TerryP
Staff
If you were following along with the game thread about the NY6 bowl games you noticed a few references to the Mega Casts with ESPN. I watched/listened to the ESPN control room for roughly half of that game. There was one little comment that Holgo muttered--literally under his breath--that resonated with me. Hell, it was almost a "BOOM" when I heard him mention this.
I want to say it was in the second quarter after OU had just scored when I heard him say, "he's still operating off of his script." I heard it, wasn't sure I heard it correctly, so I rewound the broadcast a bit just to be sure. "He's still operating off of his script."
Why is that worth noting? I'm seeing a lot of credit being thrown towards the UGA staff about their adjustments to OU for the second half of their game. I'm not buying that completely. Yes, UGA did play a heck of a game. But, that's too much credit in my opinion.
Is Riley a good game planner? I don't think there's an argument against that fact. Can he make adjustments on the fly? There's an argument to be made.
If what Holgo said is true, and the more I think about it the more I believe it to be so, he can script several series against defenses as well as anyone. After he gets through that script? When he's making calls on the fly? There's the area I believe bears watching over the next few years.
We've heard people talk about the "windows" Mayfield had yesterday closing. True. No doubt that's true looking at the second half. The question lies here. Why did those "windows" get smaller? Because there was no longer anything unique with the plays called. They'd seen it once and been burnt. After seeing those plays once they (UGA) didn't make the same mistakes they'd made in the first half.
Mayfield is a playmaker when things break down. But, before we start heaping praise all over the UGA staff and their adjustments I really believe that has to be done with an asterisk--Riley isn't as good of a coach, yet, as OU has made him appear to be this season. A good planner pre-game, sure. After the opposition has seen his what they're bringing? No so much.
More importantly is this. What we saw out of the UGA defense shouldn't be as heralded as it today. A lot of that falls on the inexperience of Riley.
I want to say it was in the second quarter after OU had just scored when I heard him say, "he's still operating off of his script." I heard it, wasn't sure I heard it correctly, so I rewound the broadcast a bit just to be sure. "He's still operating off of his script."
Why is that worth noting? I'm seeing a lot of credit being thrown towards the UGA staff about their adjustments to OU for the second half of their game. I'm not buying that completely. Yes, UGA did play a heck of a game. But, that's too much credit in my opinion.
Is Riley a good game planner? I don't think there's an argument against that fact. Can he make adjustments on the fly? There's an argument to be made.
If what Holgo said is true, and the more I think about it the more I believe it to be so, he can script several series against defenses as well as anyone. After he gets through that script? When he's making calls on the fly? There's the area I believe bears watching over the next few years.
We've heard people talk about the "windows" Mayfield had yesterday closing. True. No doubt that's true looking at the second half. The question lies here. Why did those "windows" get smaller? Because there was no longer anything unique with the plays called. They'd seen it once and been burnt. After seeing those plays once they (UGA) didn't make the same mistakes they'd made in the first half.
Mayfield is a playmaker when things break down. But, before we start heaping praise all over the UGA staff and their adjustments I really believe that has to be done with an asterisk--Riley isn't as good of a coach, yet, as OU has made him appear to be this season. A good planner pre-game, sure. After the opposition has seen his what they're bringing? No so much.
More importantly is this. What we saw out of the UGA defense shouldn't be as heralded as it today. A lot of that falls on the inexperience of Riley.