Back to football: QB

[UMGriz75]

Just a tiny bit off topic, but I thought it might have been good to sit Mr. Simis down for a series after the second or third interception. Watching a series or two might have helped him get into the game.

Didn't do it after the third interception on Brady at Cal Poly. Should he have?

Maybe. In Portland putting in the wildcat QB might have been a beneficial change of pace. In Portland it was three int's in the first quarter (if I remember correctly), I think a reset was called for. Against Poly the int's were more spread out, but it couldn't have hurt to have simply said "Brady, just watch the next series".

I do realize that Stitt tried to stay with a passing game, albeit more complicated, at Portland, when perhaps the opposite should have happened. When needed, notably, Makena out-ran all the other Griz rushers combined, and certainly his net of 62 (total app 134) compared favorably to Brady's 4 yards at NDSU. I don't know that a "change of pace" changing QBs was possible at PSU, but, it was a different play strategy than the weekend before. That wasn't Makena's doing. Stitt did the same thing to Brady, and his performance also got worse in successive games.

As I have noted, there is a common denominator here.

 

[grizindabox]

Just a tiny bit off topic, but I thought it might have been good to sit Mr. Simis down for a series after the second or third interception. Watching a series or two might have helped him get into the game.

Didn't do it after the third interception on Brady at Cal Poly. Should he have?

Maybe. In Portland putting in the wildcat QB might have been a beneficial change of pace. In Portland it was three int's in the first quarter (if I remember correctly), I think a reset was called for. Against Poly the int's were more spread out, but it couldn't have hurt to have simply said "Brady, just watch the next series".

I do realize that Stitt tried to stay with a passing game, albeit more complicated, at Portland, when perhaps the opposite should have happened. When needed, notably, Makena out-ran all the other Griz rushers combined, and certainly his net of 62 (total app 134) compared favorably to Brady's 4 yards at NDSU. I don't know that a "change of pace" changing QBs was possible at PSU, but, it was a different play strategy than the weekend before. That wasn't Makena's doing. Stitt did the same thing to Brady, and his performance also got worse in successive games.

As I have noted, there is a common denominator here.

One of the reasons why Simis ran so often is he lacks the ability to find anyone but his primary receiver. Dude looked and took off...

 

[mcg]

You do realize that they didn't really have a second QB to use at PSU....outside of an injury to Simis...

Lucas right? A change of pace.

 

[grizindabox]

You do realize that they didn't really have a second QB to use at PSU....outside of an injury to Simis...

Lucas right? A change of pace.

not really an option

 

[UMGriz75]

One of the reasons why Simis ran so often is he lacks the ability to find anyone but his primary receiver. Dude looked and took off...

And got very positive yardage and a TD.

What amazed me is why Stitt, in a veritable monsoon, did not have much of a running game for the running backs. Why was he even working with a passing offense, more complex, in that kind of weather? Where were the handoffs, the flysweep, the yardage gains designed on the ground? WHY IN THE HELL WAS THERE A PASSING GAME like that?

In similar, but not as extreme, weather, Dakota Prukop had similar difficulties and it was not because of his inexperience, lack of ability to find secondary receivers, etc.

 

[grizindabox]

Almost every Simis run was a scramble...not sure that is what you want to base your rushing offense on....

 

[grizturd]

At the noon coaches show Stitt said Gus was about 70%. Problem is after being off the leg it is still weak when he has to push off and needs to work it back into shape. While Stitt did not say he wouldn't start, reading between the lines I think it is more probable he doesn't. He did say the best scenario would be for Simis to start and then bring Gus in later in the game to get some live reps.

 

[ranco]

Granted the conditions were bad at Portland, but after watching that performance I think Simis earned some bench time. He has little pocket presence and doesn't seem to be able to make the little shifty moves to avoid the rush. He seems to run right into the defenders - not to mention his propensity to stare down receivers.
Down the road I'm not sure who the best qb will be for this offense but I actually think it will be someone who hasn't played this year.

 

[UMGriz75]

Almost every Simis run was a scramble...not sure that is what you want to base your rushing offense on....

That's the point. Chalich's similar "scrambles" resulted in negative 44 yards. Brady simply got dumped and generally got nothing. Where was the rushing strategy? At least with Simis, far above both Brady and Chad, there were substantial positive yards. Are you saying that he is a poorer QB by being able to get substantial rushing yards out of "scrambles?"

More than the alleged "rushers," at PSU?

That begs the whole question. Why wasn't there a rushing "game" for PSU? Why in the HELL was that game dependent on passing into heavy rain for four quarters?

I understand that you are saying that Stitt has no rushing strategy to speak of, but is that what you want to say as positive reinforcement for continuing with strategies that yield poor results, when a change of that strategy, to match the QB, had such positive results with UND?

 

[grizindabox]

Almost every Simis run was a scramble...not sure that is what you want to base your rushing offense on....

That's the point. Chalich's similar "scrambles" resulted in negative 44 yards. Brady simply got dumped and generally got nothing. Where was the rushing strategy? At least with Simis, far above both Brady and Chad, there were substantial positive yards. Are you saying that he is a poorer QB by being able to get substantial rushing yards out of "scrambles?"

