Crawford Gets It

[Empire Lindy]

Good entry on his blog about last night's offense...

http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/crawford/blog.html

[cardfan]

Wow..he definitely sees what i did.. I posted (below) in the CJ this morning (in response to those tired of UL throwing passes on 3rd down just short of the first down)..and just now read his blog:

<<Needing 8 or 9 constantly on third down is your real concern. It's tough to pick up those 3rd and longs. There's a reason they are always a couple of yards short, the defense knows you need it.

UL's problem remains not POUNDING THE BALL. They got the O-line. They got 3 backs...2 of them capable of pounding up the middle. They give the speedy one (stripling) all the carries (a whole 12 of them). The same guy who sometimes never even sees the ball in earlier games.

There's no consistency here from game to game (other than abandoning the run game after 4-5 mins). I understand they were behind by a couple of TD's in the first half. This isn't abandon the run time.

If you want a championship calibur team or heck..just a damn team on the same level we've seen the past 4-5 years, then Krag MUST fix that run game and STICK with it. This is what wins games. This is what made UL's offense so good the past years.

"It helps (a defense) to know that we're pretty much passing it every down," Brohm said. "So they can pin their ears back and come after us."

Brohm get that. Too bad Stubbs doesn't..

<<The problems, of course, are easy to recognize. Until UofL is able to run the ball (just 37 yards on 27 carries last night), no amount of defensive effort or Brohm's passing is going to turn things around.>>

Even Eric Crawford recognizes it. Too bad Krag doesn't..>>

[HarveyGlass]

Great stuff from Crawford.

Here's a Kragquote..."But again, from a philosophical standpoint, we were going to use the screen pass as a run."

Here's an idea for coach...Why don't you use the run as a run!

[wkuCardinal]

Funny hearing Kragthorpe say it is difficult to run against a blitz when Petrino talked consistently about a successful ground game running opposing defenses OUT of the blitz.

[Empire Lindy]

Originally Posted by wkuCardinal

Funny hearing Kragthorpe say it is difficult to run against a blitz when Petrino talked consistently about a successful ground game running opposing defenses OUT of the blitz.

Run it where the blitz vacates. Seems pretty easy to me. If it's off the edge, you hit your hole and then bounce it out wide. If it's coming up the middle, go off tackle and then cut back into the middle of the field. We did these things so beautifully in Petrino's tenure. Now we see a safety sneaking up on the line and piss our collective pants. PASS! PASS! PASS!!!

[bling49]

Originally Posted by HarveyGlass

Here's a Kragquote..."But again, from a philosophical standpoint, we were going to use the screen pass as a run."

Here's an idea for coach...Why don't you use the run as a run!

We got nothing up the middle, Stripling is our only speed back left on the squad, yet how many times did we hand off to him right up the gut.

If you like to get Stripling outside on a screen, what's wrong with trying a sweep. Put Bolen back in at FB and pitch it.

If you at least try that, the defense has to play the run.

Kragthorpe I'm sure has his "philosophy" but it lacks imagination.

[CardinalJunky]

Well, there is nothing imaginative or complicated about the offense. It's pretty basic and it looks like we only run 6 or so plays. When you anticipate a blitz....how about a draw play? Where are the shotgun, misdirection hand offs? Throw a WR screen out of the spread? All the plays that are meant to fool the defense, we don't use.

It's coaching. It's coaching. It's coaching. There isn't much more to say than that. Freddy

[JT33]

I agree that it is all about coaching. The supposed offensive genius that is Krapthorpe has really shown us nothing creative or new. Watching how stale this offense is really makes me appreciate the Petrino offense even more. I mean, just the small things that really matter (how to get a dumbass like Mario Urrutia wide open down the field, how to use the run to counter the blitz, and how to make adjustments to counter what the defense is giving you). Brohm really excelled at making adjustments at the line under Petrino but that advantage has totally been taken away from us because this so called offensive mastermind can't get a freaking play in with more than 10 seconds on the clock. When you only run a handful of plays like we do, how and the hell does it take so long to pick one?

[bling49]

Originally Posted by CardinalJunky

Well, there is nothing imaginative or complicated about the offense. It's pretty basic and it looks like we only run 6 or so plays. When you anticipate a blitz....how about a draw play? Where are the shotgun, misdirection hand offs? Throw a WR screen out of the spread? All the plays that are meant to fool the defense, we don't use.

It's coaching. It's coaching. It's coaching. There isn't much more to say than that. Freddy

How about Patrick Carter throwing a pass once in a while, that's a pretty good trick play.

Rutgers has no problem winning with trick plays.