Improvements to take the next step

[Scoe]

Coaching-Clock management clock management , clock management. We need to seriously open up an offense it seems every team in FBS even FCS has one except us.

Players
Oline, Oline, Oline its pretty sad that a defensive player (Graham Stewart) is the one who is the reason we scored our only TD today.

WR,TE- Need to make plays, its gotten better but guys other then Noel Thomas have to step up.

RB-Improve the depth chart

QB play- Sherrifs needs to develop a qb clock, be a better decision maker and work on his accuracy, he's one tough qb though. Our Qb depth needs to be addressed asap, I'm sorry but Boyle shouldn't be any higher then 3rd string on our depth chart.

Defense- We need to wrap up on tackles, lets be honest the turf tackled Davis on that one conversion near the end. The D still kept us in the game and gave us a chance.

Special Teams- God awful and thats being nice, too many 10-30 yard punts.

 

[Palatine]

Stop playing scared on offense.

An interception doesn't end the planet. Stress the defense. Attack. Grow up.

 

[mauconnfan]

Coaching-Clock management clock management , clock management. We need to seriously open up an offense it seems every team in FBS even FCS has one except us.

Players
Oline, Oline, Oline its pretty sad that a defensive player (Graham Stewart) is the one who is the reason we scored our only TD today.

WR,TE- Need to make plays, its gotten better but guys other then Noel Thomas have to step up.

RB-Improve the depth chart

QB play- Sherrifs needs to develop a qb clock, be a better decision maker and work on his accuracy, he's one tough qb though. Our Qb depth needs to be addressed asap, I'm sorry but Boyle shouldn't be any higher then 3rd string on our depth chart.

Defense- We need to wrap up on tackles, lets be honest the turf tackled Davis on that one conversion near the end. The D still kept us in the game and gave us a chance.

Special Teams- God awful and thats being nice, too many 10-30 yard punts.

Agree on al minus the WR's. Not their fault how can we even tell if they're any good, they are the furthest thing from the offensive focus. I think I saw 2-3 passes targeting Thomas or Beals and if they're covered how about changing things up with a reverse, screen or something. The offensive playcalling was simply the biggest reason they lost this game as it was as close to next as possible. Add in the fact it was a bowl game and team usually let it fly this was disgraceful.

 

[Scoe]

Agree on al minus the WR's. Not their fault how can we even tell if they're any good, they are the furthest thing from the offensive focus. I think I saw 2-3 passes targeting Thomas or Beals and if they're covered how about changing things up with a reverse, screen or something. The offensive playcalling was simply the biggest reason they lost this game as it was as close to next as possible. Add in the fact it was a bowl game and team usually let it fly this was disgraceful.

Im just looking for improvements in all areas in order for us to take the next step. I should also add adjustments with the coaching staff. I should also add making in game adjustments on offense.

 

[uchusky32]

Agree on al minus the WR's. Not their fault how can we even tell if they're any good, they are the furthest thing from the offensive focus. I think I saw 2-3 passes targeting Thomas or Beals and if they're covered how about changing things up with a reverse, screen or something. The offensive playcalling was simply the biggest reason they lost this game as it was as close to next as possible. Add in the fact it was a bowl game and team usually let it fly this was disgraceful.

Agree Mau. Offense has to be a threat. Playing for field position coupled with poor time management hoping the defense keeps it close is a recipe for close loses. We have no chance even if we have the ball down 6 with 3 minutes left.

 

[scotty0330]

BS had trouble making decisions today....seems to struggle finding WR...this was not an anomaly. Too often tuck and run almost seems like the number 1 option. The amount of passes to a WR was reminiscent of an West Point attack.

The staff needs to get better at timeout management. This has been a theme all season as well. Too many times Bob is taking a timeout to give the officials time to maybe review a play that is going to set up third and inches or fourth an inches at best if the play is reversed. Not worth burning a timeout when you are questioning inches not yards on a spot. The play calling needs to happen quicker. How many games this season took place without a timeout required because the play took too long to come in from the side lines?

Defense played very soft on several of the receivers. I can think of a few where the WR for Marshall parked himself on the sideline and was able to make the catch since there was not a DB within 10 yards of him to make a play.

