Does anyone honestly think this is true?



It seems more likely (given Tedford has pissed off a former coach so bad he tried to burn down the school when he left) that we may have another example of Tedford picking a quality assistant and sh*tting on him in public...



Hopefully when we fire Tedford we can find a way to keep Gould, because I highly doubt that Gould has gone from a coach that puts out RB's like Henry Ford put out Model T's to a guy who gives Bigelow zero touches...



Not to mention that the only times Bigelow saw the field (outside of kickoffs) was as a wide out!? Cant handle RB, but he can handle running routes? Surely the WR coach is not just throwing RBs into the mix...


Would anyone be surprised if Tedford stayed and Gould took another job this off season?

Phantomfan;841965841 said:

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Does anyone honestly think this is true?



It seems more likely (given Tedford has pissed off a former coach so bad he tried to burn down the school when he left) that we may have another example of Tedford picking a quality assistant and sh*tting on him in public...



Hopefully when we fire Tedford we can find a way to keep Gould, because I highly doubt that Gould has gone from a coach that puts out RB's like Henry Ford put out Model T's to a guy who gives Bigelow zero touches...



Not to mention that the only times Bigelow saw the field (outside of kickoffs) was as a wide out!? Cant handle RB, but he can handle running routes? Surely the WR coach is not just throwing RBs into the mix...


Would anyone be surprised if Tedford stayed and Gould took another job this off season?

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With that said, Bigelow did look lost on the few plays he was in. I think during a good season you punish him for not knowing the few plays they put him in for. In this season, when your team is going in the shitter and could use a spark you put your coaching pride on the back burner and you figure out how to get him the ball. Bigelow is not doing himself, his coaches, his teammates or us any favors by looking lost when he finally does get in the game. I certainly hope the coaches actually give him practice reps on the plays he is going to get used for but with this bunch I'm not positive about that, pretty sure but not positive.

Even if Gould is saying he's not ready for full-time duty, if I'm the head coach I go to him and say, "This guy is our most talented runner. Figure out some plays where we can get him the ball."

Phantomfan;841965841 said:

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Would anyone be surprised if Tedford stayed and Gould took another job this off season?

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Frankly, yes. Talk from Boston Market is important donors are mad at Tedford, and if we go 4-8 or worse, I'd expect the entire staff to go. The new coach may retain Ron Gould, but Tedford is done.

sycasey;841965862 said:

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Even if Gould is saying he's not ready for full-time duty, if I'm the head coach I go to him and say, "This guy is our most talented runner. Figure out some plays where we can get him the ball."

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Even if he (or any running back, for that matter) doesn't know his blocking assignments, looks lost, breaks the wrong way? Especially in a year with what seems to be a very porous o-line, and you really need some QB protection? Because if so, you're just telegraphing to the defense that he's getting the ball.

:headbang

OldenBear;841965890 said:

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Even if he (or any running back, for that matter) doesn't know his blocking assignments, looks lost, breaks the wrong way? Especially in a year with what seems to be a very porous o-line, and you really need some QB protection? Because if so, you're just telegraphing to the defense that he's getting the ball.

:headbang

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When things are going this badly, you have to try something.

OldenBear;841965890 said:

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Even if he (or any running back, for that matter) doesn't know his blocking assignments, looks lost, breaks the wrong way? Especially in a year with what seems to be a very porous o-line, and you really need some QB protection? Because if so, you're just telegraphing to the defense that he's getting the ball.

:headbang

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How's it worked out so far when we've telegraphed that we'll be giving Bigelow the ball? The significant majority of his carries have been for first downs and long touchdowns. 3 of his 4 carries against USC were for first downs and another was an 8 yard run on first down. Are you telling me USC was not keying on him?

Those averages could (and probably would) decline significantly and he'd still be our most productive running back.

You can also start him at RB, play action, and send him on a pattern (teach him that subset of RB plays), rather than just lining him up as a WR. Or Zone Read with Bigelow as we did once against ASU and if they key on him, Maynard keeps it. Teams (USC in particular) have been respecting the Bigelow fake thus far, and who could blame them. He and Allen are our power hitters.

It's not rocket science to find useful solutions here, even given Bigelow's apparent constraints and huge talent.

The problem is the playbook is way too big/complciated. You give me a back like Bigelow I use him as decoy half the time and the other half you put him in the backfield and call running plays. It can't be too hard to have him pretend he's getting a handoff and run into the line 5-7 plays a game, and then give him the ball 10 times and just set up blocking schemes for him.

