GAME #5 - Valpo @ Dayton 10/6 Noon

[usc4valpo]

It is time for a "come to Jesus" session with the coaches and players. There are too many seniors and enough talent to have results like this.

[JD24]

Coach C talks about the inconsistency on offense.  I think this could have something to do with playing 3 different QB throughout single games, and every time our offense gets some momentum, as we did at he end of the half (in the last 3 games), he takes out the O line starters, including his all conference player, to switch it up on crucial downs.  Of course there is no consistency.  Only one of the team captains set foot on the field yesterday, which is also a psychological blow, especially when the coach constantly reminds everyone that those are his leaders. And clock management, for the third game in a row has been ridiculous.  Why do we take out our starting O line (when they have just scored on our previous possession) with three minutes to go in the half (just like last week) and then throw clock stopping incomplete passes (with a back up O line on the field) to stop the clock and give the ball back to an offense that has only punted once in the entire half?  And then take out your senior starting punter on a punt out of our end zone that resulted in a safety...I have seen this all year.  The coach is killing any momentum we get with his line up switches and ridiculous clock management.  It's as if he does not want the offense to outperform his defense that he still finds ways to praise each week.  With less than a minute to go in the half he then puts in the O line starters and they drive again down the field.  Yes, they missed the field goal, but what they didn't do was hand the ball back to their offense on a 3-and-out.  Perhaps if the starters had played the entire first half we might have orchestrated a clock eating drive and maybe even put some points on the board to close the half with momentum on our side.   At the very least, we could have given our best offense a chance to prevent Dayton from scoring 9 points in those last three minutes.  Instead, the entire team comes off the field deflated and defeated in the first half because they do not feel that the coach is coaching to win.  With so many injuries, subbing out crucial players on important drives is only adding to their troubles.

For whatever reason the OGs were subbed out on the drive starting at 3:21. The starters were put back in for the next drive which went nowhere as well but included some playcalling I just don't understand. Valpo should be, not only trying to score but keep the ball out of Dayton's hands. So Valpo gets a 5 yard run. On 2nd down they finally decide to try to find the missing Mason Sutter on a 12-15 yard 7 route which is a difficult throw. Incomplete with no chance. Alright....we took a shot. Now we need a first down. So now, rather than finding a nice comfortable throw for the QB for 6-8 yards, we run Rene on a 12-15 7 route and have the QB make the same tough throw. Incomplete with no chance. From a play calling standpoint it just makes no sense.

[JD24]

Thanks for that observation on the substitution patterns.  The most obvious patterns are the sub groups among the wide recievers and RBs, but line sub groupings go largely unnoticed.  I could see doing that if we're back in the era of single platoon football in the early 1960s, because players were required to be on the field both ways, but today's players rest between drives, so that's not it.  And your point that Valpo, building depth (if that's what's behind the sub patterns) by sacrificing wins, makes little sense is well taken.

The OL subs I don't get. In this case Valpo didn't have the ball for consecutive drives because of the muffed punt. It couldn't have been tiredness. Maybe both guards were banged up.

The WR/TE/RB subs is standard fare in today's game. I don't think Valpo does anything different than other teams. There is logic behind the moves based on my observation.

[JD24]

Who has stood out on O?  Cartales running the ball and Norberg's deep routes. 

Cartales is the best offensive player on the roster. Todd, Dave and Brandon like to ooh and ahh over Griffin however I'd argue that Griffin cost them the Davidson game.

I'm one, and likely not alone, who thinks Valpo should be running the ball more for a variety of reasons. I mentioned last week that Cartales must have it written into his contract that he can only carry the ball 15 times or so per game. Sure enough, he gained more, but it was 15 carries yesterday. The roster also does not have a back the coaches are comfortable spelling Cartales for any period of time as well.

[JD24]

It is time for a "come to Jesus" session with the coaches and players. There are too many seniors and enough talent to have results like this.

The first thing which may need to happen is for Dave to say out loud that the coaching staff bears responsibility for the, thus far, debacle. This is a long running issue with the HC. Dave's attitude has always come across as "we drew it up correctly, you guys just didn't carry out the plan". There is at least one coach on the staff who has been heard stating virtually these exact words. Not exactly "we're all in this together".

Don't blame it on the officials, don't point out a fumble by the player sitting next to you in a PC or the QB who's sitting two seats away from you during a PC if you're not going to take responsibility yourself. If the coach doesn't think this isn't noticed by the players themselves, he is sadly mistaken.

I agree that the talent level is much too high for what we've seen.

[VULB#62]

Who has stood out on O?  Cartales running the ball and Norberg's deep routes. 

Cartales is the best offensive player on the roster. Todd, Dave and Brandon like to ooh and ahh over Griffin however I'd argue that Griffin cost them the Davidson game.

I'm one, and likely not alone, who thinks Valpo should be running the ball more for a variety of reasons. I mentioned last week that Cartales must have it written into his contract that he can only carry the ball 15 times or so per game. Sure enough, he gained more, but it was 15 carries yesterday. The roster also does not have a back the coaches are comfortable spelling Cartales for any period of time as well.

And Cartales, IMO, is doing it without a rush blocking scheme that is dedicated to optimizing the run.