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Dawson replaces Dewitt as OLB coach, Held promoted to Recruiting Coordinator, Austin Run Game Coordinator, Fisher gets 125k raise

Saying he took a step back last year is not bagging on him. It is stating the obvious. Do you think he doesn't know? Pretty sure he has been told in his weekly reviews of the game.

You mention his "almost 60%" completion rate. Pretty good until you see his freshman year was 5% higher at 64.6%. His total yards were almost 700 yards less. That is the literal definition of a step back. Maybe 2 steps. Add to that his rushing numbers were flat with the year before. 4.4 last year and 4.3 this year. He definitely did not improve.

You do have a point with the other 10 guys. Much of the season he had no help from the RB. Also the early season snap issues do not help.
I wouldn’t begin to suggest AM played as well last year as he did as a freshman, but taking the usual ‘high snaps’ reasoning out, he didn’t have numerous weapons that helped create that additional 5% of completions and 700 yards. No Stan and his 1000 yards and 7 TDS. No Ziggy with his 1100 rushing, 200 receiving and 12 TDS. MoWa, an inconsistent malcontent, who had been able to contribute 700 total yards and 4 TDs as a freshman. Kade Warner, the security blanket, he was a fraction of what he’d been when healthy. And I think we all like JD, but he thrives as a complimentary player, and simply doesn’t have the total package to be the focal point of a passing game.

AM failed to deliver in a number of ways, but his support group wasn’t as supportive as they’d previously been.
 
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I wouldn’t begin to suggest AM played as well last year as he did as a freshman, but taking the usual ‘high snaps’ reasoning out, he didn’t have numerous weapons that helped create that additional 5% of completions and 700 yards. No Stan and his 1000 yards and 7 TDS. No Ziggy with his 1100 rushing, 200 receiving and 12 TDS. MoWa, an inconsistent malcontent, who had been able to contribute 700 total yards and 4 TDs as a freshman. Kade Warner, the security blanket, he was a fraction of what he’d been when healthy. And I think we all like JD, but he thrives as a complimentary player, and simply doesn’t have the total package to be the focal point of a passing game.

AM failed to deliver in a number of ways, but his support group wasn’t as supportive as they’d previously been.
Good points all. I just want to be clear. I am not saying 100% it was AM or the coaching. My concern was that he definitely changed his throwing motion from 18-19 and not for the better. Way more side arm. That was why I asked about the coaching initially.
 
Reportedly have WR Kris Adams-Draine ('20) and WR Brody Brecht ('21) in Lincoln this weekend, not to mention TE Thomas Fidone ('21). Isn't Ruud typically the one recruiting Omaha? Seems like the Analyst could be on the road awaiting the return of Dawson too. Just trying on different angles - don't mind me, I haven't heard anything.
Ya, there's a lot of things this could be in relation to. Dawson not being on the road yet, does it count if Walters is just staying in Lincoln so we can send someone else out? Could be something, could be nothing. It is interesting though that other schools are sending coordinators after these Omaha guys and we are sending our analyst up there. Would have thought they'd send Ruud again if nothing else.
 
I wouldn’t begin to suggest AM played as well last year as he did as a freshman, but taking the usual ‘high snaps’ reasoning out, he didn’t have numerous weapons that helped create that additional 5% of completions and 700 yards. No Stan and his 1000 yards and 7 TDS. No Ziggy with his 1100 rushing, 200 receiving and 12 TDS. MoWa, an inconsistent malcontent, who had been able to contribute 700 total yards and 4 TDs as a freshman. Kade Warner, the security blanket, he was a fraction of what he’d been when healthy. And I think we all like JD, but he thrives as a complimentary player, and simply doesn’t have the total package to be the focal point of a passing game.

AM failed to deliver in a number of ways, but his support group wasn’t as supportive as they’d previously been.
Its hard not to argue against what you've said but the fall-off in stats is not as dramatic as you suggest:

1st downs - 250 (2019) and 278 (2018)
Rush yards - 2,439 ('19) and 2,508 ('18)
Passing - 2,551 and 2,966
Yards/Play - 5.8 and 6.3
Yards/Game - 415.8 and 456.2

Interestingly AM's personal stats are:
Rush Yards - 626 and 847
Pass Yards - 1956 and 2617

What does that all mean to me?
1. Without AM rushing yardage .. the team collectively rushed for more yards in 2019 versus 2018 ... despite losing DO.

2. Passing yardage was down (14%) overall while AM's passing yardage was down (25%) ... meaning more yardage from the backups year-over-year.

Everything you said above is probably true but 2019 had Wandale Robinson ... with no comparable in 2018.

Let me also ask this ... were AM's passing stats down because of the WR/TE performance or were the WR/TE receiving stats down because of AM's performance? JD Speilman actually had less catches but more yards in 2019. TE's had more catches in '19 - 32 overall vs 25 in '18.

It all starts with the QB in my mind and AM simply had a poor year overall - maybe due to injury, maybe due to O-Line. But that position is supposed to be (IMO) a position that makes everyone around him better. He needs to raise everyone's level of performance. Yes, the O-line could've been better and the play calling could've been better and the WR/TE's could've been better but all those things are moot if the QB play isn't at least the same if not better. If he's limited due to injury then play the backup until he's 100% healthy!
 
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Trying to read the tea leaves, it seems like Walters will be gone soon. Maybe we are just waiting for him to secure a new position with another collegevor pro team.

That sucks that Joseph turned us down. I'm sure LSU can match our offer, and with Brady and Aranda leaving they probably are willing to do whatever it takes to prevent further defections.
 