Bowl game was great experience for the kids but they need to make some serious upgrades on offense or philosophy if this team is going to be continue to make strides

 

[Dooley]

1. OL
2.OL
3. OL
4. OL
5. Punt returns

 

[Palatine]

BS had trouble making decisions today....seems to struggle finding WR...this was not an anomaly. Too often tuck and run almost seems like the number 1 option. The amount of passes to a WR was reminiscent of an West Point attack.

The staff needs to get better at timeout management. This has been a theme all season as well. Too many times Bob is taking a timeout to give the officials time to maybe review a play that is going to set up third and inches or fourth an inches at best if the play is reversed. Not worth burning a timeout when you are questioning inches not yards on a spot. The play calling needs to happen quicker. How many games this season took place without a timeout required because the play took too long to come in from the side lines?

Defense played very soft on several of the receivers. I can think of a few where the WR for Marshall parked himself on the sideline and was able to make the catch since there was not a DB within 10 yards of him to make a play.

Bowl game was great experience for the kids but they need to make some serious upgrades on offense or philosophy if this team is going to be continue to make strides

Actually if you watch the game, BS did a nice job going through his progression. He is afraid to throw the ball.

 

[uchusky32]

You have to practice time management. Maybe we don't have the athletes to have a high scoring offense but it starts with the coaches. We have to open up the offense to attract those athletes.

 

[BlueDogs]

I've got big reservations about Diaco. That performance was bush league from many perspectives. How you lose momentum coming off Houston is inexcusable. Not playing to win against Temple was a HUGE mistake. The team was flat, the game plan was pathetic, and game management was atrocious. Again, for those who wish to defend BD, I ask how in the hell don't you get the ball to Thomas all day. The is simply coaching malpractice. Bungling a key drive on the move with time mismanagement and then running a trick play with no QB calling count results in offsides killing a drive. Not blitzing and stunting to disrupt the O with time leaking away.. Mind blowingly stupid.. Diaco may be a classic great recruiter and motivator that will get to mediocrity but will never get over the hump HC.. Keeping fingers crossed for some major improvements next year.

 

[Sportsman5]

Defense:
more consistent tackling and playing with a little more speed. Overall the defense is great given that the defensive scheme is prevent defense/ zone virtually every game. As long as a few young guys/Levenberry can step up and those star sophomores make incremental improvements, then we will be in great shape next year. I'm with BD in that points given up is a lot more important than yards given up.

Offense:
positives are QB running, decent running backs, solid young receivers that occasionally make plays. We need to improve everything else. Play calling is mind-boggling at times.
If this offensive staff can't take 21/22 returning from the 2 deep and make them into an offense that scores at least 25 points per game, then they all need to be fired. For reference 25 points per game would put us ranked 93/128 FBS teams this year. We average 17 points/game this year. So a touchdown+ improvement or absolutely clear house and BD needs to make that known to all of the offensive coaches right now. If you don't improve by at least a touchdown, then your job is gone.

 

[scotty0330]

Actually if you watch the game, BS did a nice job going through his progression. He is afraid to throw the ball.

That is the point I was making....he can't seem to release the ball and instead falls back to tucking it and running it. When he does throw..there were a couple to the wrong team...one INT that was way late and there was another in the first quarter that was flat dropped. Its all great to go through your progressions but when you can't make a decision or make the same one over and over (let me run) the offense becomes the vanilla version we see.

 

[gopher2]

My concern is that neither the offense or defense improved over the course of the season and both may actually have regressed. We were no better against Marshall in December than we were against Villanova on the first day of the season.
What I saw today, with 3 weeks to prepare, does not make me feel good about next season. That was bad. Bad tackling and pathetic offense.

 

[mauconnfan]

My concern is that neither the offense or defense improved over the course of the season and both may actually have regressed. We were no better against Marshall in December than we were against Villanova on the first day of the season.
What I saw today, with 3 weeks to prepare, does not make me feel good about next season. That was bad. Bad tackling and pathetic offense.

Key tackles in key situations are an issue consistently. Obi and Jr missed big plays and #22 (sorry forgot?) with that push instead of going for the legs on the long run when it could have been just a 3 yard gain was just plain awful!

 

[BNich]

Key tackles in key situations are an issue consistently. Obi and Jr missed big plays and #22 (sorry forgot?) with that push instead of going for the legs on the long run when it could have been just a 3 yard gain was just plain awful!