82gradDLSdad;841965852 said:

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With that said, Bigelow did look lost on the few plays he was in. I think during a good season you punish him for not knowing the few plays they put him in for. In this season, when your team is going in the shitter and could use a spark you put your coaching pride on the back burner and you figure out how to get him the ball. Bigelow is not doing himself, his coaches, his teammates or us any favors by looking lost when he finally does get in the game. I certainly hope the coaches actually give him practice reps on the plays he is going to get used for but with this bunch I'm not positive about that, pretty sure but not positive.

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This actually begs the question as to what the coaches were doing with Bigelow on the active roster last year. What frustrates me is that he is essentially halfway through his 2nd season of eligibility and the coaches are claiming he doesn't know enough to play. Then why the hell was he active last year? I'd be a tiny bit more forgiving if Bigs was a RS Frosh who spent all of last year on the scout team and is only now getting to practice with the live playbook. He was the 3rd string RB last year just like he is now, but apparently doesn't have much to show for it.

Tedford has nothing to lose if he makes Bigelow the starter. If Bigelow does well, then we will probably start winning and everyone will be happy. If Bigelow can't block or looks completely lost out there, Tedford will be able to say .... "you see.... I told you so!"

RaphaelAglietti;841966077 said:

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The problem is the playbook is way too big/complciated.

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Yeah, I suspect this is the real problem at this point. It's also likely why none of our QBs seem to be able to pick up the offense anymore, despite the fact that Kyle Boller seemed to get it in just one offseason and become an effective player, back in 2002. The playbook actually was simpler back then.

TKDBear;841966090 said:

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This actually begs the question as to what the coaches were doing with Bigelow on the active roster last year. What frustrates me is that he is essentially halfway through his 2nd season of eligibility and the coaches are claiming he doesn't know enough to play. Then why the hell was he active last year?

I'd be a tiny bit more forgiving if Bigs was a RS Frosh who spent all of last year on the scout team and is only now getting to practice with the live playbook. He was the 3rd string RB last year just like he is now, but apparently doesn't have much to show for it.

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+1

rewind the ohio state tape and tell me how you can keep bigelow off the field? you cannot teach speed. so he can't block and he misses assignments. so the defense keys on him. amazing.

TKDBear;841966090 said:

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This actually begs the question as to what the coaches were doing with Bigelow on the active roster last year.

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Spot on. Although, sometimes I think JT burns their redshirts when he knows a recruit will be gone in 3 years anyway. For certain, BB has that potential. Whether he will be there after next year or not remains to be seen. But with the more talented kids, redshirting may not any sense at all. Maybe qb is an exception where you can bury a guy so far down the chart.

Still there is no excuse for BB's lack of progress in either case.

TKDBear;841966090 said:

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This actually begs the question as to what the coaches were doing with Bigelow on the active roster last year. What frustrates me is that he is essentially halfway through his 2nd season of eligibility and the coaches are claiming he doesn't know enough to play. Then why the hell was he active last year? I'd be a tiny bit more forgiving if Bigs was a RS Frosh who spent all of last year on the scout team and is only now getting to practice with the live playbook. He was the 3rd string RB last year just like he is now, but apparently doesn't have much to show for it.

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Don't try and bring reason and good sense into the equation!

RaphaelAglietti;841966077 said:

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The problem is the playbook is way too big/complciated. You give me a back like Bigelow I use him as decoy half the time and the other half you put him in the backfield and call running plays. It can't be too hard to have him pretend he's getting a handoff and run into the line 5-7 plays a game, and then give him the ball 10 times and just set up blocking schemes for him.

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Exactly!

TKDBear;841966090 said:

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This actually begs the question as to what the coaches were doing with Bigelow on the active roster last year. What frustrates me is that he is essentially halfway through his 2nd season of eligibility and the coaches are claiming he doesn't know enough to play. Then why the hell was he active last year? I'd be a tiny bit more forgiving if Bigs was a RS Frosh who spent all of last year on the scout team and is only now getting to practice with the live playbook. He was the 3rd string RB last year just like he is now, but apparently doesn't have much to show for it.

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Exactly, the "he doesn't know the playbook" excuse leaves a choice: 1) Either Tedford and Co are screwing up this year or 2) They screwed up last year.

Personally, I think the answer is "all of the above."

We have a QB who walks out of bounds against SC losing yards instead of throwing it away...we have a QB who takes a knee thinking the other team was off sides and takes a six yard loss.. Are these not screw ups at least as bad as Bigs missing a block or running the wrong way?? And yet he plays every play.. Double standards suck.

This last weekend I would not be too upset about Bigelow not getting playing time (as a disclaimer I did buy my son a #5 Cal jersey).

Both Anderson and Sofele looked great out there. Sofele really seemed to have some extra kick at ASU. My complaint about the game is not the running backs but the fact that we didn't keep running the ball and that all our pass plays were of the long developing type (with a porous offensive line)

if not knowing blocking schemes is the real reason one of your game breakers doesn';t touch the ball