Its hard not to argue against what you've said but the fall-off in stats is not as dramatic as you suggest:

1st downs - 250 (2019) and 278 (2018)
Rush yards - 2,439 ('19) and 2,508 ('18)
Passing - 2,551 and 2,966
Yards/Play - 5.8 and 6.3
Yards/Game - 415.8 and 456.2

Interestingly AM's personal stats are:
Rush Yards - 626 and 847
Pass Yards - 1956 and 2617

What does that all mean to me?
1. Without AM rushing yardage .. the team collectively rushed for more yards in 2019 versus 2018 ... despite losing DO.

2. Passing yardage was down (14%) overall while AM's passing yardage was down (25%) ... meaning more yardage from the backups year-over-year.

Everything you said above is probably true but 2019 had Wandale Robinson ... with no comparable in 2018.

Let me also ask this ... were AM's passing stats down because of the WR/TE performance or were the WR/TE receiving stats down because of AM's performance? JD Speilman actually had less catches but more yards in 2019. TE's had more catches in '19 - 32 overall vs 25 in '18.

It all starts with the QB in my mind and AM simply had a poor year overall - maybe due to injury, maybe due to O-Line. But that position is supposed to be (IMO) a position that makes everyone around him better. He needs to raise everyone's level of performance. Yes, the O-line could've been better and the play calling could've been better and the WR/TE's could've been better but all those things are moot if the QB play isn't at least the same if not better. If he's limited due to injury then play the backup until he's 100% healthy!

Great points, but a couple of numbers you shared make me uncomfortable. First is 1st Downs. Dropping over 10% is pretty scary. The reasons I usually consider for fewer firsts are more explosive plays, long gains, quick scores, which is a good thing, or the dreaded drive killers, penalties, poor 3rd conversions, sacks, etc. If we accept the idea that our fewer 1sts weren't because of our amazingly explosive offense, we fall back to the other notion that we had 30 fewer chances to continue a drive, eat up the clock, rest our defense, and have a chance to score. Even over the course of a season, 30 (OK, 28), is a pretty big number.

I'd also argue that we had very close to a Wandale in 2018, only he was called a Mo. Mo started the year with more of a 'DuckR' feel, but when Bell went into the crapper, and before Ziggy grabbed the bit, Washington (like Wandale this year) started to play more as a traditional running back, which contributed (like Wandale) to his having more injuries and being less effective as the year progressed.

You point out that we got more production from our backups, though you don't really take into consideration the talent difference in our backups this year as opposed to last. Bunch is a great kid, and kudos to his effort, but Vedral is a ton better, and LM, while not brimming with experience, is truly explosive. Even if we were only seeing backups in mop up roles, I'd expect for more production this year than last based purely on talent.

As long as we are going to be in the dark about the health of players, I'm going to have to assume there were more injuries to Vedral than publicly stated. LM, I understand the notion of wanting to keep the redshirt, and it's hard to assume he had an expansive understanding of the playbook, but when you couple that with the fact he was injured in his only extensive playing time, and you have yourself a tough decision as to who gives the team the best opportunity to win.
 
As long as we are going to be in the dark about the health of players, I'm going to have to assume there were more injuries to Vedral than publicly stated.
Absolutely agree on this one. The coaches accidentally admitted as much at several points in time, such as inadvertently saying that all three were banged up at the end of the Indiana game when they stressed that "all three were healthy enough to go back in." Look for that theme in this Sipple article following that game:

LM, I understand the notion of wanting to keep the redshirt, and it's hard to assume he had an expansive understanding of the playbook, but when you couple that with the fact he was injured in his only extensive playing time, and you have yourself a tough decision as to who gives the team the best opportunity to win.

I read this one differently. Verduzco claimed that LM had the highest QB score ever on his test preseason, which means that he was not only ahead of AM in 2018 as far as knowledge of the offense, but he was also ahead of AM (and everybody else) in at least a textbook knowledge of the offense at the start of '19. Game knowledge is different from textbook-style questions, but I don't think LM would have struggled that much with that either as everyone talks about how instinctive he is as a football player after growing up bathed in football at home and everywhere.

What I think kept LM off the field is his throwing ability. Apart from the deep ball against Iowa to a wide-open WR off of play-action, he didn't throw the ball downfield, and I don't think that Frost ever called plays for him to even have the opportunity to do so. To me, that's the sign of a QB who doesn't have the combination of arm-strength and accuracy to reassure his coaches that he can consistently throw those passes. Even the pass he did complete against Iowa was a relatively easy deep ball. I have a hunch that, right now, LM can't consistently throw the intermediate passes and/or the deep balls to less than wide-open WRs.
 
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Absolutely agree on this one. The coaches accidentally admitted as much at several points in time, such as inadvertently saying that all three were banged up at the end of the Indiana game when they stressed that "all three were healthy enough to go back in." Look for that theme in this Sipple article following that game:
I remember when I first read that and thought it was a load of crap. When coaches are trying to figure out who they can put in that creates the least exposure of negative comments about playing an injured guy, you know these aren't just minor bumps and bruises. If there was a true statement in all of that, it was Bunch wasn't seen as a viable option.
 



Reportedly have WR Kris Adams-Draine ('20) and WR Brody Brecht ('21) in Lincoln this weekend, not to mention TE Thomas Fidone ('21). Isn't Ruud typically the one recruiting Omaha? Seems like the Analyst could be on the road awaiting the return of Dawson too. Just trying on different angles - don't mind me, I haven't heard anything.

Just read that OPS are closed so no one is recruiting there today. Does not change the fact that we had an Analyst scheduled. Weather has changed up a bunch of plans.
 

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