porkchop said:
I might be in the minority here but I'll go ahead and say it. I'm very concerned about our passing game.
(1) Julio is the only one being thrown to the vast majority of the time. I know Julio is going to be something special, but we need to mix it up more to keep teams off balance IMHO.
(2) What the ham sammich has happened to Mike McCoy and the others? Are they still on the team?
(3) JPW's propensity to tuck it and run. Okay, that's both good and bad. I appreciate him not wanting to throw an INT, and attempting to make something out of the play. But here's the thing; Either he can't deliver the throw or our receivers simply don't have the talent or ability to get open against less than spectacular defenses.
I can't count the number of times last night where this occured. It's only going to get worse against Auburn, Florida, and more than likely whoever we face in a bowl game.
We can't continue to get nothing out of the passing game and just pretend that teams like the afore mentioned won't be able to stop our running game. That's half of football is knowing what the other team is going to do or forcing them into doing just that. I'd be licking my chops if I were an opposing DC after watching tape of the last couple of games. We need to improve the passing game IMHO.
I agree on some levels...with a caveat or two.
To some degree, I think we can throw it more and more effectively than we have shown at times. Against MSU, I think JPW knew that we did not have to complete passes to win the game handily...the passing game was more to keep the defense honest than it was to gain yards. We showed the pass more for the purpose of keeping the defense honest. Then we burned them late.
When we have really needed to throw the ball this season, we have done so with success - and not just to Julio. Against UGA, we had seven different receivers catch the ball. We had over 200 yards passing. Six different receivers caught passes against LSU...Julio was the workhorse, but the ball did get spread around. If he is open and can catch it, we took it. We had 215 yards against LSU.
At the end of the day, I don't care so much about yards and number of receptions, if the W is in our favor. If we end up against a Big 12 team in the bowl, I will feel better with us running the ball, shortening the game, and chewing up 5 yards per carry. I have watched more big 12 games this season than normal, and I have not seen a decent rushing defense yet. Several Big 12 teams rank in the top 25 in rushing defense, but they don't play against power rushing teams. The conference is almost as pass-happy as the WAC used to be.
