So let's see.
- We give up a 42-yard pass to the left side under the small scoreboard & the only reason NDSU had to wait one more play to score is because the player was down when he caught it.
- The very next series , #3 come back off of his man to cover a receiver that was already covered by#7 (or at least looked that way to me). This time we give up a TD pass for over 60-yards. The receive had no one near him.
- Oh ...and the series before both of these series we run another zone blitz, blow our coverage and give up an end-around left side that went all the way down to the 4-yard line ...subsequently moved back to the 11 & only resulted in a field goal.
So this 17-points that never should have happened, better blame the offensive coordinator.
But wait. NDSU moves into a typical i-formation and move up and down the field and scores twice on us. Gee ...this is the 4th time I have seen the Bison beat us with good old Tressel-ball. We were powerless to stop them, because we cannot tackle; but let's twice again call for the OC's head.
mmm ... was it once, maybe twice ...try door number 3 Jim that Jody Webb caught kick-offs within 1-foot (not yard) of the goal line ... AND HE NEVER EVEN SMELLED THE 20, LET ALONE THE 25 THAT IS WHERE WE WOULD HAVE HAD THE BALL. Gee, let's not even think for a minute that you have to change your offense when you are starting at your own 10. Yet nooooo ...we will just blame the OC for not being aggressive in the shadow of his own end-zone on 2 of those occasions.
Gee what major blunder happened more than 3 times on special teams? How about the fact that we gave up mammoth returns 4 TIMES. yes 4 times we gave NDSU the ball well INSIDE YSU TERRITORY. It would have been 5 time, except they were pushed back to the 48 by an official's call.
So let's blame the OC for anything else? How about the fact that we could not tackle ...it was like watching the same defense that we had for the past 4 or 5 years. Put your shoulder down into it and hope the ball carrier miraculously tackles himself.
Now not to leave the offense untouched, we certainly could have went more aggressive, but that was really only one series. I thought the play-calling was quite aggressive. We saw that NDSU was dedicating themselves to going after Wells in Q3 and we were smart enough to take advantage of it. None the less, Ruiz was ineffective & although Wells had 2 nice throws dropped ...he tried to change-up the pace of the offense (the 2 delayed throws out into the flat, almost like some kind of long-distance option) and it failed. Davis also had a nice pass dropped, but he is far from a solid passer and his running off the left side was not wide enough in the second half, as NDSU brought in the ends and Davis had no vision. Yes running wide risked a 3-5 yard loss, but I would have tried it. Then again, I am talking as though we had time to redesign the offense in the middle of the game and also that our QB is an experience running back.
So go ahead an keep your blinders on in thinking that your offense coordinator is your only issue. The reality is ...he is your only hope for a solution. Throwing in a new coordinator will do nothing.
We had good design on O & D, but kept shooting ourselves in the foot all game. Special teams? Who knows?
