This is the big time coach

Herman and his guys have done much good, but they have moved up to the BIG TIME and it will take awhile to get to the top.

Take the field goal.
Forget the prevent with 10 seconds left.
Start your best running back.
Play for field position when you start on your own 2.
Don'the disrupt your young QB's rhythm by inserting anot her guy for a play or 2.

 

i agree with you, in general. i didn't see that the Heard package actually disrupted Sam. I thought pressure and the snap count disrupted Sam.

 

I thought the coaches did a good job overall. The biggest "re do" call would be to give it to Warren inside the five in overtime and not Sam. Sam isn't accustomed to protecting the ball in a scrum, whereas Warren is. It wasn't a real surprise that Sam had it wrested away.

Just like I think (and Klatt mentioned this also) it was not a good idea to have Sam throw the ball from the end zone in the first quarter which resulted in an int.

Sam is a true freshman. He played with guts, heart and skill. He made a ton of mistakes (turnovers, etc) and made some really fine plays. Inconsistency is the hallmark of inexperience.
Yes, Herman needs to mature, get smarter etc. But he and the staff made a big improvement since game one. He is our coach. I hope the improvement continues.

 

Well said. Overall it was an inspiring performance but, Herman and Beck made some surprising strategic errors and choices. I agree with everything stated in your post and will expand:

> I'm livid about the continued poor use of Warren. If he's not injured, I have to question Beck's sanity. We probably win the game if Warren is more wisely used. It's a joke. I don't care if they're stacking the line. Warren has to carry 15-20 times. Without him we have no running game, unless or until Carter and Young are given a chance. It's mind blowing.

> Not my idea but I agree: We should have gone for two points after scoring in the 2nd OT. After all, USC has more firepower than we do and Ehlinger's heroics we're bound to end. (They did in the next series.) Strong had the cajones to go for two last September. Herman apparently didn't last night.

 

I wonder how much of Herman's decision making has reflected a lack of confidence in the defense actually executing and stopping someone. As a unit there was no evidence they could do that until last night. Now that they have shown they can of they bring the same intensity as last night, maybe Herman starts to play the percentages. I thought they should have given it to warren more especially on the goal line in ot when they only needed a yard to get a first after Sam made a tough run. We will see if the decision making process changes going forward.

 

Well, if he has confidence in that O picking up 4 yards on 4th down then he hasn't been paying attention. If he thinks the D is not likely to get a stop I wonder why he would be willing to give the opponent a shorter filed to try to score.

 

Of course stopping a score in the last 49 seconds would have been the best way to win. All that jumping around and celebrating has to create a loss of focus. I think we should have played like we were behind and put a hard rush instead of playing prevent. It got us in trouble late in the first half and late in the second half. Sill it was great to see such a defensive effort.

 

Yeah but that was some big time bubble gum blowing. Recognize.

 

That as really noticeable from the stands. I would like to have seen the coaching staff squelch it immediately. We all understood that the game was far from over at that point.

 

“We’ve got to figure out ways to get (Warren) the ball on plays that he’s good at and that we’re good at up front,” Herman said.

What the hell does that mean? He's had a full offseason to figure this out. And it's not rocket science, he's a power back so run power plays. Just a terrible excuse from a "no excuses" coach. Very underwhelmed by his coaching so far. He may have been a bad hire.

 

They seem to encourage that sort of thing seeing as how on kickoffs there are "coaches" dancing and jumping along side the players like idiots while pretending to hold the players back from the sideline. It's embarrassing.

 

What the hell for sure. You have to figure out how to get the ball to your best running back? On plays that he’s good at?

He’s good at taking the football from the quarterback and running at the places where the blocks are and running through defenders. Make a note of that in your binder Tom.

 

Glad I wasn't the only bewildered by those comments @Omniscient.one and @Dionysus.

 

On 2nd and 1 from the 2, the wildcat with LJH running the ball and Warren and Porter blocking scores a TD

 

1) Insert him in the huddle
2) Have the QB turn around and hand him the ball

This is a similar strategy that I employed when I coached my son's 3rd grade football team back in the day. Pretty simple stuff!

 

That might have been the 3rd and 1 call. You don't expect Sam to fumble. Thats not on the coaches. Stop.

 

No one complained about the exact same call before that where he gained something like six yards.

 

If you are talking about in the overtime it was 2nd and 1 or 2, after Sam had run it straight up the middle. I think it is somewhat on the coaches and here's why: Sam's initial run was unexpected, caught the defense off guard. Was a great call.

The next play was the same play where the ball was stripped by a big strong defender from Sam who was caught in the scrum and was not a great call because the defense was stacked in a goal line scheme with the middle jammed with linebackers close to the LOS and an extra down lineman. Any play up the middle against that formation is likely to get stuffed. It was the wrong play, but it was especially the wrong person carrying the ball. Sam is not accustomed to the strength and power of grown men grabbing and stripping the ball in a huge pile/scum like he was in. Warren practices holding on to the ball in those situations every day. Its what power backs do. They are designed to hit piles and push them forward and hold onto the ball with both arms. Warrens arms are much stronger than Sam's by the way.

Sam's fumble was not really a shock, he should never have been put in the position to carry it on 2nd and 2 from the 3 or 4 yard line. Even Heard would have been a better choice because he is more accustomed to what he would encounter in that situation.
I feel sorry for Sam, he will never forget that fumble. Never. The coaches should have not called that play for him there.

 

I always believed that we started every game coached by Charlie Strong down by 10 points just due to game management and coaching. Despite my high expectations, I now believe we start every game down by 7 points due to Herman's game management and coaching. This is a killer when you go against a team with a perceived coaching advantage (Saban, et al probably start every game up 7 or more points due to their strong game management and coaching). Our current team cannot overcome this 7-14 point coaching deficit every week. Herman is killing us so far. Take the damn field goal! You need to at least start every game 0-0.

 

I think that means the coach isn't impressed with Warren's blocking.

 

Guess who doesn't have the responsibility to block on a running play from the three yard line..... the ball carrier.

 

Good way to look at it.

Early in the game 4th down and 4, you take that FG. I thought that BEFORE the Horns were stopped and ball went over to SC.

 

If the defense can play anything close to that over the course of the season, then you are looking at 7 wins in my eyes... maybe 8. BUT, the defense needs to look like it did Saturday.

 

Nailed it!

 

I just hope our D can play with that tenacity every game and not just when they feel like it. I can't remember when our D played that way for almost a whole game.

 

Good point if were only talking short yardage and goal lines. But I was addressing what TH might have meant or how I took his quote

 

Do explain how you got that from the quote. Doesn't really matter though, Warren may not see the field again if the tweet is legit; point is not only is his coaching unimpressive, but so are his post game interviews. If you watch the video of his post game press conference, when asked about Warren look at his face after he pointed to the 3.8 yd per carry average. It said "Damn that sounded dumb. Let me move on to his longest carry." He's scrambling for excuses in week 3. It's gonna be a long season.

 

You sound like TH

 

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What did we end up with instead of 3 points?