More than the alleged "rushers," at PSU?

That begs the whole question. Why wasn't there a rushing "game" for PSU? Why in the HELL was that game dependent on passing into heavy rain for four quarters?

I understand that you are saying that Stitt has no rushing strategy to speak of, but is that what you want to say as positive reinforcement for continuing with strategies that yield poor results, when a change of that strategy, to match the QB, had such positive results with UND?

You do realize the Griz ran the ball on 11 of there first 20 plays....in the first qtr they had 7 first down plays and 5 were runs, 3yds, 3,2,1,1...so 5 first down runs for 11 yards. This team does not have the players to lineup and run it consistently...

 

[bgbigdog]

:clap: :thumb: Stitt Made the right call - don't rush an injury because it could come back to bite you. Now let's hope Simis hangs 56 on Kramer's kids so we can rev the QB controversy up a couple of notches.

 

[IdaGriz01]

Just a tiny bit off topic, but I thought it might have been good to sit Mr. Simis down for a series after the second or third interception. Watching a series or two might have helped him get into the game.

Didn't do it after the third interception on Brady at Cal Poly. Should he have?

Actually, that's a fairly common strategy. Sit the guy (in both cases) down for a series or two so he can get his head together. Maybe go wildcat -- was that Tyler Lucas? -- if they didn't want to use someone else way down the depth chart.

I was actually a bit surprised they did not do something like that.

 

[UMGriz75]

Almost every Simis run was a scramble...not sure that is what you want to base your rushing offense on....

That's the point. Chalich's similar "scrambles" resulted in negative 44 yards. Brady simply got dumped and generally got nothing. Where was the rushing strategy? At least with Simis, far above both Brady and Chad, there were substantial positive yards. Are you saying that he is a poorer QB by being able to get substantial rushing yards out of "scrambles?"

More than the alleged "rushers," at PSU?

That begs the whole question. Why wasn't there a rushing "game" for PSU? Why in the HELL was that game dependent on passing into heavy rain for four quarters?

I understand that you are saying that Stitt has no rushing strategy to speak of, but is that what you want to say as positive reinforcement for continuing with strategies that yield poor results, when a change of that strategy, to match the QB, had such positive results with UND?

You do realize the Griz ran the ball on 11 of there first 20 plays....in the first qtr they had 7 first down plays and 5 were runs, 3yds, 3,2,1,1...so 5 first down runs for 11 yards. This team does not have the players to lineup and run it consistently...

Without Makena, the Griz had a grand total of 98 yards at PSU, rushing, 56 for Nguyen and 42 for Calhoun, presumptively "on purpose" as part of "a strategy."

Makena did 62 net rushing yards "by accident."

At UND, which beat the Wombat offense soundly by the way including a first string quarterback with inarguable skills, six Griz players combined for rushing yards, including Makena, of 162 yards, while Makena contributed 321 yards passing. Ten players were able to rack up "receiving" yards in that game because, you know, "not read plays ....".

 

[grizindabox]

You do realize that the Griz ran the ball 47 times.....almost as many as PSU...

 

[UMGriz75]

You do realize that the Griz ran the ball over 40 times.....

Presumably, the concept of a "strategy" is to use one to get the ball in the end zone, not to lose a game by running the ball 40 times and get nowhere with it.

You do realize we ran the ball 47 times at UND? And won the game?

That's the point. There was no apparent change in the rushing strategy, because there was no apparent change in the passing strategy except to increase its complexity. Despite a pouring rain that ...

 

[grizindabox]

You do realize that the Griz ran the ball over 40 times.....

Presumably, the concept of a "strategy" is to use one to get the ball in the end zone, not to lose a game by running the ball 40 times and get nowhere with it.

You do realize we ran the ball 47 times at UND? And won the game?

That's the point. There was no apparent change in the rushing strategy, because there was no apparent change in the passing strategy except to increase its complexity. Despite a pouring rain that ...

So you know that they made the passing strategy more complex for the PSU game...

And once again, what type of rushing strategy do you think the Griz could have employed that worked with what they have available on offense....

 

[bigforkgriz]

I don't think it will make a great difference whether the QB is Simis or Gus. We are easy to defend against because we have an anemic run game. Portland's CB's could pressure and blanket our receivers because they didn't have to worry at all about playing the run. Both Cal Poly and PSU played deep safeties without worry of having to tackle a running back. Constant first down runs of 1 or 2 yards make us predictable on later downs.

 

[jodcon]

Gus: No threat to run and makes our run game even less credible which leads to more coverage. Better arm and field vision.

Simis: Good mobility and demands some run respect by the defense. Not as good of arm and locks on one target.

Pick your poison, I personally think we need to see Gus again but I understand the argument.

 

[UMGriz75]

So you know that they made the passing strategy more complex for the PSU game...

You did read Coach Stitt's comments, right?

 

[UMGriz75]

Simis: Not as good of arm and locks on one target.

He throws longer successful passes, and you're right, he locks on one target and, unlike Brady, does not consistently overthrow it, ie, Brady "does not lock" on target.