others are entirely winnable if they can limit the killer mistakes.
 

Rose Bowl

Active Member
The offense is just not very good and the likelihood that it will get better is not high. These kids are not ready to play in a big time league but, hopefully, they will get the needed experience to succeed in the coming years.
 
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