Please kill this play. Please. I tried to keep count, and I could be wrong, but my count had us 1-5 on 3rd or 4th running Swoopes. On the 2 point conversion and the last 3rd and 3, give Foreman the damn ball. Or if they overload, run zone read and have Steve keep. Just like everyone figured out the Belldozer, this formation is done. Only way for this to work is to throw out of it enough to keep the safeties from totally crashing the play. One thing I don't like on a 3rd or 4th and 1 on this play is there is no one behind Swoopes to push from our side. If we would have had a push, he scores easily on the 2pt conversion. And if we are going to put someone back there that doesn't throw, use Foreman the way we did Fozzy. Swoopes' pad level is too high if he gets hit in the hole and he can't get the corner the way Foreman would be able to. Just straight up packages should convert 3rd or 4th and short 50% of the time, not < 20%. I think we win pretty easily if we convert more on these 3rd/4th and short. Possessions are so critical against the good offenses in this league and we gave too many away the last 2 weeks running a package that just doesn't work.
Didn't understand why Foreman wasn't in the backfield with 18 on the two critical misses for our 18-Wheeler. If it's going to be just Swoopes naked in the backfield, I agree the effectiveness is quite diminished.
Every time I've seen Swoopes trot out there the last 2 games I'm thinking, Sterlin is going to fool them this time with a pass. I couldn't be more wrong.
As many yds as the D gave up, they played pretty well. Low 30s is not very many pts with as many possessions as were run yesterday. But if my recollection was right and we killed 4 drives plus a 2 pt conversion off that package, that's gotta go. We need to score on 30-40% of our drives to beat some of these team like Tech. They are going to score, so you gotta keep pace and you can't kill momentum running in Swoopes.
I was thinking the same thing. If he doesn't give the ball to Foreman, at least let Foreman push him.
I'm sorry, but Swoopes is 6'4"/250 lbs. Put him under center with Foreman and Beck behind and get pushed forward.
I am not sure he will scare anyone with his passing. When they need the 18 Wheeler package they need a real veer play with Foreman and Swoops as the RB's; two TE's; and Heard, Beck or Oliver as the receiver.
Viper, I like your thinking. Not sure going unbalanced with that package and a pass to tackle wouldn't catch some by surprise. Problems? 1) Do we have a T that can catch? 2) Do we put TE at T? 3) Do we trust Swoopes to not through a 98 mph fastball?
Or do something more creative than what they've done since game one. Like the little jump pass to the tight end; or option run pass; or swing pass; or motion with or without reverse, etc.
Please no reverses. This OL can't get off the ball much less block a faster defense moving with the ball. Reverse equals 10 yard loss if not more.
When you have one of the best RBs in the NCAA, you just tell him to win you the game. I also think when we sub it let's the D sub and rest. We're best on 3rd and short going fast. I just hate the whole thing.
We've had enough success with the 18 wheeler that I don't think we should ditch it entirely, but use it smarter. Running Swoopes wide isn't necessarily bad - it may isolate him on a 5'10", 180 lb DB whose only hope of stopping him is to dive at his ankles and hope he trips him. We used to have a lot of success running Cody Johnson on sweeps back in the day for that reason. But on that last play, it looked like he was just trying to burn clock and set the ball on the right hash and not even trying for the first down, which was quite odd for multiple reasons. Putting D'Onta Foreman in with Swoopes and running the zone read could work. Even Swoopes in the 18 wheeler with just blockers in the backfield could work if we mixed up the plays more, ran a play action fake even 1 time in 8, or had someone like Heard, Duvernay, or Armanti Foreman in to run a jet sweep out of it while the D is all bunch up tight in the middle. Swoopes at RB ought to die a merciful death unless they were doing it set up some sort of HB option pass or other trick player later on down the road, and even then I'm not sure it's the best move. Foreman out wide was really bizarre. Normally, a formation with an odd deployment of a key player should make the defense focus in on that player. I thought for sure we were going to either throw him a quick pass (isolating him 1 on 1 vs a much smaller player), run an end around to him, or fake said end around and then have Swoopes run the other direction. But we did none of them above and so it didn't end up helping us at all - Baylor failed to pay attention to an odd deployment of a key player, and it should have cost them, but didn't. This only makes sense to me if we're setting up a play with him from that location later and hoping they ignore it based on past history.
The QB change has been terrible lately. It ruins any contunity we have. We are better off having Foreman run. And, Swoopes is not a good ball handeler. An option with him is a fumble waiting to happen.
I think the defense is pursuing so hard to Foreman that a reverse could be a big play, especially with the speed our receivers have.
What is this tight end you speak of? I've heard of it. I saw plenty of tight ends at the last game but none were on the field.
Our 2 best O players are Shane and Foreman. So let's take the ball out of either of their hands. Yea, that makes a lot of sense. Just stop the insanity and run normal plays on 3rd and 3. We have receivers (besides Burt) that can catch the ball.
On that third and 5 play, i was yelling "please don't handoff to Swoopes up the middle". Boy i was upset. I wanted curse and i dont curse, or i wanted to throw something. I kept thinking such a lack of imagination. I saw it coming they saw it coming. AS i have said before on other threads predictability kills drives. Overall i am happy with Gilbert but sometimes i think i could do better.
in the 18 wheeler, is anyone keeping track of how often it's anything but swoopes running it? it seems one of the things that helped in the first few games was there was a chance he would hand it off??? it created more of an off-tackle option instead of a dive (or that sweepy thingy).
The only way this works is if they throw the ball out of it. They have to mix it up. It's incredible that they are not seeing this.
Gilbert was asked about that, and he basically said they have stuff and that they will use them when the time is right, or something like that. Seems there have been opportunities to use other stuff, but if I say that some folks will think I just wrote that the offense has been THE problem this year.
play action doesn't work because they have running plays. it works because they use running plays and they are effective. having variant plays with the 18 wheeler only matters if they use them and opponents have to respect the variants.
Well, that is what I was saying. Seems like there have been opportunities to use other plays. Why they haven't is beyond me. But as the resident HF expert has already said, criticizing the offense is of no value.
We're arguing the wrong thing. 18 wheeler is stupid because we're taking the ball out of the hand of the best player on our team. If we want to run wildcat which essentially is what we're doing, snap the ball to Foreman.
How about at least pulling a Tebow and adding the jump pass as a variation? Tebow would take the snap from shotgun, plow towards the line, and as he got close he stop-jumped straight up passing it over the crashing front 7. We don't even have to run effectively to set it up as our 100% predictability guarantees the front 7 will crash down as soon as TS moves towards the line. With Tebow and Swoopes' height the jump part is enough to sky over the wall for line of sight and a clean throw. As for the throw part it's an easy straight pass to an open guy 5 yards away. It's already been used effectively by other QB's since.
