socaltownie;842201891 said:
Honestly I just am not seeing what is so special about this. The flanker screen isn't that hard to defend. It is nigh impossible to run inside when we are in this stupid stand up stance. The "Big Bone" just SCREAMS run (nice Play action on Kline, BTW) and the rest of it just looks ordinary.
Seriously, what was LTech doing that was so special last year? I didn't get a chance to see this with every thing in...is it really that different?
(Please don't be sarcastic....I just am really confused how this offense was so potent)
This is what some of us were trying to tell people who were expecting the offense to be good right away because of the ridiculous story that you can install it in a day. It is a very simple offense true. But it requires excellent execution. It works well in high school because since it is simple, the offense can execute it well against a generally poorly executed defense. The margin of error is greater. As you get to a higher and higher level, your execution has to be that much better. At Cal's level, you better execute it nearly perfectly.
You need a QB that makes the right decision every time and makes it quickly. You need 4 receivers that execute their routes and timing perfectly. You need your receivers to block very well. You need them to have a high level of trust in each other that usually only comes with playing with each other a lot. They need to stick to their routes, make their blocks, stick to their lanes, etc. If they do all that, it is extremely hard to stop because the offense has made its play before the defense can react. Then you methodically go down the field in 5-10 yard chunks.
Why was LaTech so good at it last year? 5th year QB. Top 3 receivers were in their 5th years. #4 receiver was in his 4th year. That is why. What did Dykes do without that set up? his other two years were:
59 in scoring offense, 49 in total offense
42 in scoring offense, 51 in total offense
What did Dykes do at Arizona?:
56 in scoring offense, 67 in total offense
16 in scoring offense, 33 in total offense
60 in scoring offense, 58 in total offense
That second year, UA had senior Tuitama at QB and Senior WR Mike Thomas. They also had Gronkowski.
See the pattern? Dykes' offense has been very ordinary without tons of experience. The "good" news is, we should be outstanding in 2015 with the number of freshmen and sophomores we have playing major minutes on offense this year. Problem is, it will probably be a peak season.
Right now, we have a freshman QB which means he can't make the right decision fast enough. We have 2 good receivers in Harper and Treggs, and a decent one in Rodgers, and even they are better going down the field than running the mesh routes and screens. Our receivers are terrible blockers and outside blocking is crucial both to make the run work and to spring receivers on screens. The timing is not close to there either. Because of this, we have some formations that we can pass in, but are incapable of running in, and some formations we can run in but are incapable of passing in.
Frankly, what has me worried is that even the most basic execution is still in its infancy. We have hard working receivers they shouldn't be so bad at blocking when it is so important. I expect there to be execution issues. Hell, I predicted it. But there are execution issues up and down the lineup on both sides of the ball. We should be better right now.
