Offensive Game Plan

[John-N-Houston]

The fumblerooski call helped stall a drive. We didn't need to trick them when we were dominating them on that drive.

Yeah...
That play seemed really out of character!

[AppStFan1]

Does anyone else think Coach Drink is a mastermind? Seems to me he draws up a game plan of just what we need to do, almost the bare minimum in order win. He doesn't ever seem to show his hand or deviate from his plan to blow someone out.

I thought last night especially and in the UNC game, we could've torched them throwing the ball. It was like we got the lead and did just enough to keep us ahead. When we needed to, we took some chances and got the points we needed. I feel like we still have a good chunk of our offensive playbook wide open moving forward.

If this is in fact what is going on, I can't wait to see us open up the playbook.

My only complaint with Drink so far is I do wish we would open up the playbook more but I think he is doing exactly what we need to win because he knows we may see these guys again.

He admitted that he got a little bit conservative. Nice to hear a coach own up. I think he does what is needed to go 1-0 every week. He doesn't seem to give the next team much film. The only curious thing with me is waiting for a long one to Virgil. Perhaps soon.

Virgil is another one we need to get the ball to. We have not thrown a ton to running backs out of the backfield either. I'm one who wants to see more with our tight ends. Pearson is an animal. We had that one pass to Reed that was not thrown well. Have to clean stuff like that up. Still want to see Thomas be more consistent as a passer. Great runner who just needs to work on the deep ball more. Once he improves on that I am not sure if anyone in the SBC will be able to keep him under 250 yards and 3 TDs in a game.

[Rick83]

I think that those early near-interceptions, especially the one where Hennigan made an incredible play and picked up the first down which very easily could have been a pic 6, changed Drink's play calling to be more conservative. Also, UL said they were going to shut Evans down and they pretty much did but that's what gave Zac those amazing runs. Seeing how the defense was in control on their side allowed Drink to go conservative instead of airing it out.
I'm a little concerned with our punting units now, both kicking and receiving, they've been great all year but had a bad night giving the offense horrible field position and UL's offense good field position.

I agree on the ints. Zac was lucky he didnt throw 3 early in the game. could have changed the plan some.
Clayton Howell had 1 bad punt in the ETSU game and got benched; I thought last night he should have gotten another opportunity. we had 2 25+/- yard punts. We started every drive at the 25; most inside the 10; whereas they got the ball at the 35 or beyond every time.
When you think of that, our defense's performance is even more impressive.

Yep, and the offense would've scored much more easily if they weren't constantly digging out of deep holes. The punting teams need to get back to where they were, not sure what happened to them last night.
BUT, as someone else already posted, if we get all 3 phases clicking in the same game we're going to be totally dominant and I pity the fools who dare to suit up against us.

What is crazy is that we really haven't played that complete game yet. Against Charlotte we obviously had the defensive issues but offensively and on special teams we were lights out. Forget ETSU that was a scrimmage. Against UNC the heat got to us and we had to go deep into the bench but got the W so whatever. Against Coastal everything on defense still wasn't quite there but was there ever any doubt we would win? Last night most of us figured on a shootout and I personally thought Drink would open up some more of the playbook. There were some head scratching play calls but defense was obviously crazy good. I really believe that La might be the best team we have played and maybe all year (to be determined). Bottom line- once all three phases are in sync we will light some teams up big time.

Maybe that will happen in Columbia and that'll be our coming out party for the national stage and NY6 discussion...

[APPRIDE]

That last drive can provide so much confidence to the team to trust each other and the coaches in future games. I can't think of another drive in our history with that many clutch plays made, inches gained, that made a difference. And truly soul crushing for a defense.

‘06 championship game, last drive, K-Rich grinding & Josh Johnson clutch 1st down?

[bigdaddyg]

According to the post game notes this was the longest drive time wise we have had since we became FBS.

[Stonewall]

Keeping our powder dry....

