AZGrizFan said:
Post Falls Griz said:
I don't see that anyone has mentioned the two calls early in the third where it was 2nd and 25 and we called a run for 2 then followed it up with what looked like the same play on 3rd so we could punt. Thought a throw down the field was in order on both plays. Especially with the way we came out flat at the half. I was pleasantly surprised that JJ had over 200 yards passing. I really didn't think he threw very often. The offense doesn't seem to play to his strengths but that might have been the game plan to come out and control the clock. I was excited to see Van play and was not disappointed. What a get for the Griz! The D had some occasional sloppy tackling but I'm sure that will improve with more games. Overall, I thought they played one hell of a game.
About 90% of the time when it's 2nd and VERY long or 3rd and VERY long, coaches know to cut their losses, punt the ball, and let their defense get it back for them. The defense is just BEGGING for a ball to be thrown in that situation, when the odds of picking it up are VERY low, but the odds of something very BAD happening are very high.
And I am stunned that anyone could watch THAT game and think that the offense doesn't play to Johnson's strengths. The last thing I want is Johnson carrying the ball 8-12 times a game on keepers. I'd much rather have him vertical for the playoffs than proving his manhood in an offense that "plays to his strengths". His biggest strength (as was made obvious Saturday) is his ACCURACY, followed by his coolness under pressure and his leadership ability. THOSE strengths were on highly visible display all afternoon....thus the end result.
I don’t know that I expressed my thoughts exactly. I thought they played to his strengths, he just didn’t look the same under center……. They had him rolling out and throwing which I believe his strengths are. He’s a dual threat but after one game, it doesn’t look like they need him to make the running plays he had to make 2 years ago. It’s a new offense so maybe it was just me not being comfortable seeing him under center. I thought he played a great game and looked natural and confident out there. And you're right, the last thing any of us want is to see JJ get hurt. He had a couple of throws that made my jaw drop. It's hard to be critical of any phase of the game when you come out and beat a quality opponent. It was obvious we came out with a game plan to control the clock and limit ASU’s quick tempo offense. ASU got the ball to begin the game and had the ball for something like 3 minutes. Seems like we held the ball for the next 7-10 minutes of the first quarter. Looking at the box score, I really didn’t remember us throwing the ball 23 times. I am very happy about that. The power game with Van, a huge OL and a couple of blocking backs……. Add to that Henderson and Jones…… This is going to be an offense that is hard to stop.
The play calling on the series I mentioned is hard to argue. I’m not trying to be critical. All I was saying is I’d like to have seen them more aggressive in that situation. We came out flat in the 3rd. 3 and out. Then, if memory serves me correctly, they had a decent drive but we held. We got the ball and had a pretty good drive of our own when we were penalized and had a second and 25 around mid field. We ran a play to the left for about 2 yards. I assume that the call was made to try and catch them looking for a pass and we’d try pick up enough yardage to get reasonable 3rd down yardage. At that point, I would have liked to see them take a shot at the end zone. If it’s picked, it would be deep in their territory or even a touch back. However, it worked out that we punted and held again. To have a game plan and stick to it even in that situation takes discipline with the play calling throughout the game. It was a conservative disciplined game plan executed perfectly. I can only remember 1 play that went down field and got us all real fired up.
Overall, I thought the play calling was great. Watching the game, I didn’t realize we threw the ball 23 times. I thought it was much less than that. So there was more balance to our attack than I thought. I really liked the call for the screen going into the north end zone in the 4th. It came up a little short. After pounding the ball up the middle for so long it really makes this team tough to defend. If there is only 1 play in the whole game I am really picky about, I will take that every day of the week. If the kicking game comes along, I think we're going to go a long way. Way to go Griz!
