Another day, more reflection
OK, so maybe I am obsessing on this. But, I still am AZZ-free (Master of my domain) since before the game Wednesday, rapidly approaching 48 hours.
This morning, I was thinking through what we saw. The team said they showed up different looks, and we had trouble adjusting. Also, they were dropping 7-9 in coverage, and we were having trouble getting guys open. I think this is especially effective since we are not quite as deep at WR as we used to be. Derrick Lett and Corey Partridge are not Cole Magner and Corn McGrady.
Today, in the Blade, something else was revealed...that Boise State picked that technique up watching film of the Ball State game. I remember Coach Brandon saying they threw us off when they dropped so many in Muncie, and that we would have to start having Omar run to counteract it. What worries me is this: even though we won against Ball, it was clear something was wrong. Our guys should have recognized it and had an adjusment ready. I know PJ is hurt and not running well, so that hurts our natural response to a three-man in the box lineup. BJ Lane doesn't seem as strong as before, and we're trying to redshirt Dan Macon.
But there were several times Omar had lots of open field ahead of him, and even though he isn't a natural runner, he should have been able to take off and grab 20 yards. That forces them to cover the whole field again--which is the concept of our offense.
Here's the other thing. Players make the game, not systems. They are people, not chess pieces. Not every team is going to be able to adapt the Boise approach and execute it as well. But we should be sure of this. We will have to beat that defense for the next eight games, and we won't beat good teams without figuring out how. We should get going.
One other thing I noted was that Boise seemed to be moving around while Omar was looking t the sideline for his "audible." I've wondered for a long time why people don't do this more often--it seems obvious to me. We're obviously going to have to give Omar more read/audible responsibility at the line, and change the pace up a little bit.
Ultimately, we can look at it this way. We have had our weaknesses laid bare by Boise. We can fix them (if possible), or we can continue to repeat them. If we repeat them, there will be no championship or bowl game this year.
I hope we win the championship this year, because I doubt that we can keep this going for another season...even if Omar is back.
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