[Mjohn1988]

Sorry guys I just don’t buy the thought that we’re holding back our offense. This game was in jeopardy until that last TD was scored. One turnover, or one big offensive play could have put us down by 4 points. If they sold out to stop the run, and it looks like they did, I really can’t explain why our passing game didn’t produce more. Our offense was limited by field position and did a great job getting out of those poor field position situations. We could have easily given up an easy score from that mess. I really think we needed to simply forget returning punts and sell out on going after the punter. We pretty much let him stand back there and wait for his coverage to get down field. Defense was awesome! I see nothing but upside with our D line. That group of guys is gaining experience and confidence with every game. By the end of the season they will be a dominant group!

[Black Saturday]

That last drive can provide so much confidence to the team to trust each other and the coaches in future games. I can't think of another drive in our history with that many clutch plays made, inches gained, that made a difference. And truly soul crushing for a defense.

‘06 championship game, last drive, K-Rich grinding & Josh Johnson clutch 1st down?

Had the same thought!

[appst89]

That last drive can provide so much confidence to the team to trust each other and the coaches in future games. I can't think of another drive in our history with that many clutch plays made, inches gained, that made a difference. And truly soul crushing for a defense.

The only one I can think of that's close was the 7 minute scoring drive in the 4th quarter against UMass in the 2006 national championship game after they had cut it to 21-17.

[MountainMan]

Overall play calling was uninspired, to be generous, and pretty crappy, to be honest.

When I correctly guess the play 4 out of 5 times, there is room for improvement. Glad for the win. Defense played great. Open up that offense just a bit more.

[APPdiesel]

Overall play calling was uninspired, to be generous, and pretty crappy, to be honest.

When I correctly guess the play 4 out of 5 times, there is room for improvement. Glad for the win. Defense played great. Open up that offense just a bit more.

You're saying play calling wasn't good because you weren't confused?

[WVAPPeer]

That last drive can provide so much confidence to the team to trust each other and the coaches in future games. I can't think of another drive in our history with that many clutch plays made, inches gained, that made a difference. And truly soul crushing for a defense.

The only other drive that comes to mind was the drive against UMass in the 2nd NC game

[MrCraig]

I think that those early near-interceptions, especially the one where Hennigan made an incredible play and picked up the first down which very easily could have been a pic 6, changed Drink's play calling to be more conservative. Also, UL said they were going to shut Evans down and they pretty much did but that's what gave Zac those amazing runs. Seeing how the defense was in control on their side allowed Drink to go conservative instead of airing it out.
I'm a little concerned with our punting units now, both kicking and receiving, they've been great all year but had a bad night giving the offense horrible field position and UL's offense good field position.

I agree. I think a lot of this "he was keeping the big plays hidden" or whatever is over-thinking. If he felt like the offense could have lit up the scoreboard, Drink would've called a game that led to that. I think he got a little concerned by how well they defended, so he went conservative to play keep away instead. I mean, just imagine if he had called three straight pass plays, and instead of that monster, soul crushing drive they had gone three-and-out? Then ULaLa scores and goes ahead. That's a totally different ball game.

[appstatealum]

Sorry guys I just don’t buy the thought that we’re holding back our offense. This game was in jeopardy until that last TD was scored. One turnover, or one big offensive play could have put us down by 4 points. If they sold out to stop the run, and it looks like they did, I really can’t explain why our passing game didn’t produce more. Our offense was limited by field position and did a great job getting out of those poor field position situations. We could have easily given up an easy score from that mess. I really think we needed to simply forget returning punts and sell out on going after the punter. We pretty much let him stand back there and wait for his coverage to get down field. Defense was awesome! I see nothing but upside with our D line. That group of guys is gaining experience and confidence with every game. By the end of the season they will be a dominant group!

Drink literally ran the ball on third down into 8 man boxes. I don’t know if he was “holding back offense”, but he definitely was not taking the low hanging fruit.

[AppSt94]

They started most of the night in horrendous field position. That affects what you do to the extent that you don’t want to force anything and cause a turnover.

[Black Saturday]

it was a great win for the program after all the saber rattling done by ULL. We are still a rung above them and think if we meet again similar results but different scoring. How many times did they give us the poorest field position and how many times did we extend their drives, yet our veteran team executed and won.