Andrew Adams. He's not much of a wrap up tackler, which is killer at the Safety position and last line of defense. He takes bad angles and over pursued on a number of plays, as did Joseph. Marshall gained way too many yards after initial contact due to poor tackling. It was a shame. A few bad spots by the refs and an untimely drop by Hashemi, but I believe the drive still resulted in a touchdown. Regardless, Noel Thomas with ZERO touches is completely unacceptable.

 

[jdb50]

Bryant throws short or behind the receivers and has been doing so all year. The play to Thomas was under thrown as was the pick today. That said if we had someone else catching the passes thrown to Hashemi we would have likely scored more points.

 

[BNich]

Bryant throws short or behind the receivers and has been doing so all year. The play to Thomas was under thrown as was the pick today. That said if we had someone else catching the passes thrown to Hashemi we would have likely scored more points.

I believe the drop by Hashemi happened on a drive that still resulted in points but I could be wrong.

 

[Rewster]

Bend don't break on the surface has seemed to work pretty well for us when you look at the score at the end of games.

But the huge discrepancy in time of possession that bend don't break allows will tire the sh&t out of a defense and results in less possessions for us to try to score.

 

[ktuck911]

Shireffs needs to be able to go thru his progressions on passing plays. He stares down one receiver. Yeah his last game played he got his bell rung pretty good, but that was was a month ago.

Im anxious to see the QB position take yet another step next season. I want to see how Tyler Davis has come along. He's kind of an under the radar tyoe for us, so it'll be interesting to see if he can take a big step. Of the returning QBs, in terms of stature, he's got be intriguing. We've seen Boyles, now Shireffs, and a little Garrett Anderson, but at 6'4 200 plus lbs, Davis has to be a guy we hope takes a step that us fans haven't taken into account.

Also, our OL isnt very good....still... Im just not sold on any of them. We need somebody to step up int he trenches on that side of the ball on BOTH running and passing downs. Way too inconsistent.

Lastly, coaching on offense. Im sick of the playingnot to lose type football. Thats an awful way to play FBS level football when you have to prove your worth. We cannot afford to play like that on offense. If we don't have the players to play BIGGER than we need to start working a little harder recruiting wise....or get coaches that can come in and make it happen. Even FCS level opponents defenses we played against kept at least 8 men in the box on us. Imo, embarrassing and unacceptable.

 

[ktuck911]

Actually if you watch the game, BS did a nice job going through his progression. He is afraid to throw the ball.

If he's afraid to throw the ball, then he's not the answer for us at QB.

 

[ktuck911]

I pray our offense is better next year. That's what's holding us back. Our defense is good enough to win some games for us but an inconsistent offense is keeping us down. Mediocrity on that side of the ball seems acceptable.. now, granted we've got talent there, but we go into this mode where we get the wtf playcalling. Its like the coaches making the calls call plays that clearly show they dont believe in our offense. Thats not good.

 

[formerlurker]

Speed. At all positions.

 

[ktuck911]

Im watching the Indiana-Puke game right. IU's QB just stepped up in the pocket, kept his head up, scrambled to the right about 5-10 yards, head still up, and hit a wide open WR in tgeendzone to put them up 40-34.

One of the QBs on our roster has to have/show some of that kind of command out there. Aginst stiff competition.

 

[ktuck911]

Since we've already burned his redshirt, ehy wasnt Chris Lee out tyere for that pass play thst went to Hashemi?

 

[raf46]

Coaching-Clock management clock management , clock management. We need to seriously open up an offense it seems every team in FBS even FCS has one except us.

Players
Oline, Oline, Oline its pretty sad that a defensive player (Graham Stewart) is the one who is the reason we scored our only TD today.

WR,TE- Need to make plays, its gotten better but guys other then Noel Thomas have to step up.

RB-Improve the depth chart

QB play- Sherrifs needs to develop a qb clock, be a better decision maker and work on his accuracy, he's one tough qb though. Our Qb depth needs to be addressed asap, I'm sorry but Boyle shouldn't be any higher then 3rd string on our depth chart.

Defense- We need to wrap up on tackles, lets be honest the turf tackled Davis on that one conversion near the end. The D still kept us in the game and gave us a chance.

Special Teams- God awful and thats being nice, too many 10-30 yard punts.

O line, o line! Opening up cant be done until the O line is upgraded!