Yesterday I only listened to the game on the radio.
My observations: Despite the balls that were under thrown or overthrown, Lagow never had a downfield pass to a wide open receiver until one pass to Redding with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. And that was the only wide-open receiver all day. Open - yes. Wide-open - no. I only recall Redding breaking one tackle. Every time IU went deep it was a straight drop-back and everybody in the stadium saw it coming.
In the second quarter IU used their third timeout on 4th and 2 on the Northwestern 26 yard line and Paige runs a crossing route where he ends up one yard behind the line of scrimmage when the ball is thrown. A little later IU gets the ball back with 1:44 at their own 16 yard line and no time outs. Not only could they not move the ball, less than two minutes later Northwestern is down at the goal line again. That summed up the play calling all day
At halftime the BTN announcers questioned whether Lagow would even start the second half. I am sure that it was then that the calls on the board came out to bench Lagow. On the first play of the second half Lagow made a good timing throw for 9 yards. On the second play he made a bad throw on a bubble screen and the announcers were saying that you can't be a Big 10 quarterback in you don't make that play every time. Really? I don't recall ever watching a game where the announcers had a quarterback in their sights like these two did.
The decision to go for it on 4th down from midfield after the blocked punt with 8:32 left in third quarter was stupid. The announcers said they had to go for it. What a bunch of idiots. How many yards did the IU defense give up in the second half - 33? This was a call by the old CKW where he was betting that the defense can't stop anybody. A 53-yard field goal attempt when Oakes can't kick the ball into the end zone? Really? And how about the decision to go for two after the touchdown? Remember, the play with some misdirection?
My view of the game: The no-huddle offense was a bust. It looks like a Chinese fire drill every time they would get to the line of scrimmage. It confused the offense more than the defense. Lagow would still be looking at the sideline on almost every play with 5 seconds left on the play clock and never looked at the defense or had time to think about what he was going to do. Nate Sudfeld made it work but it is not working now. There did not seem to be any progression of reads. The play calling sucked. Running Natee east-west is just stupid. Pass blocking by the running backs was pathetic. No misdirection runs - other than the TD
Lagow looks visibly rattled every time he was going to the line scrimmage. CKW can take a lot of credit for that. I doubt screaming at him gave him more confidence. It reminded me of Tom Crean switching defense in the middle of a possession and watching the Hoosiers running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
Wilson is pretending that Lagow is Sudfeld - a seasoned Sudfeld. And he thinks they can run straight ahead with Redding as if they are handing the ball off to Howard.
I think they should scrap the no huddle because it is not working. Use it as gimmick. Put Diamont in occasionally just to see if he can make something new work. I am not saying to replace Lagow. Just use the tools that are available. At some point Lagow has to run the ball. I think they are allowed to run the ball to both sides of field. Maybe to the side with the All-American. Stop throwing the ball long. Borrowing a quote that is incorrectly attributed to Woody Hayes: "When you throw the ball, three things can happen -- and two of them are bad".
And on defense - please put the team on the field that played in the second half.
My observations: Despite the balls that were under thrown or overthrown, Lagow never had a downfield pass to a wide open receiver until one pass to Redding with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. And that was the only wide-open receiver all day. Open - yes. Wide-open - no. I only recall Redding breaking one tackle. Every time IU went deep it was a straight drop-back and everybody in the stadium saw it coming.
In the second quarter IU used their third timeout on 4th and 2 on the Northwestern 26 yard line and Paige runs a crossing route where he ends up one yard behind the line of scrimmage when the ball is thrown. A little later IU gets the ball back with 1:44 at their own 16 yard line and no time outs. Not only could they not move the ball, less than two minutes later Northwestern is down at the goal line again. That summed up the play calling all day
At halftime the BTN announcers questioned whether Lagow would even start the second half. I am sure that it was then that the calls on the board came out to bench Lagow. On the first play of the second half Lagow made a good timing throw for 9 yards. On the second play he made a bad throw on a bubble screen and the announcers were saying that you can't be a Big 10 quarterback in you don't make that play every time. Really? I don't recall ever watching a game where the announcers had a quarterback in their sights like these two did.
The decision to go for it on 4th down from midfield after the blocked punt with 8:32 left in third quarter was stupid. The announcers said they had to go for it. What a bunch of idiots. How many yards did the IU defense give up in the second half - 33? This was a call by the old CKW where he was betting that the defense can't stop anybody. A 53-yard field goal attempt when Oakes can't kick the ball into the end zone? Really? And how about the decision to go for two after the touchdown? Remember, the play with some misdirection?
My view of the game: The no-huddle offense was a bust. It looks like a Chinese fire drill every time they would get to the line of scrimmage. It confused the offense more than the defense. Lagow would still be looking at the sideline on almost every play with 5 seconds left on the play clock and never looked at the defense or had time to think about what he was going to do. Nate Sudfeld made it work but it is not working now. There did not seem to be any progression of reads. The play calling sucked. Running Natee east-west is just stupid. Pass blocking by the running backs was pathetic. No misdirection runs - other than the TD
Lagow looks visibly rattled every time he was going to the line scrimmage. CKW can take a lot of credit for that. I doubt screaming at him gave him more confidence. It reminded me of Tom Crean switching defense in the middle of a possession and watching the Hoosiers running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
Wilson is pretending that Lagow is Sudfeld - a seasoned Sudfeld. And he thinks they can run straight ahead with Redding as if they are handing the ball off to Howard.
I think they should scrap the no huddle because it is not working. Use it as gimmick. Put Diamont in occasionally just to see if he can make something new work. I am not saying to replace Lagow. Just use the tools that are available. At some point Lagow has to run the ball. I think they are allowed to run the ball to both sides of field. Maybe to the side with the All-American. Stop throwing the ball long. Borrowing a quote that is incorrectly attributed to Woody Hayes: "When you throw the ball, three things can happen -- and two of them are bad".
And on defense - please put the team on the field that played in the second half.
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