[App91]

This was one of the strangest games I've ever watched. It seemed EVERYTHING was going wrong for us and we still held out for the win. The game was called pretty fairly (with the exception of the non-PI call against us that stalled their drive, I'd be upset if I was their fans too), but I don't think I've ever watched a game where we consistently started every drive within our own 10 yard line. Their punter played lights out, and our punting wasn't particularly great. Our kickoffs also weren't particularly great and I know he's capable of touchbacks because he's been doing it a decent bit this season, but these weren't close 90% of the time. Strange, strange game, but championship teams win regardless of the circumstances and we did just that.

I think the questionable PI was offset by the bad PI call on Jolly. That one extended their drive that ended in the only score of the night for them.

I don't see that PI as questionable at all. If you have an under thrown ball and the WR is coming back to the ball to make a play the CB HAS to turn their head around and certainly not run into the WR. Tough spot for a CB, but that is the call every time in CFB or NFL (unless your the Saints).

Every. single. time. The CB has to turn his head.

[Yosef84]

Sorry guys I just don’t buy the thought that we’re holding back our offense. This game was in jeopardy until that last TD was scored. One turnover, or one big offensive play could have put us down by 4 points. If they sold out to stop the run, and it looks like they did, I really can’t explain why our passing game didn’t produce more. Our offense was limited by field position and did a great job getting out of those poor field position situations. We could have easily given up an easy score from that mess. I really think we needed to simply forget returning punts and sell out on going after the punter. We pretty much let him stand back there and wait for his coverage to get down field. Defense was awesome! I see nothing but upside with our D line. That group of guys is gaining experience and confidence with every game. By the end of the season they will be a dominant group!

Drink literally ran the ball on third down into 8 man boxes. I don’t know if he was “holding back offense”, but he definitely was not taking the low hanging fruit.

Exactly. Re-phrasing the statement as "holding back the offense" is building a straw argument because it implies an action that seems inherently ridiculous in order to support an opinion. There's a lot of that being done these days. I would say that Coach Drink, for reasons that he (astonishingly enough) has not shared with me, seems to have adopted a more conservative, ball-control approach in order to run time off the clock. I am sure that he is fully aware that we have a lot of weapons and probably could have scored more points. If we had been behind, I have to believe he would have thrown the book wide open. Ultimately he adopted the same strategy that Satterfield used twice last year. Given that we won all three games, it's hard to argue with the result.

[nomadb]

ULL has a good offense. If we are winning, it plays to our advantage to keep their offense off the field. Especially if we are moving the ball. I simply don't understand the desire of some fans to see us "open up the playbook" or whatever each time we get the ball. There is more strategy to winning a game than that.

That being said, it's going to be a fun day when our offense is hitting on all cylinders and our defense is playing as well as they did last night. That will be lots of points earned and few given up and, god willing, that will be against USC. (and GaSo)

[appstatealum]

Sorry guys I just don’t buy the thought that we’re holding back our offense. This game was in jeopardy until that last TD was scored. One turnover, or one big offensive play could have put us down by 4 points. If they sold out to stop the run, and it looks like they did, I really can’t explain why our passing game didn’t produce more. Our offense was limited by field position and did a great job getting out of those poor field position situations. We could have easily given up an easy score from that mess. I really think we needed to simply forget returning punts and sell out on going after the punter. We pretty much let him stand back there and wait for his coverage to get down field. Defense was awesome! I see nothing but upside with our D line. That group of guys is gaining experience and confidence with every game. By the end of the season they will be a dominant group!

Drink literally ran the ball on third down into 8 man boxes. I don’t know if he was “holding back offense”, but he definitely was not taking the low hanging fruit.

Exactly. Re-phrasing the statement as "holding back the offense" is building a straw argument because it implies an action that seems inherently ridiculous in order to support an opinion. There's a lot of that being done these days. I would say that Coach Drink, for reasons that he (astonishingly enough) has not shared with me, seems to have adopted a more conservative, ball-control approach in order to run time off the clock. I am sure that he is fully aware that we have a lot of weapons and probably could have scored more points. If we had been behind, I have to believe he would have thrown the book wide open. Ultimately he adopted the same strategy that Satterfield used twice last year. Given that we won all three games, it's hard to argue with the result.

I agree with you. I think he kept lining up in base formation to see how ULL would respond to a possible passing play, then we would just run the ball. Drink knew a throw would be there if he needed it.